March 14, 2026: Living With Christ

0:00Thank you very much. Happy and blessed Sabbath. Again, we are here and you are there watching. We are delighted that you continue to watch us and that you continue to engage with us both by sending my email by the way to those of you who commented on my email, Miguel Mendes at lou.edu. That's there for you if you have any questions. Responding to the comments on YouTube if you

1:01want to get some reading suggestions, that's where you can send all of your queries to me. And as I am able, remember this is not my primary job, but as I am able, I'd be delighted to answer those. We're going to pray, then we're going to get into the book of Colossians as we continue our lesson study. So let's pray. God, we remember you in a time and in a place where it feels like there's so much uncertainty. There's financial uncertainty, there's economic uncertainty, there is the uncertainty that war brings and amidst it all, we again remember you. And we pray that you be particularly close to people in places where it is so often easy to

2:04forget you. We mourn with those who mourn, Lord, we mourn the reality of schools being hit by missiles. We understand the complexities of global geopolitics. And while we might quibble at the fact that this side of Eden, sometimes war is necessary, we would invite you to ask us to enter into those spaces with solemnity and with thoughtfulness and with compassion. We pray in your name. Amen. Hey Chris, how are you today? I'm well. I'm well. Good. Good. Good to see you. Good to see you. Good to see you. I feel like this is the only time I see you now. So it is it is definitely, definitely a treat for me. That's the best way to catch up. It's great way to connect and reconnect. We are continuing our lesson on the pistols of Paul here. We're looking at the

3:14epistle to the Colossians. If you are in town right now and you can still have time, not a lot of time, but you still have time. My colleague and good friend, Sigvid Tonstead, will be teaching this same, this very same study in our School of Religion Sabbath School. And if you know anything about Sigvid, Sigvid is quite the scholar. So you still have time to get down here and watch him and you can put us on pause because we're going to share maybe some thoughtful things, but nowhere near has thoughtful as as with Sigvid is going to have to to share here in person on at our School of Religion Sabbath School. Listen, we all have to live with the brain that we're given. And the mind and the brain, the Sigvid Tonstead gets to live with. It would be a phenomenal experience to be inside that brain just for a moment. Yeah. And he's a deeply compassionate,

4:16deeply compassionate, endlessly troubled by the suffering in this world, but brilliant and creative. So yes, yeah, if you got a chance. If you do have a chance because Chris is right, that is, I think that's the best way. That I think is the best description that I've heard of Sigvid in a long time. Deeply compassionate, deeply troubled, his work on theology within the 20th and 21st century, is a reminder that you need to continue asking questions about scripture that live and breathe in the current context that God has placed us to live in. And so if you read and if you talk to hit to to Sigvid, Sigvid will always say, okay, what are you reading? And you better be reading something that is contemporary because the conversation and the attempt to pause the world of scripture with our world continues, it didn't end with Martin Luther or Ellen White. Yeah, absolutely.

5:20The continuing conversations that 19th and 20th century Protestants and global Theologians have had, there'd be necessary because when you look at the 19th and 20th century, a lot has happened. Yeah. And today a lot continues to happen. Right. So, so that's I think the question, right? The question that we ask here as as Paul is talking about living as those made alive in Christ in this in the section Colossians chapter three sandwich between these instructions for Christian households. The question is, how do you make sense of these of these commands is this invitation to a new type of life in a world that is deeply interconnected in a world that is wholly globalized in a world that is moved by technology and in a world in which a nuclear proliferation and see I got I got that word out. And global climate change and

6:28all of these other things are occurring and how do you live faithfully with those realities in mind? Excellent question. How do you exactly as somebody who as each of us do have responsibility for our contributions to climate change and ecology and what we use and what we throw away and how we purchase how do we make responsible Christlike decisions as we participate as consumers in an economy? Right. That's that's probably an easier one than how do you be Christlike in a world replete with nuclear weapons and how do you navigate power and peace with with such phenomenal forces at hand? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think good question. Well, I think the first thing is you do it carefully. I want to respond to a comment we got last week. So last week Chris, I

