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

WE DON'T WRESTLE BUT WE DO WRESTLE

In Narnia, Winter had had come to stay. In Middle Earth, the shadows of darkness were casting their evil doom over the lands. This shadowy evil, administered by Wormtongue, had already poisoned and possessed the King of Rohan, Theoden, and caused him to be weak and powerless both in mind and soul. In Tasmania, the real Wormtongue has continued this Middle-Earth-like strategy of stupification by weakening the minds and souls of those, like Theoden, are supposed to govern for the welfare of those they are responsible for and to. It would be utterly foolish of those who have any genuine spiritual insight to be fooled into thinking that this current Tasmanian State Political agenda was anything other than a devilish strategy to destroy the lives of the vulnerable.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

This invisible Wormtongue has craftily tricked his minions into utter delusion. Those of us who understand the ancient spiritual art of discernment, stand aghast at the bold yet ridiculous claims that black is white, murder is compassion, a baby is not human, gender has nothing to do with marriage, and good morals is a purely religious concept that has no place in a secular society. Whenever those who practice the ancient arts of discernment and objective wisdom raise concerns about this deadly trickery, the Wormtongue whispers into the inner ears of his underlings and his whisper is given voice:'These Christians belong to ancient past that has no place that has no place in our modern era...' 'These Christians are being arrogant for trying to force their ancient morals onto the rest of society...' 'These Christians are largely comprised of grey-haired middle-aged men, therefore they should be ignored...'

¶ God-devotion makes a country strong;
God-avoidance leaves people weak.
Proverbs 14:34, THE MESSAGE

Those who hold to ancient (even eternal) truths and practise the other ancient of art of case-making are mocked, ridiculed, and maligned. Wormtongue knows that his agenda of death cannot be made to sound reasoned or reasonable unless he plays some sophisticated (literally) word games and delivers some fanciful stories. Thus, murder, which has always been universally regarded as an act of evil, is deliberately lost in the discussion as Wormtongue instead prefers to refer to it as compassion. Compassion?! The very word means to journey with someone in pain ('com'= with + 'passion'= pain) yet Wormtongue's other diabolical strategy of Schooling Rather Than Educating almost guarantees that most people can't detect his hideous ruse with the language.

¶ Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
First Chronicles 21:1

Tasmania is beset with several serious crises. Theses include: Australia's highest unemployment rate; the nation's worst educational outcomes (including the nation's worst literacy and numeracy standards); the lowest level of private sector investment; the nation's highest suicide rate of 15-24 year olds; the nation's lowest incomes (per capita); the nation's highest welfare dependency rates; the highest rates of personal indebtedness; the highest rates of family breakdown; and the nation's worst health outcomes. Any government faced with such urgent social and economic emergencies would be forgiven for doing all it could to focus its energies on solving them. But Wormtongue has somehow managed to dupe the agenda-makers into promoting the very cause of these despicable blights with yet another word-game - calling his grand agenda "socially progressive" (when it is in fact, extremely socially regressive!).

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Second Corinthians 11:14

Wormtongue hates it when the Church stands up to him. He will ventriliquise his tired old mantras, 'Christians should say out of politics!' 'How does any of this hurt you!' through his puppets. And just to further distract everybody, he begins to tell exceptional stories. These are stories of people who are happy to be murdered, or happy to end the life of the babies, or happy offended that the rest of us will not accept that square are not round (since none us wants to 'offend' anyone). Meanwhile those who practice the ancient spiritual art of wisdom know full well that lies are being told and that exceptional stories do not form the basis of public policy for the greater good of all.

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Second Corinthians 2:11

It may be Wormtongue's weakest and most pathetic reason for justifying his insidious agenda of non-life, but he still promotes it whenever he senses it will go unchallenged. It sounds like this- But how does it hurt you? (As if our individual pain is the basis for what makes for good legislation). Of course, abortion, euthanasia and calling same-gendered relationships: marriage, doeshurt/affect/impact us all. And it does so in at least three ways. To illustrate with some real stories, I offer the following.

The New Mexico Civil Rights Commission found a Christian photographer guilty of sexual orientation discrimination for declining to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony. The photographer has been fined $6,637.94.

The state of New Jersey revoked the tax exemption status of a Methodist church for refusing to allow two lesbians to perform a civil union ceremony on its grounds (the site has hosted church and worship services for 139 years). The state agreed with lawyers who said the church is guilty of discrimination and "could no more refuse to accommodate the lesbians than a restaurant owner could refuse to serve a black man."

Two obstetricians in North County, San Diego declined to artificially inseminate an unmarried woman for religious reasons. Lambda Legal, a gay-only issues version of the ACLU, sued the two Christian doctors for religiously motivated discrimination because the woman was a lesbian. The case has been dragged through the California legal system for the last five years.

In Canada, where same-sex laws have been around, the assault on religious liberty is even greater. Because he wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper opposing same-sex legislation, Pastor Stephen Boission was fined $5,000 and told to "cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals." In other words, he is silenced from his free speech rights, forever. He can't even publish his own opinions on homosexuality on his website – they'll be removed.
Same-Sex Marriage: How It Will Affect You, Alan Shlemon

How will Wormtongue's socially regressive policies of non-life affect each of us? They affect us by -
(i) Our individual liberties; (ii) Our parental rights and liberties; and, (iii) Our religious liberties (as some of the stories above illustrate). Whenever legislators formulate any public policy into legislation, they must do the greatest good for the greatest number. None of the current non-life policy agendas satisfy this criteria. With so many pressing problems bearing down on our State, withstanding them is not merely an ancient Christian response (which it is), it is also a decent humanitarian response. Because Christians especially care for the whole person - not just their "soul" - but their physical, mental, social, AND spiritual well-being, we dare to withstand Wormtongue and his liegemen.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
First Peter 5:8-9

It's why we see teaching children to read, write, calculate, reason, and create as a vocation, not merely a profession. It's why we see tending the sick, frail, injured, or dependent, as a vocation, not merely a profession. It's why we see those who manufacture, produce, farm, mine, and create, as being in a vocation not merely a job. And it's why we see those in politics as removing the obstacles for people in these various vocations from fulfilling their callings. This is why we wrestle.

¶ "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
¶ "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:13-16

Our wrestling is not to be thought of as merely tackling Wormtongue's vassals on their turf - no, we wrestle Wormtongue in a different realm. This realm is not some fanciful Narnia or Middle-Earth, but where each of us live work and recreate. Yet the result of our wrestling prayers, prophetic utterances, preaching, teaching, witnessing, reasoning, and worship of the One True God, is that the Enemy's minions are thwarted in carrying out their Master's schemes. As we take our stand, our grander and truer mission of seeing the people we care about hear and receive the eternal message of God's redeeming love through Christ is all the more likely when the truth is more widely published. We wrestle not (against flesh and blood) but we do wrestle.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

Ephesians 6:11, 18-19

Ps. Andrew