Amos: "in the interest of the individual and the community"

The prophets were community builders. So was the apostle Paul.

In his letter to the church in Rome (Romans 12: 9) Paul writes "Let love be without dissimulation". (The dictionary says that dissimulation means pretence or hypocrisy.)

Amos's message to the Israelites is on the same track. They are hypocritical and they have their priorities wrong. They claim they are God's chosen people, but they've lost perspective. Their actions have been neither righteous nor just. Dissimulation, you surmise?

God has tried to get the message to them to "do what is good and run from evil... [that] then the Lord God of Heaven's Armies will be [their] helper" (Amos 5: 14 NLT). 

But obviously something is out of sync because trouble keeps re-appearing: "...you will be like a man who runs from a lion -- only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house -- and he's bitten by a snake" (Amos 5: 19 NLT). 

Today we might describe it this way, when trouble seems heaped upon us: "there's a lot happening right now" or "there's been just one thing after another". 

Happily, Amos has a solution--a river. Here's what he says:  

"...I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living" (Amos 5: 21 NLT).

Bearing in mind the role of the river in Naaman's healing (II Kings 5: 1-14) and the definition of river in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 593) as a "channel of thought", it might be concluded that  Amos is suggesting a distinctly changed thought from this community.

In a stirring article titled: Biblical Community: Lessons for Today in The Christian Science Journal November 2010, Madelon Maupin describes Amos' work thus: "Amos ... embodied [the] necessity for collective self-examination, addressing spiritual lethargy and its deadening effects..." 

Madelon concludes her article: "One helps many. Many bless one. The story of community. Then we echo Mary Baker Eddy's words: "I can use the power that God gives me in no way except in the interest of the individual and the community"" (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 31).

This has given me much to ponder. How does a community engage in "collective self-examination"? What is "spiritual lethargy"? Is my community fired up with spiritual energy and action? Is my community demonstrating true justice and righteousness?  What about my role: Am I stuck in self-righteousness, self-justification, and self-will? How am I contributing to the greater good of my community? Is love without dissimulation?

Julie Swannell

PS. Readers may enjoy this short video explanation of the book of Amos.