{"id":499,"date":"2019-02-12T14:33:10","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T14:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=499"},"modified":"2019-02-12T14:49:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T14:49:53","slug":"living-ethically-when-its-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk\/?p=499","title":{"rendered":"Living ethically when it’s tough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This article was first published in the EA ‘Idea’ magazine, and can be found here.<\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘In spite of a long-term progressive disease, I strive to harness the power of God so I can make ethical decisions in my daily life, writes Catching Contentment<\/em> author, Liz Carter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in a big, draughty old vicarage, and the heating bills are rather cumbersome for a vicar and his ill wife. \u200b\u201cShop around,\u201d people say to us. \u200b\u201cThis company or that company do it much more cheaply.\u201d But then we look at the companies. We look at their values, what they invest in, how they treat their staff, and that small voice whispers to our spirits: \u200b\u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My natural inclination is to say that we simply can\u2019t afford to use green energy companies. I justify it in all sorts of ways in my head: \u200b\u201cWe\u2019re only trying to live in our calling; it\u2019s not our fault the bills are so daft.\u201d Or, \u200b\u201ceveryone else uses the cheapest deal they can find. What\u2019s so wrong with being prudent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality of my life is such that taking action or spending money can be a\u00a0challenge. <\/strong>I\u00a0live with a\u00a0long-term progressive disease, and I\u00a0can\u2019t hold down a\u00a0job. When I\u2019ve heard people talk about ethical living in the past, the words have swirled together in one great threatening mass: they are words of vitality and words of doing. Words which expect people to be healthy and wealthy, and ready to leap to action with tons of energy and fire in their bellies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sit there, in pain, unsure of my part in it all. I\u2019m not springing with energy. Sometimes even writing emails has me needing to lie down, shut away once again from the world. I feel inadequate, knowing that God tasks me to defend the poor and the oppressed. In my mind I am screaming justice from the rooftops; in my body I\u2019m enclosed in a blanket which muffles me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God makes a way<\/strong>
Yet this narrative doesn\u2019t do justice to how God works, and the gifts and capabilities God gives us in every situation, not just in those where we have enough health and enough money and enough knowledge. We confine God when we reduce ourselves, because God works in surprising ways. I\u2019ve found that it\u2019s when I turn to God and think outside my own narrow mindset that I imagine new ways of living in my calling to be a person of justice and compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve found that it\u2019s when I turn to God and think outside my own narrow mindset that I imagine new ways of living in my calling to be a person of justice and compassion. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In Philippians 2 we find Paul advising the Christians to \u200b\u201cdo nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves\u201d. He tells them to have the same attitude as Jesus, who made Himself nothing, humbling Himself even to the point of death (v. 3\u2009\u2013\u20098).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These new believers didn\u2019t have many resources.<\/strong> They were a\u00a0small, persecuted church in a\u00a0Roman colony. Yet Paul appealed to them to look to one another\u2019s interests before themselves. Paul himself knew great hardship and suffering yet made his life an example of compassion and dynamic action, spreading the gospel in word and deed. It\u2019s clear that the call we have to live mindfully of others is a\u00a0call on each one of us, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I\u00a0make ethical choices, I\u00a0am taking action. <\/strong>It may not feel like action in a\u00a0rush of empowered energy, but it is action seasoned by grace, by the power of God which works within my weakness rather than despite it. Choosing a\u00a0green energy supplier may seem a\u00a0small thing (and to some, a\u00a0bit crazy), but it\u2019s living by the mandate of the second chapter of Philippians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My husband and I choose to buy fair trade goods where we can, and it might seem an insignificant action, but it will join with millions of others around the world to make life less painful for someone who is struggling. Each choice to live ethically is a choice for good. A choice for upholding the interests of others, for being a tiny link in the chain which might eventually bring liberation to a family or a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These choices mean a\u00a0certain amount of discomfort for us. <\/strong>Yet Jesus never promised a\u00a0life of comfort. I\u00a0worry when I\u00a0see the Christian faith reduced to a\u00a0good feeling, a\u00a0religious version of a\u00a0spot of exercise and one\u2019s five-a-day. It\u2019s society that tells us we \u200b\u2018need\u2019 more stuff to be happy, yet the gospel narrative is that looking to Christ is enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u00a0worry when I\u00a0see the Christian faith reduced to a\u00a0good feeling, a\u00a0religious version of a\u00a0spot of exercise and one\u2019s five-a-day. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And the great news is that by the power of the Holy Spirit in us we can live lives of purpose and freedom, even within our brokenness. We can be warriors for justice from our sickbeds and our limited finances. We can choose to imitate Christ, who made Himself nothing; Christ who, in an act of stark weakness, displayed the greatest compassion we could ever know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s look to Jesus, wherever we find ourselves. <\/strong>Let\u2019s dig into our faith and find treasures in dark places. Let\u2019s dare to push our own boundaries, even if they are tiny and insignificant. Let\u2019s choose others over ourselves, even if it seems to increase our own hardship. Because that\u2019s the life-giving model Jesus gave\u00a0us.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like what you’ve read? Why not join my mailing list – you’ll receive a free e-book, a Bible study guide based around Beauty and the Beast!<\/h3>\n\n\n

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