Looking at Jesus with our success-oriented eyes, we tend to see the miracle-performing, world-changing Son of God. Not the typical modern-day celebrity type, it's true, but nonetheless, a super-hero up there with the very best of them.
I suggest the view at the time might have been rather different.
Just after his birth he and his family became refugees as they fled Herod’s persecutions. We know almost nothing about his life before he started his mission - he was a carpenter living a life of obscurity in a nowhere town. At the age of about 30, having achieved nothing so far of particular note, he set out on his God-given mission - to bring God’s plan for salvation to the whole of mankind!
It went well to start with, with great crowds flocking to hear him and see his miracles. But quickly it began to go wrong: he was rejected in his home town and narrowly escaped being murdered. Not long after, the great majority of his followers fell away when the going got tough, leaving just the 12. And then one of these twelve betrayed him into the hands of his armed enemies. The others deserted when he was arrested and Peter, his most loyal supporter, denied he even knew him. Following an illegal trial on trumped-up charges, he was put to death with common criminals.
Hanging there on the cross with his life flashing before his eyes: what was there to show for all his work? Where was the fruit of his great mission? Where was the evidence of salvation for the world? In fact, where were his disciples?
No thriving congregation, no recognition, no books published, no possessions apart from the clothes he was wearing, no children. Misunderstood, rejected, dead at 33 and no memorial service with warm words. Apart from a handful, no-one cared. There were just a few frightened and disillusioned disciples who had lost hope and scattered!
As he was dying, nothing remained - except his faith in his Father. The salvation of the world, hanging by the merest of threads - in the faith of one dying man!
He dies, not seeing any evidence for what he trusts is to come. As the world judges things, his life was a catastrophic failure. (Don't let the fact that you know the end of the story blind you to the crisis at this moment in history...)
Imagine, as you look back on your life when you are dying: everything you have worked hard for and cared about - come to absolutely nothing!
So was Jesus really a such a success?
He was successful only in having lived a life of total obedience to his Father. He trusted his Father to fulfil his promise, even when all appeared to have gone wrong.
We, too, have a choice: work to be a success - and perhaps gain some possessions and achieve a modicum of recognition. Or choose to be obedient - most likely being seen as a failure in the eyes of the world - but leaving room for God to work in whatever way he wishes.
Remembered for the car or house you owned? Or remembered for being the hands of God?
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Thursday, 7 April 2011
In praise of failure
We live in a world obsessed with success. We are interested in the rich, the famous and the powerful, the movers and the shakers, and we watch their activities, accomplishments and lifestyle on our televisions and in the magazines and papers.
We are bombarded through the media and advertising with the command, sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle: “be successful”, usually followed up with some trite message about the deodorant you should use, the way you should look, the clothes you should wear, the car you should drive.
We think that we are well able to spot the deceit and so strain out the gnat: we know that success doesn’t depend on a fragrance, or even on our car. Yet we swallow the camel, the much more insidious and repeated lie: that we should be successful.
Everywhere there is pressure to succeed and the message is that our worth is based on our performance. Achieve, and you’re worth something; otherwise you are nothing. The world commands success, and the failures in our society are airbrushed out of sight...
No, this is a piece in praise of failure! (The very idea is shocking...)
Think through some of the well-known Gospel stories with me: there are many notable successes and ignominious failures in its pages.
Here are a some of the successful people who are mentioned in the Bible:
And here are some of the notable failures mentioned in the Gospels:
There is a real bias in Jesus’ teaching – few successful people accepted Jesus, while many of the failures, the outcasts and nobodies were his friends and followers. And there are many more examples than these few I have mentioned.
Success is a very cruel god to worship! And here you are on very slippery ground; it is the domain of the Enemy.
What about us? Are we striving to be a success – don’t, for it’s fools gold. God isn’t interested in success, but he is interested in failures! Are we too proud to admit to being a failure? We only begin our Christian life when we recognise we are failures, and give up trying to succeed in our own strength, and plead for forgiveness. No, God isn’t interested in successful people, only in forgiven failures - in those who submit to Him, those who obey His commands and do His will.
