Eine Lektüre der vergangenen Tage war der 2. Korintherbrief, mit welchem ich mich intensiver beschäftigt habe. Grund war die Betonung der Mühen und Schwierigkeiten, die Paulus hier immer wieder anspricht. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass dies ein wichtiges Thema werden könnte. Hier kam es mir immer wieder mal so vor, als würden Christen manchmal für solche gehalten, die glauben, bei einem Leben in Gottes Kraft gäbe es keine Probleme, Mühen und Schwierigkeiten. Sehr frei nach dem Motto „Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz“. Das ist natürlich eine starke Verallgemeinerung, und doch stehen Christen zuweilen in dem Ruf, auβer ein paar frommen Phrasen nichts Handfestes bieten zu können, wenn es um die Härten des Lebens geht. Das ist sicher nicht nur in Schweden so. Die ganze westliche Volkstheologie zum Thema Umgang mit Leid und Krankheit ist zurzeit nicht grad hoch entwickelt. Eines der meistverbreiteten Missverständnisse ist wohl die gefühlte Erwartung, dass Gott für unser irdisches Wohlergehen verantwortlich ist. Dabei können gerade Schwierigkeiten helfen, unsere Gemeinschaft mit Gott zu fördern oder den Glauben wachsen zu lassen. Manchmal entsteht erst durch Probleme die Bereitschaft, sich Gott zu öffnen. In jedem Fall hielt ich es für angebracht, mich persönlich näher damit auseinanderzusetzen, und in jedem Fall ist es immer angebracht, mit Gottes Wort anzufangen. Ich fand, 2. Korinther ist für dieses Thema ausgesprochen lehrreich.
One of my more intense readings of the past two weeks was 2nd Corinthians. The reason for that is Paul’s emphasis on struggles and difficulties in that particular letter. For some reason it could be that this might become a more or less important topic for us. Several times it seemed to me that a number of people here in Sweden consider Christians sometimes as those who think that there must be no problems or afflictions for those who really live in God’s power. A bit according to the maxim “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”. That’s a strong generalization of course. And yet, Christians have at times the reputation of responding to hardships and suffering just with some pious and irrelevant phrases. That’s probably the case not only in Sweden. The entire western folk theology about disease and suffering is not the most developed one nowadays. One of the most widespread misunderstandings is probably the felt expectation that God is in charge of our earthly well-being. Although it’s sometimes the difficulties that nurture our community with God, letting our faith grow. Sometimes it’s only because of hardships that people start thinking about God, opening their hearts towards him. However it may be, I thought it’d be wise to think through this more deeply. And it’s always good to start with God’s Word. In any case 2 Corinthians is very helpful for that matter.
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One of my more intense readings of the past two weeks was 2nd Corinthians. The reason for that is Paul’s emphasis on struggles and difficulties in that particular letter. For some reason it could be that this might become a more or less important topic for us. Several times it seemed to me that a number of people here in Sweden consider Christians sometimes as those who think that there must be no problems or afflictions for those who really live in God’s power. A bit according to the maxim “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”. That’s a strong generalization of course. And yet, Christians have at times the reputation of responding to hardships and suffering just with some pious and irrelevant phrases. That’s probably the case not only in Sweden. The entire western folk theology about disease and suffering is not the most developed one nowadays. One of the most widespread misunderstandings is probably the felt expectation that God is in charge of our earthly well-being. Although it’s sometimes the difficulties that nurture our community with God, letting our faith grow. Sometimes it’s only because of hardships that people start thinking about God, opening their hearts towards him. However it may be, I thought it’d be wise to think through this more deeply. And it’s always good to start with God’s Word. In any case 2 Corinthians is very helpful for that matter.
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