FORBEARANCE

Forbearance has nothing to do with with your forebears (although, come to think of it, it might). Forbearance has to do with patiently bearing disappointment with others. It is most commonly called for when we have occasion to be disappointed with someone because of their inconsideration and even rudeness. The New Testament describes it as a trait of the highest order which reports to the “love one another” passages of the New Covenant. It is thus a trait that only those truly serious about following Christ ever come close to attaining. The good news is for these few ardent disciples of the Christ, of which I hope we all aspire to be, it is one of the essential means for which we qualify for the fuller potential of our heavenly reward (1Tim. 4:8). To my shame though, it is sadly one of those difficult disciplines of which I too often neglect and fail to attend to its practice. As I read Scripture I can see that I wasn’t the only one either. The Apostle Paul begged the immature Corinthian believers to show him forbearance at one of those times when it is urgently called for: when we are being corrected.

¶ I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!
Second Corinthians 11:1

You might point out to me though, that I have just provided an example of an appeal to ‘bear’ rather than to ‘forbear’. The reason for this is painful. Before any of us can begin to forbear, we must first develop the reflex of being able to bear with others (if you a part of a larger family, you have probable got a head-start on the rest of us). 

¶ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Ephesians 4:1-2

I have found that most of us love love. We love receiving it. We love seeing it. We love hearing about it. But I think we are less interested in studying it with the aim of learning how to do it better(?). The God who saved us did so because of His unconditional love for us. We now worship Him in surrender and adoration in return. As we do, we are being transformed more and more into His likeness.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:18

What does it mean for us to worship a God of unconditional love? It means transformation. It transforms not only our behaviour – especially toward others – it also transforms our motives for this behaviour. We don’t just act loving, we actually love! It involves us showing and feeling love toward those who injure us, slander us, despise us, because this is what God has done for us!

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Consider this kind of love – not just in response to offensive behaviour – but in response to rude, demeaning, ridiculing, vicious behaviour! Therefore, if you, like I, want to fulfil the Great Commandment to love (Matt. 22:38-39) we must learn to love like the Great Lover Himself which is why commitment to the community of Church is our highest priority.

But by now you’re probably saying, “Yes, but what has this got to do with forbearing and what actually is forbearing?”

Before we respond (please note these two key words), we need to see forbearance in this little story.

Jayne is meeting her older sister Suzette this afternoon. When Jayne converted to Christianity her sister Suzette ridiculed her more harshly than she had become accustomed to. The constant ridicule, mockery, and belittling, was eased somewhat for Jayne by the support from her mid-week Bible study group. Over the past few months they had been studying Romans 12:9-21 together where Jayne had begun to learn what genuine love and authentic tolerance looked like. This had prepared her for her coffee date with Suzette. She had settled in her heart that despite Suzette’s inevitable attacks and mockery that was sure to come that afternoon, she had resolved that she was not going to take offence or harbour resentment. That afternoon Jayne and Suzette met for coffee. It didn’t take long before Suzette launched into her tirade. But Jayne was able to overlook the swearing, lies, slander, and defaming allegations that Suzette hurled at her. In the midst of these attacks, Jayne found herself praying for Suzette that God might open her eyes too, and bless her regardless. Jayne showed forbearance. Later that day someone asked Jayne how her time with Suzette went, to which she replied, “I had a nice time with my sister. She’s a very beautiful person. Thank you for asking.” Her answer was also an act of forbearance. 

By now you might realise that forbearing involves two key words: ‘before’ and ‘respond’. Before we are offended, hurt, or insulted, our hearts are prepared to forgive/let it go/refuse to dwell on it/ and to determine to: respond with kindness/grace/mercy/and generosity. Try it. Decide now in your heart that with God’s help and grace you are going to forgive, let go, and not dwell on the next insult or offence you receive. Prepare now to respond with kindness, grace, mercy, and generosity, rather than slander, rehearsing hurts to others, or malicious gossip. If you can, you are forbearing.

