Failure to learn from history

Tomorrow I'm sitting an exam on Early Church History. And to my shame have to admit to not really having worked that hard towards the exam until the last twenty four hours, since when I have tried to read everything I can get my eyes on about Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine Constantine and the like. As I have done so one thing has struck me; we really don't know our history.

Why is the church like it is? How have we arrived at the doctrine of the Trinity that we hold? How do we come to have the Bible as it is and why? How do we face up to questions that we face about penal substitutionary atonement and the character of God?

The answer is all there in Church History. Its just that we don't know it. But that poses a question how do we teach church history to people in a way that is engaging. Most of us want to know about what affects us in the now, how do I deal with this or how should I live in the light of that? Yet many of the questions we face are exactly those we would see the answers to if we looked back at those who have been there before us.

But how do we do so in a way that engages? Is it through short 2 minute slots on Sundays? Is it through interested people sharing there info? Is it through mentioning it when relevant in sermons and Bible studies?

Compulsion

What is it that drives us? What is it that makes us get out of bed in the morning, get dressed, go out to work? What makes us do it day after day?

I guess many people would answer that money drives them, the new car or the new TV or to provide for their kids, or maybe if we're honest its to keep up with the neighbours. But what happens when you retire? What drives you then? Is it getting your golf handicap into single figures? Or taking up a new hobby?

What is it that gives us purpose in life? Paul as he writes to the Corinthian Church, to a church struggling with living out the scandal of the gospel in an image conscious world, Paul writes to give them a purpose as he explains his purpose for living.

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." Why get out of bed in the morning? Because Christ has died for me and in doing so he takes on my sin, reconciles me to God and makes me a new creation. Why go to work? Because Christ died for me and I am a new creation who lives for him. I am not a doctor who happens to be a Christian I am a Christian living for Christ as a doctor, or student, or mum.

Christ love is to be my purpose in everything I do, it is to be what drives me, it is to be what compels me if I am convinced that one died for all.

The gospel of Judas

Its nothing new but the publication of 'The Gospel According to Judas' is again being highlighted and publicised, partly because of the involvement of Jeffrey Archer. No doubt some will say that it casts fresh doubt over the Bible and Christianity. It does after all claim that Jesus never did some of the miracles the gospels attribute to him, nor did Judas betray Jesus for 30 piece of silver.

The book claims that Judas was not the character that the Bible portrays, that he never committed suicide, that he thought he was saving Jesus from himself when he handed him over to the authorities. After Jesus death Judas joins the Essenes before he himself is crucified by the Romans.

The only problem with the whole 'Gospel According to Judas' is that there is not a scrap of evidence for it. Even its co-author, J. Maloney, says that “not everything in this book can be regarded as probable. But everything must be possible.” The authors even had heated debates about the ending, should Judas have a death bed conversion to Christianity or not?

'The Gospel according to Judas' is a fiction built upon speculation. How should we react to it? It certainly isn't something to be feared, but we should be concerned about its effects on those who hear of it and are therefore hardened to the real gospel. It should drive us out to share the gospel with people because in contrast that is a story that is worth telling.

Back and tired

Just back from a youth weekend which was great fun if very cold and tiring. How they managed to stay up until 4 in the morning on two consecutive nights I'll never know! Perhaps it's just a sign that I am getting old after all that I was in bed long before they were.

It was a good weekend which raised all sorts of issues that this group felt under pressure about. But fundamentally it raised one issue, though it was present only under the surface - is God good? That may seem like an odd question but it was in the context of why does God give us guidelines about who to date, whether to use drugs or alcohol etc...

It is a world of pressure for those who are trying to stand up for their faith in school or college. Ultimately it is an issue of whether what God says is for our good. Is it because God has my best interests at heart that the Bible says don't date someone who doesn't share your faith? Is it because God is good and loves me and wants what is best for me that the Bible says don't get drunk? And what about the drugs issue, the Bible doesn't clearly say don't, so what does it say?

It struck me that we assume young people will pick up on these things without maybe teaching them so explicitly, or we teach them as divorced from the character of God and they seem like arbitrary rules without the over arching reasons why God says. So the danger is that the question becomes why shouldn't I?

So why does God say date a Christian? Because you can grow together, because you can spur one another on, because it saves you from heartache, because you will be able to share everything. Because ultimately God loves you and he wants you to know what is best and to know him better.

The drink and drugs issues need to be taught in a similar framework? With the why not just what the Bible says.

It was a great weekend and a real encouragement to see young people wrestling with these issues and wanting to live godly lives among their friends.

