Willing from the Outset

A desperate man, his life blighted, nowhere else to turn, one option left ... to beg before the man Jesus as he passes his way. This is the scene in Luke 5:12 - 13. The man famously asks 'If you are willing ...', and Jesus (just as famously) replies 'I am willing ...'.

But lets dig deeper. Why was Jesus willing? Was it the passion of the man, the emotion of his request? Were the appropriate heart-strings pulled in this, the right moment?

I believe not. I think it is because Jesus was about His Father's business (John 5:19), and He knew His Father was willing. Yet not just willing for this man in this moment ... but willing from the outset. This was his mission, to show, to declare, to act on God's willingness to heal and restore.

There may be times when our hurt translates into emotions bubbling over, so that we are passionately calling, even begging, for the outcome that we need. That is to be human. But we do not need to contrive such emotions, we do not need to work them up ... as if somehow they might tip a celestial balance and turn on the tap of willingness on the part of God.

No, that is not necessary, because God is willing ... and has been from the outset.

Genuine Alternative Community

Now we are all waking up to the fact that there is clearly widespread dis-enfranchisement in our Western democracies, its time for us as 21st Century Christ followers to take seriously our call to be genuine alternative communities.

People have been talking about the issue of the 2% ruling it all for the 98% for a while now (my favourite is Graeber in his book 'The Democracy Project'), but perhaps we hadn't anticipated the unpredictable and erratic outcomes this might eventually generate.

While these unsettling winds swirl around us, remember that our hope is rooted in a more certain reality - as I wrote back in June. With our ultimate citizenship firmly in focus, political events - no matter how significant - can be viewed as second order effects!

That should inform how we are, and how we live. Furthermore, God calls us into communities and not simply to live in hope-filled yet isolated bubbles of individualism. And communities, clusters of ordinary people uniting around a common vision and purpose, can achieve incredible things ... all the more incredible when the grace of God underpins them!

So with people up and down our countries desperately grasping for some kind of alternative, seemingly any alternative, let us quietly model the genuine alternative. Centred on the one who truly comes alongside, who saves, redeems and re-builds. Someone who, as we become united with him, enables us to connect more deeply and properly with our neighbour. One who establishes a Kingdom that is characterised by the 100% desiring peace with the 100%.

Grace Over-rides Law

Time and time again we need to come back to a basic principle in the heart of God: if people finally desire to turn to him then God will receive them, trumping any 'barriers of law' that might otherwise be in the way. At the point of a human heart returning, grace over-rides law.

A great example is in 2 Chronicles 30. Hezekiah has instigated something of a spiritual homecoming for the wider populace, and is marking it with a passover celebration (the first in many years apparently). The passover came with regulations, conditions, rules about 'how it should be done'. In the gathering momentum of so many turning up to take part, there are a good number who don't meet the requirements but join in anyway. Hezekiah's prayer is instructive:

May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God ... even if they are not clean according to the rules.

See verses 18 to 20: The Lord heard this prayer! Grace over-rides law.

Interestingly we are told that the Lord 'healed' the people - as if they had an ailment or condition. But just as God can heal our medical issues, He can resolve our spiritual-uncleanness issues as well (cross reference Jesus and the man lowered through the roof, e.g. Matthew 9:1-8).

When our understanding of the Christian faith somehow slips back to rules and requirements for newcomers (or even home-comers!), let us remember and use Hezekiah's short prayer, and the grace-trumps-law principle it embodies.

Why are we in this mess?

I love Gideon's question found in Judges chapter 6, verse 13. In my own words it reads something like this: "If the Lord is with us, why are we in this mess?".

Gideon is told that the Lord is with him, but his logic is based on the circumstances around him. And those circumstances were bleak: Midianites had leached away prosperity and left many cowering in caves. Gideon himself was using a winepress to thresh wheat as his own way of eeking out survival for his family. 'In this mess' is a good description for their plight.

The angel's reply is simple: "Go in the strength you have and save ...". The circumstances were irrelevant, and thus the logic that went with them rendered redundant. There was a calling from God, and that transcends everything on the ground.

Of course Gideon misinterpreted 'the strength you have', foolishly equating it with his own personal strength (which wasn't much). It was the Lord's strength, something given by God for the purpose. Again human logic redundant.

Seek the Lord, discover His calling and purposes, and learn to go with it. There may be mess all around, which logically might suggest to you that little can be achieved. Yet in the light of the Lord's calling such logic is redundant, the 'why are we in this mess?' effectively irrelevant ... because there is a God-called task to get on with, and He will give the strength to do it.

Future Echoes

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is not the easiest of stories to digest. It can be read in different ways, and doubtless they have their own validity. But maybe it actually pre-figures the better that is yet to come, kind of acting like a film trailer or new series teaser?

The outcry to the Lord concerning these places is already great - in other words their guilt is already well established. Into this God sends his agents (in this case two angels). They are not received by anyone except for the guy called Lot. Worse still the other inhabitants would rather abuse them rather than receive them (effectively confirming the guilt that was already known).

The inevitable destruction comes, except for Lot and those he persuades to come with him (and not look back!). They are given passage safely out of the city by the angels.