Maybe you think that I’m saying that to admit to being a failure is the first step towards success? No! It is a key to being in a right relationship with God, but not to success in this life! God is more likely to ask you clear up the books after the service, or to be a friend to your neighbour, than to be successful, rich or famous. For God the Father knows that success is a temptation that few can withstand.
The world commands success, though the devilish twist is that most end up feeling a failure. Christ works with failures - who end up at peace with God.
We are bombarded through the media and advertising with the command, sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle: “be successful”, usually followed up with some trite message about the deodorant you should use, the way you should look, the clothes you should wear, the car you should drive.
We think that we are well able to spot the deceit and so strain out the gnat: we know that success doesn’t depend on a fragrance, or even on our car. Yet we swallow the camel, the much more insidious and repeated lie: that we should be successful.
Everywhere there is pressure to succeed and the message is that our worth is based on our performance. Achieve, and you’re worth something; otherwise you are nothing. The world commands success, and the failures in our society are airbrushed out of sight...
No, this is a piece in praise of failure! (The very idea is shocking...)
Think through some of the well-known Gospel stories with me: there are many notable successes and ignominious failures in its pages.
Here are a some of the successful people who are mentioned in the Bible:
- In Matt 19 v16f there was the rich man who came to follow Jesus and asked what he needed to do to enter the Kingdom of God. He went away downcast when he was told to go and sell his possessions and give to the poor, then to come and follow Jesus. After this Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”.
- In Luke 12v16f we are told about a successful farmer, who had a bumper crop and decided to build new barns to horde all his produce, so that he could then retire and take life easy. But he died the next day, and Jesus used him as a warning, saying, “This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards others”.
- The Pharisees were the religious and civic leaders of the day, the successful people, the top of the pile – but in Matt 23 Jesus repeatedly calls them ‘hypocrites’, ‘blind guides’, a ‘brood of vipers’, and compared them to ‘white-washed tombs’.
And here are some of the notable failures mentioned in the Gospels:
- In Luke 7v36f there was the prostitute who wept for her sinful life, and poured perfume on Jesus’ feet. She had her sins forgiven, while the Pharisee in whose house Jesus was feasting at the time was just indignant that Jesus would deal with such a person.
- In Luke 16 v19 there is the story of the rich man who lived in luxury, and the beggar Lazarus who lived at his gate. It was only the latter that went to heaven.
- In Luke 18 v9 there were two men praying – a Pharisee and a tax collector. It was only the tax collector, an outcast, whose prayers were heard by God.
- Then there was the repentant thief, crucified along with Jesus, who entered paradise …
There is a real bias in Jesus’ teaching – few successful people accepted Jesus, while many of the failures, the outcasts and nobodies were his friends and followers. And there are many more examples than these few I have mentioned.
Success is a very cruel god to worship! And here you are on very slippery ground; it is the domain of the Enemy.
What about us? Are we striving to be a success – don’t, for it’s fools gold. God isn’t interested in success, but he is interested in failures! Are we too proud to admit to being a failure? We only begin our Christian life when we recognise we are failures, and give up trying to succeed in our own strength, and plead for forgiveness. No, God isn’t interested in successful people, only in forgiven failures - in those who submit to Him, those who obey His commands and do His will.
Maybe you think that I’m saying that to admit to being a failure is the first step towards success? No! It is a key to being in a right relationship with God, but not to success in this life! God is more likely to ask you clear up the books after the service, or to be a friend to your neighbour, than to be successful, rich or famous. For God the Father knows that success is a temptation that few can withstand.
The world commands success, though the devilish twist is that most end up feeling a failure. Christ works with failures - who end up at peace with God.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Who sets the agenda?
I learnt many years ago that the most powerful person in a committee is not the necessarily the person in the Chair, but the one who sets the agenda - the selection of topics for discussion sets the boundaries within which you work.
So when Christians gather in church, they may say a creed, summarising their Christian beliefs, and in the sermon the word is preached - and all assent to their shared faith.