7:30I prayed for for the people in the Middle East and one of the comments that I think I didn't make clear was well, you played you prayed for the people in the Middle East but you didn't pray for for our service men and women. And I felt like that covered them. It was all both with our people. They are they in the right because they are living in the Middle East but if that wasn't clear, I completely would pray for both for the 168 children and teachers who lost their lives as one of our Tomahawk missiles hit a school and for the for the six servicemen American servicemen and women that that have perished so far. I think we pray for them all and I think the question of the ethics of war is a question that that is worthwhile. I do however think that

8:31whatever it is wherever you land and there's definitely sometimes reading the long long conversation that the Christian Church has had on the ethics of war. There are occasions when when the war is not the ideal, it is justified. I also think that we do enter war without triumphalism, without this sense of a victory. I am deeply disturbed and I'm sorry but I think if the Christian Church doesn't speak to this, I don't think anyone will. I'm deeply disturbed of kind of the way in which not just now but for the past couple of years, we enter into situations like this. I've seen this, the minimization of the brutality and the severity that is war, regardless of where you stand

9:34on it and I think when you come from from a perspective of those made alive in Christ as Paul speaks, you enter into those spaces even when violence and war are justified with a deep, deep sense of sorrow and solemnity and thoughtfulness. This isn't something to minimize or something where we get to act triumphalistically. This is there are people who are losing their lives and those people are created in the image of God and wherever you stand on the political scale, that is deeply, deeply tragic. It is a concerning sign when those leading in these actions are deeply unserious about it, when the elites of our world aren't, as you've said, entering into that with

10:43the heartbroken reality that something has gone deeply wrong for this to occur and when it is treated with, I think the word unserious there is probably the most accurate. We're doing a very serious thing and I think the weight of that you should be considered as we approach as we approach this situation. It shakes me. Romeo and Juliet, you have these kind of warring families showing up in his tale. They're fighting each other in the streets and there's this character, the prince, who is meant to represent the authority, who is meant to keep things in order. That's his job but he always shows up too late to these fights and he always shows up unequipped and he always

11:45shows up without consequence and what Shakespeare is there doing is saying, listen, there are these squabbles and there's these bullies and there are these people who are dominating society because society hasn't done the work to put in place the structures to keep these things from the public square and he's critiquing the role of the prince as well in his story and so when we encounter situations where there is just violence and bully like behavior and mob rule, it's a heartbreaking situation because the society hasn't been able to successfully organize itself in a way to create and organize and maintain peace. There's a deep heartbreak there that does again to ride into that situation without a serious reflection on it all. Here is a problem. And to celebrate it. To celebrate the loss of life or to minimize it as you're saying

12:49or to post it in a eight-second meme or a 140-character that used to be called Tweet, I don't know what they're called now. That is deeply, deeply disturbing on both sides. On both sides. I think when one sees the amount of grief and suffering that is created where there is war, in this there are no winners, there's only losers and we grieve. We grieve with the loss of life. We grieve at the realization that sadly this side of Eden, violence sometimes is inevitable and I don't want to debate this particular case if it's justified or unjustified. I think that's for you all to decide. But I do think that even in the best

13:56of cases, even in moments where one recognizes that taking up arms is necessary. Even then we do so with heavy hearts. And I think that is what it is to approach life with a different type of ethic, which is ultimately what Paul is trying to get at, that there is kind of the ethic of the world and then there's the ethic of Christ and the ethic of Christ values and prioritizes different things. That is what it means to set your mind on things above and not earthly things. And so I wonder if the church has, if the problem with the church and the diagnosis with the

14:59church is that it has become worldly, but not worldly in the ways that we usually and commonly use the language. I think the church has too often been co-opted by a worldly ethic that allows us, that has allowed us to approach the suffering of the other with a flippant attitude that is, as you say, unserious. Like if your response to the suffering of others involves greed or evil desires, if it is based in rage or anger, if the suffering of the others leads you to slander them, I think that serves as a warning to you from this passage, I think Paul is saying that. And it is possible, it's possible to see traces of those sentiments in people's responses to

