Religion And Politics

This is an introduction to the theology that leads to political engagement by Christians. It explores the notion of the separation of Church and State, how this has been misapplied and re-thought of by significant Christian leaders in the 18th, 20th, and 21st centuries. I conclude with a personal experience of what I consider positive political engagement looks like. - Andrew Corbett

They say art is the thermometer of culture. In this sense, politics might be seen as the barometer of culture. And we might add that Christians should be the thermostat of culture (not the thermometer of culture). By this we mean that art in its various forms - literature, music, visual art, movies, poetry, photography, and fashion, reflect what culture finds acceptable, disturbing, desirable, praiseworthy, and even beautiful. And politics is the popular affirmation (the essence of democracy) of a set of legislative policy agendas that give direction to a culture.

Germany in the 1930s is a case study in the interplay between artistic culture, political climate and the role of religion. It wasn't just that Adolf Hitler was evil. It was that he resonated with something not entirely righteous in the German culture. He became a barometric indicator of where Germany was now heading. When politicians feel public support for their raft of non-life policy agenda items, it is an indication of where our culture is heading. And when politicians take liberties with a non-life policy agenda, it actually feeds an indifferent culture with a diet to actually value non-life policies! And when this happens, it makes the Christian promotion of the Ultimate Life (eternal life) not only unappealing to a culture that increasingly values non-life, but repulsive! That's why we might say that politics is at least the barometer of a culture. This is why it is not only necessary for Christians to collectively work together to shape what culture values, but possible for Christians to do so - but not possible if we ignore what happens in our political spheres.

It seems that in the world's darkest moral hours, God's light shines through fewer but it does so more intently. Such was the case when Adolf Hitler was beginning to mesmerise Germany. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was from a privileged background and from an early age dedicated his life to Christ. While Hitler was merely a barometer of where Germany was going to head, Bonhoeffer was attempting to be a thermostat by challenging his ministerial colleagues to return to Scripture and see why they must collectively challenge the rise of the Nazi Party. But Bonhoeffer largely failed to convince his colleagues of the necessity to engage in the political arena.

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WHEN

Success in any field of life whether it be sport, business, politics, art, relationships, religion, or academics, is rarely just a matter of hard work. In fact, the most successful people in their particular field may not necessarily be the hardest working in their field. When someone has natural ability and divine gifting, it often means that this person has to work less! While nothing substitutes for hard work, there is something that leverages a person's hard work like nothing else can. If you can figure this out it can turn your frustration into adulation.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
Galatians 4:4

Success in life, relationships, work, business, church, sport, school, more often than not belongs to those who understand when. Like millions of other people around the world, I'm watching Wimbledon at the moment (as I have done every year for the past 36 years). This Grand Slam tournament has not always been won by the best player in the field. And not every final at Wimbledon is the best match of the tournament. The players who win it have an ability to 'peak' at the right times. To win Wimbledon a player has to win 7 main draw matches in a row - but the most important of these matches is the 7th! If a player exerts themself too much in a match, they may not have much left for their next match.

The God we are in awe of, is a God who does things when the time is right. One of the key reasons His Son was a sucessful Saviour, was because He came to earth at the right time (Gal. 4:4). And when Christ came to earth, He understood the appropriate time for what to be done. He could have appeared in His public ministry from the age of 13, but He understood that the right time was when He was 30. He could have chosen to minister for 10 years to give His disciples the best possible training and grounding in Kingdom principles, but He chose to publicly minister for a year or two and spend only three years with His disciples. Knowing when seems to be one of the most important elements of success.

Rom. 5:6 ¶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Mark 6:31

We recently remembered the gallant sacrifices made on D-Day (June 6th 1944). This is the day the Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. The planning for this day commenced in 1943. The timing of D-Day was imperative to its success. If they had landed in exactly the way either a day earlier or later, they would not have been successful and the loss of lives would have been inestimately higher.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
John 11:32

God understands perfect timing. Remember that the next time you're looking to Him in prayer. And as you ponder His awe-inspiring timing and worship appropriately, consider that worship transforms the worshiper into the likeness of the One worshiped. Thus, your worship of the impeccable God will transform your concept of waiting from 'doing nothing' to one of the most important aspects of right timing. As Dr. F.W. Boreham has written, there is a great deal of difference between being still (waiting) and doing nothing. He tells of a man who had an uncanny ability for coaxing wildlife out where others had said there was no wildlife to be coaxed out. Asked how he did it, he responded that he always started early and found a suitable bush to hide in or behind, then he would wait. "For how long?" he was asked. "Usually after four or five hours some animals appear." Understanding timing involves grasping the importance of "When?" and the immense value of waiting.  

