Letters: Easter trading challenges Christian values

Shopping at Easter challenges Christian values, a letter writer says. Photo/file

CRUCIFYING: Shopping at Easter challenges Christian values, a letter writer says. PHOTO/FILE

Jesus spoke numerous times about God's kingdom. He taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come on Earth as in heaven". But what is God's kingdom?

The answer a person gives will largely show their understanding of Christian "mission". I think many Christians have a very poor understanding of their mission.

Evangelicals have mainly seen getting people saved into the afterlife as bringing God's kingdom. Liberal Christians on the other hand, have tended to see it as making this world better.

Thus, the first lot often tend to preach love but not practice it, coming across as hypocrites.

The second lot often tend to be "do-gooders", coming across as another branch of social welfare.

Other Christians saw God's kingdom as establishing some sort of Christian theocracy or utopia on Earth (eg Church in the Middle Ages), which often ended up as some sort of hell instead.

Yet others saw the kingdom as a private, spiritualised inner-world and allowed hell to happen in the public world (eg Lutherans under the Nazis).

The mission of every Christian is to believe and follow. God's kingdom in heaven comes to us only when we truly believe in Christ's resurrection.

God's kingdom on Earth comes only when we truly follow Christ as Lord, rather than following the fallen culture of our day.

As long as Christians acquiesce to Easter trading so money is our master on the day of Christ's resurrection, how can we expect God's kingdom to come in Rotorua?

BOB BOARDMAN
Ngongotaha

Older workers prove value

To start with I'm 57 years old and at our workplace the age of our crew ranges from 70 to 16.

It's all physical work outside in the heat and rain. I can tell you for a fact the weakest link in our crew is the youngest person - no work ethic, only does what told to do and slow at that.

So I definitely think the older person in the workplace should be more appreciated. We have a lifetime of skills and can work and use our brains at the same time so use us while you can.

NAME WITHHELD
Rotorua