16:09the suffering of others. I think that's really what stayed with me as I read. As I've read this lesson, and as James White invites us to read scripture with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, although we don't really have newspapers anymore, but as I had the images and the sounds of a world that is deeply distressed, and I listened to the language coming out of different parts and positions and camps around the world, in that language I think was really punctuated by anger and by slander. That I think is deeply, deeply distressing. It's also deeply distressing that we live in a world in which basic common decency and honesty

17:10it seems to be a quality that is in short supply. There's on one side of the aisle, there's memes about the war, and I'm going to stay with this because I think it's such a poignant example of doing that which sigvis does so well, which is connecting this to what is actually happening. On one side of the aisle, I saw several things on CNN appear as some people were being interviewed, and the level of disregard for suffering was truly appalling as it was compared to what was happening in Iran was compared to video games. That was deeply, deeply distressing. On the other hand, I saw a post from the Iranian state media that said that they had captured

18:15some US soldiers, which was completely fake. On both sides of the aisle, you have this not kind of, you have this definite desire, both to slander and to disregard basic and common, not only decency, but what that which is honest and true. That's deeply distressing in the world because when it comes to believing that which is true. And again, taking that further as well, on TikTok, there are edits and some of them from official channels, and again, the deeply unserious nature of which they're reflecting upon the destruction of human life. It represents something that I haven't seen or heard before,

19:19and again, it's an unserious response to the gravity of the heartbreak that occurs in the circumstances, even as it is necessary. It's a different attitude. Yeah, I remember reading of a different time, when the Inolage flew over Japan and dropped its deadly payload. And I understand the justification for it. The idea that the American High Command had was a land invasion of Japan would lead to immense suffering and death.

20:20But I still remember that when that happened, Einstein wept, it was the use of this beautiful technology to destroy lives. And now I don't see that same capacity to be self-reflective. Whether, again, whether you can justify or not that life sometimes must be taken, the level of disregard for human life because somehow you think that it is less valuable than your own, that has been really, really jarring for me. Absolutely. Again, anger, greed, and greed. Dangerous motivations or dangerous things to voice or support.

21:22What's even more dangerous though, I think, is that this language is not just uttered from the halls of power, whether you're in Tehran or in Washington DC. This language is often repeated and magnified through pulpits or in mosques, depending on where you are, around the globe. And that is the part that is most troubling. We all know that the governments of men will do what the governments of men do. But we would hope, or at least we would pray, that people of faith would serve as a voice that demands restraint. I remember reading in light of the war in Vietnam, for example. I remember reading the beautiful

22:26essays of Thomas Martin, deeply, deeply spiritual man, deeply, deeply reflective theologian, asking to consider what a world that is immersed in violence would do to people that are made, as we said in the image of God. I don't hear that as much now from pulpits and from churchism, from parishes. I hear a lot of language of triumphalism, victory, and otherness. Yes, yeah. At that point, when that language is appearing at that point, you have lost the sense of just the value of life even of your enemy. In the fact that you experienced this rich internal life where you lived from

23:29the first person perspective of Miguel, you live in your head and you get to experience this world as you do. I do as well. Animals do as well to a certain extent, and I think that's worth recognising. But so does your enemy. They have a rich internal life, and there are times when their behavior is abhorrent and absolutely inappropriate, but they still live from this, this perspective where they are conscious and they're aware. I think that should be taken seriously. And I think this is the deep paradox of human beings, the deep paradox and the deep mystery that is us, and the Paul is brilliant in his assessment of who we are, because I think he recognises this this extremely complex and tangled reality that is living as a human with your own perspective,

24:30and your own biases, and your own history, which enables you to be capable of both the kindest, most beautiful acts and the most brutal and humanising acts all at the same time. I can remember reading literature that comes out of the experience in the concentration camps, and hearing guards and members of the SS doing deeply, deeply dehumanising things while they are in the camp and then coming back and experiencing beauty and love and compassion with their family and with their friends and tucking their children in that bed at night, and loving their spouses and doing selfless things for their friends. And that dichotomy,