Pressure

We live in a world full of pressure. Adverts present us with the perfect couples, immaculately dressed and beautiful, yet also with perfectly presented and behaved children complete with colgate smiles. They both have successful careers, fun hobbies, strong family ties and close friendships. Oh yes and both drive fantastic washed and polished cars and live in immaculate houses.

How do we ever attain that? It is a subtle pressure to strive to be more like them, to have the same things, to live the same lifestyle. That is one source of pressure, one set of messages that we are bombarded with day by day.

When our lives don't measure up to the ideal the consequence is guilt or a sense of failure; oh no my children are missing out, shouldn't I be able to do this and that too! There must be something wrong with me I just can't cope. Just look at so and so...

Who puts that pressure on us? The reality is that I do, I put that pressure on myself. I want to be seen as successful, I want to measure up, I want others to think I am coping, no more than that, that I am thriving. That's so often what mitigates against us stepping off the treadmill.

But the remedy to that is that gospel, that tells me I am valued because I am in the image of God and he gave his Son to save me. It tells me that I can never reach God's standard so he sent his son to do it for me and then credits me with the perfect life, whilst he willingly pays for my failure.

Such love frees me from the expectations of the world around me. If God accepts me I am truly accepted. If God loves me I am truly loved. If God promises me a future I have a future worth looking forward too.

Often my problem is that I am too wedded to this world and its definition of success and the future it sets before me. In his book Mere Christianity CS Lewis wrote this; “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

This world is the hotel room, the new creation will be home, I need to re-orientate my life to live in the light of that reality.

In but not of

I've been thinking about John 17 for the weekend and a seminar I'm doing on godliness as opposed to half heartedness. What is really striking is that Jesus prays that his Father would protect his disciples who the world hates, because he has given them God's word, and then sends them out into the very world which he says hates them(v18).

It's not how we do protection is it. We do protection by bubble wrap, bouncer or padlock. If you fear for your children and their contact with drugs and alcohol you keep them safe at home and try to limit their exposure to those pressures and dangers. We spend most of our lives protecting ourselves and those we love from dangers, from the effects of hate. But Jesus says he is sending the disciples off into the world which hates them BUT they go with the Father's protection(11).

There is no safer place to be than protected by God no matter the situation they face, its a lesson I need to remember and keep being reminded of.

But it is also striking that he prays that they would be "in" the world but "not of" it. That they would not absorb the worlds values but live in the world sanctified by God's word of truth (17). It is a prayer echoed in the next section as he prays for all believers.

So what does it mean to be "in" the world but "not of" it? It is a difficult balance to strike and sometimes we go too far one way or the other, either being of the world or not being in the world.

So what does it look like to be "in" the world but "not of" it sanctified by the truth? Where will it see us living our lives? It is certainly a call to be relationally involved in the world around us. It is a call to be engaging with the culture around us not sat in meetings or too busy for people.

Do you ever find yourself having to say no to someone because its this or that church meeting on that particular night? Is that being "in" the world? There is a balance to be struck and it is a hard one to maintain, but maybe being "in" but "not of" means spending as much time in the pub as the prayer meeting?

Dealing with death

How do you deal with the loss of a loved one? What are we to do with the pain? What hope is there for the future? How do I survive when everything seems bleak when there doesn't seem to be anything but pain?

All these are questions faced by those who have lost family or friends. Often death poses more questions for us than life. Sometimes those questions are about what I could have done better, regrets so often haunt us after we lose those we love, but more often it is to do with our loss.

I was fascinated coming across The Frays song How to Save a Life yesterday, here is a group singing about just those emotions, just those feelings born out their experience of working with recovering drug addicts. So much for the candy floss self absorbed lyrics we expect to see in the top ten. Here is a song that deals meaningfully with death, loss and bereavement and which has struck a chord with thousands who have heard it.

The video in particular is challenging and raises issues, as you watch words like faith, love, and phrases like Don't be afraid of death appear and then fade. It resonates with many who don't know how to deal with the emotional turmoil of the situation they find themselves in. Many have written saying how it has helped them deal with their grief.

How do we help people deal with these things? If the Gospel is the answer, and it is, if the gospel is the hope of the world and it is then we need to be engaged with those around us facing such issues. We need to be engaging with the world, showing love to those who are bereaved, who are struggling, who feel despair, as we do so we will stand out as counter cultural. As we share peoples loss and pain as we open ourselves up and share life with people the gospel can be proclaimed.

Ultimately the only hope we have is the gospel, how tragic if we keep that to ourselves through lack of meaningful relationships.

Good or bad?

