Bulletin
"I did not at all Mean"
Paul wrote to Corinth a letter, before 1 Corinthians, that they misunderstood. Evidently, they thought Paul meant for the saints to leave the world or society. So Paul redirects what he actually meant, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” (1 Cor. 5:9-11).
Likewise, when I spoke last Sunday on prayer, I didn’t mean that your employer could not set rules about praying at work. But not praying at your breaks, lunch or after work is a different story. When Coach Joe Kennedy got off work, the game was over, he could spend 15-30 seconds in prayer at the 50 yard line. This is legal. The Supreme court ruled in 2022 that Bremerton High School overstepped his legal rights and fired him on such account (https://firstliberty.org/cases/coachkennedy). But citing such a public case, I did not mean that the boss couldn’t tell you not to pray during working hours. I didn’t clarify this, and I wish I would have.
Secondly when citing a legal constitutional case before the Supreme court, I didn’t mean that we are all to be political religious activists. But I so appreciate Joe Kennedy’s willingness to keep his own commitment to God. His example helps me to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves”, because it helps me understand the boundary of the 1st amendment to the constitution, today.
Thirdly, I didn’t mean that Joe Kennedy’s silent prayer at the 50 yard line is the same thing as Daniel’s prayer in his “house”, with his windows towards Jerusalem. But Daniel defied Darius’s law, and Joe defied the school. Darius overreached, so did the school. Joe seemed to be losing the legal battle until 2022 when the 6-3 ruling sided with his personal right to pray, even on school grounds.
I am so thankful people are thinking while I am speaking. I am thankful when I get honest feed back, for this gives me a chance to clarify (or repent). Truly Paul said, “but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1Thess. 5:21). The testing everything gets us to the next step of “hold fast what is good”. Daniel held fast to that what is good by being dedicated to God praying three times a day, down on his knees (Daniel 6:10). Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” (1Thess. 5:17) “Devote yourselves to prayer” (Col.4:2). Jesus did, how much more should his disciples?
Dan Peters
- I_did_not_at_all_mean_WORD.docx (9.36 kB)
