Responsibilities and Law Suits ............. Parables 365

April 13, 1993

A week or so ago I used lawsuits against computer companies to illustrate our human tendency to blame problems on others who did not directly cause them. At least one sufferer of repetitive stress injuries took offense. My apologies. These Parables are not intended to belittle people in pain but to point to God who loves us and has tremendous power to bring good from even the worst things that happen to us.

RSI is a serious physical condition and can lead to work loss and even permanent disability. Some are not aware that doing the same task over and over (particularly at work stations that force unsafe posture) can be so damaging. Employers need to provide more information and safer working conditions. Those prone to RSI need to take every precaution possible.

While I could further explore medical and legal ramifications, this column is intended to bring out the biblical perspective on situations like these. For instance, what does God say about employers who ignore worker-safety? And what about the pain felt by those injured? Or the added frustration whenever no one seems to care about their situation?

God’s Word directly addresses these concerns. Surprisingly, He offers warnings, instruction and hope to BOTH sides of the issue.

Exploitation is not a new thing. In New Testament times when the Romans ruled Israel, it was legal for Roman soldiers to force bystanders to carry their equipment up to one mile. They were also known to intimidate and extort money from helpless people.

Soldiers were not the only abusers. Masters beat their slaves, employers overworked and underpaid their servants, and leaders exploited their followers.

Even though God gave many rules regarding these relationships, people didn’t obey them just like they don’t obey Him today. Yet God offered hope to these cruel and heartless people. John the Baptist warned them to repent and Jesus offered forgiveness if they did.

Injured people were also given instruction and hope. First God warned them not to retaliate. Jesus put it this way, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matt. 5:38-41).

God’s people were expected to do their jobs in faith with Christlike attitudes: “Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ” (Ephesians 6:5). They were to do this regardless of how they were treated: “...submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.... if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God (1 Peter 2).

This seems unfair but God is more interested that suffering people do not sin by returning evil with evil. Sin will only damage us even more. Instead, He wants us to come to Him with our pain. He suffered far more than we ever will so He knows how we feel. When we reach out to Him, He gives strength to endure and sometimes even lifts the pain or heals the problem. Furthermore, if we cooperate, He promises to use suffering to develop and strengthen our character (1 Peter 5:10).

Exploitation and neglect of others, with its resulting pain, confirms that our world is not the way God intended it to be. Harm comes when people disobey God and sin against one another. Human techniques seem good in that they may constrain the abusive and give temporary consolation to those who are injured. Yet sin is a spiritual problem and whether a person is a perpetrator or a victim of it, the best way to deal with sin’s devastation is through spiritual methods.

According to God, the first step is full surrender to Him.

Caring for new life ....................... Parables 098

Now and then an abandoned but living baby is discovered on a doorstep, in a public washroom, or sometimes in a garbage can. Given the privilege of birth, it lives - but without the concern of society and the specific assistance of individuals and organizations, it wouldn’t live for long. 

Christians have a similar concern regarding new-born spiritual babies.

Jesus, just before He ascended to heaven after His resurrection, gave a commandment that has become known as the “Great Commission.” Most Christians know it by memory: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:19,20) 

It is a “great” commission. This was the way that Christ intended that spiritual reproduction and growth should occur. The process begins with birth: the Word of God is implanted in a receptive heart; and it mysteriously works by the power of the Spirit of God to bring a person to faith and a living union with Jesus Christ... “If any one is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

This spiritual birth is absolutely essential. Jesus told Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... or enter into it” (John 3:3,5). 

Washed clean from sin and guilt, the believing person is given a place in God’s family as he or she receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. “...to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will but born of God” (John 1:12,13). 

The excitement in God’s family over a new birth is at least equal to the joy in a loving family after a physical birth; yet in a spiritual birth the new “babe” also enters into the celebration. In fact, he may be the most excited of all... he has come out of darkness into the light of God’s love and truth. He knows that he has been transformed by Christ and now belongs to Him. 

Shortly after spiritual birth, the new Christian experiences hunger for large doses of his “milk”, the Word of God. Most of the time he gets nurtured and brought to maturity through the Scriptures and the shared knowledge and experience of mature believers who have been faithful to the command in the great commission. (II Timothy 2:2) 

But sometimes the baby is abandoned. No one picks him up off the delivery room floor, cleans his eyes out, lovingly wraps him, or gives him regular feedings until he is able to feed himself. Sometimes this babe is picked up by a cult and nurtured by false teaching - resulting in doctrinal distortion, loss of victory over sin - and loss of joy. 

I’ve wondered how the Lord Jesus responds when He sees the abandoned babes? How does He feel when these babes struggle in immaturity? I know how the babes feel. 

The Bible is clear that both birth and nurturing are part of the great commission. New babes in the Lord are not to be abandoned but taught by those who have already reached a measure of maturity.

And it is never too late to begin.