Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Facere possum ergo facio

I believe this to be the problem with many Christians today: "I can do this, therefore I shall," or possibly "I can do this, therefore this is what God wants me to do." The fact that one possesses a faculty is a carte blanche to exercise that faculty.

The trouble is that this approach is terribly false. Certainly Biblically the great heroes are the exact antithesis of this statement: Moses, Gideon, David, Elijah and the apostles were not able to do what God wanted, but God gave them the faculties necessary to complete his command.

Likewise Amos, a shepherd and vine dresser was called not to be a shepherd and vine dresser but a prophet of God. If Amos had followed the ideas that proliferate certainly in Protestant Churches, he would never have left his sheep or his vines, but "exercised his faculties to the glory of God."

No wonder Anglican Masses are in a terrible state today. Some of them are just concerts for choirs or worship groups who perform the music to help people "feel like worshipping", others are as vehicles for the "latest liturgy innovation."
The whole women's ordination and homosexual sex issues are examples of facere possum ergo facio. What is missed here is the idea that God may not want certain faculties exercised in this life. There is many a celibate who willingly withholds certain faculties in order to operate as a Roman Catholic priest.

Just because I can sing both alto and tenor doesn't give me the right to sing alto in a choir which has 15 altos and no tenors. For the good of the choir, I must sing the part that is needed.

It is God to whom we must offer our souls and bodies as living sacrifices for him to use as He will, not as we will. He may use our weaknesses more than our strengths in order to effect some glorious miracle, or some fantastically effective ministry. If this is the case then, rather than offer God that which costs us nothing (i.e. exercising our strengths), we should limit ourselves to His desires. From this we will get a sure sense of fulfilment. He will rejoice in our strengths when He pleases, and we will enjoy them too.

2 comments:

poetreader said...

Because I can

I can kill:
I can cut with a knife;
I can shoot with a gun;
I can hit with a speeding car;
In many ways, with many tools,
the possibilities just are.
I can kill,
but should I kill,
because I can?

I can steal:
if I want it, I can take it;
I can hide in in my hand,
or in a pocket of my clothes,
or walk away while no one watches,
or even grab and take by force.
I can steal,
but should I steal,
because I can?

I can lie:
I can bend the truth,
or make up facts,
to cover for my faults,
or make myself look better than I am,
or to hurt someone I wish to hurt.
I can lie,
but should I lie,
because I can?

I can swive,
with whom I wish to swive;
I can call it love and have my lust,
and work my will illicitly,
with man or woman, boy or girl,
and I can call it good.
I can swive,
but should I swive,
because I can?

I can do whate’er I will,
if I have the strength,
and I can claim I have the right,
that no one can say No;
I can claim that bad is good,
and justify my deeds;
and I can use most anyone
to satisfy my needs.
I can do just as I will,
but should I do,
because I can?
----------------------
(c)2006 Ed Pacht

Warwickensis said...

Thanks, Ed.