But what happens if you start with an individual's lived experience and let them set the agenda? We find one who is still overwhelmed by hurt from a past abusive relationship, another whose thoughts day and night are consumed by worry for a wayward child, and another who is busy working out how they can afford that house they have their eye on.
It's not that the same people in church saying the creed are deceitful; nor that in their daily lives they are heedless of God. But if there is no space for the church members to set the agenda and air their real and uppermost concerns, there is a disconnect between church and the rest of life! This isn't the fault of the ordinary church members; it's the responsibility of a church leadership who never dare let go of the agenda.
When and how in church do the church members have the opportunity to set the agenda, to talk about what is actually uppermost in their mind?
Of course, a church service isn't a therapy group where each person may talk about what is troubling them. And I trust that they do find in their meeting with God that their personal needs are heard, understood and met.
But the more strongly a church sets an agenda, a 'party line', the less people will feel free to be themselves, to bring their real needs, and the more people will present a false and acceptable front. In practice this means:
Ultimately, keeping tight control of the agenda leads to boredom and falsity; but it also leads to an even more serious problem - it excludes people who are seeking:
The more you want your church to be open to 'real' needy people, the more your church needs to reflect their experience - which probably means allowing for and accepting messy people with doubts, questions and plenty of real-life problems. Pretending these don't exist doesn't get rid of them; it merely shows that your God isn't as loving as you say.
Accepting each other's reality could sometimes lead to difficulty, disagreements and even the potential of conflict. But in the context of loving Christian relationships, it also leads to life!
So when Christians gather in church, they may say a creed, summarising their Christian beliefs, and in the sermon the word is preached - and all assent to their shared faith.
But what happens if you start with an individual's lived experience and let them set the agenda? We find one who is still overwhelmed by hurt from a past abusive relationship, another whose thoughts day and night are consumed by worry for a wayward child, and another who is busy working out how they can afford that house they have their eye on.
It's not that the same people in church saying the creed are deceitful; nor that in their daily lives they are heedless of God. But if there is no space for the church members to set the agenda and air their real and uppermost concerns, there is a disconnect between church and the rest of life! This isn't the fault of the ordinary church members; it's the responsibility of a church leadership who never dare let go of the agenda.
When and how in church do the church members have the opportunity to set the agenda, to talk about what is actually uppermost in their mind?
Of course, a church service isn't a therapy group where each person may talk about what is troubling them. And I trust that they do find in their meeting with God that their personal needs are heard, understood and met.
But the more strongly a church sets an agenda, a 'party line', the less people will feel free to be themselves, to bring their real needs, and the more people will present a false and acceptable front. In practice this means:
- the more structured the church is, the less the chaotic experience of people's everyday lives can be shared
- the more church is based on 'experience', the less people's honest questions can be spoken
- the more intellectually rigorous the church is, the less people's up and down experience will be voiced
- the more that questions have a clear and definite answer, the less room there is for our real doubts to surface
Ultimately, keeping tight control of the agenda leads to boredom and falsity; but it also leads to an even more serious problem - it excludes people who are seeking:
- If your church appears to be full of 'respectable' people, how can those who know they are not respectable come in?
- If your church appears to be full of 'successful' people, how can those who feel a failure gain access?
- If your church appears to be full of people of strong faith, how can those with a faltering faith gain entrance?
The more you want your church to be open to 'real' needy people, the more your church needs to reflect their experience - which probably means allowing for and accepting messy people with doubts, questions and plenty of real-life problems. Pretending these don't exist doesn't get rid of them; it merely shows that your God isn't as loving as you say.
Accepting each other's reality could sometimes lead to difficulty, disagreements and even the potential of conflict. But in the context of loving Christian relationships, it also leads to life!
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Seeking the good
Our natural inclination is to drawn distinctions - in what ways are you and I different? what is it that marks this group out from that group? etc. We do this all the time quite naturally. For example, when buying a mobile phone we want to know the difference in features and costs between this model or price plan, and that one.
