St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

What should a Christian do?

Ethics is the study of how we ought to behave. Everybody lives by some sort of moral code or system, mostly taken for granted and ingrained in our natures - but sometimes we have to examine our reasons, when we are faced with dilemmas. And then it is suddenly important to know why we should do one thing and not the other.

A few years ago a friend of mine in another church asked the congregation for suggestions about topics which they’d be interested in hearing discussed. Here are some of the topics that come to mind:

how much debt (credit cards, mortgage, etc) is it responsible for a Christian to be in?
does recycling really help the environment, and how else can we safeguard our planet?
what are the boundaries in sex and intimate relationships, and to what extent should we turn a blind eye to sex outside marriage and cohabitation?
how much discipline should children be under?
is “gay marriage “ OK, and surely it’s better than promiscuity?
does buying “fair trade” goods actually help, and how much does it help?
is a promise ever breakable, and when is it OK to seek to get out of a contract?
is there a responsible use of alcohol / tobacco / drugs, and where should one draw the line?
what’s the best way to address criminality, and what are prisons for?

All of these questions have two sides (at least) to them. It would be a gifted minister who could preach convincingly on all of these topics, and a brave one who would try - nevertheless we can’t dodge difficult questions in life today!

So I’m going to try to preach on some of them. You may notice some topics I’ve left out. So are there any topics that you would like to hear a sermon on? If so please let me know. I am NOT promising to preach on them all!

Doesn’t the bible tell us how to behave? Well, the bible starts us off, but it leaves a lot of grey areas. For instance, the ten commandments say not to murder, but they don’t say whether capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, and war are murder. Jesus teaches against divorce, but doesn’t say whether adultery is a grounds for it. Paul says not to owe anyone anything except the debt to love, but it isn’t clear that he meant to ban mortgages. We live in a society where a lot of decisions are not very straightforward, and we have to ask ourselves how God wants us to apply the principles which he has given us in his word.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. July 2006, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (July 2006) Ring-O-Bells? WEB Cluster, Ethics, Building work, The Lord's call. Other sermon series.	What should a Christian do? Ethics is the study of how we ought to behave. Everybody lives by some sort of moral code or system, mostly taken for granted and ingrained in our natures - but sometimes we have to examine our reasons, when we are faced with dilemmas. And then it is suddenly important to know why we should do one thing and not the other. A few years ago a friend of mine in another church asked the congregation for suggestions about topics which they’d be interested in hearing discussed. Here are some of the topics that come to mind: how much debt (credit cards, mortgage, etc) is it responsible for a Christian to be in? does recycling really help the environment, and how else can we safeguard our planet? what are the boundaries in sex and intimate relationships, and to what extent should we turn a blind eye to sex outside marriage and cohabitation? how much discipline should children be under? is “gay marriage “ OK, and surely it’s better than promiscuity? does buying “fair trade” goods actually help, and how much does it help? is a promise ever breakable, and when is it OK to seek to get out of a contract? is there a responsible use of alcohol / tobacco / drugs, and where should one draw the line? what’s the best way to address criminality, and what are prisons for? All of these questions have two sides (at least) to them. It would be a gifted minister who could preach convincingly on all of these topics, and a brave one who would try - nevertheless we can’t dodge difficult questions in life today! So I’m going to try to preach on some of them. You may notice some topics I’ve left out. So are there any topics that you would like to hear a sermon on? If so please let me know. I am NOT promising to preach on them all! Doesn’t the bible tell us how to behave? Well, the bible starts us off, but it leaves a lot of grey areas. For instance, the ten commandments say not to murder, but they don’t say whether capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, and war are murder. Jesus teaches against divorce, but doesn’t say whether adultery is a grounds for it. Paul says not to owe anyone anything except the debt to love, but it isn’t clear that he meant to ban mortgages. We live in a society where a lot of decisions are not very straightforward, and we have to ask ourselves how God wants us to apply the principles which he has given us in his word. John Hartley
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