Pastor Andrew

THE MOST CONVINCING EVIDENCE WE CAN OFFER THE WORLD

One of the things which gripped me as a new Christian was just how short life on earth was compared with eternity. As I read through the Gospels I was struck by how often Christ made this contrast to put this life into its proper perspective. Even if, as the Psalmist declared, man lives to a ripe old age, his life is but “a breath” –  a mere “blade of grass” which sprouts in the morning and withers by the end of the day. This life is no mere dress rehearsal for next. It is of infinite and eternal consequences. The apostle told the Colossians that not a minute of it should be wasted. When it comes to the after-life, despite the teaching of those who identify as liberal Christians, the eternal Gate of Heaven into Paradise is not merely opened for the “religious”, but for the redeemed in Christ. And if we have any compassion for our fellow man we will do all we can to persuade them to repent from their rebellion and to humbly turn to the Saviour to accept His offer of salvation. Yet many will not do this because they are yet to see what Jesus described as the most convincing proof of all.

WHY MANY WILL NOT BELIEVE

 Even though I hold to Reformed Theology (“Sovereign Grace”), I have good reasons to passionately believe that the Sovereign God who elects and foreordains also has elected the means by which unbelievers will open their hearts to receive the truth about Christ. This means is quite simple: Gospel proclamation. But Jesus reveals something both powerful and profound in His last prayer before He was executed.

¶ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
John 17:20-21

As much as I believe in Apologetics – the giving of good reasons to believe in the God of the Bible, without an application of what Christ described in John 17:21, every apologetic argument is basically rendered useless! This is why the local church is so incredibly important to the salvation of individuals within a community. When a local church is led by humble, God-honouring, called, competent, gifted leaders, who courageously work to maintain the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:2) the result is a caring, compassionate, servant-hearted, spiritual community which balances beautifully the two aspects of Christ’s identity: Truth and Grace.

¶ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:14, 17 

A recent survey of Australians found that 60% of Australians do not have a close friend who is a Christian.

It’s one thing to enter a Christian church and take a look. It’s another all together to enter into a Christian’s life and take a look! And based on what Christ prayed in John 17:21, it is another thing completely to enter into a Christian community and observe/experience authentic unity where there is forgiveness, tolerance, compassion, practical care, a willingness to listen to one another, and respect for leaders. Jesus said this kind of devotion to Him and the resultant unity would be a cause whereby the world may believe You have sent Me. I wonder how many members of the world enter our church on a Sunday and are initially shocked by and strangely moved by this unity of the Spirit? Without it, even the best apologetics by all the best apologists is of little to no value!

IF ONLY WE KNEW

I wonder how many Christian parents with young children realise the tremendous power in what Jesus prayed in John 17:21? I wonder if they realise what the spiritual consequences are for their young children when they choose to be somewhere else other than in the gathering of their assembling church family? I wonder how many young parents appreciate that when Christ spoke about His Church being “one” as He and the Father are one, He was recasting the community of His followers in the language of family. Time with your church community in worship is not time away from your family – it is time which Christ says that your family needs with your spiritual family. Parents help their children to gain a much broader, richer, deeper, understanding of ‘family’ when they demonstrate to their children that attending church is family-time.

¶ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Ephesians 2:19

Christ seeks to gather, to unite, to knit people together (John 17:21). His plan for the world is to build His Church (Matt. 16:18). Thus, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians at a time when there was bickering and bitterness toward each other with a pastoral rebuke. When believers divide and isolate themselves they render the witness of Christ in the world as impotent. This, the Apostle says, was a devilish tactic. Believers were not ignorant of these devilish schemes (“Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes)” – 2Cor. 2:10-11). But little wonder then that the devil’s primary scheme to undermine God’s plan of redeeming the world is to isolate, to divide, to individualise believers – because he knows that if the world actually sees a united, devoted, forgiving, self-sacrificing community of Christ-followers, they stand the best chance of becoming believers in the Christ. And the devil does all he can to prevent people coming to believe in Christ. 

