ECCLESIOLOGY, Part 4 - THE NEED FOR ASSEMBLING

When most people think of ‘church’, I suspect they either think of a building with a steeple, or, the people in a Sunday meeting of a congregation. In this post, I’m addressing the latter understanding of church. Christ has ordained that His church meets together regularly. The original history of the Church (the Book of Acts) reveals that the first Church met in the Jerusalem where thousands gathered in the Temple’s outdoor precinct; and, in one another’s homes around Jerusalem. As the Church grew around the Mediterranean world, local churches initially met in the large homes of wealthy householders. These Greco-Roman households provided a ready-made structure to these new churches. It wasn’t too long before problems arose in many of the local churches. This is something that we should all be very thankful for, because the result of these church problems were the New Testament epistles. Within these epistles we find the biblically ordained liturgy (how a church service is conducted) for when a church assembles. Let’s consider what this is...

1. THE CHURCH IS ORDAINED TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER

When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus

FIRST CORINTHIANS 5:4

I grew up going to a Primary School where the Principal held an outdoor “assembly” every week. I think Mr. Blackie was ex-military, at least that’s what one of the other students said when we had to standard to attention, salute the flag, then stand at ease. It was during this weekly assembly that important announcements were made, special achievements were mentioned, and the school’s rules were reinforced. At the conclusion of the assembly we were all given a small glass bottle of milk and an al’foil lid to drink (which was no fun on a hot summer’s day after these bottles of milk had gone-off in the outdoors full-sun!) This weekly assembly gave me a fuller understanding of what the apostle Paul was referring to when he wrote to the Corinthians. When the church gathered on the Lord’s Day each week, they were to assemble. They were, in a way, to ‘stand’ to attention, give God honour, pay attention to what said, then have a time of fellowship. This was not a mere optional obligation for believers. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts all believers to not to neglect the gathering (assembling) together - as is the habit os some! (Heb. 10:25). 

A Christian is one who (i) believes (in the saving work of Jesus Christ); (ii) belongs in a local church family; and, (iii) behaves in accord with the teaching of Christ. Each church family is called to assemble each week - that is, every believer is called to join with his or her church family and praise God together, participate in the ordinance of Holy Communion together, give heed to preaching and exposition of God’s Word, worship the Lord with their giving, and minister the grace of fellowship to one another. To consider more about the theology of the assembling of the church, I suggest The Community of the King by Howard A. Snyder. 

2. THE CHURCH IS ORDAINED TO PRAISE TOGETHER

Christianity is one of the few religions in which singing is a vital component of its worship of God. When a church praises God together with singing, it helps to refocus the worshipers onto the greatness of God. Congregational praise can be a positive distraction from the cares and worries of life. Singing our praise to God can be prayerful, meditative, and uplifting.  Praising God together can also be an effective witness to outsiders:

And in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.”

ROMANS 15:9

Praising God should be thoughtful so that it engages the mind and the heart of a believer. The Church has a long tradition of producing thoughtful hymns that enable this. There some denominations of churches which will only use the Psalms as the songs of their congregational praise - but, Colossians 3:16 encourages the use of much more than Psalms as the basis for church praises:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

COLOSSIANS 3:16

This act of worship—singing—by a congregation is not dependent on whether someone is a good singer, because singing praise is a matter of heart, not talent! This is why every believer who attends their church family’s worship service is obliged to join in singing. 

3. THE CHURCH IS ORDAINED TO CONDUCT THE ORDINANCE OF HOLY COMMUNION TOGETHER

Jesus established certain ordinances (also identified as sacraments by some Church traditions) for His Church. These are universally acknowledged as holy communion (eucharist), water baptism (some denominations also refer to this as christening), and marriage. Each of these involve the interaction of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Communion - Christ, on the night He was betrayed, instigated the Lord’s Supper where He took unleavened bread, gave it to His disciples, and said “This is My body, take and eat.” Then He took the cup of unfermented fruit of the vine, and gave it to His disciples, and said, “This is My blood, drink this in remembrance of Me.”