Our western society holds choice as a mark of freedom, to the extent that (I hear today) there are over 300 price plans for gas or electricity currently available in the UK. (I suppose this must prove that we are a very 'free' society!). So we have become totally used to navigating choices when it comes to buying gizmos, utilities or even frozen peas.
But as the choices become wider and wider, we often need to look for help in understanding the finer and finer distinctions between this and that, and turn to a whole industry to help us choose - expert reviews, consumer reviews, comparison websites, etc.
And, when it comes to churches, this materialistic attitude (for that is what it is) naturally comes along too. So I've just typed "which church" into Google, and now have over 300,000,000 results to help me!
Except that maybe it's not the differences between churches that matter.
The more we focus on differences, the more we splinter into fragments until, eventually, we come down to the individual level, for God made us each one of us different. But if we focus on the similarities, the common ground, we may find that we are all human, all made in God's image, all sinners, and all living on Earth together.
It's easy to be critical and find fault (except in ourselves!), but can we seek and find the good? Whatever you focus on will grow. Focus on the differences and faults and you'll find plenty. But Jesus looked at poor people, rich people, women, sick people and outcasts such as lepers, Samaritans (also outcasts), centurions, etc - all with an eye of love. I don't mean he turned a blind eye to their sins, but his attitude was always seeking their good, looking to draw them close to himself.
Can we earnestly seek his forgiveness for our critical spirit which sees only distinction and difference, and ask for his loving eyes, which see all Christians, in fact all humankind, as loved by him?
Then, perhaps, just perhaps, we will be less interested in the distinctions between churches and theological viewpoints, and more interested in getting on with doing his work of redemption - Christians united in one family. Now that would be force to be reckoned with! And the foundation for a fantastic witness (John 17v23).
Our western society holds choice as a mark of freedom, to the extent that (I hear today) there are over 300 price plans for gas or electricity currently available in the UK. (I suppose this must prove that we are a very 'free' society!). So we have become totally used to navigating choices when it comes to buying gizmos, utilities or even frozen peas.
But as the choices become wider and wider, we often need to look for help in understanding the finer and finer distinctions between this and that, and turn to a whole industry to help us choose - expert reviews, consumer reviews, comparison websites, etc.
And, when it comes to churches, this materialistic attitude (for that is what it is) naturally comes along too. So I've just typed "which church" into Google, and now have over 300,000,000 results to help me!
Except that maybe it's not the differences between churches that matter.
The more we focus on differences, the more we splinter into fragments until, eventually, we come down to the individual level, for God made us each one of us different. But if we focus on the similarities, the common ground, we may find that we are all human, all made in God's image, all sinners, and all living on Earth together.
It's easy to be critical and find fault (except in ourselves!), but can we seek and find the good? Whatever you focus on will grow. Focus on the differences and faults and you'll find plenty. But Jesus looked at poor people, rich people, women, sick people and outcasts such as lepers, Samaritans (also outcasts), centurions, etc - all with an eye of love. I don't mean he turned a blind eye to their sins, but his attitude was always seeking their good, looking to draw them close to himself.
Can we earnestly seek his forgiveness for our critical spirit which sees only distinction and difference, and ask for his loving eyes, which see all Christians, in fact all humankind, as loved by him?
Then, perhaps, just perhaps, we will be less interested in the distinctions between churches and theological viewpoints, and more interested in getting on with doing his work of redemption - Christians united in one family. Now that would be force to be reckoned with! And the foundation for a fantastic witness (John 17v23).
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Practical Christian unity
When you're at the wrong end of a gun, things are simple.
There are many countries in which Christians are persecuted today. Imagine such a place, where a Christian is held at the point of a gun and an answer is demanded: "Are you a Christian? If you say you are, we'll kill you!". Now imagine that person responding with: "Well, it all depends on your stance concerning infant baptism - or the nature of the baptism of the Holy Spirit - or women in leadership"! Ridiculous! Yet these are issues that have divided churches...
Are you a Christian or aren't you?
So why does most of life seem more complicated? And why do so many such issues lead to division, shattering the unity among Christians that is commanded in the Bible?