THE MEANS OF FULFILLING JESUS’ PRAYER

In a world that is now more indifferent toward Christianity than any other time in history, the need for apologetics to advance the Gospel is desperately urgent. But without a network of strong, healthy, vibrant local churches led by caring, unifying shepherds (pastors and elders, officers and deacons, small-groups leaders) who do all they can to assemble their flocks weekly to feed their sheep and tend their lambs, apologetics can only do so much. Because when a local church becomes a model of a loving, accepting, forgiving and a well-disciplined community of passionate fully-devoted followers of Christ, the work of Gospel proclamation, and even apologetics, is made all that much easier. It is my hope that we will be willingly led by the Holy Spirit to be such a church!

Amen.

Ps. Andrew

When It Comes To Same-Sex Marriage, We Are Not Your Enemy

We Are Not Your Enemy

Christians Want For You What You Want

by Dr. Andrew Corbett

We all need acceptance, love and respect. We all have a right to be treated with equality. This is why I totally get why so many people are in favour of same-sex marriage. It’s why so many people who identify themselves as part of the same-sex attracted communities are fighting so passionately for the laws in Australia to be changed to provide for same-sex marriage. As a Christian, I want for these people what they want - because I think everybody needs acceptance, love and respect, and equality. But I don’t think that same-sex marriage is the way to get it and it seems that 90% of the LGBTQ communities agree.

The Brooklyn psychologist, Professor Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970), wrote the book Motivation And Personality (1954) in which he argues that all psychologically healthy human beings have a ‘hierarchy of needs’.  

Maslow made an astute observation that people generally need to feel - physically well, safe, accepted (“Love/belonging”), valued (“Esteem”), and dignity (“Self-actualization”). This is why I understand why people feel so strongly about the need to introduce same-sex marriage into Australia. As several Irish respondents told the media after Ireland changed its laws in May 2015 to introduce same-sex marriage, “Now we will be accepted for who we are!” Acceptance is a critical human need. 

Yet despite the vigorous appeals by the LGBTQ communities for same-sex marriage - built on the very persuasive arguments that the introduction of same-sex marriage will alleviate the alarming suicide rates of young men who identify as homosexual compared with similar aged men in the general population, the abnormally high rates of depression among the members of the LGBTQ communities, and the generally poorer physical health conditions of this sector of society - the largely untold (unnoticed?) fact is that where same-sex marriage has been introduced 90% of those who identify as being in a same-sex relationship show no interest in same-sex marriage. 

This is the case in both New Zealand and Ireland - two of the most recent examples of where these arguments were used and the laws consequently changed to provide for it. In fact, one of the first states in the USA to introduce same-sex marriage was Massachusetts - which did so largely on the basis of these arguments (high rates of very poor mental health, abnormally high rates of suicide). Yet, after introducing same-sex marriage there, which had an initially higher than average take-up by same-sex couples, there was no alleviation of these factors - and according to some analysts, may have actually worsened. And this seems to be repeated elsewhere also. Despite the appeals and claims to the contrary, same-sex marriage is not a boon for the LGBTQ communities and may even be a disappointing bane.

Christians are not the enemy of the LGBTQ communities. Most Christians want what the most vocal representatives of these communities are calling for: acceptance, tolerance, and respect. But the facts seem to speak for themselves: that same-sex marriage does not deliver this, and may indeed make achieving this utterly allusive. Despite the vitriolic claims that Christian are ‘bigots’ for opposing same-sex marriage, it could actually be an act of great compassion on the part of the Christian community toward the LGBTQ communities to explain why changing the Marriage Act will not, and indeed, cannot deliver what they expect. And based on the numbers of same-sex couples in Canada, USA, New Zealand, Europe and Ireland who have not taken up same-sex marriage, it seems that around 90% of the LGBTQ communities agree: same-sex marriage is not the answer they are looking for.

When Premises Are Wrong

One of the reasons why same-sex marriage has failed so completely to address the deeply concerning issues of abnormally high depression and suicide rates among their communities, is that the premise of same-sex marriage is enormously mistaken. (A premise is the foundational notion upon which a conclusion is arrived.) In this instance the premise is that a person’s worth and value is measured and determined by the relationship they have with another person. But this is entirely false and even quite a cruel way to regard human worth. 

Marriage does not add worth or intrinsic value to a man or a woman when they marry each other. Marriage does not even mean that a person has now become acceptable. And marriage certainly does not make someone equal with any other human being. Worth, value, acceptance and equality are all grounded in the inherent and God-given uniqueness of all human beings which the American founding fathers stated when they wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Christians sometimes refer to this truth as the imago dei (“the image of God”).

