Mennonite Weekly Review

A helpful book for congregational use is All Right Now: Finding Consensus on Ethical Questions, by Timothy J. Geddert, published by Herald Press, 2008, 230 pages, $16.99.

Marlin Jeschke, of Goshen, Ind., is retired from teaching at Goshen College.

Geddert — professor of New Testament at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., and at the Mennonite seminary in Bienenberg, Switzerland — shows that finding biblical answers to ethical questions is not as easy as some Christians think.

We should not resort to the “concordance” method of collecting an arsenal of texts on a given subject, he says. We must look for principles, “move into the text,” note contexts and then listen to each other and to the Spirit.

“I suspect,” says Geddert, “that the most radical thing I can say on the whole topic of responsible ethical living is this: ‘It is my business what you do, and yours what I do.’ ” In contrast to the assertion of individual rights characteristic of our society, he says, “The question we should be asking is not, ‘What am I allowed to do? But rather, ‘What actions would best serve my brothers and sisters in the community?’ ”

Geddert addresses five subjects that have proved controversial in many congregations: love of enemies (whether Christians should serve in the military), sexuality (especially premarital sex and unmarried couples living together, even raising families), divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, and money and possessions. He admits his own conservative position on these subjects while allowing that equally sincere Christians might arrive at different conclusions.

Commenting on the relative importance of these questions, Geddert says, “I am continually amazed at how openly and often the Bible talks about money and how seldom and guardedly we do.” And yet, “Jesus spoke more often about money than he did about heaven.” And further, “If the church is going to start practicing discipline,” he notes, “there are issues far more important than homosexuality where we should begin to draw a line in the dirt: violence and materialism, for example.”

Geddert underscores the importance of caring relationships in the church as compared with being “right” on a given ethical question. In an insightful chapter on the “prodigal son” story, he shows that the sin of the younger son may not have been immoral living. It is the jealous older brother who tells his father that his younger brother “squandered your money with prostitutes.” He is totally wrong on the first count — about it being the father’s money. It was his own inheritance that the younger son squandered.

The elder brother may have been just as wrong on the second count — in accusing the younger brother of patronizing prostitutes, something he may have assumed without evidence and found convenient to say to demean his brother in the father’s eyes. As Geddert makes clear, Jesus told the story in the context of the family mores of his time and place, where the real sin of both younger and older brother was failing to observe good family relationships.

Similarly, the bigger sin in many congregations, suggests Geddert, may be individuals and factions insisting dogmatically that they are right in their answer to some ethical question, condemning their opponents and ending up committing the bigger sin of violating Christian love.

I recommend this book for study in congregations and small groups. It is well-organized and loaded with helpful advice about biblical interpretation, patient listening, congregational discussion and Christian forbearance. It demonstrates exemplary thinking in discussing each of the ethical issues raised.