_CHRISTIAN DUTY: DETAILS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT_
ROMANS xii. 9-21
St Paul has set before us the life of surrender, of the "giving-over"
of faculty to God, in one great preliminary aspect. The fair ideal
(meant always for a watchful and hopeful realization) has been held
aloft. It is a life whose motive is the Lord's "compassions"; whose
law of freedom is His will; whose inmost aim is, without envy or
interference towards our fellow-servants, to "finish the work He hath
given _us_ to do." Now into this noble outline are to be poured the
details of personal conduct which, in any and every line and field,
are to make the characteristics of the Christian.
As we listen again, we will again remember that the words are levelled
not at a few but at all who are in Christ. The beings indicated here
are not the chosen names of a Church Calendar, nor are they the
passionless inhabitants of a Utopia. They are all who, in Rome of old,
in England now, "have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
"have the Spirit of God dwelling in them," and are living out this
wonderful but most practical life in the straight line of their
Father's will.
As if he could not heap the golden words too thickly together, St Paul
dictates here with even unusual abruptness and terseness of
expression. He leaves syntax very much alone; gives us noun and
adjective, and lets them speak for themselves. We will venture to
render as nearly verbatim as possible. The English will inevitably
seem more rough and crude than the Greek, but the impression given
will be truer on the whole to the original than a fuller rendering
would be.
[Sidenote: Ver. 9.] =Your (ἡ) love, unaffected. Abominating the
ill, wedded to[211] the good.= [Sidenote: Ver. 10.] =For your
brotherly-kindness, full of mutual home-affection (φιλόστοργοι).
For your honour,= your code of precedence, =deferring to one another.=
[Sidenote: Ver. 11.] =For your earnestness,[212] not slothful. For the
Spirit,= as regards your possession and use of the divine Indweller,
=glowing.[213] For the Lord, bond-serving.[214]= [Sidenote: Ver. 12.]
=For your hope,= that is to say, as to the hope of the Lord's Return,
=rejoicing. For your affliction, enduring. For your prayer,
persevering.= [Sidenote: Ver. 13.] =For the wants of the saints,= for
the poverty of fellow-Christians, =communicating;= "_sharing_"
(κοινωνοῦντες), a yet nobler thing than the mere "_giving_" which
may ignore the sacred fellowship of the provider and the receiver.
=Hospitality[215]--prosecuting (διώκοντες)= as with a studious
cultivation. [Sidenote: Ver. 14.] =Bless those who persecute[216] you;
bless, and do not curse.= This was a solemnly appropriate precept, for
the community over which, eight years later, the first great
Persecution was to break in "blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke."
And no doubt there was abundant present occasion for it, even while
the scene was comparatively tranquil. Every modern mission-field can
illustrate the possibilities of a "persecution" which may be
altogether private, or which at most may touch only a narrow
neighbourhood; which may never reach the point of technical outrage,
yet may apply a truly "fiery trial" to the faithful convert. Even in
circles of our decorous English society is no such thing known as the
"persecution" of a life "not conformed to this world," though the
assault or torture may take forms almost invisible and impalpable,
except to the sensibilities of the object of it? For all such cases,
as well as for the confessor on the rack, and the martyr in the fire,
this precept holds expressly; "_Bless, do not curse_." In Christ find
possible the impossible; let the resentment of nature die, at His
feet, in the breath of His love.
[Sidenote: Ver. 15.] =To rejoice with the rejoicing, and to weep with
the weeping;= holy duties of the surrendered life, too easily
forgotten. Alas, there is such a phenomenon, not altogether rare, as a
life whose self-surrender, in some main aspects, cannot be doubted,
but which utterly fails in sympathy. A certain spiritual exaltation is
allowed actually to harden, or at least to seem to harden, the
consecrated heart; and the man who perhaps witnesses for God with a
prophet's ardour is yet not one to whom the mourner would go for tears
and prayer in his bereavement, or the child for a perfectly human
smile in its play. But this is not as the Lord would have it be. If
indeed the Christian has "given his body over," it is that his eyes,
and lips, and hands, may be ready to give loving tokens of fellowship
in sorrow, and (what is less obvious) in gladness too, to the human
hearts around him.
[Sidenote: Ver. 16.] =Feeling[217] the same thing towards one
another;= animated by a happy identity of sympathy and brotherhood.
=Not haughty in feeling,[218] but full of lowly sympathies[219];=
accessible, in an unaffected fellowship, to the poor, the social
inferior, the weak and the defeated, and again to the smallest and
homeliest interests of all. It was the Lord's example; the little
child, the wistful parent, the widow with her mites, the poor fallen
woman of the street, could "lead away" (συναπάγειν) His blessed
sympathies with a touch, while He responded with an unbroken majesty
of gracious power, but with a kindness for which condescension seems a
word far too cold and distant.
