Day 4 28th Feb - Num 20:1-13, 21:1-8

It is always striking and saddening to read of Israel's failure and Numbers is one of the books which shows us Israel's failure and makes us aware of our similarity to them.

In Numbers 20 and 21 we read of two incidents that in the New Testament are taken and viewed as precursors, shadows of Christ. As God provides water from the rock, and then after Israel's rebellion and subsequent judgement God provides a means of salvation by faith in looking at the snake.

It tells us of God's holiness and the necessity of his punishing sin, we also see that he does not separate the sin and the sinner, he judges and punishes the people for their sin. However we see again the love and gracious mercy of God as he provides a way of salvation by faith. In John's gospel Jesus answers Nicodemus question 'How can this be?' by picking up and reminding him of this incident with the snake and applies it to his own lifting up, just as salvation is by looking to the snake by faith so whoever believes in Christ will have eternal life.

Salavtion is by faith alone in Christ alone.

Day 3 - Exodus 12

You can't help but notice as you read this chapter God's provision for his people, God's judgement and God's desire that his people should remember the Passover. God is bringing his people out of Egypt in a momentous way. The judgement of Egypt and the sheltering of Israel under the blood of the lamb shows God; grace and mercy to Israel and his sovereignty and holiness.

(27) What is the peoples reaction to this rescue and impending salvation? It is to bow their heads and worship and to do everything the Lord commanded.

Day 2 - Gen 12

This chapter is key for our understanding of the whole Bible, certainly the rest of the Torah and the Old Testament is concerned with tracing God's fulfilment of these 4 promises. God is a faithful God who keeps his word.

But it also reminds us that God is a God of grace, as Joshua reminds us Abram was an idolater but God saves him and makes his covenant with him. Abram is not the standard bearer for those who do good things to work their way to God, he is the father of those who are saved by faith in the promises of God.

And the promises themselves are immense and undeserved. As I read the last "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." it reminds me of the scene in Revelation of multitudes from every tribe and tongue and nation, all blessed through Abraham by Christ.

Day 1 - Gen 3

It is quite striking reading Genesis 3 again that actually on the surface Adam and Eve's sin isn't especially heinous. They take an apple they shouldn't. It helps us see that the sin is not the act but the motivation behind that act - independence of God. As Eve moves from questioning to doubting to rebellion we see all sin no matter how trivial we think it is for what it really is a rebellion against the rule and reign of God. We also see clearly that Adam is not innocent he stands by, failing to exercise his leadership, to mediate God's rule.

And the consequences are catastrophic. But there is hope, there is grace from God as he gives them covering, or clothing they don't deserve, but the hope is in the promised seed who will crush the snake.

Genesis 3 helps us see our sin for what it is, it peels back the veneer and reveals our motivations. But it also points us forward to the only hope to deal with that sin.

Lent reading plan

As mentioned earlier why not rather than give up something for lent take up something. Here are readings for the time of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (inclusive) including one for each of the Sundays. Each day the I'll try to post some basic thought and questions about each to help us prepare for Easter.

Weds 25th Feb- Genesis 3
26th - Genesis 12
27th - Exodus 12
28th - Num 20:1-13, 21:1-8

Sun 1st March - 2 Samuel 7
2nd - 2 Chronicles 6-7
3rd - Jeremiah 31
4th - Psalm 2
5th - Psalm 8
6th - Psalm 16
7th - Psalm 22

Sun 8th - Psalm 31
9th - Psalm 41
10th - Psalm 69
11th - Isaiah 7
12th - Isaiah 9
13th - Isaiah 11
14th - Isaiah 40

Sun 15th - Isaiah 42
16th - Isaiah 49
17th - Isaiah 50
18th- Isaiah 51
19th - Isaiah 52
20th - Isaiah 53
21st - Isaiah 59

Sun 22nd - Zechariah 9
23rd - Zechariah 11-12
24th - Zechariah 13-14
25th -John 1
26th - John 2
27th - John 3
28th - John 4

Sun 29th -John 5
30th - John 6
31st - John 7
1st April - John 8
2nd - John 9
3rd - John 10
4th - John 11

Sun 5th - John 12
6th - John 14
7th - John 15-16
8th - John 17
9th - John 18
10th - John 19
11th - Matt 12:38-45

Sun 12th - John 20

LENT - don't give up take up

Lent is upon us. Lots of people give something up for lent, I can't help but wonder if this just confirms those outside the church in their view that Christianity is all about denying yourself, missing out on the good things.