So summing up we have: established guilt and therefore destruction for all except those who received God's agents.

Now lets fast forward to the real film, which will be at the end of time. The guilt will be known and established. That must be dealt with and wiped away ... except for those who received God's agent (who is of course God come in human form: Jesus). This is equally summed up in John 1:12 'Yet to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God'.

So in this way the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a future echo of what is to come. A kind of pre-telling of the eventual story.

If you can accept all that, then two interesting points are raised:

1. Only Lot does the actual receiving, yet he is invited to bring others with him. Can we receive and then bring others with us too?
2. In Matthew 10 Jesus says 'it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the town (that does not receive the disciples)'. Does that mean that the physical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not the ultimate end for its inhabitants? If so, it lends weight to the story being a future echo of the eventual actual story. At the very least, it connects with the notion of the story being about receiving those sent by God.

The Demons Submit Criteria

Time and time again when people report on their church they seem to revert to talking about the numbers in their Sunday service or similar. Sometimes it is literally as direct as the raw numbers, other times the report is more general ... but distilled down it is still the same basic thing, the size of the Sunday congregation.

Yet in Luke 10 when the extended group of disciples return from their assignment the criteria is this: "even the demons submit to us in your name" (verse 17). The talk is about how they have pushed the boundaries in mission, and seen tangible spiritual effect.

Jesus reminds them that their security is in Him rather than in any particular ministry or ministry result (v20), but nevertheless the successful attack on the enemy's domain is celebrated.

So why do we not use this kind of 'even the demons submit' criteria? Why are our reports not descriptions of mission boundaries explored, pushed out and why are the effects on the enemy not rehearsed?

When John the Baptist's messengers came to quiz Jesus, his reply was not "I'm chuffed, because I've got 12 regulars at my Bible study". No, it was 'see & hear: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed" (Luke 7:18 to 23)!

Put bluntly and directly: have we got the wrong criteria?

Joy

Life has ups and downs. Things go well, and things go not so well. Sometimes everything just flows, other times its frustration upon frustration. Thats life.

Ministry is pretty much the same! Things go well, and things go not so well. Sometimes it all comes together, other times you wonder why you even started. Heck, sometimes you wonder why you even thought that starting might possibly be a good idea ...

If our joy in ministry is to be derived from all this, then we are in trouble. Yes there will be good times which will bring good mood and much joy. But of course there will be the bad ... so what happens to our mood then?

But Jesus talks of a different joy. Recorded in John 15 Jesus says 'remain in my love' (verse 9). He goes on 'so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete'. In short: stick with and go along with me → my joy in you → your joy.

That is clearly not a joy that derives from the ups and downs. That is a joy implanted in us by God, that emerges and wells up in us. It flows from our relationship with Jesus, not from the events of the day.

Jesus gives these words in those countdown hours on the way to the cross, in other words not at a good time for him! Yet he is determined to stick with his Father, to continue in His ways (aka 'keep his commands').

Good and bad will come - thats life and pretty much beyond our control. But we can control our choice (or not) to abide in Jesus, sticking with him. From that a different kind of joy can emerge.

Grace and Right Living

It is by grace we are saved, though faith, the gift of God. Well known words from Ephesians that echo Paul's letter to the Romans where he clearly defines God's saving ways that work apart from the Law.

Yet everyone has their codes and standards of behaviour, and Christians are typically high up on the league table of having expectations on how people should or shouldn't behave.

The problem is that even if our code is reasonable or correct, we typically incorrectly translate it to our relationships with people who do not know Christ, and this messes up our witness and evangelism. In the worst case it effectively reverts us back to salvation by Law.

In simplistic bullet items, here are some suggested lines I use to make sense of the 'grace versus license-to-anything' tension, and to keep things on the grace-only track:

• Non-Christians cannot be expected to know how to live rightly - why would they?
• we can appeal for better in the wider society and we can encourage individuals to live better, but we should not be surprised if they don't (or can't) 'measure up'
• Because salvation is not by law, changing their behaviour (even if they can) is not the way for them to be saved - that is by grace alone (an encounter with Jesus)
• In someone coming to Christ (discovering grace) we can start to work pastorally with them to help them see the incongruity of continuing to live their old ways
• encourage people to see that now we are in Christ "we don't want to do that kind of thing any more"
• realise too that the Holy Spirit takes people on a journey, different people at different speeds
• Since a church is a body of Christ-followers which is visible in the wider society, they will want to strive for certain standards for themselves (taken as a whole) in order to avoid undermining their witness and standing in the community
• but they need to be careful of simply projecting those standards as an organisation onto others
• Leaders of the church are in positions of influence and also likely to represent the public face of the church. It is therefore right to expect them to meet even higher standards.

The Genuine Community Test Factor

Doubtless anyone evaluating a mission initiative in the UK would want to look at the fruit. To have that as a test is no surprise. Another typical test would be numeric - the number of people reached. Of course one can then argue about quality versus quantity, which is really re-considering the fruit aspect once again.