Christians don’t just ground their understanding of human worth and value in the imago dei to oppose same-sex marriage - or even homosexuality per se - it is also the basis for saying to a young teenage girl that your worth and value is not found in having a boyfriend. It’s found in whose image you bear. It is on this premise that we understand that love can be given, received, felt, without ever having to sexualise it. A young person should not be hoodwinked into thinking that it is another human being who determines whether they are acceptable, lovable, of any worth or even equal. The Christian boldly declares, often to their own hurt, that a human being is uniquely created in the image of God and is therefore infinitely valuable and supremely loved. Acceptance by God is one of the deepest cravings of every human heart and is found not in marriage, but in our relationship to our Maker.

What Jesus Taught

It is well known that Jesus Christ was one of the greatest men to have walked the earth. His greatness is seen most beautifully in the way He loved others. He is also the greatest example of the truth that love does not mean anything goes. On the contrary, the way Jesus loved was the supreme mix of compassion with care-filled truth. In John 8 Jesus is presented with the woman caught in the act of adultery (one of the six forms of sexual immorality forbidden in the Bible, Leviticus 18:20). In a remarkable display of the highest compassion for the woman who had been dragged out into the dusty streetscape by the religious authorities, Jesus shows that true love does not tolerate anything when He offers forgiveness to the woman and then with great tenderness tells her-

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”  

John 8:10-11

“Go and sin no more” Jesus told her. He didn’t trivialise or tolerate the sin in which this woman was caught. And in marked contrast to those in our day who consider that sexualising a relationship with another person has no moral implications, Jesus Christ reinforced what He had inspired the Biblical authors to write: that sexuality and morality are intrinsically linked. In fact, He emphatically stated that if sexuality was trivialised into acts of immorality it would put a person’s soul in eternal peril (Matthew 15:19-20). But He went further and reinforced what the Scriptures had already declared about the sanctity of marriage - its candidates, its purpose, and its requirements, when He said-

He answered, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 19:4-6

This is the only definition of marriage that Jesus gave - not merely for His followers, but for all people whom He created. When Christians endorse Christ’s statement about marriage and sexuality, we are not being the enemy, we are showing fidelity to Christ and compassion for all people - all people. As I have spoken with my non-Christian friends who have disagreed with me about same-sex marriage, we have soon found ourselves looking at Christ’s view on sexuality and marriage which has surprised them because they had been led to believe that Jesus was all about unconditional acceptance (commonly confused as being ‘love’) and that He actually said nothing about marriage. When they discover that neither is the case they also find that the motive of most Christians is not intolerance, bigotry, or phobia, but genuine care.

Pain And Brokenness

When a person has experienced the opposite of what Professor Maslow described as the basic needs of every human - wellness, safety, acceptance, and love - they experience deep pain and brokenness. Some wounds are obvious but some of the most painful are not. Many of these wounds result in brokenness, particularly sexual brokenness. This leads to the very misguided notion that safety, wellness, acceptance and love can only, or even ultimately, result through sexualisation. This is broken thinking. Some of the most hurt and lonely people in the world are those who have sexualised their pursuit of these basic human needs rather than discovering how to truly have these needs met.

I have been somewhat careful to state that no other human being can directly or ultimately satisfy our basic human needs. This is because we are all designed and created for these needs to be met in our relationship with God. Yet our first forebears skewed our capacity for our needs to be met in this relationship with our Creator when their rebellion embedded into our ‘spiritual DNA’ the seeds of human brokenness that necessitated the Creator becoming our Law Giver to protect us against ourselves. This is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the world as The Atonement for all human beings who turn to Him and receive His Lordship and forgiveness. 

Many sexually broken people (those who have pursued the practice of sexualising their relationships in the hope of having their needs met) have come to the end of themselves, and from the darkness of their sadness, loneliness, and rejection, have turned to Jesus and begun to find the wellness, security, acceptance and love that they had always craved. For most of these people the consequences of their brokenness has meant that they will then struggle for the rest of their lives with inappropriate sexual desires (this is not restricted simply to those with same-sex attraction of course). Acclaimed Christians, like Henri Nouwen (1932-1996, pictured right), lived with this struggle for all of their lives. It is an extremely important distinction to make that attraction and action are not the same and do not have to follow.

