Quote:
Originally Posted by testallthings
Joh 18:23 Jesus answered him, "If I have said anything wrong, tell me what it was. But if I have told the truth, why do you hit me?"
Could this verse be used in our discussion? Can we just tell what the wrong was without hitting the person who spoke (Nee in this case)? It seems to me, that the tendency is not to prove but just to hit. |
Your statement reinforces what I already proposed below, i.e. that we judge Nee's propositions not Nee. Now if Jesus or the authors of the Bible thought it was wrong for Christians to hold political office, why didn't they just say so directly? Why beat around the bush?
Nee states "A government officer is one who executes the law. The laws in the world are based on justice, and all transgressors have to be punished. However, the principle of conduct of Christians today is mercy (Matt. 5:38-48). Can world politics act according to the teaching on the Mount? The words "do not judge, that you be not judged" (Matt. 7:1) have forever disqualified believers from interfering with politics or being executors of law."
If mercy is the principle that Jesus taught us to practice, then why not practice it in every sphere of life including government? Didn't Jesus expect his followers to bring the practice of the Kingdom of God to the world? Wouldn't practicing mercy in government be doing exactly that?
According to Nee's teaching, since Jesus' principle is mercy we should avoid situations where think mercy is inappropriate. According to Nee then, should we just avoid people and situations where we don't wish to show mercy? So, if I don't like you, I should just stay away from you because if I'm around you, I might have to show mercy toward you. Avoidance including avoidance of political office seems to be a poor standard of practice for Christian life that would lead to social isolation rather then bringing the Kingdom of God into the world like Jesus did.