When I was young, I contracted Scarlet Fever. It meant I was off school for several months one particular year. Whether it had a lingering impact on my physical stamina or not, I'm not sure, but coincidentally from that time, I had chronic stamina issues that led doctors to wonder whether I was now hypoglycaemic. Up until this year I have been able to avoid bouts of exhaustion. But this week, I was again overcome with exhaustion (my second bout this year). When I suffer this kind of exhaustion I feel useless. I understand those who experience their bodies and minds doing involuntary things. I have great sympathy for those who battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. My normal strategy is soldier on and press through. But this week I didn't have that option. I had to be still. In my stillness I was very aware that God uses these seasons to produce something that only these seasons can. Being still is not the same as doing nothing.

"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
Psalm 46:10

The most successful churches understand together the power of when. They know that there are times to tackle certain issues, and there are times to elave them alone. There are times when Sundays should be given to special outreaches geared toward the non-churched and under-churched. But there are also times when a church must help its people go deeper into appreciating God's Word. There are times when a church has to concentrate on training the next generation and make allowances for people as they have a go and make mistakes.

¶ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
Psalm 130:5

In your life, I could confidently say that there has been unfairness. You've had times when you've worked hard and worked long for very little to show for it. This is frstrating. By learning that being still and waiting on God - is notwasting time, but is critical to success in life, love, family, work, business, sport, and with God, you begin to see thatright timing is not always easy to achieve but wrong timing is far too easy to find. Thinking about right timing reminds me of the story of the father who took his young son to the symphony. The son sat amazed at the vast array of instruments on the stage but none caught his imagination as much as the man with the cymbals. As the orchestra commenced, the starry-eyed boy gazed at the man in the suit with a cymbal strapped to each hand in the corner of the orchestra. Yet throughout the whole show the man with the cymbals did nothing. As the concert was coming to an end, the orchestra got louder and more passionate as they built toward their final crescendo and then suddenly the man in the tuxedo with the cymbals stood to his feet and separated his arms. The climax of their performance reached its most exciting point when suddenly the man with the cymbals smashed his cymbals together! The father took his son back stage to meet the orchestra. The boy met the man with the cymbals and asked him why he only got to use his instrument once. The man assured him that the secret to being a great cymbalist was knowing how towait and when to act. And I suspect that this advice is not limited to the realm of cymbals.

Ps. Andrew

RUSHING TO REST

Have you ever met people who are always tired, never able to get things done, always running late, and misplacing everyday things? These are people who rush. They are often over-committed, always rushing, and slightly irritable. I'm sure you have, because there's so many of them. Here's where these dear folk went wrong...

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

These precious folk have lost the art of resting. Pressure management coaches all say that whenever you rush something, it always takes longer! Strangely, whenever you rest well you always get more done!

And He [Jesus] said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Mark 6:31

No one got more done than Jesus of Nazareth, yet He was never in a hurry.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
John 11:32

R - ready yourself (Build regular routines.Time taken to prepare well is never wasted time.)
E - eat nutritionally (a high sugar/carbohydrate diet can only bring temporary energy but longer term weariness.)
S - sow what you want to reap (your time, your talents, and your treasures.)
T - together (alone you can run faster but together you can run further!)

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
Hebrews 4:9

 

Under the Old Covenant, God instituted a regulation for rest. This was called the sabbath. Under the New Covenant, Jesus is our Sabbath. In Him we rest. As Ps Phil Hills often says, "We work from rest rather than rest from work." 

Are you rushing or resting? Have you discovered the replenishing principles of the sabbath? Maybe it's time to slow down and instead of seeing Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance as diminishing your time, perhaps it's time to regard this time asseed being sown? 

Ps. Andrew

What On Earth Are You Good For?

What on earth are you good for? I can guarantee it is for a good reason. But in case you don't think it is, let me prove it to you.

