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– 1 Timothy 3:15

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14. COMMUNITY ETHICS

If unity is both the essence and the goal of community, then communicative relationships form the real practice of community. How these communicative relationships play out in real time determines the kind of unity and harmony the community enjoys.

As Paul instructs the Romans on the art of community living, he enjoins them in several aspects on community ethics: co-operative union of differences (12:3-8), positive communicative relationships within the community body (12:9-13), positive and negative injunctions with respect to the ‘enemy’ (12:14-21), extra-community relationships with (i) the ‘governing authorities’ (13:1-7), and (ii) the ‘neighbour’ (13:8-10), vigilance in moral rectitude because of salvation (13:11-14), and the relationship between the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’ (14:1-15:13).

In the previous article, we have seen how it is necessary to forge unity out of diversity. This is the co-operative union of differences: each member bringing to the table of community the different gifts and talents that they have and exercising and offering those gifts co-operatively towards the common good of the community. As Paul would have it, if the gift is serving, ‘let him serve’, ‘if it is teaching, let him teach’, et al. (12:6-8).

Then Paul, in 12:9-13, provides a series of exhortations which go towards positive communicative relationships within the church polity. These exhortations of ethical behaviour have eight components centred on the great theme of love.

1. Sincerity Love must be sincere. One may be surprised by this statement from Paul. The truth is that love can be affected or pretended. Human love, alas, almost invariably has the tendency to gravitate towards the self. When someone expresses love, it is usually with the motive of promoting the self. What is in there for me? That is usually the starting point of love. If the answer to the question is in the negative, love never gets out of the door. But, if it is positive, love steps out; never mind if it is not genuine love, or sincere love, so long as it obtains its objective of self-gratification or the desired profit. To Paul, this will not do. Love in the Christian community has to pattern itself after the love of God, unselfish and totally unconditional: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (5:8).

2. Discernment Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Sincere love has the capacity too to act out its obverse side - hate. But it is to ‘hate what is evil’. From the time the serpent crept into the Garden of Eden the world has known ‘the dark side’ too - evil. And sincere love must have the discernment to reject this evil and ‘cling to what is good’. For example, it is good for the community to have unity; cling to unity. Fragmentation and disunity is evil. Hate disunity.

3. Affection Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. The community of the body of Christ is a spiritual family. And as in any true family, there has to be good and warm feelings of affection or devotion to one another.

4. Honour Honour one another above yourselves. This is the second of the ‘one another’ statements. Here, it is ‘honour one another’. In true keeping with family ties, we are to give due respect to one another; but because this family is the family of God, the due respect is to be ‘above yourselves’; that is, esteem others more highly than yourself (see Phil. 2:3).

5. Enthusiasm Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. It was said some time back that zeal (without proper knowledge) can be dangerous, that it can lead to fanaticism. But Paul is never afraid vis-à-vis the word ‘zeal’. Zeal in the service of the Lord can only mean exercising the energy of enthusiastic love.

6. Hopeful Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. The Christian faith is always a hopeful faith - expectant and certain at one and the same time that the object and goal of our faith will come to pass one day. Because it is such a hopeful faith, we can keep up a spirit of joy in our community living with one another. And even if there is trouble, we shall bear it with patience. We surrender our troubles to God in prayer in faithful anticipation of his delivererance, sustenance and solidarity.

7. Generosity Share with God’s people who are in need. One of the things that we know about first century Christianity (at least, in the first flush of its first glow) is that the believers ‘had everything in common’; ‘they shared everything they had’ (Acts 2:44; 4:32). Paul wants the Romans to continue in this tradition of Christian generosity.

8. Hospitality Practise hospitality. Closely allied with generosity is hospitality. Hospitality practised then but not quite so now, is to provide a warm bed and warm food to any visitor who may happen to come the Christian’s way. Sad to say, in our present climate of fractured urbanisation, hospitality has become a threatened ‘species’.

Archive
The Romans Series
1. Being the Community of God’s People
2. Ethno-Religious Tensions
3. The Power and the Wrath of God
4. Justification by Faith
5. Justification Brings Blessings
6. While We Were Still Sinners
7. Died to Sin
8. Slaves to Righteousness
9. The Difference of the Spirit
10. The Israel Problem
11. The Gentile Problem
12. Community Living
13. Community Unity
14. Community Ethics
15. Loving the Enemy Ethic
16. Extra-Community Ethics
17. The Weak and the Strong
18. Community Formation
19. Paul, the Minister
20. Gems in Greetings

Articles on The Da Vinci Code, Gnosticism and
the Gospel of Judas
1. The Da Vinci Code: A Christian Response
2. The Nag Hammadi Documents and Gnosticism
3. The Gospel of Judas
4. The Gospel of Judas - A Retake
5. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 1)
6. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 2)
7. Teachings in the Gospel of Judas Compared (Part 3)
8. Canonicity and the Gospel of Judas

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