¶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

MATTHEW 26:26-29

Holy Communion is a sacred ordinance of the Church. The earliest Christians came to recognise this ordinance as a significant aspect of their Sunday worship service. They understood Christ’s emphatic statement that the bread and wine - the elements (also referred to as 'accidents' by some church traditions) - were “My body” and “My blood” meant that when believers celebrated Holy Communion in faith that Christ Himself was present by His Spirit. That is, when the early believers ate and drank the communion elements in faith, they were actually nourishing their souls on Christ. Perhaps churches today might need to recapture some of this reverence for this sacred ordinance. At the very least, celebrating Holy Communion as a church congregation is one of the sacred things which constitutes an assembling of believers as a church.

4. WHEN THE CHURCH ASSEMBLES IT IS TO GIVE HEED TO THE PREACHING AND TEACHING OF GOD’S WORD

The apostle Paul told Timothy, his lieutenant, that his role at Ephesus was to preach the Word (2Tim. 4:2). The preaching and teaching of God’s Word was instigated by the apostles from the Church’s outset (note Acts 15:35; 1Peter 1:25). This demands two important things. Firstly, preachers and teachers of God’s Word are responsible for developing their skill and expertise to fulfil their ministry. I would strongly encourage preachers to learn how to preach the Word of God expositionally, rather than reading or reciting a sermon from a script. Do not read your sermon - preach it! For any preacher who would like to begin to hone their craft, I suggest, The Preacher’s Portrait, some New Testament Word Studies, by John R. W. Stott. Preachers should remember that the aim of a sermon was for a congregation not merely to hear a sermon, but to apply its lessons by heeding it.

Secondly, believers must learn how to listen and heed the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Believers should bring their bibles to church and come prepared to take notes of what is preached and taught. This is an important component of what Christ has ordained for His church when they assemble.

5. WHEN THE CHURCH ASSEMBLES IT IS TO WORSHIP GOD THROUGH ITS GIVING

The Mosaic Law prescribed in the Old Testament including the bringing animals to be sacrificed, offerings of gold and silver (money), and the concept of regular giving in support of the Levites and priests referred to as tithes. Jesus told His hearers that they should tithe (Matt. 23:23). This was said in the context of the Mosaic Law still being current - despite the general corruption of the Levites and priests. It might then be tempting to dismiss to dismiss such a comment from Christ with a wave of the hand and a “But we’re now in the New Covenant” exclamation. However, before you do so, consider that much of what Christ taught about New Covenant ethics went higher - not lower - than Old Covenant ethics. Consider what Christ said about such things like murder, or adultery. In the case of murder, Jesus raised the standard to hating being equivalent to the sin of murder (Matt. 5:21-22), and for adultery He raised it to lusting after a woman being equivalent to adultery (Matt. 5:27-28)! 

In the early chapters of the Book of Acts we see how the early Church understood what Christ was teaching about giving - and it was certainly not a lower standard than the Old Covenant.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

ACTS 4:33-37

The apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians that as they met each Sunday (“the first day of the week”) to also receive a special offering to support the impoverished Jerusalem believers (1Cor. 16:2). In writing to the Ephesians via Timothy, Paul stated that the church was to support those who dedicated themselves to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word (1Tim 5:17). Today, giving continues to be an act of worship by New Covenant believers who give as God has blessed them.

As the Church expanded around the Empire and beyond, and churches grew where it was impracticable to continue meeting in homes of even wealthy householders, funds were raised to build houses of worship and teaching. Yet, the primary need for believers to give financially to their local church was to support the ministry of those who shepherded the local church congregation. Today, this same purpose remains and is supplemented when wealthier churches give to missions projects beyond their immediate locality as well.

6. WHEN THE CHURCH ASSEMBLES IT IS TO MINISTER THE GRACE OF GOD ONE TO ANOTHER THROUGH FELLOWSHIP

When the church assembles it is also called to fellowship. This is a spiritual discipline which seeks to be commune through Christ with a brother or sister in Christ. It involves listening, caring, responding, and sharing. It is an important part of what happens when a church assembles. Done well, it is a blessing. Done effectively, it results in prayer. Done habitually it leads to closeness with another brother or sister in Christ. While it has a place in the time that a church family has met for weekly worship, it also takes place outside of this time.