People who felt of very little worth who have then put their trust in Christ have found their good reason for being on earth. Christ transforms people who feel that they are no good into people who do great good. He started doing this with a rag-tag bunch of Judean fisherman, zealots, and tax colectors.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 10:5-6

Most people lack focus in their life. They spend their lives doing what they have to do rather than on what they can and should do. Jesus gave His first followers focus. When you spend your energies without without a sense that you are making a difference, it can leave you feeling unncessary and even useless. This is one of the most debilitating things that a person's soul can be afflicted with. But when you see your Saviour directing you, it gives your life focus. Before Jesus told His disciples to "Go!" He first told them to "Go to..." Jesus would rarely ask a new Christian to pack up their life and relocate to another part of the world and attempt to reach people who have a completely different language and culture. He told His first followers to start with their own community (Mtt. 10:6).

And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Matthew 10:7

As a follower of Christ your life focus starts by doing what you already do - connecting with people in your neighborhood and it then involves proclaiming. You already proclaim. We all proclaim. You are born and then reborn to proclaim. You can't notproclaim. Every person proclaims by:

- choices and decisions they make.
- what they talk about most.
- what they keep silent about.
- what they wear.
- what they do with with their time.
- what they do with their money.

Christ calls us to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. Too many people describe their lives as "hell". Followers of Christ are citizens of Heaven.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
Philippians 3:20

You may not think of your life or home as a taste of Heaven, but compared to what most in your neighborhood experience, it is! Even when you go through down or tough times, you may think that your witness is poor, but it is quite possibly then more than any other time that your neighbors are listening more closely to what you proclaim! You should live a life that causes those who watch it to question how you do it. Live a questionable life!

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Matthew 10:8

"Heal the sick" is part of Christ's commission to meet the needs of a community. He didn't ask them to do anything they couldn't do. He gave His first followers gifts and then simply asked them to use these gifts among people who needed them. What do you find easy? Cooking? Sewing? Lawn-mowing? Child-minding? Tutoring? Whatever your answer to this question probably reveals the gifts that God has given you. The other thing that helps to reveal what gifts God has given you are the needs you see in your neighborhood. I feel I might have gifts of leadership, teaching, and discernment. I see needs in our community. You might have gifts to show compassion and empathy and readily see a need among teen-mums in our community (if you do, please talk to Heidi Sands of Baby Mum who is looking for some mentor-types to help with unwed teen Mums). You might have gifts of hospitality. Perhaps you see the need to connect with your nextdoor neighbours? This might result in you inviting them or your work-colleagues over for a BBQ at your place. Maybe you have the gift of teaching a rather patient disposition? You might look at the influx of non-English migrants and see a need you can meet. Christ calls His followers to serve. It's not much, but nearly 17 years ago our local tennis club was looking for someone to help coach the children of our children. I volunteered. Seventeen years later, I'm still there. I get a thrill everytime I see one of them come along to one of our church events like Carols By Candle-light. In Acts 9:36, Dorcas rates a special mention for the extraordinary good she did in her community through her ability to sew. Consider how you can serve others to meet some of the needs in our community.

Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
Matthew 10:9-10

So much of the good that has been done for the Kingdom of God has been undone by those who have served God yet succumbed to greed. Your life focus should never be about accruing wealth or serving merely to get.

And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
Matthew 10:11

In every community there is a person of significant influence. Jesus told His first followers to seek out such a person. This "man of peace" is someone who can open doors because of their widespread connections with others in the community. This person might be your neighbour who knows more of their neighbours in your street than you do. If you take the time to "greet" the people whom God brings across your path, you may be a vital part of accomplishing great good - in fact, eternal good.  We sometimes think good leadership must involve leading many. But good leadership involves influencing influencers.  

God has a good reason for you to be on this earth. He has given you the ability to do great good when you connect with people. You can do this! He wants you to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven - a realm where He is on the Throne, and calling all people to turn away from eternal harm and come to Him. He has also given you gifts that enable you to serve others and meet needs. We do this with pure motives. We don't do it to get / to grow our church / to be acclaimed / to benefit materially. And God has enabled you to influence at least one other person who has influence with others. These are the principles that Christ gave His first followers to live a focussed life of doing good on the earth.

