Advent Talk
Theology Category => Sabbath School => Topic started by: Daryl Fawcett on March 04, 2008, 03:27:14 PM
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This week's study is all about discipleship under pressure.
You can find the study and discussion material at the following link:
http://ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/08a/less10nkjv.html
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As it says in the Sabbath afternoon section, "This week we will look at some disciples and see what we can learn from their bad days."
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We are all well aware of this statement from Sunday's section, "Religious faith can be a very powerful tool, either for good or for evil. The same kind of drive that motivates someone to "lose his life" (Matt. 16:25) for Christ's sake can, in other circumstances, drive others to blow themselves up in the name of God."
The suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan are perfect examples of this.
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In the Teacher's Quarterly I read the following:
"Jesus avoided amassing political power; the early Christian church didn't."
Would you agree or disagree with the above statement? Why, or why not?
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Sunday's section is called, the Power Model.
Monday's section is called, The Greed Model.
Power and greed is an interesting combination, which leads to interesting results.
We saw what happened to the Early Church, not to mention today's church, and not only to today's church, but to other religious oriented institutions.
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From Monday's section we read, "Someone once said, "If you want to get rich, start a religion." How unfortunate, but there is a lot of truth to that cynical statement. After all, when dealing with religious faith, we are dealing with some of the most important aspects of human existence. We are dealing with the meaning of life, with the hope of eternity, with the belief that we are forgiven by God for our sins. However much Jesus Himself, by model and example, lived a life of self-denial and poverty, however much He warned us against getting caught up in the things of this world, church history is replete with examples of those who have used the power of religion and religious ideas to gain wealth for themselves, often at the expense of the poor."
Can we see this happening even today?