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

FIRST JOHN 1:7

We have seen that the New Testament describes and prescribes the components of a liturgy for when a local church assembles. This includes: prayers together, the singing of praise together, partaking of Holy Communion together, hearing and heeding the teaching and preaching of God's Word, bringing our financial gifts, and prayerful/caring/thoughtful fellowship one with another. Sadly, it seems that today, many believers have come to see weekly church assembling as an optional thing. I would encourage all believers to make assembling each week with their church family one of their highest priorities. I would also strongly urge all believers to contribute their willing participation in each of the aspects of their church's liturgy outlined above. In doing so, we may once again begin to see what the apostle wrote about about in Ephesians 3:8-10. If you are interested in exploring the theology of Christian fellowship, I suggest Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Amen.

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COUNTERING THE GOD OF CONVENIENCE

 THE GOD OF CONVENIENCE

I have a suggestion for the Australian Bureau of Statistics. On the census form that we all have to complete every few years, under the Religious Adherence section, they should add a checkbox for those with an allegiance to a new religious deity – the god of convenience. You’ve probably already met people who adhere to and worship the god convenience. One of the apparent advantages of this new religion is that it conveniently blends with any other religion and readily adopts its methods of worship (when convenient to do so). It even allows its adherents to adopt the name of their previous religion and blend it with its own. In the case of those tired with the rigours of following all of Christ’s demands, it encourages the newer and more convenient identity of- Convenient Christianity. The biggest difference between it and ‘pure’ Christianity is that it lessens the demands of religious devotion on its adherents and helps to guide them in their daily moral choices. But as usual, the Holy Spirit — whom Christ sent from the Father — is launching a counter-move that may once again see a generation of Spirit-filled, on-fire, Word-equipped, church-connected-and-committed, warrior-praying, and neighbour-loving, servants of Christ rise up and expose the ideology behind the false god of convenience.  

¶ I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Second Timothy 4:1-2

 

FOLLOWING CHRIST IS NOT CONVENIENT

As I write this, it occurs to me that I am wrong to describe this as a new religion. I recall that Jesus often had people approach Him who were convinced that Christ wouldn’t mind if they continued to worship the god of convenience and Him.

To another He said, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Yet another said, “I will follow You, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
Luke 9:59, 61

To their great surprise though, Jesus wasn’t interested in sharing worship with the god of convenience. And He still isn’t. When Paul’s life was inconveniently interrupted by Christ on the road to Damascus, he no longer worshiped at the altar of convenience. His life became devoted to Christ despite the numerous times it was inconvenient to do so. This is why, in his final epistle, he wrote to Timothy and told him to preach the Word “in season and out of season”, which means — ‘preach the Word, when its convenient to do so, and when its not convenient to do so!‘ Paul was highly qualified to tell Timothy to do this because he had spent his entire Christian life ‘walking the talk’.

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Second Corinthians 11:23-28

 

WHAT THE GOD OF CONVENIENCE EXPECTS

Worshiping the god of convenience is really easy. If some religious duty is not convenient, don’t do it — especially if its Christian. The god of convenience dismisses the inconvenient demands that following Christ entails such as -daily bible reading, participating in a weekly/fortnightly discipleship small group for bible study and prayer, attending church each Sunday to worship and be shaped by the preaching of the Word, and the regular sacrificial giving of finances. But its not just what happens in the name of a religion that the god of convenience is concerned with. This demonic spirit masquerading as the god of convenience also encroaches into the moral decision making of its adherents by offering convenience as the main filter for moral decision making. Thus, when Grandma’s nursing home fees are whittling away your assumed inheritance, the god of convenience offers a convenient solution. (On an unrelated matter, the Upper House of the Tasmanian Parliament is debating the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill this Tuesday.) When the unwanted news of a pregnancy is received, the god of convenience immediately steps up with all the reasons why this will be financially damaging, career inhibiting, educationally impairing, and socially detracting — and then a simple, quick, and convenient solution to this problem. (On an unrelated matter, continue to pray for the ministry of Emily’s Voice.) 