Ps. Andrew

THE MAKER'S MEANS OF OUR STRENGTH

Many people now live in a world where everyone looks at them but no-one sees them. As strange as this is, it is also a world where many people have physical contact with them but no-one touches them. Added to these shameful blights, is that in this world many people say things to them but no-one talks to them! This is not how our Maker designed for us to interact. And a result of this, although we are designed to be nourished, satisfied and strengthened with someone truly seeing us, carefully touching us and appropriately speaking to us, we now live in a world of people who are weakened because they do not experience this triune source of strength.

And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, "O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength.
Daniel 10:16

People need someone to look at them. Jesus once asked His disgusted host, Simon the Pharisee, "Simon, do you see this woman?" (Luke 7:44) Of course Simon saw the woman! That's why he was so disgusted! But Jesus knew that there is a world of difference between looking at someone and looking at someone. How many people really see you. Everybody needs at least one person to see them. When the aged Daniel was at a low and confusing point in his life, someone saw him - this heavenly visitor looked not just at him but into him. Who sees (in) you? God has made women beautiful to look at. It is natural and right that a woman spends time accentuating her God-given beauty in how she grooms, clothes, and makes herself up. But God has made each woman extraordinarily beautiful intentionally for just 1, 2, or a few related men (her father, her husband, her brothers for example). It appears that when a women does not receive these rightfully deserved affirmations of her beauty, she goes to great lengths to show off her beauty and looks for affirmations from other sources. Of course this makes the role of a dad toward his daughter all the more critical.

This look came at a time in Daniel's life when he was particularly lonely, unaffirmed, and uncertain. It became a part of the cause of the strengthening that Daniel experienced.

Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me.
Daniel 10:18

Daniel was strengthened not just with a look but with a touch as well. We are designed by our Maker to give and receive strength through touch. There are far too many people today who have been weakened beyond what's acceptable simply because they have not been appropriately or sufficiently touched. A handshake, a hug, a backslap, a hand on a shoulder, a kiss, have far more power than most of us realise. When women do not receive touches they may be tempted to invite inappropriate touches. (Dads, give your daughter a hug before day's end.)

How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me."
Daniel 10:17

A look, a touch, a word. Daniel's strengthening was made complete with a word.

And he said, "O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage." And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."
Daniel 10:19

"He spoke to me, I was strenghtened" says Daniel. I used to say that there are no words that can help at this time when attempting to comfort the bereaved. I found myself saying this to myself (just as I had previously said it to hundreds of others) at the time we were shocked to be told that my father-in-law had suddenly died. Just as I was saying it to myself, I felt the gentle loving rebuke of the Holy Spirit reminding me that the ultimate comfort and source of strength can only come from words and that the greatest expression of this is the Bible. Since that time, I have never repeated the myth that words alone cannot heal, comfort, or strengthen.

God has given us eyes not just to see with but to understand with. "I see" is a way of saying, "I understand." But our eyes are not merely to see and understand things, they are primarily to see and understand those God places in our world.Helen Keller (who was born deaf and blind but was taught to read and write and communicate with others through touch) said that: There are none so blind as those who will not see. Helen Keller was an uncontrollable wild child - until someone looked at her. This someone was Annie Sullivan. She connected with Helen with a look, a touch and then a word. And the previously unteachable, uncontrollable, incommunicable young girl was set free and strengthened to be the curious, co-operative, talkative, thoughtful woman that she was destined to be. Because someone looked at her, touched her, and strengthened her with words, she-

... received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments, including the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal in 1936, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, and election to the Women's Hall of Fame in 1965. She also received honorary doctoral degrees from Temple University and Harvard University and from the universities of Glasgow, Scotland; Berlin, Germany; Delhi, India; and Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Additionally, she was named an Honorary Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland.*

Our Maker has designed how we are strengthened. "Man does not live by bread alone" Jesus reminded us, "but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." A weakened person who craves the strength that can only come from a look, a touch, and a word, may think that their hunger for strength is satisfied by food. (Anyone noticed what's happened to obsesity rates in areas where the Maker's methods are ignored? See Phil. 3:19.)  Our Maker has meant for us to be in worshiping communities where we are strengthened by looks of real love from others, the tender touches of those who see us, and by words of life shared with us by those see and hold us. This is the air we breathe within the protective, healing, strengthening bounds of our local church. The world craves church. They crave what their Maker has designed for them: someone to truly see them, someone to tenderly touch them appropriately, and someone to speak deeply and sweetly into their soul. Without this triune source of strength feeding a person's soul, that person is left to look for strength in a bottle, a pill, a bed, a meal, or a needle. This futile hunt was powerfully captured in the movie Good Will Hunting.

