Читать книгу Three Simple Rules for Christian Living - Rueben P. Job - Страница 9

How Aware Are You? Assess your awareness of what it means to do harm by writing responses to the following questions.

Where is harm being done? (Use an example from your household or circle of friends, your family, your congregation, your community, your city, your state, a group of people with whom you identify, your nation, or the world.)

Who is being harmed?

What harm is being done?

Who is doing it or causing it? (The "who" may be one or more people, groups, corporations, institutions, states, or nations.)

Why is it happening?

How is harm being done?

Rueben Job in Three Simple Rules tells us that these rules are simple but not easy. This first rule may seem the hardest of the three to follow; but it has clear benefits, not only to those we might harm but to ourselves. Job declares that in the middle of difficult situations "it often saved me from uttering a wrong word or considering a wrong response." This rule "can provide a safe place to stand while the hard and faithful work of discernment is done" (Three Simple Rules; p. 21). Job recommends this rule to groups engaged in conflict. Agreeing to this rule can change the climate of the conflict, keeping us from gossip, manipulation, and injury to the character of opponents. Following this rule can help us see our commonalities, reduce our fear of the other, and bring forth creativity and insight. However, following this rule can be quite challenging. It demands self-discipline and faith that God will lead us; and as Job writes, it demands "a radical trust in God's presence, power, wisdom, and guidance and a radical obedience to God's leadership" (p. 24). The rule makes further demands on us. It may take us places we'd rather not go, cause us to relinquish our power, and require us to entertain the thought that we may be wrong. Job assures us, "The good news is that we don't have to make this journey alone. There is always One who stands there with us" (p. 28).