Continually Burn

'A church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning', a modern theologian once wrote. From the New Testament it is also clear that a Christian continues in that mission by the continual fire of the Spirit at work in their lives (e.g. Rom 12:11).

That fire of the Spirit, the ongoing experience of God keeping us ablaze, infectiously affects those around us. It drives us out to the last, the least the lost against the odds. That fire of the Spirit enables lives to be touched and transformed, to join in too when likewise on fire for the Lord.

We must never let flame of God's work sizzle out, or worse replace it by institution. Yes we will build structures to attempt to manage the various people in discipleship, worship and mission ... but the real ongoing force will be the work of the Spirit individual by individual.

Wesley wrote of the Methodist movement: 'My fear is not that our great movement will eventually cease to exist, but that our people will become content to live without the fire (of the Spirit)'.

Let us continually burn ... keeping in mind that institutions must ultimately come second place to that need for the ongoing work of the Spirit in each of us. No fire, no mission, no church!

Slow Burn

Everything in society now wants to be a super speed, with no waiting or latency. It affects our own life and expectations, it affects the way we do church, it affects our understanding of God's mission.

Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.

The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.

Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.

21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.

Reliant Calling

Paul takes a counter-intuitive approach to weakness - he celebrates it! 2 Corinthians 13 verse 9 gives an example of this: if it comes down to a Christian 'them and us' style comparison, he would rather be found as the weaker one ...

For Paul knows deeply two things in his own life and ministry:

1. That he is called by God to minister God's good news for the world
2. That he is to be, and can be, reliant on God at all times.

Weakness, in Paul's self-understanding, reminds him and connects him with his reliance on God. He does not need to worry or doubt, because he knows he is called (thing 1) ... so he is free to trust and rely, with weaknesses highlighting or amplifying that need to trust (thing 2).

Paul therefore lives a reliant calling: assured by God's calling, able to be glad in weakness since that simply throws himself back on God all the more.

We need to get a handle on this approach, since it is all too easy for us to look for things or measurements that act as signs of strength. Whether it is size of church, amount of activities, or a host of other parameters, it is possible that we can lose our true reliance, and drift from our original calling.

We might forget that Jesus doesn't actually call us to build His church. In fact he doesn't even call us to build His Kingdom! Rather he calls us to faithfully bear the good news, creating conditions in which people can experience His Kingdom, and so be drawn to it that they might receive/inherit it themselves.

And through this process, Jesus will build the church.

So let us get back to our calling, rely on Him, and see what He does through us. Jesus summed it up, when He said 'Seek first the Kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well".

Yikes - there's a moo cow in my path

Ever walked in a field or along a footpath to discover some cows standing in your way? What do you do? Give up, take a massive detour, get worried? Where I live they have a knack of standing right in front of the gate, so you have to go through them to get past!

But of course these cows are actually quite timid, and not that fussed if you just look straight ahead and walk among them to get through to the gate and on to the next stage.

How often in our Christian faith do we see things that we perceive as big or intimidating obstacles - ones that we think will force us to turn back, take a huge detour, or worry us endlessly?

Maybe many of these obstacles are really just like these cows - we can walk straight through them. Yes we will want to walk carefully, yes we will want to respect their presence (they do weigh a tonne or so after all!), but we press on nonetheless!

Fight Poverty - Meet People

I am always struck by Jesus' question to the blind men calling for attention in Matthew 20. "What do you want me to do for you?". On one level a stupid question, considering his ability to give sight to the blind. Yet maybe it is us who are not so intelligent ...

The point is that Jesus met with people. He related to them to hear their side, rather than simply assuming and dispensing one directional aid.

A paragraph in the middle of this post, relating to a talk about poverty, sums it up well. Suggesting that the 'core problem of humanity is isolation rather than mortality', the call is made to invest in relationship. My own experience, both locally through the Foodbank, and by visiting people in very difficult circumstances in Zambia, confirms this. To be met - to be acknowledged as a person - in itself lifts the spirit. Of course there is the need for the practical help to flow as well (Jesus did restore their sight), but in the context of a newly formed relationship.

We all want to fight poverty. Make a start by meeting people!

God Made a Deal

In the beginning, when God created, He created mankind and made a deal with them to live in fellowship with Him and populate the earth to take it forward to its fulfilled purpose.