Will Hunting was not loved by his father. Instead of looks of love, touches of tenderness and words of wisdom, Will's father looked at him with disgust, scorn and neglect. Instead of touches to comfort, reassure and heal, Will's father beat him spanners, electrical cords, chains and burned him repeatedly with lit cigarettes. Instead of words of life, encouragement, and wisdom, his father verbally abused him. Will grew up weak. We recognise his weakness as obvious in the way he scorned others, spoke to people with malice, and continually got into fights and treated girls as objects of lust. The next time you see a prickly person who's hard to like, consider that they might be a person craving the Maker's strength that comes from the Maker's agents who share a look, a touch, and word on His behalf. Will Hunting was dramtically strengthened when someone used the Maker's method. 

A community psychologist, Sean Maguire (played by Robin Williams) is the first person in Will's life to really look at him. It is Sean, who understands that Will has never been touched. (Many young men crave the fatherly touch of a man and in their weakened state of identity confusion are often taken advantage of by an older male predator - which only adds to their confusion.) Sean touches Will. And it is Sean Maguire who speaks to Will. Although many have spoken to Will Hunting throughout his twenty years, no-one has ever said anuthing to him. Sean Maguire corners Will in his office. He touches him tenderly on the shoulder. He says to him, "It's not your fault." Will doesn't hear him (although he hears Sean's words). "I know" he responds. "No. It's not your fault" says Maguire now with both hands on Will's shoulders. Will shruggs this off. Maguire moves closer, looks Will in the eye, and repeats his word to him. "Stop messing with me", says the tearing Will. Maguire moves closer to Will and Will breaks down. The two embrace and finally the strength that can only come from a look, a touch and a word, floods into Will's dry, empty, shrivalled soul. He has just experienced what the Maker's agents feast on each week in their church community.

This is why meeting together each Sunday for church is more beneficial and strengthening than most of us realise. Hopefully I've shown you by now that those incidental parts of our Sunday congregational and Wednesday small group meetings are notincidental at all and that your presence is vital both for strengthening others and for being strengthened. The man looked at Daniel, touched Daniel, and spoke a word to Daniel, and he was strengthened. Couldn't you use some strengthening as well?

Ps. Andrew

SAVING MR BANKS

Saving Mr Banks tells the moving and true story of the encounter between Walt Disney and the creator of Mary Poppins, Mrs P. L. Travers. As a pastor I probably watched this movie different to most people.

I saw a very hurt lady have her heart carefully exposed by a very wise man. My ability to see this was made so much easier by the great script writing and editing. Actors normally get the credit for carrying a movie, and Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson are two of the best, but this movie is particularly a tribute to its writers and editors. They have managed to go beyond the usual flash-back sequences and cleverly used selective scenes from Travers' childhood to help the viewer to increasingly understand why Mary Poppins is so important to Mrs Travers.

The movie is set in Australia, America and England. The mystery begins in Australia where Travers was born and grew up. We are then in 1961 where we learn that Walt Disney has tried for 20 years to buy the rights to Mary Poppins. 

This movie explores fatherhood. P. L. Travers is who she is, a highly creative yet bitter woman, because of the relationship she had with her father (played magnificently by Colin Farrell). She adored him. He was the one who ignited her imagination. But there is something about their relationship which has also caused her to withdraw. Fathers can not but help to have a profound influence on their daughters.

But this film is also about two other dads. The first of these is Walt Disney. The reason that he is relentless in securing the rights to Mary Poppins is because he made a father's promise to his daughters that he would one day bring their beloved "Mary" to the big screen.  The second of these fathers is Ralph, played by the great Paul Giamatti.  Ralph is assigned by Disney to be Travers' chauffeur. She is inconsiderate of him and rude to him for most of their interaction until a very touching moment when she learns that he is the father of a disabled daughter. From that point, there is a fond connection between them.