 

COMBATTING THE GOD OF CONVENIENCE

Combatting the god of convenience requires the posture of a (spiritual) war-footing. Paul describes what this looks like Ephesians 6. While some people regard spiritual warfare as only involving prayer and declaration, Paul’s description of spiritual warfare actually involves action and attitude (note 2Cor. 10:4-5). Therefore, I expect that very very soon the Holy Spirit will raise up a generation of Spirit-filled, on-fire, Word-equipped, church-connected-and-committed, warrior-praying, and neighbour-loving, servants of Christ who will expose the ideology behind the false god of convenience. They will do this by their actions and attitudes. This will be a generation that is servant-hearted; passionately-daily Word reading and studying; committed to their local church — especially on Sunday; courageously evangelistic and soul winning; and lavishly generous with their time/talent/treasure in promoting the Kingdom of God. They will be the next generation of pastors, elders, worship leaders, business leaders, academics, artists, and politicians. This generation of fearless Christ-followers who will combat the spiritual powers behind the false god of convenience will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” and will be prepared to make the kingdom of God the first and highest priority:

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. ¶ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Matthew 13:44

And while it may not be very convenient or popular to combat ‘the god of this world’ (which is another name for the god of convenience [see 2Cor. 4:4]) it is what the Holy Spirit has done in response to his assaults on the Church down through the ages, which is why I expect Him to do it again. So, when it’s inconvenient, join in me in prayer for its hastening.

 

Your pastor,

Andrew

BECKONING TO BE REDEEMED

F.W. Boreham once famously wrote about the grand statue of the beckoning Christ towering over the landscape of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Boreham’s deep appreciation for art allowed him to see things that weren’t always obvious to most others. After he moved from Hobart to Melbourne, he would visit the National Art Gallery of Victoria and admire paintings and sculptures for hours. Many of these prolonged moments of admiration resulted in profound essays about things most of us never notice. The recently constructed towering statue of the Christ over Rio moved FWB deeply. For Dr. Boreham, its significance lay primarily in its placement. It is set atop Mount Cocovada. For those in Rio to observe it, they have to look up. For Boreham this was a reminder that we all too often get caught up in our here and now and fail to see that there is a greater world beyond our little worlds.

F.W. Boreham also reflected on how this statue beckons people to come to him – but not just to the top of Cocovada – but to follow Christ beyond the Mountain! 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20

Down through the ages, many people have done just that. Christ’s beckoning has led them to go where the language was unfamiliar, the food was strange, the customs were foreign, and the fashion was uncomfortable. Consequently, they have had to learn a new language, acquire new tastes, adopt a new wardrobe, and try to learn the unwritten rules of being polite that every culture takes for granted and considers normal. 

The statue overlooking Rio, which measures thirty metres in height, and spans twenty-eight metres across its outstretched arms, is called ‘Christ The Redeemer‘. While the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit Mount Cocovada to behold this artistic marvel read the large sign at the entrance detailing that the enormous statue was begun in 1922 and completed in 1931 and was the collaborative effort of three Brazilian artists, I wonder how many consider the enormity of its name? I guess for many the name sounds like a familiar church or just another one of those meaningless religious phrases? If this is the case, it is a tragic loss for these spectating visitors!

The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Psalm 34:22

THE REDEEMER

A redeemer rescues. A redeemer set captives free. A redeemer helps those who cannot help themselves. A redeemer pays back the debts of another. A redeemer defeats the adversaries who oppress others. A redeemer pays a price to redeem and asks nothing in return. And Christ is the Redeemer! 

¶ “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
You have redeemed my life.
Lamentations 3:58

In a world where so many people are lost, hurting, trapped in lifestyles they hate, suffering abuses, being unfairly treated and taken advantage of, couldn’t this world do with some redeeming?