I was reading the paper on Saturday and there was a two thirds of a page advert reminding me to buy my mum something for mother's day just in case I'd forgotten - which I hadn't by the way. Calling on me to celebrate love, self sacrifice and dedication, in short reminding me to celebrate everything that is good about humanity.

The irony was that sat next to it was a 2 column, 3 or 4 paragraph story reporting on a young mum and dad who had been sentenced for killing their 11 month old through neglect, the little girl had starved to death.

A reminder to celebrate all that is good but also a reminder of everything that is bad about our world. It is right to celebrate what is good but the bad is never far away, a reminder of the fallenness of the world and our need of God's gospel to save and change us.

The tolerance of intolerance

Tolerance is the in thing isn't it. You tolerate my views and I'll tolerate your views. Unless that is you happen to be a Christian, this week saw Christians phoning in to express their views on adoption belittled and ridiculed on a BBC radio phone in show. It appears we, as a society, tolerate anything unless you happen to disagree with certain things.

What does the Bible have to say about it? Expect it! It is normal for those who hold out the word of life, who share the gospel, who seek to stand up for what God has revealed about himself and us and the best way to live to be treated like that. It makes me wonder why I am always so surprised by others intolerant reactions, rather than seeing it for the encouragement that it is.

We are not to provoke intolerance, we are to be gentle and loving in the way we do things but we are to stand for truth and we are to expect a reaction against that truth.

Reaching everyone

It is the churches responsibility to tell the gospel to everyone regardless of any differences in background, education, or socio-economic factors. So how do we do it? Where do we do it? When do we do it?

I've been thinking about pub and curry house evangelism. How can we reach the people in those places? Are they places we could take 'church' to those who don't do church? What would it look like to do that and not drive them away? Could we hire out a local curry house and have a bring your friends evening? How could we then address their issues?

Am I prepared to make the sacrifices necessary in what I like to do so? That is the main questions. We all nod assent to the idea that the gospel is for all but what are we doing to reach them all. It was OK 30 years ago to invite people into church, but what about those who will never come in. How do we get the gospel to them?

The scourge of the modern world - loneliness

I wonder what you think the world's biggest problem is? Drug addiction, Aids, poverty, global warming, climate change, poor parenting. The list could go on.

I wonder what the problem is in your street or your neighbourhood, or how about with your neighbours? The world's biggest problem is loneliness, especially in Britain. We live in the world of the 6 foot fencing or hedge. An Englishman's home is his castle complete with drawbridge and we only leave it to go to work or the gym.

This is OK, though undoubtedly unhealthy, for those with family but what about those living alone? What about those whose families live miles away - the phone or email is hardly a substitute for real human contact.

How should the gospel fit us to meet that need? As those who are loved by God, so much so that he left heaven to become man to bring us into relationship with him, how should that show itself.

Loneliness is not just a fact of life for the elderly. Here's the first time mum who has a young baby, she has recently given up work and her social circle are all still at the work place. Her husband is out all day and she just has the baby and increasingly feels she has nothing and no-one to talk to.

The gospel challenges us to take the love we have been shown and show it to others, go one invite a neighbour round for coffee, start a conversation whilst mowing the lawn or trimming that hedge, buy a spare ticket to where ever you go next and invite someone else along with you. You never know where it may lead!

Fallen Angel

Did you see it last night? Part one was set in present as Rosemary kidnapped a young girl called Lucy. This is a drama with a twist, having seen the whodunnit last night the next two episodes tonight and tomorrow look at why did she do it. What has made this fragile beautiful woman into a child killer?

The shock at the end of last nights episode was when the vicar walked into the cell where Rosemary was being held to greeted as 'Dad'. Religious symbolism abounded in the show and obviously has played its part in Rosemary's mental instability.

It raises the question of nurture or nature. Are we born bad or as the shows trailer asked 'What horror made her heart so dark? Did we create this, this flawless unmistakable evil?'

Approaching God

We live in a world which claims that there are no rights and no wrongs, so for the Christian to say that there is only one way to approach God is regarded as the worst kind of intellectual arrogance.

But in reality we live our lives by the idea that there are right ways and wrong ways of doing things. So if you were to meet royalty how would you dress? Jeans and T-shirt? I don't think so. Would you stand chewing gum with hands defensively folded across your chest or thrust deep into your pockets? Again I don't think so. In fact I imagine you'd be politely told how to behave, how to stand, how to talk etc...

We accept this as normal after all we are meeting royalty. But for some reason people think that doesn't apply when it comes to how we approach God, the idea that God sent his Son to reveal to us how we should approach him is regard as wrong, as being too limited.

But surely the right response is just to be amazed at God's love that he would do that for us, let alone send his Son to pay the price for our rebellion and be the very way he comes to reveal.