THIS is a question whose answer we
have to figure out
everyday. We are asked to adapt ourselves as much as we can to every
person and to every situation of our life, and this can expose us to a
dizzying variety of possibilities.
A quick look around would readily show that with all these
fast-paced developments today, we can see a multiplying number of
differences among ourselves not only in terms of age, character,
temperament, social and economic status, but also of outlook,
lifestyles, cultures.
There are also work-related differences as the field of
professions continues to subdivide itself. There are the intellectual
type and the manual labor type, the techie and the artistic, etc.
This is not to mention that political and ideological
factors also generate a widening variety of statuses that need to be
adapted to if we are to live in some degree of harmony. Thus, we have
what are called the conservatives and the liberals, and in terms of
the so-called sexual orientation, there are the straights and the
gays.
And in terms of the moral and spiritual life, we can have
the saintly and the sinful, the pious and the irreverent, the simple
and the complicated, the humble and the proud, the generous and the
greedy, the sincere and the hypocrites, etc.
But as St. Paul would put it, he had to be all things to
all men. To the weak he became weak. To those under the law as if he
was under the law, etc. (cfr 1 Cor 9,21ff) And yet it was not as if
he did not cling to something consistently. There was always something
consistent in all his efforts of adaptation.
How can we achieve this ideal? How can we adapt to every
person and situation and yet remain consistent as we ought? What would
comprise our consistency? What things can be discarded to be adaptive,
and what things ought to be kept regardless of circumstances in order
to be consistent to our identity and dignity? What principle should we
follow? What motives should drive us?
These questions should move us to pause, reflect and study
the very word of God that contains the answer to them. If we look more
at that Pauline passage, for example, we can see that the very motive
of St. Paul’s adaptability is the salvation of souls.
“I became all things to all men, that I might save all,”
St. Paul said. So, it is our salvation that drove him and should also
motivate us in all our efforts to adapt ourselves to every person and
to every situation of our life. It is the eternal salvation of man
that would give consistency to the changing demands of adaptability.
Our adaptability should not just be a function of an
exclusively practical and worldly value and purpose like convenience,
or the pursuit for wealth, power and fame. Of course, these motives
can be legitimate as long as they play an instrumental role, always
subordinated to the necessary motive of our eternal salvation.
To be sure, this necessary motive of our eternal salvation
does not mean that just about anything can be ok. There are laws,
there are standards. Ultimately, our salvation would depend on whether
we love God and everyone else.
But that love has a specific substance. It is about
following the commandments of God. It is about respecting and
following the nature of things, and especially of our human nature,
and the essential things of men—belief in God, honoring parents and
authorities, respecting life, our sexuality, marriage and family life,
respect for truth, etc.
We have to be wary of our tendency to interpret the
present call of the Holy Father for mercy and compassion and his
description of God as a God of surprises to mean that just about
anything can be done or is permissible.
Yes, God can forgive anything. He will always have the
last word, the final judgment. But we cannot preempt him by going
against what we already know as laws coming from God himself through
Christ in the Holy Spirit and now authoritatively taught by the
Church.
Some quarters claim that some of our Church laws and
doctrine are like those pharisaical legalisms and traditionalisms that
nullify God’s word and spirit. This is always a possibility, but we
have to look closely at this issue and not just make blanket
assertions that often are mere rationalizations of illegitimate and
immoral causes.
What is clear is that to be adaptive and consistent, we
need to be vitally united to God who is love and truth himself.
everyday. We are asked to adapt ourselves as much as we can to every
person and to every situation of our life, and this can expose us to a
dizzying variety of possibilities.
A quick look around would readily show that with all these
fast-paced developments today, we can see a multiplying number of
differences among ourselves not only in terms of age, character,
temperament, social and economic status, but also of outlook,
lifestyles, cultures.
There are also work-related differences as the field of
professions continues to subdivide itself. There are the intellectual
type and the manual labor type, the techie and the artistic, etc.
This is not to mention that political and ideological
factors also generate a widening variety of statuses that need to be
adapted to if we are to live in some degree of harmony. Thus, we have
what are called the conservatives and the liberals, and in terms of
the so-called sexual orientation, there are the straights and the
gays.
And in terms of the moral and spiritual life, we can have
the saintly and the sinful, the pious and the irreverent, the simple
and the complicated, the humble and the proud, the generous and the
greedy, the sincere and the hypocrites, etc.
But as St. Paul would put it, he had to be all things to
all men. To the weak he became weak. To those under the law as if he
was under the law, etc. (cfr 1 Cor 9,21ff) And yet it was not as if
he did not cling to something consistently. There was always something
consistent in all his efforts of adaptation.
How can we achieve this ideal? How can we adapt to every
person and situation and yet remain consistent as we ought? What would
comprise our consistency? What things can be discarded to be adaptive,
and what things ought to be kept regardless of circumstances in order
to be consistent to our identity and dignity? What principle should we
follow? What motives should drive us?
These questions should move us to pause, reflect and study
the very word of God that contains the answer to them. If we look more
at that Pauline passage, for example, we can see that the very motive
of St. Paul’s adaptability is the salvation of souls.
“I became all things to all men, that I might save all,”
St. Paul said. So, it is our salvation that drove him and should also
motivate us in all our efforts to adapt ourselves to every person and
to every situation of our life. It is the eternal salvation of man
that would give consistency to the changing demands of adaptability.
Our adaptability should not just be a function of an
exclusively practical and worldly value and purpose like convenience,
or the pursuit for wealth, power and fame. Of course, these motives
can be legitimate as long as they play an instrumental role, always
subordinated to the necessary motive of our eternal salvation.
To be sure, this necessary motive of our eternal salvation
does not mean that just about anything can be ok. There are laws,
there are standards. Ultimately, our salvation would depend on whether
we love God and everyone else.
But that love has a specific substance. It is about
following the commandments of God. It is about respecting and
following the nature of things, and especially of our human nature,
and the essential things of men—belief in God, honoring parents and
authorities, respecting life, our sexuality, marriage and family life,
respect for truth, etc.
We have to be wary of our tendency to interpret the
present call of the Holy Father for mercy and compassion and his
description of God as a God of surprises to mean that just about
anything can be done or is permissible.
Yes, God can forgive anything. He will always have the
last word, the final judgment. But we cannot preempt him by going
against what we already know as laws coming from God himself through
Christ in the Holy Spirit and now authoritatively taught by the
Church.
Some quarters claim that some of our Church laws and
doctrine are like those pharisaical legalisms and traditionalisms that
nullify God’s word and spirit. This is always a possibility, but we
have to look closely at this issue and not just make blanket
assertions that often are mere rationalizations of illegitimate and
immoral causes.
What is clear is that to be adaptive and consistent, we
need to be vitally united to God who is love and truth himself.
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