Instead why don't we use lent positively and take something extra up. I'm going to try for the next forty days, starting tomorrow to have an extra Bible reading and reflection slot in my day. Its got to be better for me than giving up chocolate or crisps or whatever.

I'll post what I am reading each day and 2 readings worth on a Friday as I try not to blog on Saturday as its family day. Why not join me dwelling on what Christ has done for us?

Prayer, legalism and duty

One of the things that has changed in church culture is a desire to avoid anything legalistic, there is a great emphasis on relationship and the freedom that is ours in Christ. This is a great truth and one which we must not forget because becoming religious remains a great danger for us.

However, I wonder if we are now in a time when we face the very opposite danger. Where now everything that is a pattern or a habit or a duty is viewed as being dangerously akin to legalism.

John Piper has said this:
"...very few set aside set times to pray alone-and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?
You can call it that.

• It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
• It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
• It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
• It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
• It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
• It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
• It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
• It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
• It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold."

We need that realisation, that view of prayer if we as a church in Britain are to see the believer discipled and grow to maturity, the lost won and the church multiplied.

The Christian and ethics

Last night was the last in our series on The Christian and... We looked at ethics, how we make decisions about what is right and wrong and how we convey those decisions to those around us.

How we come to hold the views we hold
Part of our struggle as believers is that often our stance on ethical issues is influences by one or all or some of the following:

• Gut feeling – it feels right
• Emotional response – it makes me feel good
• Conscience – But I don’t feel guilty therefore…
• Consensus – It’s what most people do
• Consequences – It gives the best outcome
• Authority – Its what so and so says
• Reason – its logical
• Relativism – There is no right and wrong just individuals

All of us have these somewhere in our thinking, the challenge for us as Christians is to think Biblically about these things. To recognise the part each of the above plays and then challenge ourselves with the Bible. So how do we think Christianly about these things?

Romans 12:1-2
We need transformed minds so we aren’t conformed to the world’s way of thinking, making decisions based on the above. Instead the believer is to have a transformed mind, so that they know what God’s will is. Thinking Christianly means thinking God’s thoughts after him.

There are 2 key questions to ask: 1. What would God have me do? 2. How would he have me do it?

The answer to these is found in the Bible. There are some basic building blocks, how we think of the world is key:

1. Creation – the world was perfect, man is made in God’s image
2. Fall – the world is now living with consequences of rebellion, this affects our ability to make moral choices
3. Redemption – Christ comes to redeem us from sin, and calls us to repent and follow him.
4. 2nd Coming – We are to live in the light of eternity, judgement and new creation.

Thinking Biblically means taking a principled approach
There is a danger of looking for proof texts in the Bible We are better to look for a rounded biblical approach. What does the whole bible reveal about this issue and God’s view of it?However, the Bible is not search able by index on these issues instead we need to look for the enduring principles.

“Theology and ethics are inseparable in the Bible. You cannot understand how and why Israelites or Christians lived as they did until you see how and why they believed as they did.” C Wright.

Fundamental to all Christian ethics is the summary of the law which Jesus gives us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…Love your neighbour as yourself.” Ethical decisions cannot be viewed coldly and dispassionately, each decision is an opportunity to reveal our love for God and for those in the situation.

We must be aware of 3 dangers:

1. Situationism – Highest principle is love your neighbour.
2. Antinomianism – we live grace not moral law.
3. Legalism – we obey law but without love.

We then went on to discuss and thrash out what this would mean in a number of areas which I may post later. I think overall God confronted us with how often we settle for a partial understanding of the Bible and blend it with our gut feeling or emotional response or any other factor. The challenge was to be more biblical in our thinking.

Secondly, we were aware that how we answer people is key. Am I loving God by answering according to his word and loving my neighbour in the way I answer. It left us with much to repent of.

Piper - on bad expositional preaching

The Christian and Money - Part 4

Implications
So having looked at what the Bible has to say about money we need to work out what this means for us. The first thing is straight forward but is foundational to everything that follows. Everything we have is Gods given to us to use for his glory. This means that being wealthy is not wrong, but that it also isn’t a sign of being right with God. And the inverse is true, being poor is not wrong neither is it a sign of not being right with God.

