For The Children

[Editorial note: there are no straw men in what I wrote below. All these arguments have proceeded from the lips of loved friends, family... and from myself. Sometimes from all three.]

Jesus calls us to a life of simplicity.

And generosity.

Luke 12:32-34
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Over and over and over again the gospels reveal a Jesus who instructs us to travel light and give without thought of repayment.

And so we consider how life would look if we followed his instructions. A faint stirring rises in our souls. There is indeed something noble in the thought. Yes, we could do that...

But then we reconsider.

"For our children," we solemnly note, "we must save. We will need to provide them with a legacy."

Jesus calls us to live peacefully.

To not fight back.

Luke 9:22-23
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

In no fewer than five places across three different gospels Jesus repeats these words. We are to live as innocent people condemned to a violent death. That is exactly what a cross means.

And so we consider how life would look if we followed his instructions. A faint stirring rises in our souls. There is indeed something noble in the thought. Yes, we could do that...

But then we reconsider.

"For our children," we solemnly note, "we must be ready and prepared to protect. If the lives of our children are at stake, we might perhaps have to kill the attacker."

Jesus teaches us to love sinful people.

In close proximity.

Luke 7:36-50
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The problem at this party is not the loose woman who crashed it, but the Pharisee who didn't want her in his home. Jesus makes this fact perfectly clear. He hung out with sinners and expected his followers to do the same.

And so we consider how life would look if we followed his instructions. A faint stirring rises in our souls. There is indeed something noble in the thought. Yes, we could do that...

But then we reconsider.

"For our children," we solemnly note, "we must avoid bad places and bad people. Our children might be harmed by what they see and hear."

And in this way...

...we condemn ourselves with our very own words.

For our children will indeed be formed by what they see and hear — and nowhere more so than when then watch us.

Jesus taught us to live simply, give generously, expect to be mistreated, plan to not retaliate, and to love the most unwholesome souls in uncomfortably close quarters.

But "for our children" we hoard money, prepare for violence and keep the really bad sorts of sinners at arms length (or further).

It's a terrible shame that we saddle our own children with the responsibility for all our disobedience. We really should ignore Jesus' teachings for ourselves. But let's be honest. Isn't that what we've been doing all along?

It isn't for our children that we live as we do. We just like to think it sounds better when we say it that way.

Not to worry, though, for our children watch us do it. And for their children they will do the same.