Cornerstone

Today I went to the first Cornerstone session in Cullen Auditorium. My Psychology professor, Dr. Richard Beck, was the speaker of the week. Beck gave a speech that brought excitement to my mind when I think about the class.

Beck discussed the question of "can you love the sinner, but hate the sin?" He brought two students on stage for an illustration. For the first illustration, he had one student conjure up saliva in her mouth as if she were going to spit it out, but then swallow it. She did that with no problem. Then, he had her spit in a cup, and asked if she could swallow the spit. Of course, the girl said she would not. For the second experiment, he asked the student if she would eat a regular apple. Then, he touched a piece of dog feces to the apple and asked if she would eat it then. She said no. What Beck was illustrating was negativity dominance--something good, when it comes into contact with something bad, will turn bad. He related this to the story of Jesus, when Jesus is eating with tax collectors. Pharisees see him and are shocked. Jesus responds by quoting a passage in Hosea that says "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

Everyone understands the mercy part of this saying, but the sacrifice part is a little bit different. Dr. Beck defined sacrifice as preserving purity at all costs. He said that the Pharisees had set up a "spiritual quarantine, and [refused] to cross the tracks and love people." And, with the illustration, Dr. Beck pointed out that what the Pharisees were doing made psychological sense. If you associate with the bad, the unclean, the sinners, then you will inevitably become that way yourself. But throughout Jesus' life, he showed the Pharisees and the world that one can overcome negativity dominance with love. And that is our goal, as Christians; to allow the love of Christ to affect others in such a way that we are the influence, not the world.

Beck's speech made me feel intellectually invigorated and challenged, and I felt that I am going to learn a lot from the Cornerstone class, develop a deeper way of thinking, and enjoy the class greatly.