As we know things went wrong. Wipe it all and start again kind of wrong. But God showed kindness in saving Noah and family, and again made a deal. There wouldn't be that kind of wipe out again, leaving Noah to re-populate and take creation forward.

But it didn't really work out.

Some meandering later God chooses one couple and graciously makes it possible for them to have a family. He made a deal with them, that they could become a race who would be a people who bring blessing, and thus take the whole world towards God's purposes.

From that race God kindly saved them out of cruel oppression, and came as near face to face with them as might be possible. With Moses as a mediator, out in the sticks, He made a deal for this people to be the example nation, the race through which God's purposes can be seen, and therefore ultimately the whole world might be blessed and brought into His presence.

Yet sadly that didn't work out either.

Then, God enters creation Himself, lives, lays down his life, and then takes hold of it again. Through this life/death/resurrection business He once again makes a deal. A new deal, one through which His Spirit can be liberally poured out to allow many, many people of all races, geographies and backgrounds to be included in the deal. Once again this people can demonstrate to the world, and bring creation towards God's intended purposes.

This deal still stands, here in the 21st century. It connects all the way back to that first deal, and the ones that followed on. It is the Spirit-enabled deal that you and I are invited to be part of.

Pre-paid Forgiveness

Those who use Pay-As-You-Go phones will be familiar with the concept of pre-paid credit. You pay up front, which gives you air-time as and when you need it until used up. A simple concept that has released millions to use mobile phones across the globe.

Yet like many good ideas God actually thought of it first, long long ago. Towards the end of Deuteronomy Moses was giving final words to Israel before they enter their promised land (chapter 29). The incredible thing in this monologue was that God through Moses predicted that the people would mess up, fall short, and break the gracious deal God was offering them. The whole thing acts as a kind of overview prophecy.

Yet from failure (and accompanying disaster) comes repentance and turning back to God (chapter 30). The deal is that at this point God will restore them (v3), will bring them back (v4). You see forgiveness is a pre-paid choice that God had already made!

Christians know that the 'price' was paid by Jesus dying on the cross. Yet many aren't quite sure what to make of those who lived before Jesus' time. The answer must surely lie in the unchanging character of God - the God who chose to forgive before we had even made a first move. God arranged all the pre-paid forgiveness credit that anyone will ever need. The actual payment was made by Jesus on the cross, but cosmically it was a payment for all time (pre- and post-).

Unlike your phone the credit will not run out ... but as far as we can work out we each have a lifetime in which to benefit from it, before a God-determined moment of credit expiry.

Imaging the Trinity - Join the Dance

I bought this statue from a craft market in Lusaka:

I decided to buy it because it gives us a helpful image of God - Three Persons in Relationship (the 'Trinity'). Technically the persons should be roughly the same height, because no one is lesser or more important than the other, but this is the best the stall-holder had on the day.

The three inseparable persons are in an embrace, and/or in a dance. The incredible thing about God is that He invites us to come in, to join the dance. His purposes are to redeem creation, despite how battered and fallen it has become. By joining the dance we get to take part in that process, releasing others so they can be invited in too.

Walking Talking Temples

In the Old Testament the nation of Israel was given a temple as a focal point for their contact with God. From the first portable temple in their exodus experience, to the more ornate stone buildings established in Jerusalem, through to temple/mountain imagery that repeatedly occurs in the Bible, this was to be a place where people could come and meet with God.

Psalmists and prophets would hit on this imagery, revealing the mission perspective of the temple/mountain as the place to which many nations would come to meet God for themselves (e.g. Isaiah 2:2-3 for just one of numerous references).

Jesus replaced the physical stones and fixed location, and brought in a new age - the age of individuals inhabited by the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God. Paul in his Corinthian correspondence picks this up, describing believers as temples of the Holy Spirit. The temple is now plural - it now walks and talks!

That means that many people in multiple places can come into contact with God, experiencing his mercy and restoration ... by coming into contact with Spirit filled believers.

Over the past two weeks I have had the privilege of meeting several pioneering believers who have been led by the Spirit to set up projects among some of the worlds poorest and most disadvantaged people in one particular country. Their work is fantastic, but more important I think is what happens through their very lives as they work out their calling. The point is that they are walking talking temples: many people are able to come and meet with God through their lives.

Oh My Gosh! Scripture has come true again ...