=Do not get to be wise in your own opinion;= be ready always to learn;
dread the attitude of mind, too possible even for the man of earnest
spiritual purpose, which assumes that you have nothing to learn and
everything to teach; which makes it easy to criticize and to
discredit; and which can prove an altogether repellent thing to the
observer from outside, who is trying to estimate the Gospel by its
adherent and advocate. [Sidenote: Ver. 17.] =Requiting no one evil for
evil;= safe from the spirit of retaliation, in your surrender to Him
"who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered,
threatened not." =Taking forethought for good in the sight of all
men;= not letting habits, talk, expenses, drift into inconsistency;
watching with open and considerate eyes against what others may fairly
think to be unchristian in you. Here is no counsel of cowardice, no
recommendation of slavery to a public opinion which may be altogether
wrong. It is a precept of loyal jealousy for the heavenly Master's
honour. His servant is to be nobly indifferent to the world's thought
and word where he is sure that God and the world antagonize. But he is
to be sensitively attentive to the world's observation where the
world, more or less acquainted with the Christian precept or
principle, and more or less conscious of its truth and right, is
watching, maliciously or it may be wistfully, to see if it governs the
Christian's practice. In view of this the man will never be content
even with the satisfaction of his own conscience; he will set himself
not only to do right, but to be seen to do it. He will not only be
true to a monetary trust, for example; he will take care that the
proofs of his fidelity shall be open. He will not only mean well
towards others; he will take care that his manner and bearing, his
dealings and intercourse, shall unmistakably breathe the Christian
air.
[Sidenote: Ver. 18.] =If possible, as regards your side,= (the
"_your_" is as emphatic as possible in position and in meaning,)
=living at peace with all men;= yes, even in pagan and hostile Rome. A
peculiarly Christian principle speaks here. The men who had "given
over their bodies a living sacrifice" might think, imaginably, that
their duty was to court the world's enmity, to tilt as it were against
its spears, as if the one supreme call was to collide, to fall, and to
be glorified. But this would be fanaticism; and the Gospel is never
fanatical, for it is the law of love. The surrendered Christian is
not, as such, an aspirant for even a martyr's fame, but the servant of
God and man. If martyrdom crosses his path, it is met as duty; but he
does not court it as _éclat_. And what is true of martyrdom is of
course true of every lower and milder form of the conflict of the
Church, and of the Christian, in the world.
Nothing more nobly evidences the divine origin of the Gospel than this
essential precept; "as far as it lies with _you_, live peaceably with
all men." Such wise and kind forbearance and neighbourliness would
never have been bound up with the belief of supernatural powers and
hopes, if those powers and hopes had been the mere issue of human
exaltation, of natural enthusiasm. The supernatural of the Gospel
leads to nothing but rectitude and considerateness, in short to
nothing but love, between man and man. And why? Because it is indeed
divine; it is the message and gift of the living Son of God, in all
the truth and majesty of His rightfulness. All too early in the
history of the Church "the crown of martyrdom" became an object of
enthusiastic ambition. But that was not because of the teaching of the
Crucified, nor of His suffering Apostles. [Sidenote: Ver. 19.] =Not
avenging yourselves, beloved; no, give place to the wrath;= let the
angry opponent, the dread persecutor, have his way, so far as your
resistance or retaliation is concerned. "_Beloved_, let us love"
(1 John iv. 7); with that strong and conquering love which wins by
suffering. And do not fear lest eternal justice should go by default;
there is One who will take care of that matter; you may leave it with
Him. =For it stands written= (Deut. xxxii. 35), ="To Me belongs
vengeance; I will recompense, saith the Lord."= [Sidenote: Ver. 20.]
="But if"[220]= (and again he quotes the older Scriptures, finding in
the Proverbs (xxv. 21, 22) the same oracular authority as in the
Pentateuch), ="but if thy enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is
thirsty, give him drink; for so doing thou wilt heap coals of fire on
his head";= taking the best way to the only "_vengeance_" which a
saint can wish, namely, your "enemy's" conviction of his wrong, the
rising of a burning shame in his soul, and the melting of his spirit
in the fire of love. [Sidenote: Ver. 21.] =Be not thou conquered by
the evil, but conquer, in the good, the evil.=
"_In_ the good"; as if surrounded by it,[221] moving invulnerable, in
its magic circle, through "the contradiction of sinners," "the
provoking of all men." The thought is just that of Psal. xxxi. 18, 19:
"How great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear
Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the
sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from
the pride of man; Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the
strife of tongues." "_The good_" of this sentence of St Paul's is no
vague and abstract thing; it is "the gift of God" (vi. 28); it is the
life eternal found and possessed in union with Christ, our
Righteousness, our Sanctification, our Redemption. Practically,[222]
it is "not It but _He_." The Roman convert who should find it more
than possible to meet his enemy with love, to do him positive good in
his need, with a conquering simplicity of intention, was to do so not
so much by an internal conflict between his "better self" and his
worse, as by the living power of Christ received in his whole being;
by "abiding in Him."