Things did not go well between Travers and Disney. She walked out of their negotiations and returned to England. It was then that Walt Disney learns that P. L. Travers is not "P. L. Travers". He flies immediately to London on the next flight after Mrs. Travers and this is the climatic moment of the movie. It is here that Walt Disney sounds far more like a pastor than a movie producer. In this scene between Disney and Travers, there are two fathers in the room. Disney shares the story of the interaction he had growing up with his merciless father and proves to Travers that he understands the vital connection between her father and Mary Poppins. He then puts it to her that she needs to let the pain of her past go. Walt Disney offers Travers a way to redeem her father by trusting him to tell her story of Mr Banks (the father in the Mary Poppins' story) well.

When the film has its world premiere in Hollywood, we see it through P. L. Travers eyes. We see her as a little girl deeply in love with her daddy. We see her losing her daddy. And we see Mary Poppins who came to her childhood home with the promise of saving her daddy. But on the screen we are taken into P. L. Travers imaginative world of make-believe where, unlike the real world, she is able to save her daddy. And thus, we are shown that the story of Mary Poppins is actually not about Mary Poppins - but about her daddy and his redemption.

Curiously, this very well told and moving story is described as a 'comedy' by the producers. Comedy? No. Drama with some humorous scenes? Yes.

Saving Mr Banks, Mr Walt Disney and Mr Walter Mitty - my online audio Movie review from a Christian perspective taken from my radio show - bit.ly/RSWwQ5

Andrew Corbett

BLOOD STAINED FOOTPRINTS

Spend time with a follower of the Christ and you'll unmistakeably notice something. Spend time with someone who pretends to follow Christ and you'll never see it. Real Christ followers follow Christ. Like trackers who know the signs to look for when tracking someone, Christ-followers find in the Word of Life the tell-tale indicators to the path that Christ has already trod. These followers follow even when it's tiring, even when it's difficult, even when it's discouraging. After a while you notice that this kind of Christ-following produces the unmistakeable Christ-likeness that only comes from walking in the blood-stained footsteps of the Master.

Although a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again,
but the wicked will be brought down by calamity.
Proverbs 24:16 The NET Bible

For the last few years, Kim and I have done a major hike over four to six days. Each of these have hikes have been thoroughly taxing for me. We've had to hike over mountains, through swamps, across rivers and creeks, and around fallen trees and over boulders. Our last attempted over-night hike was abandoned when the snow blizzard meant we were traipsing through a foot of snow into an area of visibility of no more than 50 metres. Hiking can be tough going. There are times when the best I could do is to just keep going.

Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
Proverbs 4:26

I'm perhaps ashamed to say that on each of our longer hikes I have wanted to quit about halfway through. But halfway is no place to stop! You're halfway back or halfway to go - either way you've got the same distance to go. And that's what I've noticed about real followers of Christ: they just keep going. This is called faithfulness. The kind of faithfulness that followers of Christ develop along the path of Life is a fruitful one. That is, the path is made all the better because they are travelling on it. Faithful followers of Christ don't just journey on the path, they help others journeying on the path as well. They don't travel empty. On the hikes that Kim and I have done, we have to start our adventure with fully-loaded back-packs. (A fully loaded means at least 25 kilograms.) On the journey to follow Christ there are times when you have to share your resources with other travellers like I did on our last Freycinet walk when I gave a butane cylinder to a fellow traveller.

I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
Proverbs 4:11

By checking the map of Scripture we can look ahead to what lies before us on our journey to follow Christ. We see Christ loving and serving people. We see people letting Him down and eventually betraying Him. We see Him in the upper room of the night He was betrayed and He is washing the dung-stained feet of His proud disciples (who happened to be arguing over which of them was the greatest!). We see Him laying His life down after enduring phenomenal hardship. The closer we get to Christ the steeper the journey seems to become. But the ascent to follow Christ closely is only as acute as our resistence to follow Him. When Peter was reluctant to follow, the path of life was steep and cause him to become distant.

¶ Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance.
Luke 22:54

I look at many in our church and say to myself - These are faithful followers. They keep turning up. They keep serving. They keep learning. They keep helping. They stay humble. They often struggle to say 'No' and wonder if they should say it more often than they do, but they follow a Christ who says, "Yes. Come, follow Me."