Christians will regularly testify how their own personal Bible reading often seems highly pertinent to the everyday life situations they are facing. Even if they are somewhat arbitrarily working themselves through one book, or use Bible notes, or set readings for certain days, it is incredible how the readings speak into the issue of the day.

Just as fascinating is how preached Bible passages (from a pre-planned series or otherwise) also end up being 'just the thing' that can inform a key issue in church life that is poignant to the congregation as a whole. Here I am not talking about relevance to just a few individuals, but something that resonates with the 'collective need' of the church members.

It re-iterates the point that a church is not simply a collection of individuals each with their own needs and agendas, but is an inter-connected body of people that together has a collective identity, purpose and direction - into which the Spirit wants to speak.

Without doubt the word we seek to preach is the living word - the up to the minute desire of Jesus Christ for this particular local church at this particular time. That word, ultimately, IS Jesus Christ (see John's Gospel chapter one!). Hence Paul resolved to know nothing other than Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, and thus preach Jesus Christ (and Him crucified) (see 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 2).

Now that same living word also inspired individuals (in their place, in their time) to write up the movement of God that they witnessed, which by God's providence has become our 'scriptures'. We truly experience the fact that 'All scripture is God-breathed and useful ...' (2 Timothy 3:16), and so the written word becomes our first-place-to-look launching point for God to speak to us today.

How much was at stake?

Ever wondered how much was at stake in episodes like Acts 15? On the one hand you have Paul and Barnabus pursuing Christ's mission and campaigning for a freedom of the Spirit to work out among non-Jewish believers without Old Testament constraints. On the other hand you have certain individuals pointing resolutely to scriptures, questioning the validity of the gospel work.

And so it comes to a head with believers meeting in Jerusalem to try and sort it out. How high did temperatures reach or passions run I wonder? How much were they afraid of possible fall out from among their own number? Remember, those opposed were not raising a flag based on just a whim or a fancy. Instead they were faithfully standing on hundreds of years of tradition backed by scriptures that had been interpreted pretty much in the same way for all that time. The whole integrity of the organisation and what it stood for was at stake!

Yet with our benefit of hindsight we can see that those opposed to Barnabus and Paul, even though sincere and well rehearsed in the scriptures, had apparently become blinkered in some way. Somehow they were not seeing the greater work that God was doing by His Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ lifted as Lord out among the peoples of the world. Put simply their interpretation of scripture subtly missed the purposes of God made possible in Christ's death and resurrection.

And that is why so much was at stake. That is why Paul and Barnabus had to disagree and debate with them. The achievement of Christ cannot be watered down, or reduced down to a lowest common denominator.

Thankfully this debate seemed to be pretty much settled when Peter spoke to the assembly reminding them how 'God does not discriminate' and appealing to them to 'not test God by putting onto people a yoke' that we were never ever intended to bear.

Too much is at stake for us to not hear these kind of words afresh today.

Get Out into the River

Where I live has all kinds of water courses, channels, sluices and rivers. Taking a walk yesterday I came to a spot that has a big pool of water adjacent to the river that made me ponder.

The water in the big pool was stagnant. It was peaceful yet the water looked murky and uninviting. It had no movement.

Yet just yards away was the river. Here the water moved and flowed. From the river irrigation channels were provided for. Next to the river are fields which receive water from the river - some of the most fertile land in the country. The water from the river helps bring good nutrients to huge numbers of people ... even if they don't realise it.

How much in church do we just paddle about in the safe secluded pool, thinking this is nice and peaceful but blind to the fact that it is stagnant? As Christians should we not be going out into the river, where there is movement and flow - because there we will bring goodness and nutrition to many many people?

Incredibly back in the stagnant water things were growing: giant lily pads, reeds (and algae!). Thats the grace of God for you - God will bless and give growth even in our stagnant pools. Yet the real growth and the limitless possibilities exist further out - in the river.

I will be with you ...

There are many things one might want to take stock of before going out in mission. Do you have the resources, can you see it through, do you have a good strategy? All good questions, all worth a thought.

Yet Gideon in Judges chapter 6 seemed to be given no time to think through these elements. Even with the little time he did have, his evaluation came to negative conclusions: 'I am the smallest, weakest ...'.

To this the Lord simply answered 'I will be with you'. After all, it was the Lord who was sending him out (see verses 14 and 16).

Sometimes our greatest asset is to simply know that the Lord has sent us, and will go with us.