¶ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
Second Timothy 3:10-11

YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO RIO

Of course, you don’t have to go to Rio to get a sense for the beckoning heart of Christ to people beyond our comfort zone. All you have to do now is go out your front door! It seems that the people missionaries who once had to spend years preparing to go to in learning their languages, cultures and histories are being brought right to our front doors – or at least next door. Even in our church on any given Sunday, we are seeming people to Christ’s outstretched arms have beckoned us to embrace. These are not just the people from far-flung lands who look and speak so different to us, it is also the people who look and sound just like us and yet their lives are broken and hurting and betrayed. These are the people who all too often have found momentary glimpses of relief and escape from a tablet, a needle, a bottle or a bed.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36

THIS SUNDAY

This Sunday, don’t be fooled by how many people come through our doors who look like they don’t need a Redeemer. And while we enter into worship, we might like to take a moment to lift our eyes up beyond the distractions of our own worlds and catch a glimpse of the actual Christ The Redeemer beckoning us to look beyond where we usually devote most of our attention, and to realise that those outstretched arms of His –  which so warmly embrace us and fill us with deep love, security, and acceptance – are the same arms that also beckon us to come up and look beyond where we’re at.

Pastor Andrew

WHEN CARING MEANS DOING RIGHT

This month is our church’s Month of Care. This doesn’t mean that we don’t care any other month – but it does mean that this month we are going to focus on how we can improve our care and be inspired to care with some wonderful stories of how care has changed lives. As we prepare to look a little more closely at what caring for each other, those in our community, and even those in our families, can look like, there is currently before us an urgent need to show life-saving care for another category of candidates.

When the cares of my heart are many,your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94:19

THE JOURNEY TO CARE

When we arrived in Legana in 1995, our church had 17 members and a handful of visitors and children. Legana was a town of 1,500 people and we were just one of four existing churches in the town. I was in my early 30s. The average age of our congregation was 65. The age difference caused some problems for many, but not nearly as many problems as where I had just come from! Our last church was in a city of 3 million people. We had people from many different nationalities in this Melbourne church of ours. And prior to this, I was the assistant pastor in another Melbourne church with around 400 members. This background of mine caused many of the 17 members to treat me with suspicion and dare I say it, coldness. 

I did my best to win my new congregation over. I visited them in their homes, in their hospital wards, and even in their workplaces. All the while I talked on Sundays about the need for us as a church to reach out to those who did not know Christ. This confirmed the fears of some of the members that I didn’t really care about them but was only here to make a name for myself by building a church with outsiders. Many times in the first few years of my pastorate at Legana I was confronted with comments like, “You’ve been here a couple of years now, I guess you’re getting itchy feet to move on?” “Not at all”, I would respond, “God has called us here to sow our lives into this church.” No matter how hard I tried, people doubted that I really cared about them, our community, or even our town.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Acts 20:28

But then things changed. People’s attitudes changed. It happened after we had been here for 8 years. Someone actually said to me, “So you really are staying then!?” While all this happening, I was completing my doctoral studies which had trained me to be more rigorous in my writing and preaching. This involved learning how to research and to put an argument together. At this time, I encountered some visiting scholars from England who the Bible Society had brought to Tasmania. These two men rocked my world. For the first time in my life I saw a clear connection between how the political realm shaped a society to be either open and receptive to the Gospel and its claims, or, to be closed and resistant to it.

¶ First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
First Timothy 2:1-2

At this time, the then State Labor Government seemed to be seeking to deliberately undermine Christianity’s influence in our State. As a student of history, I knew that this was not the reason that the Labor Party had been founded, yet they were becoming increasingly influenced by a Neo-Marxist philosophy that promoted voluntary euthanasia, late-term aborting of unborn viable babies, and same-sex couple adoption rights. Having already been introduced to the profound work of William Wilberforce in the political sphere of Britain’s late-18th and early-19th century culture and the parallel benefit this had for the Gospel transforming millions of lives across England, I knew that it was time for the church of living God to step up and flex its muscles for the good of our society. Along with the help of several others, I was part of a group which successfully campaigned against the then State Government’s proposed changes to the Adoption laws, then its attempts to introduce voluntary euthanasia, and its proposed loosening of the Prostitution and Brothel laws. All the while this was happening we were seeing people join our church and come to Christ out of some of the very sectors of society these pieces of legislation were targetted at.