Struggle is often the fight we fight to do what’s right. When it comes to matters like these, not struggling in the guise of being who I really am has simply not worked for many broken people. Despite the aspirations that many advocates have held for same-sex marriage legislation alleviating the pain of those who are several hundred percent more likely to suffer from depression and its consequences, the data is pretty overwhelming: it hasn’t. 

To those in the LGBTQ communities, we, the Church, are not your enemies. We want for you what you want to the core of your soul - to be well body/mind/soul, to experience acceptance, to know love, and to discover true meaning for your life. We are not being bigots when we also say that same-sex marriage will not deliver you these needs. It has not. It can not. But there is Someone who can.

Pastor Andrew Corbett, 4th March 2016

Pastor of Legana Christian Church, Tasmania

Same-Sex Marriage A "Civil Right"?

by Dr. Andrew Corbett 6th August 2012

Those supportive of a "Gay" lifestyle like to argue that their case is the same kind of unfair discrimination experienced by African Americans up until the 1960s. By doing this, they make their case sound 'obviously' unfair. It's worth noting that this has outraged many in the Black community who can immediately and clearly see that there is just no comparison between the two issues.

Racial discrimination is insidious! It demeans a human being on the basis of their ethnicity, skin colour, or even nationality by considering them less than human. Demeaning another human as being less than human - on the basis of gender, race, status, professional, ability, is intolerable! Christians were at the forefront of confronting this in England during the campaign of William Wilberforce M.P., and the American Civil Rights Movement of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. But for the LGBT (Lesbian / Gay / Bi-Sexual / Trans-gendered) activists to claim that their campaign is exactly same "human rights" "discrimination" violation as that which the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King was involved in confronting is going too far and has caused many to realise that the LGBT's campaign for "sexual-anarchy" has nothing to do with the Civil Rights movement.

"The hijacking of the civil rights movement by homosexuals, bisexuals and gender-confused people is unacceptable. There is no legitimate comparison between skin color and sexual behavior"
- Rev. William Owens, C.A.A.P. (The Coalition of African-American Pastors) [Source]

1. Being treated unfairly as a human being because of your skin colour has to do with what it means to be human.

Human rights begins with the right to be... [Read full article]

A GAY GOSPEL?

I was recently asked for my opinion on an article appearing on a website promoting the compatibility of homosexuality wih Christianity. The article is apparently an extract from a book by (Rev.) Jeff Miner and John Tyler Connoley called, "The Children Are Free".

It's very sad that some are seeking to twist Scripture to force it to say something that not only did not intend to say, but is actually making the exact opposite point. The Apostle Paul refers to this in Romans 1 where he says that some in wilful sin "became futile in their thinking" and in Galatians 1:7 that some of these people have deliberately "distorted" the Gospel. The linked article is a gross example of this. Before giving a direct response, two important points need to be made. The first is about the nature of God and how we reflect that nature. The second is how we read Scripture and how we convey that Scripture.

GOD'S NATURE

God is a kind, gracious, forgiving God. He is merciful and kind. And He is holy and just. He asserts His rights over us as our Creator who has not only made us, but has optimally designed us. We know however, that although we have been optimally designed, we have been partakers in the rebellion of Adam which has left us corrupted, marred, and depraved by sin. The Apostle wrote in Romans 1:21 that because of our fallen nature, our minds have been "darkened" and made "futile" ('foolish'). For those of us whom God has saved, we have been granted a new heart, a new mind, and a new nature. There is nothing that we have done to earn this - therefore, none of us can boast that we are any better than those who have not yet received Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). Knowing this, and appreciating God's nature, we are obliged to present God to our world in a way that best reflects this with a demeanour of humility. Sadly, Christians have not always been the best at presenting Christianity, especially to those in obvious sin. This particularly applies to how we interact with those people who identify themselves as homosexual....[read full article]