Disagreeing Well: Gregory the Great

Here is a wonderful example of why we still need to read books by dead people (h/t Michael - although admittedly it comes as a quote from a contemporary book). Gregory the Great (540-604) writes:

"Provided that it is in good faith, then, it is a mark of virtue to put up with superiors' faults. One should, nevertheless, if there is any prospect that the offending trait could be emended, make a humble suggestion to that effect. Yet one should take great care, when defending justice, not to go too far and cross the threshold of arrogance; not, in an ill-judged love of right, to forfeit humility, the mistress of right; not to forget that the person of whose action one happens to be critical is in fact one's senior. Subjects will discipline their minds to guard humility and avoid the swelling of pride, if they keep an incessant watch on their own weaknesses.

For we neglect to examine our own strength honestly; and because we believe ourselves stronger than we really are, we judge our superiors severely. The less we know of ourselves, the more our field of vision is occupied by those whom we aspire to criticize." - Gregory the Great (540-604) Moralia, Book 25:16:36 in From Irenaeus to Grotius" ed O'Donovan and O'Donovan p. 202.

One of the most valuable things I learned at uni was: it is very easy to be right. It's much harder to be right and still be gracious and loving. Especially in the Sydney Evangelical culture in which I live (which I love, by the way). Yet that is what Paul urges us to do:

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4.1-6

Guest Rant by Michael Wells

Today, John Woodhouse said that acceptance of the bible as the only word of God IS Christianity. Not evangelical, not christian, but Christianity.

Hows about that Jesus fella huh?

A Guest Post

Hebel's first guest post is by Michael Wells, of St. Hilda's Katoomba, and Lord willing a 2007 first year Moore student. It's a post from sydneyanglicans.net and you'll find the original context here (basically a debate, some how spinning out of discussion on the New Capital Works project, on whether or not liturgy still has a role in church). "As a 20's person, I want to bolster the case for liturgy, if it is owned and believed by the congregation. To a certain extent I think we have been sucked in to the secular idea that 'church' only exists on Sundays. So we try and do everything on Sunday, proclaim the word, worship together and try and make meaningful contact and fellowship. We rightly see that the church has a vertical relationship to God and horizontal relationship to others, and an outward one to those in the community. But do we have to cram all these into our Sunday meeting? I wonder whether by making all (almost) Sunday services informal, we miss out on the rich majesty of our God and the biblical significance of our meeting together, whether we swap true fellowship for a 15 minute chat over coffee and whether we are left with much to invite our friends and neighbors to. Traditional liturgy made the whole church service proclamation, in which the whole congregation participated, and my worry is that we slide into a position where only the precher proclaims. Perhaps we need to encourage young people to be creating not bland informality, but their own symbolically rich (yet biblically sound as a pound!) corporate expression and proclamation." - Michael Wells 10 points if you can name the Cathedral.