25:33which I think is present, I mean, this is an example to the extreme, but that dichotomy, I think is present within all of us. Yeah. Yeah. Again, referencing Seagull and Stout as well. It's a terrifying thing to be a human and to realise what we are capable of. I guess I was watching it all too young, I've probably mentioned this before, but I remember I grew up on those World War II documentaries and as a kid just being horrified to be a human, just a pulled at what has happened under this sun, just confused as how we continue to live on this soil without some act of reparation or rectification of the atrocities that have gone on and just unable almost to conceive of what we can possibly be, but then also living a life where I lived in such a peaceful family. My parents are lovely

26:36and peaceful, and I just lived in this world of just goodness, but also recognising that those two extremism realities are present in all of us. And as Paul puts in this passage here, he says something very powerful and very important. To sum it up in a very simple way, he basically says, don't ever stop believing that you can do better. That's an important part of living a life. We can do better and we should, in as much as we can, move ourselves towards these behaviours that he talks about, we're putting on the image of Christ, putting on the mind of heaven and living in those ways. It's nice to have both Paul and God believing in what we can be. Because somebody needs to. Yes. Somebody needs to believe

27:43that we can do better. And that's I think what's heroic about Paul. Paul isn't unaware of the brutality that human beings are capable of. Yeah. Paul himself embodies that brutality, that dichotomy. He probably practiced a lot of, I mean, Paul himself. I don't know if y'all know, but stoning is a pretty brutal way to go. You basically throw someone down a cliff and then you hurl boulders at them until they die. That's that's brutal. And Paul is present and capable of these things, while at the same time he is a zealous for the law of God. So you've got that that that duality, I think, present in in Paul. And I think because that's his reality, he is able to believe that even amidst the deeply, deeply dehumanizing reality that is being alive and trying to have faith

28:52in the Roman Empire, you can do better. So you mentioned Shakespeare, all mentioned Kamu. One of my favorites. There's there's this wonderful, probably the most commune. That's not the word. I just made it up. Of all the Kamu novels out there, which is the plague. Some people will argue that it's the stranger. For me, my favorite Kamu novel for whatever it's worth is the plague. Perfect horror. Oh, it's great. It's great. It's great. So within that novel, there's obviously for my money, at least the protagonist, which is this doctor, right, that is unyielding in his desire to provide comfort, even in the novel lens on this really bleak note that he says, well, you know, here we are. We've experienced all this horror. And we finally

29:54controlled the plague, but we are ever present to the reality that death and destruction can arise at any time. And yet we work. I think that's what's really heroic, which really heroic is looking at the dehumanizing nature of the Roman Empire or the devastating results that war can have or the language that comes out of Tehran or Washington DC and then say still, we can do better. That's deeply heroic. It is, and should recognize this in yourself, but also this in Uranium as well, which is a shocking thing to believe. The... Wait, I was making the joke this morning. So the high school swim team do laps with them. And Betty Sue Constanza, absolute legend, she will give

30:55us the laps that we have to swim and what she sets out for us, comical, unachievable. You know, like take this many strokes, don't breathe at this pace, you know, at least just impossible for me, but she believes in me and it's lovely. I'm like, well coach, theoretically impossible right now, but you believe in me. And eventually you find yourself coming closer to her belief in you, which is an incredible thing. Sorry, just as a very simple, but keep your eye on it. That's a great no, that's a great analogy, which leads to me with, oh, just so many questions. First off, are you faster than the... No, no, listen, there is some, there is some freshman who swim club morning and evening. Oh yeah, that's so smooth through the water and fast and like I'm doing okay, but my goodness, they've been doing it for six years already and they are so refined. And anyway, you got to pull them out of the water. Put them somewhere where you actually have the upper hand.

31:58I'm not even convinced. Okay, so there you go. Once they're getting too cocky, you put them, put them on, put them on a bench press and say okay, this is 250 pounds. Let's see if you can move it. Yeah, I mean, I think that's the point, right, that somebody believes in you and in this case, it's Paul that believes in the, in the church, to a degree that he places this ethic that is unic, that is as unachievable as swimming laps with a bunch of high schoolers. And here is the ethic. There's no Gentile Jews, circumcised or uncircumcised barbarians, Kithian slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. That's the ethic. It's unachievable. And yet that's Paul's ideal. That's terrifying isn't it, because a lot of these categories would include enemies. The other. The other. And not only is Christ all the Christ is you know. So, so here's,

