News From The Rectory

RECTOR’S PINT - June 2025

What would Jesus do? For some Christians, this is a question they may ask when facing a difficult situation. Although I understand (and applaud) the sentiment, I do find it a rather simplistic question. Jesus did not give us a blueprint for everything. We have to be grown up and work things out for ourselves. For instance, Jesus did not tell us how to split the atom, he did not declare to us what penicillin is, or provide us with modern anaesthetics. He did not show us the physics of how to build a medieval Cathedral, or a modern suspension bridge. These have been achieved through human enquiry, ingenuity, and invention. However, what lies behind that?

I believe that Christianity declares that our exploration of the universe and the world we inhabit, as we uncover its hidden mysteries, will point us back to God. In exploring in this way, we examine the claim that Jesus was, and is, uniquely, the incarnation of God as man. Following him must, therefore, bring with it a set of values with which to navigate the world. For instance, the Christian understanding is that humanity bears the image of God, and that image is to be seen in every single person, however twisted and corrupted that image might become because of human failing and sin (a misunderstood word, which basically means falling short of an ideal or missing a target). This means that in our dealings with others we must hold that truth in mind. Thus we use medical knowledge to heal and not to harm.

Another example is that of justice. A model of justice where we lock people up and throw away the key may be effective, but is it morally right? The punishment of crime might need to be severe, but can we also hold out the hope of redemption and restoration? Whilst I believe that waging war on a brutal and ideologically dangerous enemy may have a moral justification, withholding humanitarian aid, food and medicine from a population as a way of achieving one’s aims, however complicated the circumstances, crosses a moral line.

I have no easy answers, but in seeking a way through, I will declare an interest in Jesus and what he points us to. This is not about asking a simplistic ‘what would Jesus do?’ question. Instead, by his light, and the values that come from following him, we might begin to find the way forward, and also discover that we belong to a common humanity, made in the image of God, and find a shared hope in a confused and fragmented world. I passionately believe that.

Simon