The Scribe just started re-reading his “Centennial edition” of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

Steinbeck started the book by describing the Salinas Valley in California where he grew up, and especially the Salinas River.  He wrote that the Salinas River in the summer was all dried out, and so “was not a fine river at all, but it was the only one we had and so we boasted about it.”  He added, “You can boast about anything if that’s all you have.”

Finally he said, “Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast about it.”

*   *   *   *

Maybe the reverse is true.  Maybe the more you have, the less you should feel the need to boast.

And you would think that would be especially true of Christians, but apparently “boasting” by some was a problem even in St. Paul’s time.  See for example First Corinthians 4:7 (NJB):

Who made you so important?  What have you got that was not given to you?  And if it was given to you, why are you boasting as though it were your own?

Of course some Conservative Christians even today might respond, “I earned everything I have, with hard work and the sweat of my brow.”   But that raises a question: “Who gave you the brow? And who gave you the sweat?”  See also 1^st John 1:9-10 (ESV):

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves…  If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.”

In other words, what does a hard-core Christian have that wasn’t ultimately “given?”  It could be said that he or she has done nothing but accept a free gift available to all.  (Not to mention any “talents” he or she may have developed, talents that were also ultimately a gift from God.)

So maybe now is a good time for a bit less of the “us against them” rhetoric that seems to be the focus of so many Christians these days (at least judging by “that darned liberal media”), and more about the ministry of reconciliation Paul mentioned in 2d Corinthians 5:18.

Another example:  Type the words “Christian hypocrite” into your computer search engine and you’ll get “About 3,340,000 results.”   That’s over three million, three hundred thousand results, so something is definitely “wrong with this picture.”  But Paul may have foreseen that as well, when he wrote in Romans 2:24, in the New International Verson, “As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

So maybe this is a good time for a little less bragging and a little more showing. . .

The “East of Eden” book-cover image is courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/EastOfEden.jpg.   The quoted passages are from the John Steinbeck Centennial Edition of East of Eden, Penguin Books, at page 4.

As for the “Christian hypocrite” search-engine type-in, see for example, Why Are Christians So Hypocritical? – Explore God:  “Christians are notorious for being hypocritical…   A recent study found that among the various perceptions of Christians, the third most common is that they’re hypocritical.  Eighty-five percent of respondents between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine voiced this reaction to Christians.”  And notwithstanding the website’s thoughtful analysis, this public perception does present a problem that The Scribe and his Blog are trying to alleviate.

The lower image is courtesy of http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/wig/images/wrong_picture.jpg.  As to “what’s wrong with the picture,” the site explained, “for one thing, the members of this track team all have the same face.  Unless we are paying close attention to facial features, hair plays a big part in forming an image of individuals.”

There’s probably some kind of lesson there too…