Secondly; what we do with what God gives us is what matters, we are to be those who use wealth with a view to eternity. This means that no matter what economic sphere we move in we will stand out among our neighbours. This Christian millionaire uses his or her money differently, as does the Christian struggling on benefits or a low income. In the early church we see that this love is worked out by alleviating the poverty of others, helping out when there is a need we can meet.

Should we tithe? In Luke 11:42 Jesus doesn’t say it’s wrong to tithe, as he deals with the Pharisees he approves of there tithing but calls them to additionally meet needs of justice and love that they come across. What Jesus attacks is not their giving of tithes but their failure to love others and seek justice as well as giving tithes.

If God gives us everything giving back 10% is actually economically a good deal. If on the other hand we regard it ours then it is more difficult. The Bible consistently tells us that giving is a privilege and we need to learn to view it as such. Giving tithes is not a rigid rule, nowhere is that expectation set out in the New Testament, but it is not condemned either. For some of us maybe it would be a good starting point to help us think about what we value and whether we are living for now or in the light of eternity. Though for some it would be impossible for many of us we are in a position to give much more.

One denomination worked out if each of its members lost their jobs and became unemployed and then each gave 10% of the benefits they received the churches giving would go up by £1 per head on average.

Fourthly the Bible would warn us about greed, that the love of money is a real danger in our society should come as no surprise to us. We need to learn to adjust our thinking to need not greed. It is also helpful to look at what our needs our, we are so moulded by our culture that often what we need is the result of advertising and assumptions based on the lives of those we live alongside rather than on Biblical principles. We need to evaluate our needs in the light of the Bible.

The way to stay free of it is to give money away. The Bible would encourage us to be generous with what God has given us to invest for him. We can do this if we live with an eye on the future. 1 Timothy would teach is that in our giving we need to ensure that we do not to become a burden on others, that we are providing for our families health and safety, and that can continue to do good by exercising hospitality and the like.

For many of us in the West the biggest challenge come sin the area of assessing our need and thinking beyond the Pharisees, to go beyond tithe if we can. What drives us is not the calculator but the cross where God gave his all for us.

The Christian and Money - Part 3

The Gospel and Money
The Sermon on Mount is teaching for believers, it is extended teaching about the values of the kingdom. In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus says that being in the kingdom, knowing God by grace liberates the believer from worry and anxiety. We’re freed from keeping up with the Joneses, from earning security and status for ourselves because we are given security in Christ, and relationship with God as our Father.

In 1 Timothy 5:8 Paul clearly teaches that we are to provide for our families, he says that not to do so makes us worse than an unbeliever. We trust God to provide and recognise his provision is found in the position in which he has put us. In Chapter 6:6-10 Paul exhorts Timothy to be godly, reminding him that he is saved for contentment, that the believer lives with the awareness that we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. That realisation should free us from the hoarding mentality. In contrast Paul calls him to be content with food and clothing (8).

Such Contentment is radically COUNTER CULTURAL, especially as we live in a world which bombards us with advertising whose very aim is to make us discontent, to make us want something which we do not have, to make us feel like we need it and must have it. Yet Paul calls Timothy to be content with food and clothing as part of radical discipleship. Are we content? At root the issue is to recognise what my real needs are. Do I need sky TV? – no, do I need a 60” Plasma? – no. None of those things is wrong to possess in and of themselves but they are not needs. Not to have them does not mean God is not meeting my needs. We can and must learn to be content without them.

In 2 Corinthians 8:8-9 Paul calls on the Corinthians to give to alleviate the needs of fellow believer’s elsewhere. His instructions are telling, he does not demand a set figure of them he does not set a total and send them a big wooden thermometer with gradations up the side and a tin of paint to mark their progress. As he exhorts them to give and give generously it is grace that calls them to give. God has been generous to them and to us and they and we mirror the love and generosity shown to us supremely in Jesus Christ.

Having been made God’s children by his grace and mercy we adopt the fathers values. This means that we love God with all our heart, soul, strength and love our neighbours as ourselves. This love will inevitably impact what we do with our money. See a need meet a need. Tellingly it is lack of love for God shown in lack of love for others that leads Amos and other prophets to make known God’s stinging rebuke to the people of Israel for their failure to provide for the poor and willingness to trample the weak.