Problem 1 - usurping God's role as Judge
The trouble is that we aren't content with having God answer the question of whether a person is a Christian, as that individual stands before Him. Instead, we are rather too determined to answer that question ourselves: if you don't meet my criteria for being a Christian, then I won't accept that you are!
We seem consumed by a need to be the judge, and so to usurp God's role.
What would happen if we left God to do his job? Maybe then we'd get on with our job, which is to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind, and to love our neighbours (whoever they are - Christian, Buddhist, Moslem, Pagan - it makes no difference) as ourselves (Matt 22 v36-39).
Problem 2 - confusing unity with uniformity
We too quickly turn to thinking: so which is the right group then? And having decided this - probably in our own favour - then the issue becomes: so how do we convince everyone else to agree with us and do the same as us? For then we'll have unity! And thence quickly to giving up, as these other annoying Christians don't seem to want to be 'converted' to our way of thinking!
No, the commanded unity is not about us all agreeing with one another.
Problem 3 - confusion over who we are fighting
Living in unity means understanding that we Christians face a common Enemy - and this is not another Christian denomination, not Islam, not a materialistic world - but the Devil.
Problem 4 - following Paul or Barnabas
We pride ourselves on following Wesley or Calvin or Luther or Wimber or ... or anyone really - rather than following Jesus. Paul dealt directly with this sin in 1 Cor 1 v 10-13.
Does this mean that we are to stop seeking the truth or stop being on our guard against heresy? By no means!
But we are very ready to take this to extremes. Either we fall into thinking that such differences are so minor as to be unimportant - 'we are all the same really' - and so end up with a wishy-washy, 'anything goes' Christianity and all are included. Or we may be drawn to the other extreme, where we are so clear and firm on the rightness of our understanding of Christian doctrine that all others have already been mentally assigned to hell. (So it seems that heaven is either going to contain everyone, or just you. But Jesus seemed to have own, different ideas!
Was Jesus wishy washy? Did he have an 'anything goes' attitude? Or was he so exclusive in his purity that he shunned all contact with regular sinful people? No, he held together absolute and unwavering truth with a loving embrace for all sinners who would accept him. We seem to find combining these two very difficult.
Practical unity
So how do we square this circle, hold this tension? Is it really possible for there to be Christian unity where people are so different, and have such different interests and emphases? It would have been so much easier if God had made all people the same!
Can such diversity really live in unity? Humanly speaking, no. But the church is not a human creation, and the qualities required - humility, forgiveness, love - are God-given, if we ask.
Maybe it starts with moving away from focusing on what's wrong with the other's position, to humbly seeking and learning from what God has revealed to them and which we haven't yet grasped? In what ways do they reflect God's grace better than ourselves?
For example, in my case, I may look to Protestants for a solid exposition of Biblical doctrine, but when it comes to being God's loving hands and feet in reaching out to ordinary people, to down and outs, or bringing God's love to slum-dwellers - then give me a Catholic any day.
So for me personally: I need to be living and working alongside Catholics in order to learn more about being God's loving hands in a hurting world, and alongside the Amish to learn more about God's simplicity in a materialistic and greedy world, and amongst Charismatics to listen more carefully to the Holy Spirit, and with Evangelicals in searching the scriptures, and with the Orthodox in better understanding sanctification, and with ... (Your list will be different.)
But now we're beginning to talk unity.
There are many countries in which Christians are persecuted today. Imagine such a place, where a Christian is held at the point of a gun and an answer is demanded: "Are you a Christian? If you say you are, we'll kill you!". Now imagine that person responding with: "Well, it all depends on your stance concerning infant baptism - or the nature of the baptism of the Holy Spirit - or women in leadership"! Ridiculous! Yet these are issues that have divided churches...
Are you a Christian or aren't you?
So why does most of life seem more complicated? And why do so many such issues lead to division, shattering the unity among Christians that is commanded in the Bible?
Problem 1 - usurping God's role as Judge
The trouble is that we aren't content with having God answer the question of whether a person is a Christian, as that individual stands before Him. Instead, we are rather too determined to answer that question ourselves: if you don't meet my criteria for being a Christian, then I won't accept that you are!
