By Degree

North and south are directions. There are poles, but few of us wind up there. North-ness and south-ness are measured by degree. In politics and religion, degrees aren't allowed; we're pushed to poles: conservative or liberal. For Christianity, this relates to our approach to God's Word. How much authority does his Word carry in my actual lived life? So I ask myself, how many degrees am I from the North Pole of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Great Commandment, Great Commission, and his other teachings? Does the answer to this question make me more conservative? Or more liberal?

A Few

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. — Matthew 7:13-14

What if Broadway is a parade route to the arena? The way for combatants exploited by principalities and powers (and bots?) to join a flesh and blood brawl, a battle with no clear sides. A few call for shalom, but who can hear them over the din?

Trained by Christ

If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. ⏤ John 14:7

Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ⏤ John 5:19

When we think of being trained by Christ, we may go to the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. But maybe there's something even more fundamental. Could we let Jesus train us in our knowing?