As Gospel people we mirror gospel attitudes, God held nothing back from me therefore I hold nothing back from him.

The question is how can we live like this?
In Luke 16 Jesus tells the parable of The Shrewd Manager. This man knows he is going to lose his job so he radically cuts the debts of those who are debtors to his master (v3-4). The shock in the passage is the way this man is treated by his soon to be former boss. His master commends him (v8). We need to recognise what it is he is commended for, he is not commended for dishonesty, he is not commended for being righteous but he is commended for “dealing shrewdly”. In other words this man sees the future and acts accordingly.

The call (v9) is to see the future and act now in light of it. It means that we are to use what God gives us with an eye on eternity. What we do with what God gives us reveals where our heart and hopes really lay. And (v13) makes it clear that we either serve God OR Money. The impossible application of that is to say that I am the one exception who can serve both God and money, but we would never make that impossible application would we.

How can we live as the gospel calls us to do with our money and possessions, recognising God has given them to us but that they are ours to steward for God’s glory and in the light of grace? We recognise that we are to live now in the light of eternity.

Reader beware

Thabiti Anyabwile has drawn attention to a sticker appearing on books in a Christian book chain in America:

"We want you to know that the authors of books marked Read with Discernment may have espoused thoughts, ideas, or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology.However, we are making these titles available to our customers (along with the background and additional insight offered here through Read With Discernment) because we believe the books do present content that is relevant and of value to Christians and/or because pastors, seminary students, and other ministry leaders need access to this type of material, strictly for critical study or research to help them understand and develop responses to the diversity of religious thought in today's postmodern world. Our prayer for you is that in whatever you read, you place the material under the magnifying glass of scripture and read with discernment, asking God to reveal His truth to you so that, as Paul wrote in Philippians 1:9-10, "...your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ..." (Holman CSB).

It is an interesting development, it should remind us to test with the scripture what we read even when it is bought from a Christian bookstore. But we also need to be careful to test what we listen to, in fact we need to be discerning full stop.

The Christian and Money Part 2

Sin and Money
Having said that possession and material things are created and given by God for our good and for us to enjoy in thankfulness in Genesis 3 we see that along with all of creation money and possessions are affected by fall. They are now part of the world which is under the curse and is dislocated in terms of relationship with God and how we view it.

That is why the tenth Commandment is “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.” One consequence of the fall is that instead of enjoying material things we are in danger of becoming enslaved by them. They are now a rival to God and his place in our affections.

The dangers of money enslaving us are emphasized in the parables that Jesus tells. Warnings are also found in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:3 where believers are told to put greed to death, and that there is not to be even a hint of it in the church.

We need to be aware that as Christians greed is a very real danger for us. In fact so blind are we to greed that it would probably be wise to work on the assumption that we have a greed problem rather than that we do not. This problem is exacerbated by the world we live in, a world where we are bombarded with advertising trying to create desires and wants. Making greed seem like need!

It is helpful to actually sit and think; ‘What are my needs?’ on a basic level we need food, water, clothing, shelter, warmth, friendship. It is telling to then compare that list with adverts we see on the side of buses, on poster boards, and on line or on screen, which tell us we need so much more!

Credit enhances that, credit seeks to make the need manufactured by advertising easy to fulfil. Feel like you need a new car, sofa, computer… here have the money to buy one. But of course you pay for that money later, and end up overpaying for what you actually did not need. It is not wise stewardship on any level, and leads people into debt.

Post fall possession and money and our attitudes to it are warped and distorted by sin. Greed is a very real danger; we can all too easily forget it is a gift of our creator and worship the created rather than God.

The Christian and Money Part 1

Is money good or bad? What is a Christian attitude to money to be? What are our needs? How are we called to radical discipleship in the area of our bank balances and possessions? The Bible teaches more frequently about money than it does about sex and yet we rarely see that reflected in preaching programmes or home groups. So what does the Bible have to say about money?

God and money
In the beginning God made the world and everything in it and it is declared seven times to be ‘good’ (Genesis 1). God then gives what he has made to his stewards –Adam and Eve. They are to care for God’s creation, though it remains God’s. It is given to them to enjoy and is a good gift from a loving father to his obedient children.

