Questions ~ Queries
In the use of Questions
for Spiritual Growth, remember that only God is our true judge.
Questions are best used for reflection and prayer, asking God to move us
toward more tenderness and responsiveness and toward ways of becoming
more loving to God, to ourselves, and to each other.
As Christians do you consistently practice principles of love and good
will toward all God’s people, toward the earth and all creation?
Do you work actively for peace and justice by living in such a way that harmony results?
Do you endeavor to make clear to all whom you can influence, that war and the preparation for war is inconsistent with the spirit and teach of Jesus Christ?
How do you observe the
testimony of Friends that leads toward creative, life-affirming ways of
resolving conflict and away from violence and destruction?
Does your attitude toward people of other races and gender indicate your
belief in their right to equal opportunity?
Do you believe in the spiritual capacity of all races and do you recognize their equality in the sight of God?
How do you fulfill your
responsibility as a Christian to help in the elimination of racial,
sexual, ethnic, religious and other forms of discrimination and
prejudice?
Are you concerned that economic systems function to sustain and enrich
all life?
Are you giving positive service to society in the promotion of peaceful and just methods of reconciliation in all cases of personal, social, and global conflict?
Do you use care in the materials you consume and the material you discard to maintain the integrity of God’s creation?
How do you intelligently
exercise all your constitutional privileges and thus seek to promote
Christian influence locally, national, and internationally?
Advices
Friends find their essential unity in the profound and exhilarating
belief that Jesus Christ is our Risen Lord, present with us and able to
teach his people himself. Obedience to the direct leading of God,
through the Holy Spirit, is the obligation of faith.
As friends attempt to discern the will of God, they rely on the teaching
of scripture and learn from Christ within as well as the continue
experience of the faith community. Reading the Advices is intended to
help us keep all aspects of our lives under Divine guidance by reminding
us how God has led Friends up to now.
Integrity and Simplicity
Bring the whole of your daily life under the ordering of the Holy
Spirit. Live and work in the plainness and simplicity of a true follower
of Christ. Maintain integrity in work and deed; hold to the simplicity
of truth; keep free of oaths.
Resist temptation to grow rich at the expense of others. When you have a
choice of employment, choose that which gives the fullest opportunity
for the use of your talents in service to God and other people. Be
careful not to overextend your business endeavors or your personal
finances. Avoid and discourage every kind of betting and gambling and
commercial speculations of a gambling character.
Remember that God set humanity as care-takers of a creation which He
declared to be good. Guard against waste and resist extravagant
consumption which contributes to inequities and the impoverishment of
life in our own and other societies.
Apparently harmless indulgence often leads by degrees to wrong-doing. In
view of the evils and health hazards arising from the use of tobacco and
intoxicating drinks and from the abuse of drugs, Friends are advised to
refrain from using them, from offering them to others, and from having
any share in their manufacture or sale. Do not let the claims of good
fellowship or the fear of seeming peculiar influence your decisions.
Peace and Reconciliation
Every human being is precious in the eyes of God, and has been given a
measure of God’s light (John 1:9). Seek to live in the virtue of that
Life which takes away the occasion of war. Overcome evil with good.
Friends are advised to avoid activities and employment which involve
taking human life. Take care not to nourish the seeds of war in your
attitudes or in your possessions. Support Friends who suffer for the
Truth that war is incompatible with the spirit of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
At every opportunity, be peacemakers in your homes, in your places of
work, in your community and in the world. Seek justice, for injustice
often breeds bitterness and war. Work for an order of society which will
allow all men and women, regardless of race, to develop their capacities
and foster their desire to serve.
Finally, dear Friends, follow steadfastly after all that is purer and
lovely and of good report. Live adventurously in the power of the
Spirit. Be prayerful and watchful, offering to ourselves and to others
the love and grace which comes through Jesus Christ.
Approved 1994 by Indiana Yearly Meeting