Interpreting Ethical Teachings in Biblical Narratives

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Common Code of Ethics In the gospel of John, Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one, just as He and the Father are One (John 17:20-21). Jesus had spent three years preparing His disciples for this moment, training them not only how to accomplish the mission, but also giving detailed teaching regarding their attitudes and behaviors. Throughout the centuries, God’s church has expanded throughout the world as a unified effort, fulfilling Jesus’ final command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20). Luke presented Jesus’ ethical teaching throughout his Gospel account (Tannehill, 2012). In contrast, the book of Acts does not contain a great deal of ethical teaching; however, four topics appeared regarding witness, leadership, mission …show more content…

This does not, however, dictate specific practices, or undermine cultural contexts. God’s children all have the same playbook. In that book, God has ordained His standards of moral and ethical purity. Within these guidelines, exist nuances of application that have proved to be sources of misunderstanding. Christians in churches around the world experience cultural differences that have helped mold a local biblical understanding. Because of this, the introduction of a global code of ethics may meet significant resistance. The interplay of culture and language could play a large role in the difficulty of establishing a common code of ethics. People groups use their language to express concepts to one another, and to speak of God (Nueck, 2012). When a document as important as a code of ethics has been designed in a different language, to assume merely translating it into indigenous languages would capture the same meaning for all people groups is challenging. Beyond this, the idea of a “one-size-fits-all" code of ethics may communicate insensitivity and a lack of respect for those ministries that seem to “need” such a

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