June 8

First of all: an apology for the typo(s) in yesterday's blog. The bit on the Grinch should have read, "He took" not "He too".

Today we begin the book of 1 Chronicles. 1 and 2 Chronicles recap much of the same material we've covered recently in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. They provide a different slant on the same events. It's kind of like Fox News and CNN – the same general facts but a different take on what those facts mean.

The first several chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies and are tedious reading for mot of us. Nevertheless, I think there are some important lessons from these genealogies. The first is one that Frosty discussed in his blog of June 2. Our God is a God of history who was active in the history of our forbears and is active in our lives which will be the history of our descendants.

The second is a reminder for our modern, individualistic culture. These genealogies remind us that the Israelites, like the vast majority of human beings up until recent times, understood their place in life in terms of family rather than as individuals. There was no individual honor, no individual glory, no individual shame, and no individual salvation. What mattered was your family and clan. If you brought shame on yourself, you brought shame on all your relatives. If you brought honor to yourself, you brought honor to all your relatives. (This is why the early Christian practice of referring to other believers as brother and sister was such a big deal.)

How would our lives be different if we thought more in terms of community and less about our own self-image and self-worth?

In may seem a contradiction, then, as we read our New Testament passage that Paul talks about himself so much. It is easy in reading Paul to be put off by the way he holds himself up as an example. However, it's important to recognize the source of this practice. One of the important elements of ancient argumentation (i.e. rhetoric) was establishing yourself as a reliable source. If your practice didn't fit with what you said, why should anyone else listen to you? On the other hand, if your practice and your words went together, that provided strong support for what you were saying.

We don't see this kind of approach too often. We tend to be more impressed with apparent humility than with someone willing to highlight her own success. However, we do still see this approach used in law. When I was a professor and was asked to write letters in support of a foreign national receiving permanent resident status in the United States, I was advised that my letter should begin by emphasizing my own status as a successful scientist and academic. The immigration officials would not be impressed by the advice of a person who couldn't get their research published. If I was going to say that someone else's research was important to our national interests, I had to establish myself as a reliable source first. So next time you read Paul holding himself up as an example of how to live as a Christian, keep the law courts in mind.