If you are one of these faithful ones who keep following, you will have already encountered the disappointment that another follower, John Bunyan in his classic book, Pilgrim's Progress, describes. It wasn't the obstacle, the devilish attacks, the horrid conditions, that Pilgrim found most disappointing. It was when he was momentarily strengthened by a fellow traveller who joined him on the Path of Life but soon dropped back, took a break, retreated, or went on side-tracks. Following Christ on this Path is like being a burning coal. The flame of the coal always burns brighter when it is accompanied with other coals!

You will find the road map to the Path of Life in the Word of Life, the Bible.

The Pathmaker and Giver of Life calls His children to be followers not consumers. The New Testament uses the word: disciple to describe a follower of Christ. This word means learner. This is how how you can detect a true follower of Christ. Not only are their feet spattered with Someone else's blood, they are learning to keep going, to keep serving, to keep helping - to keep following their beloved Lord and Saviour.

Ps. Andrew

APOLOGISING FOR ATTRACTIVE CHRISTIANITY

Christianity can be presented attractively if it is presented 'Apologetically' (reasonably) with gentleness and respect (1Peter 3:16-17). Many people have never heard a well-reasoned defense of the claims of Christianity. I have briefly introduced five categories of evidence. In another article I have presented five proofs for the existence of God. In yet another article I respond to the five main objections offered against the existence of God. This article assumes the next logical challenge: But why Christianity and not any other religion? It is my hope that as an ambassador of Christ you might be able to use the points raised in this article to more attractively respond to this challenge...

Jesus Christ was attractive. But He wasn't attractive for many of the reasons we normally associate with attractive people. In fact, Isaiah the Prophet foretold that the Christ would have "no form or comeliness (beauty) about him" (Isa. 53). Yet, thousands of people were attracted to Christ from the early days of His public ministry. Something made Jesus Christ attractive. It should therefore by no surprise that He gave principles and instructions for His followers which would present Him and His message attractively. Christianity is meant to be attractive. This involves being socially attractive, intellectually attractive, spiritually attractive and aesthetically attractive. One such example of Christ promoting attractive Chrisitanity is the parable He told about the sower.

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A CONFESSION

Our society is in trouble. It used to be that drugs were a problem in communities materially less fortunate than most. Now illicit drugs are a growing problem in materially affluent communities. People are turning to drugs and illicit sex to fill the void, numb the pain of unfulfilment, and dull their despair. The root cause of this void, pain and despair is a gross lie - that life has no meaning. But the Life-Giver has designed that our lives are meaningful when we work, worship, wonder and love. Each endeavour contributes to what defines us as human beings. Anyone who does not work is depriving themselves of the very thing that can give them dignity, satisfaction, and fulfilment. But the same is true of the dignity, satisfaction and fulfilment that comes from the worship of the One True Life-Giving God, the wonder of who God is and what God has done, but especially from loving and being loved. There is one place (that is much more than a 'place') where each of these aspects come beautifully together.

¶ I love you more than I can say.
Because I'm madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
Psalm 69:9 THE MESSAGE

Before every Sunday morning worship service, the worship and pulpit teams meet in my office for team-talk and prayer. For a couple of years I had a separate white-board sign that said-

"We work so others can worship.
Our work is our worship."

Jesus, the perfect man, the happiest man, was the greatest example of work (Jn. 4:34), worship (Mtt. 26:30), wonder (Acts 14:3), and love (Jn. 13:1). His death on the Cross was the means by which He could establish the 'place' (which is really the people) where the best work, worship, wonder and love could be done. It is impossible to overstate how hard Christ has worked to establish and extend His Church, inspire worship, create wonder and foster love. Christ's churches come in different sizes, different kinds of people, different venues, with different meeting times, music styles, and leadership structures.

¶ Husbands, love your wives,
as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her
Ephesians 5:25

The New Covenant House-of-the-Lord, the Church, is one of the greatest sources of blessings that God offers to the world. While not technically correct, Bill Hybles often quoted statement - "The local church is the hope of the world" (the local church declares that Christ is the hope of the world) has a powerful sentiment behind it. I have seen, felt and heard of Christ's supreme passion for His church time and time again. The Word of God promises that those who are planted in the House of the Lord will "flourish" (be abundantly blessed). I was very recently reminded of this powerful truth when two of our church family who had been looking for work in the field of their professional training volunteered at our church. Within a week or so of volunteering they both had secured employment. They are both now flourishing just as Psalm 92 promised.