Its not unlike the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28. We focus of course on the 'go and make disciples, baptising ...'. That is good, it defines our mission imperative succinctly.  Yet let us not lose sight of the the sending ('Go ...') and the fact that 'surely I am with you to the very end of the age'.

In other words, let us know that we are sent, and that the Lord will be with us. Thats the deal, and there will be many times when that is all we need to know to continue out on our mission task.

Strength Through Quiet Trust

What constitutes strength? Might, power, brute force, the ability to talk louder or longer than anyone else?

The Jericho overthrow story recorded in Joshua chapter 6 gives an example of a different way. One that shows the power of God, one that quietly waits for His moment.

They march round outside the city once per day for 6 days, and then on the seventh day a further 6 times. Each time they just had the trumpets sounding. No shouting, no jeering, no war cry. It was a show of strength through quiet trust. Not only did they have to keep silent, they had to be patient: only when the time was right would the walls come down.

Eventually that super-7 moment came: the 7th time round on the 7th day. This is the moment to let trust in God quietly brewed up over the week burst out. The walls immediately collapsed without a single stone being thrown.

To lead out in mission will require battles to be fought along the way. But which kind of strength will you deploy? Quickly mustered bravado, or quiet trust in God carefully brewed in patient waiting?

Let God's Presence Descend

The Old Testament contains some great moments where God turns up and just takes over. The Presence of God descending on the newly built temple in 2 Chronicles chapters 5 and 7 is an example of this. Reading these passages gives the sense that the 'normal proceedings' were simply interrupted ... people could only be in awe of God.

What I find more interesting is the timing of this relative to the sacrifices. In chapter 5 the pieces are put in position in the temple with much fanfare and singing (and why not?). Then the presence descended and the priests could do no more!

In chapter 7 there is the sacrifice of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. Now that is a lot of sacrifice - I think it is the largest single sacrifice moment in the Old Testament - but note that this comes after the glory of the Lord filling the temple. Yes there are some sacrifices presented already (for fire comes down and consumes them), but the mass numbers bit seems to come as a follow on from the presence of God taking over.

In other words God's presence is not necessarily something we work up to, or bring about by piling on the sacrifice or sung worship. No ... it is a place and time of God's choosing that He inhabits. When God does so normal service is suspended - something to be welcomed, anticipated, hoped for.

Let's not think that we can bring it about, as if we had some special formula or energy. But let us do all we can to have a welcoming and prepared heart, so that at least in our own lives there is plenty of room to simply let God's Presence descend.

Mercy - the Place of Worship

For any leader it is always a fine line between trusting in God and trusting in the resources that you have around you. King David crossed that line. In 1 Chronicles chapter 21 so much had been going well for David and his kingdom: old enemies were subdued, borders expanded. David could take stock, perhaps make plans for the future. Yet that became the moment of in-discretion - he ordered his commander to take a census of fighting men.

The error soon became obvious, and David realised he would have to hope for mercy from God. There is lots that one could look at here, but lets skip to the moment of mercy in verse 15. A plague was sweeping across the people, and would strike at the very heart of the nation - Jerusalem. Yet God relented and called 'Enough'. So acute was the situation that we have mapping coordinates for the very spot - the threshing floor of Araunah.

This location becomes a place of humble repentance, mercy ... and then worship. It also becomes the location of the eventual temple (see chapter 22 verse 1).

The Temple, the all important focal point for Israelite worship of God, the place where God would meet with people, the eventual pride of the nation, was located at the point of God's mercy. A physical reminder that our worship, our ability to meet with God, is enabled by God's mercy.

In time Jesus would of course supersede the physical temple, being God literally meeting with us. On the cross he would become both the place and the means of mercy for all mankind.

Lets not believe that we must encourage people to come to a certain building or physical place in order to meet God and worship. Rather let us find a way of taking them to the cross - for the place of mercy becomes the place of worship.

Refiner's Fire

As an exercise read the whole of 1 Peter and see how many times it refers to suffering and trials of various forms. Peter is quite clear that the Christian life is not guaranteed to be easy - in fact from his letter you should conclude that hard is in fact normal!

Live different - suffer even for doing good - hope that your inner beauty will shine through - don't sink to the standards/tactics of those around you - be prepared for physical suffering just as Christ did - in fact rejoice when you suffer or are insulted because of your walk with Christ!

