When you read the various arguments that are being spoken and published with respect to the hot issues that are threatening to split denominations, has it occurred to anyone else that we need to look again at the arguments contained in the gospels between Jesus and the Pharisees. As I understand it, the Pharisees were one among several schools of thought within the Jewish community. However, by the time that most of the gospels were written, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, they were the group that survived the Roman effort to destroy Judaism. Therefore, as the early Christians framed their story of Jesus and the faith, the Pharisees were the one prominent group that was a rival to their interpretation of the faith.
The Pharisees were passionate about the faith and the task of making it relevant to the continuing life of believers. As do most groups when they see their world shattering around them, they tried to return to the basics of their faith and the Torah that formed them. In many ways, they were innovative in applying the Torah to their modern world and giving people a clear structure to order their lives in the midst of chaos. However, from the Christian perspective, they focused too much on the structure, or the laws of faith, and were not open to the radical nature of grace as proclaimed by Jesus. However, even to many Christians, grace is really scary. It is far too open with too little framework to contain the chaos of life.
Is it possible that we can see a similar set of arguments between structure and grace occurring within Christianity today. On the one hand there are those who want to emphasize the fundamental structure that has served Christianity for centuries as a way to make it through the chaos of our present time. On the other hand, there are those who are pushing the edges of grace in a way that is frightening to many. Can we weave between the extremes of both of these positions and discover a grace that does not overwhelm us with fear?
