Tuesday, July 20, 2004

The Yin-Yang of Christianity


  
 
We've been learning about the South Korean Flag at our dojang. As a "good" western Christian, I was always a little suspious of that circle in the middle that I recognized from my childhood PBS viewing days.  Somewhere I was told it was associated with Eastern Mystisim and should be frowned upon.
 
As I drove to my class I was listening to
Pastor Cole.  There was a man who struggled deeply with the difference between works and faith.  He read where Jesus describes the judgement of those who treated Him (the least of His brethren) with kindess and attention verses those who ignored the plight of the poor, jailed and needy.  Wasn't this judement based on works?  How does one reconcile that with the grace by faith alone?
 
As Pastor Cole answered his question thoughtfully and in detail.  The discussion was still rumbling around my head as a meditated before my Tae Kwon Do class.  The meditation was about the yin-yang symbol in the middle of the South Korean Flag.  The symbol mean opposites work together.  While the western world does have a hard time understanding this, and obviously if opposites worked so well together there wouldn't be two Koreas, I think this philosophy could help many who struggle with the faith verses works issue.
 
The yin and yang I understand it from two explainations (one from a 19 year old) is this-
yin=receptive, passive, cold, female, dark, water :::: yang=force, movement, heat, male, light, fire.  As I looked through the lens of the Bible some things started falling into place.  Here's a list of my yin-yang of the Christian-
yin-faith, grace, mercy, humiliy::::yang-work, justice, discipline, confidence.  Each half makes up the whole and neither exsists without the other.  They work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.