It is so now, and for ever. The open secret of divine peace and love
is what it was; as necessary, as versatile, as victorious. And its
path of victory is as straight and as sure as of old. And the precept
to tread that path, daily and hourly, if occasion calls, is still as
divinely binding as it ever was for the Christian, if indeed he has
embraced "the mercies of God," and is looking to his Lord to be
evermore "transfigured, by the renewing of his mind."
* * * * *
As we review this rich field of the flowers, and of the gold, of
holiness, this now completed paragraph of epigrammatic precepts, some
leading and pervading principles emerge. We see first that the
sanctity of the Gospel is no hushed and cloistered "indifferentism."
It is a thing intended for the open field of human life; to be lived
out "before the sons of men." A strong positive element is in it. The
saint is to "_abominate_ the evil"; not only to deprecate it, and
deplore. He is to be energetically "_in earnest_." He is to "_glow_"
with the Spirit, and to "_rejoice_" in the hope of glory. He is to
take practical, provident pains to live not only aright, but
manifestly aright, in ways which "_all men_" can recognize. Again, his
life is to be essentially social. He is contemplated as one who meets
other lives at every turn, and he is never to forget or neglect his
relation to them. Particularly in the Christian Society, he is to
cherish the "family affection" of the Gospel; to defer to fellow
Christians in a generous humility; to share his means with the poor
among them; to welcome the strangers of them to his house. He is to
think it a sacred duty to enter into the joys and the sorrows round
him. He is to keep his sympathies open for despised people, and for
little matters. Then again, and most prominently after all, he is to
be ready to suffer, and to meet suffering with a spirit far greater
than that of only resignation. He is to bless his persecutor; he is to
serve his enemy in ways most practical and active; he is to conquer
him for Christ, in the power of a divine communion.
Thus, meanwhile, the life, so positive, so active in its effects, is
to be essentially all the while a passive, bearing, enduring, life.
Its strength is to spring not from the energies of nature, which may
or may not be vigorous in the man, but from an internal surrender to
the claim and government of his Lord. He has "presented himself to
God" (vi. 13); he has "presented his body, a living sacrifice"
(xii. 1). He has recognized, with a penitent wonder and joy, that he
is but the limb of a Body, and that his Head is the Lord. His thought
is now not for his personal rights, his individual exaltation, but for
the glory of his Head, for the fulfilment of the thought of his Head,
and for the health and wealth of the Body, as the great vehicle in the
world of the gracious will of the Head.
It is among the chief and deepest of the characteristics of Christian
ethics, this passive root below a rich growth and harvest of activity.
All through the New Testament we find it expressed or suggested. The
first Beatitude uttered by the Lord (Matt. v. 3) is given to "the
poor, the mendicant (πτωχοί), in spirit." The last (John xx. 29) is
for the believer, who trusts without seeing. The radiant portrait of
holy Love (1 Cor. xiii.) produces its effect, full of indescribable
life as well as beauty, by the combination of almost none but negative
touches; the "total abstinence" of the loving soul from impatience,
from envy, from self-display, from self-seeking, from brooding over
wrong, from even the faintest pleasure in evil, from the tendency to
think ill of others. Everywhere the Gospel bids the Christian take
sides against himself. He is to stand ready to forego even his surest
rights, if only _he_ is hurt by so doing; while on the other hand he
is watchful to respect even the least obvious rights of others, yea,
to consider their weaknesses, and their prejudices, to the furthest
just limit. He is "not to resist evil"; in the sense of never fighting
for self as self. He is rather to "suffer himself to be defrauded"
(1 Cor. vi. 7) than to bring discredit on his Lord in however due a
course of law. The straits and humiliations of his earthly lot, if
such things are the will of God for him, are not to be materials for
his discontent, or occasions for his envy, or for his secular
ambition. They are to be his opportunities for inward triumph; the
theme of a "song of the Lord," in which he is to sing of strength
perfected in weakness, of a power not his own "overshadowing" him
(2 Cor. xii. 9, 10).
Such is the passivity of the saints, deep beneath their serviceable
activity. The two are in vital connexion. The root is not the accident
but the proper antecedent of the product. For the secret and
unostentatious surrender of the will, in its Christian sense, is no
mere evacuation, leaving the house swept but empty; it is the
reception of the Lord of life into the open castle of the City of
Mansoul. It is the placing in His hands of all that the walls contain.