32:59thank you for noticing that, because I think Christ is in your enemy. If you read this with, if you read this without careful attention, you, you miss the point that Paul is trying to make, and that is that here in this new reality, mind you, he's not talking about the church. He is talking about this new reality that has been heralded by the act of Christ. Incarnation has, for Paul, the event of Jesus is so important that the world has changed, unmistakably, and that these classifications that existed in the world before Christ no longer exist. So, in this new reality, that is made present through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there is no longer Gentile or Jews, circumcised or uncircumcised barbarians, Kithian slave or free,

34:01because Christ is all. But then he, he, he gives us the kind of the, he grabs the knife and just sticks it right in the side between the six and the seventh, and he says Christ is in all. So, that means that whatever, whoever you think the other is, Christ is in them, which is why we, we circle back to where we started, which is why death and dehumanisation are so tragic, because you are killing and dehumanising, Christ, not the other, but Christ. My word. And combine that with Paul's also, his statement there, that even in those who are the other, there is this belief that they can do better as well. Now, if you find yourself in a situation

35:08where force is necessary, your enemy is also Christ, and your enemy also can do better. Again, like I agree with you, there are sadly times when, when force is necessary, but to treat your enemy, yeah, terrifying. Yeah, which is I think why, even in those situations, you, you don't ask, how, how do I avenge? How do I preempt? How do I protect? But you ask, how do I redeem? How is violence? A tool that ultimately, where the ultimate goal isn't the subjugation of the other, but rather the redemption of the other, even when violence is necessary.

36:13I mean, it's such a massive question, and it's huge. You look at your police force. The ideal of the police force is that you use as least force as it's necessary. And in the ideal situation, you, you don't do to the other what they have done themselves. You still act better than them. So in Australia, I know it's not all across the states here, but in Australia, the police will capture a murderer, but they will restrain them in a prison to keep society safe, but they will also not murder them themselves as a principle, so that you don't participate in the same crime that they have participated in, because there is also the belief that that person, even in a restrained state and as best as we can care for them, might also possibly at some state be redeemed. Which is ideally,

37:15by the way, this isn't just in Australia. This is the ideal of the prison system in the US. The ideal, mind you, or far away from the ideal, but the ideal is rehabilitation. This is what I cannot understand. So help me understand this. I know we're going to get some blowback. You all take it up with Paul. They'll take it up with me. Yep. Yeah. Why is it? Yeah. That for us human beings, it is so comfortable to believe in the notion of eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, when the reality of Jesus, right, we're Christians. So that has the assumption

38:19of being a Christian is that the experience, the life, death, resurrection, and second coming of Jesus is the central tenet of your faith. So why is it that we sometimes are so enamored with a pre-Christ ethic? Yeah. The complication is that there is sometimes when violence is already in play and the only response is violence. So there are moments when violence is already begun by an individual in a deeply broken state. And there is no possible police response to that without violence. And that is in play. And we have to recognize that that occurs and requires bravery and courage when people do respond as such. But also it's not the ideal. It's in as much as is possible. The redemption, the restraint in such a way to cause no further harm. I mean, that's your ideal. How you apply that to global politics and global war?

39:23Well, incredible question. I don't know the answer to that. But the question that you posed there, why are we so enamored by this eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth or a situation? It's a very deeply human instinct. It is. It's a dangerously human instinct in the fact that looking for a social media, you come across your situations where you see somebody do something wrong and somebody responds to that. It's very satisfying to watch very quickly. Like that was very good. The bad person got what was coming to serve. And I watch those repeatedly. Because my belief is that one day I'll have that opportunity. The good person who gives the bad person

40:24what they deserve. The Christ calls for a different, a different ethic. That's the point. That's and in that you have just gotten what Paul is trying to say as those who live like they have made been made alive in Christ. If my idea of justice is retribution, I don't need Christ for that. There is something deeply, deeply human about seeing something and seeking retribution. Yes. And depending on your particular view of human nature, I tend to be less Augustinian than I was than I was than I used to be. Depending on your view, because I do think that human beings are created with this inherent sense of morality and justice. The problem is that that sense of morality and justice is iniquited, inadequate because that sense of morality and justice is

