The Bible Answers

Mark-O-Solo:

I have a lengthy question, for it represents a bit of a crisis I’m going through right now in my life.

I apologize if you prefer short and sweet questions, but I am in a great degree of confusion, which can’t be summed up in one sentence:

My question concerns the issue of “embracing the ways of Christ” and requires me to tell you a story about my life:

When I was a fourteen-year-old freshman in High School, a new acquaintance came to me on lunch period and asked for a dollar.
I was young and hence naive about human nature and the ways of the world. Being brought up in a Catholic household, I did the purely Christian thing: gave the dollar without hesitancy or conditions.
Two days later, he came back for another dollar; I responded the same way.
Two days later, the same event.
Eventually it happened every day and went on for a few weeks; I kept doing what Christ commanded of us “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:42)
And then, I woke up; got “mugged by reality” and realized how not only was I being taken advantage of, but how my friend was making himself a slave to my generosity.
That day I told him no more dollars; he accepted this and left me alone.

This experience fed into the world view I would adopt in life: we live in a Fallen World; in a perfect world I would have been able to give him the dollar and trust it was a genuine need. But in a Fallen World, it only encouraged him to not be self-sufficient.
Considering that a central message of Christianity is that we need a savior because we can’t be 100% sinless, it seemed reasonable to me to approach life that way: sometimes we have to break the Law for a higher principle.
Any anxiety of punishment for doing so is unwarranted since Jesus atoned for out sins.
This doesn’t mean I take advantage of Christ’s Grace and live a gleefully sinful life, for I constantly strive to improve myself, not sin, and advise others to do the same.

One could call this a Conservative Point of View.
I do not wish to turn this issue into a political discussion; I use the word “Conservative” more broadly than political policy.
However, I have always believed that what today is referred to as “Conservatism” is simply the acknowledgment that we live in a Fallen World; while “Liberalism” is the attempt to pretend we can live in a perfect world, and ignoring our sinful natures.

This has been a big part of my World View, which I believed to be Biblical.

But recently, I’ve been reading The New Testament and find Jesus’ commands to seemingly be conflicting with this World View.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew in particular seem to be teaching us to ignore the sinful nature of the world with commands such as the quote I’ve already mentioned above.

It seems to me that the absolute and unconditional care for others Jesus expects of us would have required me to keep giving my friend a dollar a day, which would probably go on for the remainder of High School (or at least Freshmen year).

But I don’t understand why God would be pleased with this behavior.
Nor do I understand why Jesus says in Matthew that if we don’t keep these commandments we “will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:20) if He went on to sacrifice Himself so that we can all enter the Kingdom of Heaven by His Grace and our Faith.

My father tells me that I’m misreading this section of Matthew; that Jesus isn’t demanding works of us, but instead using extreme rhetoric to express how impossible it is to keep the Law and enter the Kingdom of Heaven on our own merit.
This makes sense to me, except for the fact that this is not stated in these passages.

I fear deceiving myself by believing somebody’s “take” on the Gospel, as opposed to what is actually written in it.

So, I have spent many hours reading the rest of the Gospels, as well as the New Testament Letters, especially by Paul.
I’ve learned a lot, especially concerning the nature of the Law and Christ’s sacrifice and Grace.
But I can’t quite resolve the original confusion in my mind without putting in my own “take” on it.

Can you help me understand what Jesus expected me to do about the friend who was exploiting my generosity?
Is there something written in the Bible that clarifies my confusion over Matthew chapters Five, Six and Seven?

PS: My pseudonym, Mark-O-Solo, is my new one.
My old one was Terran; I’ve left comments on your blog in the past.

sylvia:

i live with a man that is an alcoholic and is a very carnal person. i been reading about problems of the alcholics and there are many problems that arise with being an alcoholic besides health problems. he lie’s,he’s very carnal….now my question is how do i fit into this situation why do i continue to be with him, i feel like i am with him for a reason, i believe there is a reason for everything that we do. how does jesus feel about my situation? am i doing the right thing, what way can i help this person who i care and feel sorry for. i worry about my salvation everyday and i fight with good and bad thoughts of staying or leaving.please help me.