Then along came the proposed Pulp Mill. There was always something smelly about the proposed Pulp Mill. Environmentalists were up in arms about it. I had some environmental concerns, but my increasing concern was over the morality of it. I met with company representatives, politicians, and leaders from the environmentalist movements. I then wrote a paper outlining why I believed that the Proposed Pulp Mill on the Tamar River was fraught with ethical and even moral dangers. This drew a lot of attention. ABC TV sent a production crew from 4Corners down to film one of our church services and to interview me about my concerns. History now records that not only did that project not go ahead, the company proposing it eventually went bankrupt. Curiously, as a result of these public campaigns, people stopped wondering whether I cared or whether I was really committed to stay.  

for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Acts 20:27

THE NEED TO CARE BEYOND

¶ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 12:9-10

It’s necessary for us to care for each other in our church family (Rom. 12:9-10). But not everyone believes this should be a priority for a church. Some people criticise churches that make loving one another a priority claiming that they end up becoming more of a club than a church. These critics claim that the church only exists to evangelise and when a local church focusses on caring for one another they are neglecting the Great Commission and are therefore being disobedient to Christ. I think these people need a hug! 

I am a father of four children and I can share that it is possible for a parent to love each of their children without having to divide up their love for each of them. Similarly, it is possible for us to love our brothers and sisters in our church family and have a heart to reach people we know who have not yet accepted God’s offer of eternal forgiveness for their sins. This means that the choice between loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, or, having a heart to reach out to people outside of Christ, is no choice at all. It is not ‘or’, it is ‘and’. In like manner, our love also extends to those in our society of whom there is no real expectation that they could ever join our church. And this leads me to explain the title of this article. Right now in our State we have people pushing an evil agenda which is one of the most insidiously uncaring agendas I have ever seen. These people want to have the State Government spend millions of your tax-dollars to eradicate unwanted children. The other week a small group of them, led by several female State Labor and Greens politicians, protested for the right to have their unwanted children surgically killed in the womb. We have several good politicians who are doing all they can to withstand this. They care. And I conclude this edition of my Pastor’s Desk with a plea for us to care as well. These caring politicians need public support. Our Premier in particular needs to be encouraged to join with these caring politicians and to have the confidence to stand for what is right and caring. This month, as we consider what caring can look like within and by the church, it is also worth considering that caring sometimes means doing what is right and involves writing letters – to Premiers and Newspaper Editors. 

Pastor Andrew Corbett

WHY WE FEEL AND WE MUST

WE FEEL

An ounce of experience outweighs a ton of argument! As much as I think that the claims of Christianity are reasonable, logical, factual, and true, there are some people who will never be persuaded to accept this. They have been hurt in the name of God. One of the trickiest aspects to reaching such people is that they often hide behind a façade of what they assert are logical and reasonable objections to God. If we are not careful, we might be tricked into thinking that their objections to the existence of God were actually intellectual. If you care, and want to help such ones, here’s some suggestions.

“They’re all hypocrites! All they want is your money!” someone said recently to one of our new converts in our church. “Besides, look at how many children they’ve sexually abused!” they followed up with. This rocked our church member and sowed some seeds of doubt into them. However, it didn’t take long for them to realise that these allegations were weak in the light of their experience. They recalled how people from our church had sat with them in their darkest hours and shown patient support. They remembered that church leaders and other members had taken them into their homes and shared meals and time with them, and offered a caring, supportive, listening ear to them without any sense that they were trying to get something from them. They considered that the church presented its financial accounts to everyone in and outside of the church in a very public fashion for all to see, query, and scrutinise. In those financial accounts were the records of hundreds of people who had been assisted in some way over the past year. And the allegations of sexual abuse of children had nothing to do with this church – and in fact, there were some very accountable guidelines in place for preventing even a hint of this. 