41:28always based on retribution. If you did this to me, then I will respond in kind. And there's something that happens, right? Or the pleasure centers in our brains. It's right up. Yes. You say, ah, justice. Yeah. And Paul is saying, sit not your minds on earthly things. If your idea of justice is you kill someone, it's the lethal injection for you. You don't need Jesus for that, Chris. Your inherent sense of justice is enough. But here's the wrinkle that Paul says. You are God's chosen people. So, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bear with each other and forgive one another. If any one of you has a grievance to get someone, forgive as the Lord

42:31forgave you, that is not justice. That's grace. And I think the church ought to do less about talking about justice because we don't need the church for that. Jurisprudence is good enough. They're doing it. The church is not about justice. The church is about grace and mercy. And nobody is talking about grace and mercy particularly, grace and mercy for our enemies who bear the image of Christ. For what the law couldn't do, grace could. That's very poly. That's that's that's that's you. That's terrifying to read the Bible, isn't it? This is scripture. I mean, this is Paul. It's Colossians chapter three. I mean, it's great if you want to, if you want to apply this to the world of personal ethics saying, you know, you probably shouldn't have that second scoop of ice cream or when your kids are bad, you should probably

43:35temper your response to them. But really, this isn't about personal ethics. Paul is saying, no, yeah, Paul is saying, look, this is this is for a church that is dealing with the same social societal issues that we are. And Paul's response to that is don't get even do better. Yeah, terrifying. Because as members of one body, you were called to peace, he said, yeah, whoo. So let's let's go again and see how we're all friends. I hope you see how, how hard we've tried to tie it all together for you. So we started talking about SIGVI. We're going to end and talking about SIGVI. If you want for my money, the best commentary on revelation, SIGVI, Tom, Tom, that's Pidea commentary on the book of Revelation, best commentary on

44:40Revelation that has been written by anyone. No, not even just up in his school. No, no, no, this is a scholarship around the world. This is by anyone. Any feeologian having a crack at it? Yeah, I mean, trust me, I've read them, I haven't read them all, but I've read Fioranza's used to be my favorite religion. Elizabeth Schussler for your ends up brilliant. Yes. Feminist theologian writes copiously on Revelation, she can't touch SIGVI. He's ahead. She can't touch it. SIGVI's primary point, I'm going to save you the $49.99 that it'll cost you to buy it. SIGVI's primary point throughout the commentary is that Adventist, among other faith traditions, have misread the book of Revelation. Because we have the beast acting with violence, and we've said that the lamb's response to that violence is acting with even more violence. So the only difference, SIGVI says in current Christian, or in most Christian readings of Revelation, is that you have the beast and the dragon and the

45:43false prophet acting with violence, and the lamb is going to conquer them through violence. SIGVI says that doesn't make sense, because if you've read Revelation carefully, the real point of the symbol of Revelation is the lamb who was slain. So it is that the lamb is able to absorb all the violence and not react in kind. That's the point that he's going to make. And I think it's not only brilliant, her minutics, but it tracks with what you read as kind of the overarching narrative of Scripture. So he or Paul takes that idea and says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since as members of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful, let the message of Christ dwell among you, richly as you teach and admonish

46:46one another with always them through Psalms, hymns and Psalms for the spirit, from the spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through it. Whatever you do, do it in the name of Jesus. It's good. So how do we live like that? Personally, globally, internationally. That's we got to work on that. We can do better. I think to your point, to your point, the church must do better. The church must do better. The church must do better. To invite us into a reality in which there is no Jew or Gentile, no circumcised or in uncircumcised,

47:52no schytheon or barbarian, no slave or free, because Christ is in awe. We must do better. Pray for us, Christ. Do you have any Father? God, we come to you seeking your ways in this world. You have a vision of a world at peace, you have a vision of a world with love and respect for all. Show us how to get there. God us, amen. So I don't know how to live like this, friends. That's the question. I don't. Because I want justice and retribution. And I don't know how to live with views, with even within our own church that would paint us as heretics or as liberals. I don't, but I'm working on it. So maybe this week you can join me because we have to do better.

49:01Have a wonderful, wonderful rest of this habit.