Pc11 Nonconformità

From Diwygiad

John Stott: “Non conformatevi”

(un articolo di Alison Bailey Castellina)

Il Rev. Dr. John Stott, passato alla gloria la settimana scorsa, in un’intervista video, parla di come i cristiani non debbano conformarsi al mondo e che se non sono veramente “autentici” non attireranno mai la la gente a Cristo. Egli afferma che se noi non giungiamo ad essere abbastanza simili simili a Cristo tanto da distinguerci dal mondo, nessuno crederà che siamo veramente seguaci di Cristo. Questo è assolutamente ragionevole. In altre parole, molti di noi che ci diciamo cristiani (e io non me ne escludo) siamo troppo conformi a ciò che la Bibbia chiama "il mondo". Dobbiamo vivere tipicamente: esserne "separati". In che modo?

In questa intervista John Stott afferma:

“Mi ha molto colpito, nel mio studio delle Sacre Scritture, vedere come tutt’attraverso di esse vi è un tema che noi (cristiani che si fondano sulla Bibbia) abbiamo la tendenza a trascurare: l’appello ad essere diversi dal mondo che ci circonda. Trovo interessante che nelle quattro grandi sezioni della Bibbia (Legge, Profeti, Vangeli ed Epistole), in ciascuna vi sia un unico appello. In Levitico (la Legge), Dio dice attraverso Mosè ai figli di Israele: “Non farete quello che si fa nel paese d'Egitto dove avete abitato, né quello che si fa nel paese di Canaan dove io vi conduco, e non seguirete i loro costumi. Metterete in pratica le mie prescrizioni e osserverete le mie leggi, per conformarvi a esse. Io sono il SIGNORE vostro Dio” (Levitico 18:3-4). E’ un’affermazione veramente notevole. Essa si trova pure spesso nei Profeti, dove Israele viene accusato di seguire i costumi delle nazioni ad essa circostanti. Arrivate, poi, fino al Sermone sul Monte dove in Matteo 6 Gesù dice: “Non fate dunque come loro” (Matteo 6:8). Intorno a loro vi era gente ipocrita, vi erano i pagani. Quattro sono le parole chiave: “NON FATE COME LORO”. Guardate poi alle epistole, in Romani 12, dove troviamo scritto: “Non conformatevi a questo mondo” (Romani 12:2). Quello è assolutamente centrale a tutto il nostro pensiero: siamo chiamati a seguire Gesù ed i Suoi criteri morali ed a respingere le vie del mondo che ci circonda” (John Stott, intervista video).

Differenti nell’amare

Ognuno vuole e ha bisogno di amore, ma non tutti sanno cosa sia l'amore. Molti lo confondono con il "desiderio". L'amore cristiano è manifestamente diverso nel senso che non è affatto incentrato su sé stessi, materialistico, interessato, concupiscente, avido... ma impostato allo spirito di sacrificio, “Cristo-centrico”. Assomiglia all’amore di Cristo, equilibrato, paziente, longanime, affidabile ed incondizionato. Include coloro che il mondo considera non-amabili e privi di valore, le persone “dalle quali non si può ricavare nulla”. Questo è l’amore distintamente cristiano. E’ il segno distintivo della Chiesa - tristemente però questo amore è molto carente. Noi dobbiamo manifestare questo Amore. Dobbiamo esaminare giorno per giorno la nostra vita e verificare che essa sia conforme con questo Amore (l’amore vero).

Diversi nel modo di pensare e nelle nostre prospettive

Different in Thought and Perspective We are not to judge by worldly standards - valuing what the world values, in terms of wanting material things, lust, power, wealth and status. We value what Jesus values, which is obedience to His teaching and Ten Commandments faith in God, and faith in action: compassion and care. We trust and worship Him "in spirit and in truth" and seek to grow in knowledge and faith.

Different in Lifestyle and Spending We are not materialists: we are not millionaries ,and if we are, we give a lot away. We do not amass what we will not need for the sake of greed. We share things we own. We do not compete with the materially successful of this world. That does not mean that we are not keen to influence the world as "salt", which means that we have to get into positions of salty influence. It is simply, that our motivation is salt and light, not greed.

But we do have to support ourselves and provide for ourselves, without burdening society unless we have a disability which stops us sustaining any work (with workplace adjustments in place) or we are elderly and frail, in which case, if we have no other means, the Church and society should support us. We do have to live somewhere affordable but without undue ostentation - unassuming, open, friendly, warm and if affordable, hospitable. We are not to make our homes our idol or our burrow. We do have to wear clothes which God will supply but we are not to make them our raison d'etre We do have to take rest e.g. on Sundays- but we are not to make world travel and "pleasures of the flesh" our main reason for living (as many do) We do have to steward the world of nature We must serve the "prisoner, the sick and outcast" in some way We do have to meet the requirements of the World in terms of work, contribution, paying our full taxes and saving for retirement. We are to plan our giving of time and money and effort to the Church and to "seek his Kingdom" in our life - working out how He wants to use the gifts he has given us. This could be serving the Church in work, reaching out to the sick and elderly, chatting to people far from God, and taking time to get into their mindset, improving our understanding of the Bible and what it is saying and being creative for God (music, writing, art etc). We should think about our legacy - which should serve His Kingdom. We must live balanced, planned lives if we are in control enough, of our life, to be able to. We should seek to share the Gospel if we have opportunities. We are under an obligation to give to the work of the Church cheerfully if we have sufficient means for ourselves (you cannot give out of nothing) We should be seeking to glorify and reflect Christ, in all we do.

Different in Character and Work If there is nothing else we can do, because we are too ill or old, but lie still, then we should do that with determination and work purely at polishing our faulty character and addressing our obstinate sins and weaknesses, which we need to find time to do in our busy lives anyway. As John Stott also says, the greatest obstacle to the message is that we Christians do not look "enough like Christ".

Different in Learning and Teaching As John Stott says, we are struggling with a very complex world of multiple competing perspectives, most of which are far from God, due to the Church being too weak at the Englightenment and allowing the world to drift a long way from the Bible. This has resulted in terrible complexity in which people are mind-boggled by choices and messages - and evil confuses them further. We can serve the world by reading secular books and seeing secular films to get "inside" these complex perspectives, to understand what people are exposed to, to find what Christianity has to offer them which they lack (usually purpose, fulfilment, clarity, forgiveness and Love). We should seek to gain knowledge and languages, in order to serve God better. We should read the Bible daily and listen to learned sermons (like Stott's) so that we can hold key concepts and verses "in our bloodstream" to refer to at all times.

Different in Hidden Resources Above all we are to be different in resources. Where others trust in science completely, we must pray and trust in God, in all situations. Do we?

Different in Forgiveness We are not to conduct feuds, ditch relatives and friends, hate church family members we disagree with, or hold grudges. We do not judge and we are always ready to forgive and understand, without minimising the seriousness of "sin".