Choose the fullness of life
As Moses was preparing to depart this Earth he preached a profound and prophetic sermon to the people of Israel. The sermon is largely recorded in the Biblical book of Deuteronomy. In the 30th Chapter, Moses boldly proclaims, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,” The charge was far more than just a challenge for Israel. As Christians who, by the Cross of Jesus Christ, have been adopted into the Covenant of which Moses represented, we too are to choose life if we and our descendants are to live! It is not an option. It is a Biblical imperative for all who call upon God for our salvation and peace.
Choosing life, however, has unfortunately become a vicious political weapon in the modern partisan landscape of animosity, hatred, and exclusion. Many in today’s modern context take the time to prayerfully and carefully examine the true meaning of Moses’ prophetic proclamation.
Moses was speaking in terms of the unholy and immoral domination of Israelites under Egyptian slavery and degradation. Denied of their basic human rights, dignity, and validity as human beings created in God’s image and called good, God set the Hebrew people free under Moses’ unwilling leadership. God’s intention was never for the Hebrew people to become the oppressors, but to become the light of the world that would lead all nations to God.
The Bible also makes clear that sheer obedience to the inhuman rigidity of “Law” does not lead to authentic faith. The law establishes boundaries, expectations, and consequences, but is incapable of mandating choice. One only need to look at the American criminal justice system to realize that if law alone was sufficient to regulate human behavior, there would be no need for courts, prisons or attorneys. Otherwise, everyone would simply follow the law because it is what is expected. The fact that we have a criminal justice system is evidence to the fact that it is not law, but personal choice that matters in human civility and community.
Yet, many in the Church falsely presume that enforcing enough laws will necessarily transform humanity for the benefit of the Church. This is manifest in religious attempts to dominate and control church doctrine, political systems, partisan control, and governmental power in terms of religious authority and dominance, as opposed to influencing free choice and individual freedom. Ironically, many Christian theologians emphasize the presumed gift of God that all humanity is afforded the blessing of free will, while simultaneously mandating the punitive and presumptively sinful reality of choices with which that particular theological tradition disagrees. Consider the tragic irony. God give free will, but humanity defines what will, and will not, be accepted by God.
In Matthew 7:20 Jesus speaks to the matter by saying that people will be known by the fruits of their actions. In 2024 there will be a tremendous amount of very religious voices screaming for justice, righteousness, and peace, as well as calls for defense, revenge, and power. The question is not whether they are justifiable or understandable—as truthfully, they all will be in their own right. The real question is whether the pontifications and actions are choices that ultimately bring life or further the causes of death, hate, and evil. As Christians, ours is to choose life—life in every aspect. The fullness of that choice for life includes life that we do not understand, appreciate, or agree with. Ultimately, when our choices do not support God’s fullness of life, we violate the Bible and actually choose death and curse!
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Choose the fullness of life
