This is a landmark entry in the ongoing blog conversation with my provocative and principled brother, David. Landmark as we go into double figures. On and look at that it’s the tenth installment in the tenth month of the year on the tenth day of the tenth month. Almost as if … anyway. Here’s the premise.
Previously in the conversation: There is a film called The Italian Job … well I say a film, there’s at least two of them. But the one I’m referring to starred Michael Caine (I watched the one with Mark Wahlberg in … and … well … I certainly watched … and you don’t have to). And apparently, a famous quote from the film has Caine’s character says that someone was ‘only supposed to blow the bloody handles off’. The scene is fairly humorous, you can take a look. In any case, I often think that whenever I ask David a question, that he’s only supposed to blow the bloody handles off. I mean it was a fairly innocuous question I asked about party political democracy in this country. Then I asked a relatively mundane question on the climate crisis. Wrapped it all up with a little question about entertainment and leisure. And … well … he was only supposed to blow the bloody handles off … have a read for yourself (and put your hard hat on).
Right, now that you’ve read it and shared it, you know he asked me some questions that are anything but innocuous or mundane:
Q: Marriage, romantic love, the attraction between man and woman, is nowadays more a case of sexual or lustful insanity rather than purposeful union, as is the bearing of children. Agree? Disagree? Explain answer.
Odd question for this reason because it sounds like a referral to a time when marriage was ‘more’ about a purposeful union. It’s like I get the impression from a lot of people that things were ‘better’ back in the day. They don’t specify the day which is probably for the best.
What I do understand and perceive is that things are different today than yesterday. When it comes to the issue of the union possible between a man and a woman today I think the heart of the matter is about what was meant by ‘liberation’ in the 1960’s. Just as there was a move towards political ‘liberation’ so that former empires had to deal with countries seeking their own independence – essentially saying they can do what they want (and not counting the cost of that step) similarly at the social and relational level, there’s been a big push towards greater ‘independence’ and desire for self-determination.
Traditional sources of authority were thus questioned and somewhat reframed as vehicles to experience that degree of ‘independence’. Thus at the relational level things like marriage are instruments of contracts between two self-determining entities that seek whatever is mutually gratifying for a given season with the blessing of the state. As that push for independence and self-determination makes the individual ‘king’ in a more obvious way to previous eras, so that which is perceived to be a part of the human experience is glorified and enabled to be pursued in gratuitous ways in a more acceptable manner.
As you do that unsurprisingly concepts such as the family become even more fractured and dysfunctional and the relationship between the man and woman is framed in different ways including the sexual/lustful insanity that you refer to. You contrast that with the term ‘purposeful union’ about the bearing of children and that is a necessary casualty of the various social and relational changes that are underpinned by conceptual/philosophical changes.
I stress, though, and reiterate, this is not to give the impression that things were better before. Every generation has a responsibility to gain knowledge of the truth and express it appropriately for their generation which in its way will influence those that come after. History continues to teach me that if you take certain values for granted in one generation and assume them to be real but don’t reinforce them, then you shouldn’t be surprised that subsequent generations will not take your assumptions as much as you did and will feel ‘free’ to explore alternatives which will give room for foundations to disintegrate and what we have the tendency to veer to emerges.
It presents the opportunity to explore why concepts such as romantic love, the attraction between man and woman and this institution of marriage were of value and what they mean now. For example, the whole romance thing is a bit interesting to me. I’ve heard Bible teachers attempt to present the scope of scripture as a story of romance. The Father looking for a Bride for His Son, etc. etc.
I know of folks who want to make unions such as that between Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Rachel as ‘true romance’ and all of that thing. I’m sure those are seriously coloured in by modern perceptions of romance that may not be present in those recollections. Having said that, I’m of the belief because of my understanding of God’s word at this time, that in creating man and woman, God has a tremendous purpose of union to express His brilliance to creation. Man and woman together, working together, ruling together, supporting each other and being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. It is a great pity that such a purpose is not always emphasised, but that’s the responsibility of those who have such an understanding (meaning it’s my responsibility).