We seem consumed by a need to be the judge, and so to usurp God's role.
What would happen if we left God to do his job? Maybe then we'd get on with our job, which is to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind, and to love our neighbours (whoever they are - Christian, Buddhist, Moslem, Pagan - it makes no difference) as ourselves (Matt 22 v36-39).
Problem 2 - confusing unity with uniformity
We too quickly turn to thinking: so which is the right group then? And having decided this - probably in our own favour - then the issue becomes: so how do we convince everyone else to agree with us and do the same as us? For then we'll have unity! And thence quickly to giving up, as these other annoying Christians don't seem to want to be 'converted' to our way of thinking!
No, the commanded unity is not about us all agreeing with one another.
Problem 3 - confusion over who we are fighting
Living in unity means understanding that we Christians face a common Enemy - and this is not another Christian denomination, not Islam, not a materialistic world - but the Devil.
Problem 4 - following Paul or Barnabas
We pride ourselves on following Wesley or Calvin or Luther or Wimber or ... or anyone really - rather than following Jesus. Paul dealt directly with this sin in 1 Cor 1 v 10-13.
Does this mean that we are to stop seeking the truth or stop being on our guard against heresy? By no means!
But we are very ready to take this to extremes. Either we fall into thinking that such differences are so minor as to be unimportant - 'we are all the same really' - and so end up with a wishy-washy, 'anything goes' Christianity and all are included. Or we may be drawn to the other extreme, where we are so clear and firm on the rightness of our understanding of Christian doctrine that all others have already been mentally assigned to hell. (So it seems that heaven is either going to contain everyone, or just you. But Jesus seemed to have own, different ideas!
Was Jesus wishy washy? Did he have an 'anything goes' attitude? Or was he so exclusive in his purity that he shunned all contact with regular sinful people? No, he held together absolute and unwavering truth with a loving embrace for all sinners who would accept him. We seem to find combining these two very difficult.
Practical unity
So how do we square this circle, hold this tension? Is it really possible for there to be Christian unity where people are so different, and have such different interests and emphases? It would have been so much easier if God had made all people the same!
Can such diversity really live in unity? Humanly speaking, no. But the church is not a human creation, and the qualities required - humility, forgiveness, love - are God-given, if we ask.
Maybe it starts with moving away from focusing on what's wrong with the other's position, to humbly seeking and learning from what God has revealed to them and which we haven't yet grasped? In what ways do they reflect God's grace better than ourselves?
For example, in my case, I may look to Protestants for a solid exposition of Biblical doctrine, but when it comes to being God's loving hands and feet in reaching out to ordinary people, to down and outs, or bringing God's love to slum-dwellers - then give me a Catholic any day.
So for me personally: I need to be living and working alongside Catholics in order to learn more about being God's loving hands in a hurting world, and alongside the Amish to learn more about God's simplicity in a materialistic and greedy world, and amongst Charismatics to listen more carefully to the Holy Spirit, and with Evangelicals in searching the scriptures, and with the Orthodox in better understanding sanctification, and with ... (Your list will be different.)
But now we're beginning to talk unity.
Friday, 11 March 2011
The power of Christian unity
Jesus was uncompromising about unity; it was even a central point in his prayer for all Christians: "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me", (John 17v23). So, what does Christian unity mean?
Does unity mean doing what Christians do today - getting together only with people of like mind? No, for this has resulted in literally thousands of Christian denominations, with more being formed all the time as groups fall out over some new distinction or issue so 'important' that a further split is necessary.
Nor does Christian unity mean remaining in our little silo, whilst attempting to have 'friendly discussions and occasional shared events' with the Christians in a neighbouring silo; talking with them on occasion but returning immediately to the security of our own ghetto.
Friends, this is not protecting the precious truth of the Gospel from the latest error or heresy - this is focusing on our differences when we should be focusing on our Lord. And the Devil laughs in delight! And everyone sees the hypocrisy.