Are these hardships a nuisance, just something we have to put up with along the way? Peter would not agree: in chapter 1 verse 7 he asserts their refining characteristic, somehow 'proving' our faith. That is a scary thought - could we be part of the dross that is skimmed off rather than the purest material that the refiner seeks?

Yet through the whole letter also runs the answer to that - God wants us to pass the test. Be it the concept of election in chapter 1 verse 1, the recurring statements about Jesus making it possible for us to be saved, or the closing statements of chapter 5 (see verse 10), the deal is that God provides a way for us to win through. This is our living hope, looking towards an inheritance that can never spoil or fade.

Recognise and accept the refiner's fire along the way - it is normal and has purpose. Maintain faith and He will see you through. It will be worth it - trust Him.

When your best ain't good enough

Pleasing people is a tricky business, and of course basically doomed to failure. Someone at some point will have a negative opinion on something you have done, and will project this onto you. People can also seem to change their mind: apparently 'okay' with something at the time and yet some months later then voicing a strong objection to it. It is at those times that you are left feeling that even though you gave your best, for some people it simply isn't good enough.

Paul was familiar with all this and experienced it first hand in his ministry. Believers in Corinth clearly seemed to be taking issue with him, which forms a backdrop to both his letters to them. Paul responds by trying to get people to focus on God's work (1 Corinthians 3) and then pointing out each of us are simply servants of Christ (chapter 4 verse 1), doing our best.

In a real sense Paul detaches himself from the debate. He knows his calling, and the requirements that places on him (verse 2), and that means he can get on with his work and let God be the judge - not himself or anyone else (verses 3 to 5).

So can we simply be oblivious to any measurement, analysis or assessment of what we do? I don't think so. For one thing we are called to minister in community, not in our own isolated bubbles. Yet it does mean that ultimately our grounding, our sense of identity, our calling, must all relate back to Christ and His work ... and so what we do is offered up to Him for the real assessment.

Prophecy - God With Us

A verse I often return to is 1 Corinthians 14 verse 1 which ends 'eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy'. To hear God speaking into a situation must surely be better than heaps of words I could I ever think of or say. Let us let God take us straight to the point!

The passage of course goes on to talk about the corporate experience: how when we are together we need to be mindful of each other and not just ourselves. So what we say and how we speak out must take this into account - hence the whole unintelligible words versus prophecy thing.

What now catches my attention further is the continuation in verse 22 with tongues/prophecy acting as complementary signs. God directly revealing things in the meeting can be enough to convince an unbeliever and propel them towards faith in Christ, causing them to exclaim 'God is really among you!'.

Thats a fantastic point! Prophecy is a sign to us because it reminds us that God is with us, actually among us, revealing and speaking into our (very human) situations. The promise of the Spirit in Joel 2 is that male and female will prophesy, as God is now pleased to dwell in and through our lives. Every time we are enabled to speak or act out God's own words we are reminded of this fact: God has come down to us, He is with us.

No wonder Paul wanted us to be eager for this kind of stuff, especially prophecy.

Learning Communities Learn in the Context of the Wider Community

Read the gospels and you will see that Jesus formed a tight-knit community around him to be his disciples, to learn from him, to be empowered and commissioned to continue his work. As such they formed a learning community.

But notice how little learning was done in a classroom. How little was done with top-down delivery, going through stacks of theory. Most of the learning was done on the go, out amongst the people, ministering and in dialogue with those around.

Check out Luke 6. Jesus chooses his closest twelve and designates them apostles. But he doesn't start spelling out what this label means until they come down and join a larger crowd. It is in this wider context, surrounded by need and ministry opportunity, that Jesus looks at his disciples (verse 20) and (somewhat obliquely) maps out their lot.

As with Jesus and his disciples our mission is done in a specific context. We must also realise that we can learn in the midst of that context, and not struggle to be apart from it. It is out amongst the need and ministry opportunity where the Spirit can show us how God works. We would do well to form ourselves into tight-knit learning communities - to support and direct each other in our learning. But that much of that learning will arise in the context of the wider community.

Success Criteria

What was the success factor of Jesus' visit to Levi's (Matthew's) house near the end of Luke chapter 5? Levi was soundly converted ... but we don't know anything about what became of his dodgy friends. Did they join the church? Did they even change their behaviour?