In 1 Chronicles 29:10-14 we see that King David recognises this principle(11), he is amazed at the wealth God has provided which the people have been able to bring to contribute to the building of the temple. He recognises “Everything we have comes from you, and we have only given you what comes from your hand”. There is amazement at God’s provision, joy at being able to give and recognition that they are only giving back part of what God has given to them.

This idea carries over to the New Testament in 1 Tim 4:4 Paul is arguing against the prohibitions of false teachers who “forbid people to marry, and order them to abstain from certain foods...” He then emphasizes twice that “everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving!” It seems to be an echo of what God taught Peter on the rooftop in Joppa.

But Paul adds that the believer is to give thanks to God for what they have. Again a reminder that everything we have is given to us by God – it’s his and we are given it to invest for his glory. Even what we work hard for is God’s; God has given us the talents and skills to get the job we have as well as the job itself.

We need to hear carefully what the Bible is saying here. God makes the material world and it is good, it is designed for humans to enjoy and money and possessions are part of that. But there is also in its very set up a helpful corrective God is the creator and he does not give up ownership of what he give but makes us stewards of what he has given us. It means that if everything we have is God’s given to us to invest then a lack of generosity isn’t excusable as ‘Oh so and so is just tight’, it is actually robbing God (Mal3:8).

Need v Greed

In preparing the study for tonight I am aware that looking at our money and our use of it raises loads of questions. Here's a few:

• Should Christians tithe?
• Should we borrow money(credit) to buy goods?
• Is it wrong to be wealthy?
• You say God provided for everyone and we should trust him but what about Christians in Ethiopia and place where they are starving?
• So how should we respond to poverty?
• Do we respond to every need we see?

Tithing means giving 10%, it is an Old Testament norm, and many argue that it is not binding on the New Testament believers. I think that is right but I have also been interested to read Luke 11:37f where Jesus speaks woes against the Pharisees. Jesus point is that it is their legalism that is wrong not their tithing, (42) Jesus specifically says they should tithe but they should also respond to the needs for justice and God's love. In other words tithing is not enough! Surely the call is for greater generosity than tithing. We aren't meant to sit down with the calculator and our wage slip and work out 10% we are meant to look at God's gift and love at the cross and allow that to change our hearts so we give. Though I think the idea of tithing may be a helpful discussion point when we begin thinking about how much we give so we can then go beyond it. Though we must also bear in mind the directives about providing for our family, so in some cases 10% may be too much in others way to little.

As for Christians using credit or Hire Purchase to buy goods. The big question here is do you want it because of need or greed. Most of things bought on Credit are electrical appliances, furniture etc... Do we need them or have we given in to advertising creating a desire for them. Often applying that test removes the need to buy the object in the first place. But what about where there is a need, say someones car breaks and they don't have the £1000 to fix it. Old Testament practice was to lend money within the covenant community without charging interest, this may be something we should look at in our churches.

It is not wrong to be wealthy, Old Testament patriarchs were wealthy, and in the New Testament there are wealthy people in the church. What is striking about these people is that they are generous, they give away their wealth for God's glory, they do not view it as theirs but as God given for their stewardship for his glory. To amend spiderman with great God given wealth comes great responsibility.

What about those Christians in parts of the world who do not have enough? At root behind this question is the bigger question can I trust God? The answer is yes. Did you know that it is predicted that obese children will soon outnumber malnourished children in the world. That bald statistic alone shows that God has provided for them. It is just that he has given what they need into our stewardship and we aren't very good stewards.

So how should we respond to poverty? We must pray, we must also recognise that discipleship calls for us to radically alter our view of need and how we use the money God has given us. Churches need to start using the wealth God has given them to alleviate poverty. It is certainly something that we see the early church doing. Just think how many people could be fed or housed or helped if for every £1 we spent renovating a church building a £1 went to alleviating a need. Of course we need to do more than just that, we need to actually love people, build relationships with them, invite them into the church community

Should we respond to every need we see? I think actually a bigger problem is that we don't see needs, we live in isolated worlds where very often we are not aware of the needs of those we sit next to in church let alone those we live amongst. We should be looking to respond to needs we see but we need to think through how we respond. Friendship may actually be a greater need than money, help accessing benefits may be more loving than and gift card for the supermarket. A budgeting course may be more beneficial and more loving than a cheque.

