Common Sense

This Way to Common Sense, Part One

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. … the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness. James 3: 13 & 17-18

Just the other morning I was driving to the doctor’s office when a truck passed me. As we stopped at a red light, I couldn’t help but notice the green lettering on its rear doors. It read: “This way to common sense.” In these terrible economic times, and in these times when there is killing and war throughout the Middle East and in parts of Africa, I thought this is just the remedy we need, common sense. When I returned home, I turned to the letter of James in the New Testament and there read the words printed above; indeed, I thought, these are words of common sense, and not just for Christians, but all people.

James may be a bit redundant in these verses, and perhaps idealistic, but his conception of the Christian life bears repeating. In these verses James explicates the distinctly ethical nature of Christian living. Christian ethics has not always been a popular pulpit topic. Sin and salvation usually dominate the words of most evangelical churches. Some are purely issue oriented telling us most of the time what they are against rather than what they are for. But James has a positive message, a message of Christian common sense, which says, “This is the way.” James mentions six areas of Christian living that he believes are important. We will examine these in two parts.

As we look at the subject of Christian ethics it’s important that we carefully define what we mean. Biblical scholar William Barclay says, “If you want to put it in one sentence, ethics is the science of behaviour. Ethics is the bit of religion that tells us how we ought to behave.” Christian theologians have always bothered me. They seem to spend much of their time trying to define “god,” explicate the boundaries of sin, and describe heaven, rather than offering us common sense advice about Christian living. I find theology generally speculative, impersonal, and analytic; but the message of the Bible and from Christian leaders I have found to be both personal and profound. Fundamentally, Christian ethics points to a way of living. It is practical, offering guidance and it is forgiving, seeking justice and mercy for us and those who are less fortunate.

There are some basic ethical themes that have emerged in the history of Christianity. These can be reduced to questions of human relationships, freedom, love and responsibility; in other words, what James is talking about in the above scripture verses. One thing is sure, the message of Jesus and the words of Paul, John, James and other New Testament letter writers view Christians as moral agents and Christian communities as having collective moral responsibility, and both are called upon by God to serve all humankind.

James’ letter impresses us with six major themes for Christian living. I will talk about the first three in this essay.

Wisdom and Understanding

Wisdom and understanding are the first parts of a “Christian common sense.” When we apply these words to families, schools, churches, communities, and nations we understand that we need leaders who are wise and whose knowledge is vast. From wisdom and knowledge, together with reflective thinking comes understanding. When we utilize knowledge and experience with common sense and insight, prudence and sensibility, an ethical wisdom is the result. But this is not all there is because for the Christian, wisdom and understanding – common sense – are grounded in God’s love for us and in our response to God. As God acts in and on the world, we are called upon to answer His call and respond to His commands. Herein we find the source of our own wisdom that enables us to work together, with Christian common sense, to complete our purpose and mission.

E. A. Burtt, in his book The Search for Understanding, provides this ethical insight, “True understanding of a person is gained only through the positive response to his presence. Only when one’s interaction with him becomes an active participation in his growth toward fulfillment can one come to know his full self, because only in the medium of such a response is that full self coming to be.” The implications of this for spiritual understanding are obvious: ethics is a conscious sensitivity and interaction with God and others. When nurtured by our faith, ethics is the substance of hope expressed in attitudes of kindness and benevolence. As we respond to God’s presence, we are preparing ourselves to engage the world and become – with God – active participants in his creation.

Steady Goodness & Good Deeds

If my “steady” we mean “consistency,” then James is calling on Christians to exhibit a consistent goodness or benevolence toward others. This means showing kindness and good will, doing charitable acts, and actually possessing a disposition to do good. Let me emphasize this point: Christian living is not about obeying rules, attending church, or responding to certain hot button issues because we think that’s the way we’re suppose to act as Christians. Christian living and taking moral responsibility for the welfare of our neighbor comes from the inside out. It begins with the presence of God in our lives and overflows quite naturally to others. Think of the possibilities! Do you remember Jesus’ parables of the “Mustard Seed” and “Unleavened Bread”? This is the way we grow our faith, one seed, one piece (person) at a time.

Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches.” Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough.” Matthew 13: 31-33
Kevin Cashman, in his book Leadership from the Inside Out, asks us to “become leaders for life.” He says, “When your commitments are aligned with your purpose then great things will happen.” Indeed, as our faith provides the substance of this purpose we learn to serve and to use the wisdom and understanding providing by faith to make a difference in the world. We add Christian value to others and this is our Christian self-expression that creates value for those around us. It comes from the inside (faith) out (benevolence toward others).

Jesus knew this; he appealed only to his followers’ basic humanity when he stated: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…they that mourn…the meek…the righteous…the merciful…the pure in heart…and the peacemakers.” And even though Jesus held up the standard of God’s perfection as a goal to shoot at, He knew that we are imperfect and would require many chances at being moral. He demonstrated his charity toward us with mercy and forgiveness and provided a real-life model for us to follow. The essence of the Lord’s Prayer is forgiveness and forgiveness is perhaps the connection that holds human relationships together.

When deeply felt, Christian ethics is a journey of growth in humility, integrity, and compassion. It recognizes our weaknesses and includes an inclusive and non-condemning plane of growth in human interactions. Over the years a positive response to others seems to have always paid dividends, and not just for the one making the response, but for others as well.

Peace Loving & Gentle

I know from my working career that those in the work environment who are perceived as gentle and kind often end up on the losing end of decisions. They are perceived as weak for our capitalistic environment is often one of strength and aggression. On the other hand, if we believe that being peace loving and gentle is God’s message to us, then the true mission of Christians is to try to live lives that will bring peace and happiness to others. This is the way to Christian common sense. I emphasize “happiness” because happiness means “a state of well being,” and is this not the goal of everyone? This is perhaps what James means by being “gentle.” It is living a living of giving, of sympathy, understanding, and generosity toward others, of making sure that we have done all we are able to do in helping our friends and neighbors, and perhaps many whom we don’t know personally. On the other hand, being gentle doesn’t demand that we give up our strength of character and purpose. We should be practical and strong, but, at the same time, kind and gentle in our behavior toward others.

Although personal value has limits, to give life meaning is to seek to transcend the limits of one’s individual life, to add spiritual value and moral surplus, and share one’s personal bounty with others. This is the focal point of Christian living and common sense, for it’s the valued-centered life that connects people to other people and provides hope for a better tomorrow. When we connect with others, we bring them into ourselves while enlarging our identity and significantly lifting the horizon of our ethical lives; as Soren Kierkegaard said: Hope is passion for what is possible.

There are two things in which we can have confidence. The first is that love and our expanding awareness of others intrinsically belong together. Hate, fear, greed, bitterness, and other dark emotions blind those whom they dominate. The second is that the nature of love is to awaken love in others. Love is not love until we share it in self-giving activities. Once it is present anywhere, its redeeming power – like the leaven and mustard seed – is at work everywhere; love transforms the destructive passions born of our frustrated self-seeking into energies that are wholly creative.

Gandhi felt that love is not only the supreme ideal in individual relations, but is a force for the conquest of social injustices of every kind. Love is the nature of God; it is peace loving and gentle, and was made alive in the personhood of Jesus. This love energizes our faith with both hope and giving to others, which is a brush with eternity, as it engages the positive possibilities of human behavior in the life we now live. As the prophet Isaiah said, But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:3

This is our ethical hope!