Depending on your success criteria, the time spent at the party could be considered a total failure, a waste of good resources. Since we like (and expect) everything to be measurable, it seems a pretty poor dividend from this 'out there in the wild' ministry. Surely much safer and more worthwhile to be back at the church (synagogue), where it is easier to know where people are at ...

Fortunately Jesus seemed to work differently. Different to the Pharisees, and quite probably different to us church-sub-culture types too. We don't know the outcome, but we can see in Jesus' reply to criticism that he valued the time spent.

As if to prove the point to myself, this afternoon I randomly bumped into a couple who are way out the church that I had not seen for a while, but had been thinking of recently. We sat and had a good chat. I prayed with them. We parted mutually encouraged.

Going Further Out Requires Letting Christ Further In

Henri Nouwen, a Catholic theologian, once wrote 'the further out the journey takes you,  the deeper the inner journey needs to be'.

Wise words, and necessary ones for us to hear. God calls us out to share the gospel, and go we out we must. Yet it will be tough out there. Quick fixes won't cut it, short-circuit solutions will prove fickle and hollow.

The resources we need to function, to cope, to even survive as this journey takes us further and further are to found in our own relationship with Christ. As we move out, we must let Christ move in us - to ever deeper levels, just as a taller building needs deeper foundations. I'm convinced the two journeys go hand in hand: the venturing out in faith opens up the possibility for Christ to work further within us. Our spirituality, the practices and rhythms that we adopt, are crucial to allow this 'double journey' to run its course.

Paul linked the two as well. In Ephesians chapter 3 Paul talks of God's incredible outward plans to the Gentiles. Paul was spear-heading that initiative, but wanted the Ephesian Christians (and all others I'm sure) to be in on it. 'For this reason' (v15) he prays for them a 'deeper knowing' of Christ's love.

You see going further out requires letting Christ further in.

Leadership = Servanthood, enables mutuality

Rehoboam hears two sets of advice. One good, the other bad (see 1 Kings 12).

The good advice is summed up in verse 7: "if you will be their servant, they will always be your servants". Note the two aspects. First is servant leadership, a common theme through the whole Bible. The second is the mutuality that flows from this: by serving the people the people will serve him. Its brilliant, and it embodies something of the community within God Himself.

Unfortunately he listens to the bad: "use the power of your position to lord it over the people. Make them knuckle down. Anything else could be interpreted as weakness, and you don't want that".

Surprise surprise things go very wrong from that day on.

The elders had experience and wisdom, the young saw their opportunity to grasp power. It would be wrong to make a direct correlation with age from this, but in this case the young were off beam. They hadn't understood God, and therefore hadn't understood Godly leadership.

Big Picture versus Everyday Distractions

A key skill is to keep a firm grasp on the big picture, and translate that into practical action. No good just having your head in the clouds - tasks on the ground do have to get done. Yet the ground level brings a host of distractions or temptations that can veer even the greatest off course.

Solomon started so well. Heart after God, seeking wisdom, actuating David's plans for building the Temple. Yet reading 1 Kings and you find that he loses the big picture of leading Israel in its relationship to God so quickly it should scare all of us.

The plain fact is he was distracted by wealth and beauty which led him away from true relationship - with disastrous consequences.

I recently read a book that poses just 3 simple questions that should help us keep in tune with the true big picture:

• What makes you cry?
• What makes you dream?
• What gives you energy?

There will be plenty of things around us that pretend to satisfy, and claim allegiance from us with regard to the last two questions, but turn out to be false. Our culture and context is now complex and full of all kinds of offers and opportunities. Yet we must discern what are distractions and ultimately unhelpful for us. We must keep sight of the big picture, even as we get on with good stuff down on ground level.

Bruised, hurting and dirty

This quote by the pope is onto something. An active church will find itself in trouble, discover that initiatives blow up in their faces, and face frustration and disappointment. Hopefully not because they are bad at doing things right ... but because mission is messy.

Check out both 1 and 2 Corinthians and see how many times Paul talks of being beaten, bruised, in tatters and the like. Paul's view was that this was not something that should be reserved for just him (or maybe him and a few others). Paul understood this as basically the norm for the church!

He expected the Corinthians to become like he was. Not through self-harming, but through the business of getting out there and trying to help the last, the least and the lost as servants of the world. You can't do that without getting hurt.

Several times Paul and his companions put their own security at risk. Paul could not guarantee success for any of the churches he planted ... and yet he pressed on in mission.

We are to do the same.