A film with a positive message about dads

Have you noticed how the media keeps on knocking fathers. Increasingly children's books feature the mum, and either dad is not mentioned or appears only fleetingly. In many cartoons dad is little more than an overgrown 12 year old for mum to look after.

I've been really pleased to find a family film which portrays a healthy father son relationship. Robots is not a new film but it has been a pleasure to see a film in which a father is presented as loving, caring, devoted and as someone to look up and aspire to be like.

The Christian and Money

Thinking through the Christian and Money for tomorrow evening, three questions which really got me thinking are below.

1. What are the good things about money?
2. What are the bad things?
3. What are our needs?

It is quite telling to list what our needs our, especially to then let someone else look at them.

Passion for Life

We spent some time last night discussing what we find difficult about sharing the gospel with people we work with, living alongside and spend our free time with.

So often we kept coming full circle and returning to the importance of relationships. Relationships matter, both our relationships with people and our willingness to help people build other relationships. Too often we operate in different spheres; so there are work colleagues, there are neighbours, there are friends, and there is church. Rarely do any two let alone all of them intersect and when they do it makes us nervous.

We were thinking last night about ways to bridge the gap. Ways to build relationships between friends so that an invitation to church is less awkward so that people see the community of grace at work and marvel at it and want to see more of it.

There was nothing earth shattering about the suggestions we made:

• Meals matter - we need to use these more wisely and get friends to meet each other and enable them to see grace relationships.
• Time matters - we need to make time for friendships and church should facilitate this. Just a couple of examples we are going to look at a men's walking weekend in the lakes or further afield, some of the ladies are going to host a tupperware party.
• Everyday opportunities - we don't need to put on loads of extra things but we do need to get our worlds to colide more often, trusting God to work and the gospel to be visible.
• We need help to talk about our saviour in every day situations.

As I said nothing earth shattering. The gospel is what makes the church unique, we need to get people to see the affect the gospel has one people and on relationships and God has graciously in his wisdom given us our churches to advance his gospel and change lives one at a time.

Having seen it small scale they will be more likely to come to church where every week they will hear the gospel proclaimed and see it animated and at work in our lives.

The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas

This is a very cleverly written book as we see events in Germany during the Second World War through the eyes of a young boy called Bruno. We meet him as he has to leave everything in Berlin to move with his dads job. The innocence with which the story is told is what makes this story so compelling. As Bruno gradually discovers what his dad does at 'Out-with' as camp commandant.

Bruno's growing friendship with Shmuel who lives the other side of the fence is a fascinating mix of honest conversation and yet things they will not ask because it makes them uncomfortable. The end of the story does not sneak up on you, but neither is it so blindingly obvious that it ruins that book.

The book does give us an insight into the natural revulsion of a child to racism. As Bruno struggles to understand why a Jewish doctor is reduced to the role of a waiter, as he is appalled at the treatment of that man by the soldiers. In fact the mother's discomfort with the situation is also made apparent. It proves the maxim that all it takes for evil to prosper is good people to do nothing.

However, it also reveals to us the depth of evil man is capable of. We live in a world where such atrocities are not a one off event. Iraqi treatment of the Kurds, Hutu treatment of Tutsi's and other examples of ethnic cleansing cause us to recoil. Yet they keep happening, ordinary people with wives families, children keep perpetrating the most awful crimes. And no sociological theory adequately explains why? Indeed that is one of the cleverest parts of this book, we see Bruno's father as a moral man, a good father and yet he is the camp commandant overseeing 'Out-with'.

It confronts us with the problem we all have, we are a contradiction of the good and the bad, capable of great love and great hate. Capable of kindness and of cruelty, great good and great evil.

What Shmuel needs is someone to free him from the fence. Bruno devastatingly lets him down when he could defend him and then in an attempt to rebuild the relationship goes under the fence, taking on the role of a prisoner with the shaved head and stripped pyjamas to help Shmuel find his missing father. It is a gesture that ends in the shower block.

In one sense Bruno's actions are like those of Jesus. He too becomes what he is not, in Jesus case human. But Jesus incarnation is not futile but he is able to save, to save us from the contradiction that is our hearts, to save us from our sins and help us find our Father. He does so not by dying with us but by dying for us, in our place, and he guarantees our future by rising again and going to prepare a place for us.