Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. —2 Corinthians 6:14
Wow. Once again, God has done it- sent me the exact message I need at the moment I needed it. Today's "Daily Bread" reflection remarks about choosing a spouse:
[Some men and women] discover too late that a beautiful body is camouflaging a defective mind and soul. Men and women both make this mistake, but author Carolyn Custis James was specifically concerned about men when she wrote: “[A] woman’s interest in theology ought to be the first thing to catch a man’s eye. . . . [Her] theology suddenly matters when a man is facing a crisis and she is the only one around to offer encouragement.”
When I feel like the world around me wants me to be sexy and beautiful and perfect on the outside, I need to remember that the wrapping isn't nearly as important as the present inside... that sexy theology. And boy do I have theology... plenty of it. And it is pretty darn sexy if I do say so myself!
Lord, thank you for blessing me with a special man in my life who cares more about the attractiveness of my theology than my appearance. And I am thankful that he is both attractive on the outside and the inside... encouraging me and listening to me and there for me whenever I need him.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth! - Psalm 119: 103
Keeping in theme with this sexy theology, this verse is one that I LOVE, because I LOVE scripture and reading God's word night and day. I know my brother thought it quite strange how I'd take my Bible with me everywhere this summer (from the lawyer's office to the hairdresser's)... just in case I'd get a few spare minutes to read over the text again. But it is... sweeter than honey. Rich and satisfying and healing (as I'm reminded of the way honey protects us from allergies). And a bit of honey added to a simple piece of bread makes something truly decadent. So it is with life, the word of God added to the simplicity of everyday life makes every day life decadent, rich, sweet, sexy.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall. - 1 Corinthians 8:1-2, 9-12
To me, reading verses 9-12 without also reflecting on verses 1-2 gives quite an unbalanced picture of this scripture. What Paul is illustrating here in the latter half is that love is more important than following rules or oughts or 'knowledge' of right and wrong, this way or that way. This leaning towards knowledge instead of love is perhaps quite dangerous in my present academic setting where 'you are what you know.' Paul suggests differently- you are what you love. If I love Jesus, I am Christian and God knows me. (Insert Dominican "Amen" here.)
With that Amen, this reminds me of this summer while I was in the DR. While I don't buy or eat meat on my own accord, I hesitate to call myself a 'vegetarian.' To me, the label is quite exclusive. Turning away a gift given in love and appreciation and blessing is not a loving way of interaction. Though I have my reasons (remembering those without food and environmental sustainabilty among them), it would be unloving to my Dominican brothers and sisters to turn down their lovingly prepared meals.
I specifically remember going to San Jose where Pastor Samson's wife offered us a simple meal of deliciously sweet coffee, fresh coconut milk, fried plantains and chicken patties of some sort. It was one of the most beautiful meals I had seen in a long time, not because of its presentation but because of the love it was prepared with. Later we went into their humble home to pray a blessing upon them and there were only two plastic chairs which they brought to the living room (a small concrete-walled space with one picture on the wall and a tin roof). We prayed for their 13 children (some of whom were sick) and for the church, and I prayed a great blessing upon the house... and that I may learn to have such a beautiful and amazing love that they have... because I do not know the life that they know. That kind of love is Jesus' kind of love, it is that attractive love that everyone is looking for... that we need to give and teach and grow in more and more... and that love is what makes us sexy.
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