Always old and new

THAT’S how the word of God, as recorded in the Gospel, can

be described. It’s old since it comes from eternity, even before time

started. It’s also new because being an eternal word, it will never

grow old in human terms, becoming obsolete and irrelevant at a certain

point. It will always give us something new. It can give us surprises,

and even shockers.

            We can never say that we already have all of God’s word in

the bag. Not only little new things can arise from God’s word. Even

huge new things can emerge. Thus, we have to be most careful to freeze

the eternal dynamics of God’s word, as when we think that the

doctrine, standards, criteria, laws, principles, etc., we so far have

derived from God’s word cannot anymore be improved, deepened,

enriched, updated, adapted.

            We have to be wary of our tendency to get stuck with the

status quo in our understanding and application of God’s word to our

daily life. We have been amply warned that if we do not grow

organically in our understanding of God’s word as the Spirit prompts

us, our spiritual life will not only stand still. It will retrogress.

            We should not forget that God’s word is always applicable

to all possible conditions and situations of human life. It can tackle

any problem, any issue, any challenge. That’s how powerful and full of

wisdom God’s word is. There’s nothing in our life, no matter how

difficult, how humanly impossible, that cannot be handled by God’s

word.

            Remember what the Letter to the Hebrews says about God’s

word. “The word of God is living and active,” it says. “Sharper than

any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is

uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give

account.” (4,12-13)

            We have to realize that while there are things that are

essential and as such are not meant to change, there are also things

that are not essential and are in constant change. This is the case of

many elements in our different cultures and our different generations

where changes are constantly occurring.

            We, for example, cannot and should not indiscriminately

apply God’s word on those in the Western culture in the same way as

those in the Eastern culture. We cannot and should not consider or

expect as identical the behavior of the young people during our

grandparents’ time with that of the youth of today. God’s word should

be applied on them in the way they are.

            Otherwise, we would be no different from the scribes and

Pharisees during Christ’s time who clung to their own ideas of what is

right and wrong, and ignoring and even going against the very author

of reality himself.

            In all these differences, and sometimes conflicts, God’s

word is always applicable. But we just have to find a way of how to

apply it in the proper way without compromising what is essential in

it.

            We cannot deny that identifying what goes into the essence

of God’s word and what does not when assessing our human situations

can be difficult. The tension in trying to put together the

exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity can be very

daunting. That is why there is a great need for discernment, for which

we have to do a lot of monitoring and dialoguing, praying and studying

a lot, consulting, and a lot of etcetera.

            This is where we have to make a lot of sacrifices, since

as said earlier, we cannot remain in the status quo insofar as our

understanding and application of God’s word to our varying conditions

and situations are concerned.