They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalm 92:13

It is in the community of believers that Christ has established to foster work, worship, wonder and love, that Christ calls us to learn these fundamentally human aspects. From this growing broad community of the church, men lead their own families as 'micro-churches' and foster in their children what work, worship, wonder and love should look like. Fathers especially carry this ministry of the church to their sons by showing them what work looks like and that work necessarily involves doing things you don't want to do. (We need a generation of young men who understand and exhibit the qualities of self-discipline and self-motivation undergirded by a willingness to accept responsibility.) The family home becomes the seed-bed for fostering worship (adoration of God, attention to Scripture, audible praying). Parents promote, rather than hinder, a deep wonder of the natural world which God has created for us to enjoy which is why school work has far to do with worship than it does with textbooks and exams.

And it is in the family home where children are trained in the art of love.

We have now almost returned to some Ancient Roman values of marriage, family and sexuality where women are viewed as objects, children as accessories, and sex as a recreational sport. Today the "Pornography Industry" is the largest 'industry' in the world! Conservative estimates place it at several hundred billion dollars in annual turnover, but it is almost certainly closer to a trillion dollars a year! Economist Doug French reports that at least 28,000 internet users view online porn every second! Is it any wonder then that young men view women as objects of their gratification rather than as people who need a man to commit exclusively to them for life and truly love them for better or for worse?!

"The foremost danger to marriage in our time is the wholesale degradation of women in the popular culture," Shmuley Boteach, The Jerusalem Post

It is from the family home that children learn to love. They witness their Mum and Dad hugging. They hear their Dad talking respectfully to his wife and their Mother. They experience the stern rebuke of their father when they have been impolite to their Mother or sibling - because a loving father is a father who disciplines his children (Heb. 12:9). They feel the loving comfort of their mother when only a mother's caress will soothe. And ultimately they learn that true love comes from God and is gladly expressed toward Him by meeting together with other God-lovers in the House of the Lord each week. The result is that children get the idea that love is not merely a feeling but a willing commitment to another for their highest good which produces these feelings.

¶ O LORD, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
Psalm 26:8

I'm concerned. I'm deeply concerned. We have a generation that does not work, wonder, worship or love, as it should. Instead, it works to avoid work, senselessly amuses itself 24/7 (rather than engaging in the holy art of scientific wonder), worships the created rather than the Creator, and gladly buys the delusion that love is something you make rather than something you give. These things are utterly destructive to the human soul - in fact, destructive to the core of what it means to be "human". Is it any wonder then, that the world's second largest global industry is now alcohol and illicit drugs. And in what must be an ironic metaphor of our day, the affect of heroine is best felt the first time it is used and creates a craving for more and with each subsequent hit of heroine or cocaine the 'high' is nowhere near the same. In fact, in a recent Ross Kemp documentary, where he interviewed crack addicts in Chicago, he was repeatedly told by them that they had never re-achieved the initial high they felt when first trying the drug that would soon master their lives. These addicts all said they were addicted to these drugs after just three days of use and that each hit to satisfy their craving was merely to help them feel "normal" (not to get 'high'). And this is the illusion of what the world offers when it cons people into thinking that right work, wonder, worship and love will not satisfy the human soul.

People, whose souls are being destroyed by these lies, need to see and hear an alternative. It is possible for God to set someone free from the destructive lifestyles of crime, drugs, idleness, and promiscuity. God does this regularly. The Giver-of-Life has sent His Son to pay the price of our guilt and shame and to set us all free and give our lves hope and meaning. This hope is now proclaimed through the local church. Are you in bondage to despair, idleness, drugs or sexual addictions? Jesus Christ can save and deliver you. You are one prayer away from beginning your journey to freedom. This is the kind of prayer that confesses failure and mistakes. It is the kind of prayer that confesses our need for forgiveness by and reconciliation with God. It is the kind of prayer that asks God for help to live the way we should. Will you pray this kind of heart-prayer?

 It is in the House of God that we learn the true value of working, how to wonder, the inspiration to worship as we should, and how to love others. It is from the local church that draw the principles for raising our families. This is why society needs strong, vibrant, local churches to help foster strong, healthy marriages which produce strong, happy, fulfilling families. This is why, as Bill Hybels puts it, the local church is the hope of the world. In this sense, I believe it. And, I must confess, I love my church for being it.

Ps. Andrew