And placed in His hands, the castle, and the city, will shew at once,
and continually more and more, that not only order but life has taken
possession. The surrender of the Moslem is, in its theory, _a mere_
submission. The surrender of the Gospel is a reception also; and thus
its nature is to come out in "the fruit of the Spirit."
Once more, let us not forget that the Apostle lays his main emphasis
here rather on being than on doing. Nothing is said of great spiritual
enterprises; everything has to do with the personal conduct of the men
who, if such enterprises are done, must do them. This too is
characteristic of the New Testament. Very rarely do the Apostles say
anything about their converts' duty, for instance, to carry the
message of Christ around them in evangelistic aggression. Such
aggression was assuredly attempted, and in numberless ways, by the
primeval Christians, from those who were "scattered abroad" (Acts
viii. 4) after the death of Stephen onwards. The Philippians (ii. 15,
16) "shone as lights in the world, holding out the word of life." The
Ephesians (v. 13) penetrated the surrounding darkness, being
themselves "light in the Lord." The Thessalonians (1, i. 8) made their
witness felt "in Macedonia, and Achaia, and in every place." The
Romans, encouraged by St Paul's presence and sufferings, "were bold to
speak the word without fear" (Phil. i. 14). St John (3 Ep. 7) alludes
to missionaries who, "for the Name's sake, went forth, taking nothing
of the Gentiles."
Yet is it not plain that, when the Apostles thought of the life and
zeal of their converts, their first care, by far, was that they should
be wholly conformed to the will of God in personal and social matters?
This was the indispensable condition to their being, as a community,
what they must be if they were to prove true witnesses and
propagandists for their Lord.
God forbid that we should draw from this phenomenon one inference,
however faint, to thwart or discredit the missionary zeal now in our
day rising like a fresh, pure tide in the believing Church. May our
Master continually animate His servants in the Church at home to seek
the lost around them, to recall the lapsed with the voice of truth and
love. May He multiply a hundredfold the scattered host of His
"witnesses in the uttermost parts of the earth," through the
dwelling-places of those eight hundred millions who are still pagan,
not to speak of the lesser yet vast multitudes of misbelievers,
Mahometan and Jewish. But neither in missionary enterprise, nor in any
sort of activity for God and man, is this deep suggestion of the
Epistles to be forgotten. What the Christian does is even more
important than what he says. What he is is the all-important
antecedent to what he does. He is "nothing yet as he ought to" be if,
amidst even innumerable efforts and aggressions, he has not "presented
his body a living sacrifice" for his Lord's purposes, not his own; if
he has not learnt, in his Lord, an unaffected love, a holy family
affection, a sympathy with griefs and joys around him, a humble esteem
of himself, and the blessed art of giving way to wrath, and of
overcoming evil in "the good" of the presence of the Lord.
[211] See the context of 1 Cor. vi. 17 for an apology for this
paraphrase of κολλώμενοι.
[212] "_In business_" gives perhaps too special a direction to the
thought, as we use the word "_business_" now. Not that that special
direction would not have a noble truth in it, rightly understood.
[213] Literally "_boiling_," as a caldron on the fire.
[214] This reading, τῷ κυρίῳ, as against τῷ καιρῷ, appears to be
certainly right.--Our rendering is bold; for undoubtedly "_serving the
Lord_" meets the Greek grammar more simply. But the datives are
hitherto so clearly datives of relation that we think this also must
be so explained. We can only apologize for the crude compound
"_bond-serving_" by the wish to represent the full force of
δουλεύοντες.
[215] Τὴν φιλοξενίαν: we may paraphrase the article by "_your_
hospitality," or even "_Christian_ hospitality." But this would
exaggerate the impression it represented.
[216] Διώκοντας: it seems certain that this word was suggested by
the διώκοντες just before, widely different as the references are.
But how shall English convey this echo?
[217] Φρονοῦντεσ: the word "_thinking_" does not quite rightly
represent the Greek. Φρονεῖν is not "_to think_," in the sense of
articulate reflection, but to have a mental and moral disposition, of
whatever kind. A popular use of the word "_to feel_" fairly represents
this.
[218] Lit., "_not 'minding,' affecting, high things_." We paraphrase,
to retain the word "_feeling_" for φρονεῖν.
[219] Lit., "_being led away with the humble (things)_." Some
paraphrase is necessary here.
[220] Read, ἀλλ' ἐὰν.
[221] We are aware that not seldom in the N. T. ἐν represents the
Hebrew ב (of בכלם) in its familiar instrumental meaning, without any
definite trace of _local_ imagery. But where the more literal
rendering has an obvious fitness it is best to retain it. Thus we
render ἐν here by "_by_" not "_in_."
[222] Though the τῳ ἀγαθῳ of the Greek is certainly neuter, by its
balance with τὸ κακόν.