Hey yo, bro, answer that question yourself in your response to this blog, please.
Q: How do you understand the term “slavery?” Is it essentially immoral? And does it still exist in the Western world?
Hmmmmmm thanks for asking that question. So – this question is about my understanding of a term rather than just giving the definition that a dictionary offers. OK.
Slavery is the construct of someone having mastery over someone else for the purposes of servitude. Those who are owned by the master more often than not have little in the way of what modern society refers to as rights to self-determination.
Is slavery immoral? You would have thought modern sensibilities make this a slam dunk of a question. At this juncture, I should immediately say all slavery is immoral. Why I am somewhat hesitant to do so is because I wholeheartedly condemn the mistreatment, harsh treatment and dehumanisation of people – but I don’t necessarily see that as a necessary part of slavery. Economic systems were able to exist with slavery in place that didn’t necessarily dehumanise the slaves. Sure, that has not always been the case and it’s the reason why slavery is seen in that light. But when some of my heroes talk being a slave to Christ they are able to express how being mastered by the one who rescued to redeem them and enable them to be all they were is no bad thing.
In a real way if we take seriously our capacity to be mastered, then we are in essence acknowledging that we are slaves to something. The issue is what masters us and if that mastery restores and reinforces what makes us truly human or not. Slavery certainly exists in the Western world for sure. There’s the way that systems have enslaved people to work regimes, cultural regimes and the mastery of money. It’s because we think we’re ‘free’ and live in a ‘liberal’ society why we have such a snooty attitude to the descriptions of slavery we’re quick to use and seek to make a plea of just how slavery is.
Q: Did the church fail during the COVID narrative? Explain your answer.
Another interesting question here. It’s important then to make this personal. The church is not something separate from me. So I’ll talk about the ‘we’ and the ‘us’.
The COVID narrative has exposed the state of the church and it’s not a pretty sight. There are always exceptions and I’m sure there are expressions of church that have actually thrived and responded well to the COVID narrative. However, from my vantage point, the church failed rather abjectly in this part of the narrative so far. By fail I mean we were led by the narrative as ushered by the ones making significant and drastic decisions. That’s why governments and political parties are quick to pat the church on the head for not being a disruptive or dissenting voice in it all.
Not just that, but the church were absent when we should have been presenting the hope and light we suggest is at the heart of our faith. We didn’t present an alternative, we contributed to the fear-driven narrative. We exposed ourselves as being dependent on external things that have nothing to do with what we’re told in our ‘instruction manual’ – buildings, weekly attendance, listening to singular voices as if that’s how Christ wanted His church to be built.
We certainly didn’t present a rallying cry of being the compassionate centre for hope and healing as well as truth and love through it all. Our voice was relatively pathetic as the high priests of the culture were able to indoctrinate and drone on through the variety of means available to them.
We failed.
We needed to fail, though, to expose us to just how impoverished and pathetic we are in as much as we want to present ourselves as rich and vibrant. We needed to fail to show how we don’t really know who Jesus is and need to go back to Him to find out what He expects of us as His church. We needed to fail to fall on our knees and look for His mercy again to establish and shape us to be the prophetic voice He expects us to be in a world which, as usual, dismisses, minimises, trivialises Him and seeks to make Him redundant and irrelevant. We needed to fail to fall back on Him to be the community He expects us to be where each member acknowledges the role they play in how His Body operates and how we shouldn’t be shaped by the norms and values of the culture that surrounds us. We needed to fail to highlight how other powers have shaped and influenced us for too long and it’s about time the Lordship of Jesus Christ really was seen in the church by the power of His Holy Spirit operating through all those who are called by His name.
Well, dear David, that’s my effort at answering your questions answer me these, please:
Q – What are your views on the concept and practice of Black History Month?
Q – If asked about your favourite things in life what five would you select at the moment and why?
Q – What are the factors to consider in assessing reliable forms of news media?
In the meantime, thanks for this opportunity dear brother.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 
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