It means remaining in fellowship and loving relationships with those with whom we don't necessarily agree. It means costly loving relationships that transcend differences in preferences, culture and theological understandings. It means demonstrating Christ's love through Christians loving other Christians! Now there's a radical idea.
----
I am reminded of a poem I like:
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham (1913)
Does unity mean doing what Christians do today - getting together only with people of like mind? No, for this has resulted in literally thousands of Christian denominations, with more being formed all the time as groups fall out over some new distinction or issue so 'important' that a further split is necessary.
Nor does Christian unity mean remaining in our little silo, whilst attempting to have 'friendly discussions and occasional shared events' with the Christians in a neighbouring silo; talking with them on occasion but returning immediately to the security of our own ghetto.
Friends, this is not protecting the precious truth of the Gospel from the latest error or heresy - this is focusing on our differences when we should be focusing on our Lord. And the Devil laughs in delight! And everyone sees the hypocrisy.
It means remaining in fellowship and loving relationships with those with whom we don't necessarily agree. It means costly loving relationships that transcend differences in preferences, culture and theological understandings. It means demonstrating Christ's love through Christians loving other Christians! Now there's a radical idea.
----
I am reminded of a poem I like:
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham (1913)
Thursday, 3 March 2011
But does it work?
People flock to where the action is, not to where the talking is.
Considering Jesus' message was about forgiveness for sins and eternal salvation, have you ever wondered why he did so many miracles? What did healing people, stilling a storm, or even turning water into wine have to do with forgiveness or salvation?
Jesus was interested in and met the real needs of the ordinary people who surrounded him - for healing, for acceptance, for love. Sometimes a miracle, sometimes a loving look, sometimes taking a person by the hand.
People flocked to him because they knew that what he did worked! Not just fancy words, but actions that worked, that made a practical difference.
Nowadays still, people flock to where the action is - where their needs will be met. If the local pub offers friendship and belonging, is it any wonder that people go there? If the lottery offers hope, people who are short on hope will queue up there. If the local medium or spiritual healer offers answers or cures, people will go there.
If the local church is all talk and theological arguments, who needs that? Plenty of words but nothing that works - who wants to queue up for that? (And don't respond by saying that people's deepest need is for salvation. If that's not where people are currently at, that's not the place to begin. Jesus didn't make that mistake.)
I'm not preaching a social gospel or salvation by works, but Christianity isn't first about getting the theology right, it's about getting the loving right. Get the loving right - and then people will be interested in the message. It's not the other way around! Jesus knew this.
We may not be doing regular feeding-the-five-thousand and raising-the-dead miracles, but practical loving in the name of Jesus, meeting people's needs: those are conspicuous miracles in our greedy and selfish world.
Considering Jesus' message was about forgiveness for sins and eternal salvation, have you ever wondered why he did so many miracles? What did healing people, stilling a storm, or even turning water into wine have to do with forgiveness or salvation?
Jesus was interested in and met the real needs of the ordinary people who surrounded him - for healing, for acceptance, for love. Sometimes a miracle, sometimes a loving look, sometimes taking a person by the hand.
People flocked to him because they knew that what he did worked! Not just fancy words, but actions that worked, that made a practical difference.
Nowadays still, people flock to where the action is - where their needs will be met. If the local pub offers friendship and belonging, is it any wonder that people go there? If the lottery offers hope, people who are short on hope will queue up there. If the local medium or spiritual healer offers answers or cures, people will go there.
If the local church is all talk and theological arguments, who needs that? Plenty of words but nothing that works - who wants to queue up for that? (And don't respond by saying that people's deepest need is for salvation. If that's not where people are currently at, that's not the place to begin. Jesus didn't make that mistake.)
I'm not preaching a social gospel or salvation by works, but Christianity isn't first about getting the theology right, it's about getting the loving right. Get the loving right - and then people will be interested in the message. It's not the other way around! Jesus knew this.
We may not be doing regular feeding-the-five-thousand and raising-the-dead miracles, but practical loving in the name of Jesus, meeting people's needs: those are conspicuous miracles in our greedy and selfish world.
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