In one sense, such allegations could be seen as an attack against our church. (As it turns out, this person had never been to our church or knew anything about us.) Rather than seeing this as an attack against us, I feel we should see this as an uncurtained window into someone’s heart. It lets us see that they feel hurt by someone who was supposed to be representing God. Their objections to God are grounded in their emotional experiences where they were subject directly or indirectly to someone’s hypocrisy.

THE PHONE CALL

After one of our church TV ad campaigns (which we run every Summer on commercial television stations), a lady phoned our church to attack us. As she shared her anger at our audacity to publicly invite people to church and declare that God loved them, I gently said to her, 

“It sounds like you have a story.”   

“I do!” she replied. “And maybe one day when you’ve got the time, I could tell it to you.” 

“I’ve got the time now,” I said, “if you’d like to share it with me.“

For the next two hours she shared how she had attended church with her family as a little girl and was all the while being secretly molested by the priest. This took place from the age of 6 up until the age of 17! She was now in her late 50s. She had tried to bury all this pain in her past and forget it, but the recent Royal Commission Into The Sexual Abuse of Children had brought it all back up for her. She told me how she actually longed for a spiritual connection with God, and knew that this necessarily involved being in a community of sincere believers. But her trust had been so egregiously violated that she suffered from involuntary physical reactions even setting foot outside of any church building. This had prevented her from attending family weddings and even funerals. I felt her pain. It was deep and almost incurable. This is not the kind of story that invited a reasoned argument as a response. It required a sincere pastoral response.

¶ “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Mark 9:42

HURT PEOPLE OFTEN BEHAVE LIKE HURT PEOPLE

I recently heard the story Prof. Rosaria Butterfield. She was the Professor of English & Women’s Studies at Syracuse University, in the USA. And, by her own admission, she was also a strident atheist, feminist, and practicing lesbian. She wrote a piece for the New York Times titled, “Why Promise Keepers Is A Threat To American Democracy” (Promise Keepers was a Christian Men’s Movement striving to encourage men to be more godly) in which she attacked “right-wing Fundamentalist Christians”. Her article drew quite a reaction. But one response caught her by surprise. It was from an elderly Presbyterian minister. She later described it as, “The kindest opposition I had ever received.” She found Pastor Smith’s manner very appealing. They began to dialogue. The pastor invited Rosaria over for a meal with him and his wife. Rosaria was keen to publicly dismantle Christianity and was pleased to have this contact with Pastor Smith whom she regarded as “a research assistant”. These dinners became a weekly event, sometimes at Pastor Smith’s home, sometimes at Rosaria’s home. This went on week by week for the next two years. Professor Butterfield fired her objections to the Bible at these dinners and Rev. Smith patiently and reasonably answered each of them. In this time, the Professor read the Bible through from cover to cover seven times – looking for its glaring inaccuracies and fallacies. She couldn’t find any. But this wasn’t the tipping point for her being converted to Christ. It was kindness she received from Rev. Smith and his wife. Several times over those two years one of them would call her after a snow blizzard and ask how she was and whether they could help her in anyway. 

She observed that during their meals together, people would just drop by. Often they would make their way into the Smith’s kitchen and fix themselves a cup of coffee and make themselves at home. This sense of community was something she had come to value among her LGBT friends. Now she was experiencing it firsthand among Christians! She said, “Around this time the Word of God got into me. It was no longer an outside book – it was now inside me!” She was converted to Christ. She came to realise that her “attractions were not her identity”, yet her feelings of same-sex attraction did not disappear with her conversion to Christianity. She became more involved in her new community of fellow believers and the kindness, acceptance, and grace she received from them was transformational over the coming years. Today, she is married to Rev. Ken Butterfield, is a mother, and a home-schooler, who lives with her family in North Carolina. 

but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious…¶ Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
First Peter 3:4, 8

The Gospels repeated describe Christ as “having compassion” for the people He was with. I suspect that if we could do the same, some of the people who feel hurt by those they expected to more accurately honour God, would eventually come to see that God is real because they can see Him in us as we care for each other and for them. It might take two years of dining each week with them in our homes or theirs, but then again, when the hurt is deep, it might take even longer.

Amen.

Ps. Andrew