But I am seriously considering adding another test factor: that of genuine community. This would look at the sense of community among the people undertaking the mission. Do they support each other, do they disciple one another, and do they invest in a shared spirituality with each other? Does this give something stronger than any one individual, no matter how important or influential that individual is to the work? Is the strength of the initiative traceable back to the resilience of this community rather than relying on institutional structures?

I wish to tread carefully here because countless people do great gospel work, quite often as an individual or as a small team together with a periphery of supporters. Their work may be fantastic, and for the Kingdom, yet might fail the test I envisage!

In calling people to follow himself, Jesus enjoined people into a community. There would be discipling, shared learning, and assignments. Add to that our UK context, where we know that there is a longing among many for genuine community, since community spirit is not completely dead but often severely eroded. Furthermore we know the support and resilience that genuine community can give. All these suggest to me that we should look at genuine community as a key ingredient in our endeavours.

Hence the health of an initiative, and a clue to its ability to persist through thick and thin, would be aided by including genuine community as a test factor.

Citizens of the Kingdom of God

It's time to remind ourselves that as Christ-followers we are first & foremost citizens of heaven - effectively foreigners even in our own native country (1 Peter 2:11). The EU referendum will have pleased some and shocked others. Rather than being thrown into turmoil, let us remember where we really reside.

Governments will come & go, as will powers and super-powers, but the Kingdom will prevail. You may worry for the future for you and your children. You may be concerned for the nation, even for the continent. All this is natural and legitimate. Yet remember that ultimately your security is elsewhere.

This confidence should permeate our witness. As people debate, worry or hope, let us quietly communicate our deeper and greater hope. And when people enquire the reason, be ready to give our answer (1 Peter 3:15) which will likely run along these lines: Jesus is Lord, his Kingdom is not of this world, I have discovered this Kingdom (and discovering it more and more as I live my life), and you can discover it too.

A Slow Journey to God's Kingdom Purposes

Each time I read the story of David it sinks in just a bit more how David was able to exercise Godly patience when it comes to his role as king, and the Kingdom that God would establish. David, it seems, was able to leave the eventual security of the Kingdom of God in God's hands, rather than forcing it through himself.

David is anointed back in 1 Samuel 16 while Saul is still king. David serves Saul but it becomes increasingly obvious that David will succeed him. David never rushes this, and allows Saul to continue on two occasions rather than seizing power through opportunity.

Eventually Saul is killed in a battle, but even then David proceeds cautiously. In 2 Samuel 2 he enquires of God for directions, which leads to his initial crowning. There is a rival camp loyal to Saul's descendants though, and while they scrap it seems that David is pretty much able to leave them be. Surely he could have just pressed ahead and squashed this opposition? Yet he bides his time, over 6 years in fact.

Finally he becomes king over all the tribes, and presses on to establish Jerusalem as the worship centre for the new Kingdom. Yet even after all that, when Absalom rebels in chapter 15 David vacates his seat of power surprisingly quickly, leaving the city for Absalom to simply march in. It seems that not only was David no stranger to opposition, but he could allow it to run its course. He knew the Kingdom was not something to be grasped, not something to be rushed or pressed, but to trust in the bigger picture of God's purposes.

Even in David's desire to build a temple as a permanent centre of worship this same principle is played out. God tells David that this task is not for him, but along with it God gives an amazing promise of 'the throne of his kingdom for ever'. Clearly such a promise cannot be forcibly fulfilled by any action of man - David was able to embrace that principle above all.

It makes me think of all the plans in my mind that I believe will contribute to the Kingdom of God. Am I able to exercise the same patience, to bide my time, to allow opposition to run its course ... and trust that along the journey, no matter how slowly it seems to progress, God will indeed work His purposes out?

Restless

As Christians we are to look to Christ and to His Kingdom. That will mean looking to His fully established Kingdom, which means looking beyond this world as we know it today.

That means being constantly restless - looking for more Kingdom-likeness, anticipating what to many will seem to be an 'other-world' or 'out of this world' viewpoint. Not so that we are of no practical use in the today, but precisely because we have this other-world view we are down to earth and head-strong in the belief that things today can be changed.

Nouwen puts it well in his book Open Hands:
You are Christian only so long as ...

• you look forward to a new world
• you pose critical questions to society of today
• you emphasize the need for conversion
• you do not let yourself become established in seeming calm
• you stay unsatisfied with the status quo
• you keep saying that a new world is yet to come
• you believe you have a role to play in realising this new kingdom
• you urge everyone with a holy unrest to make haste

He concludes by asserting that a Christian must keep looking for a new order, a new structure, a new life. Strong, uncompromising, radical words ... with no room for half-measures!

So if you follow Christ, then be Christian ... be restless.

Stay Out of Control?

Movements that really move have one extraordinary feature in common - they feel like they are out of our control!

But do we have the guts to let them continue in this out of control way, or would we rather ... well, err ... control them?

Our tendency is to organise, to regiment, to ensure quality (or adherence to doctrine etc. etc.) ... but all these might actually stifle the movement rather than continue to fan the flames. Worse still, that might mean stifling a mission move of God.

I was reading recently about the Spirit moving in a muslim-majority context, bringing people to faith as only the Spirit can. It added up to a movement that felt like it was out of control. Some responded by forming churches, procuring buildings, holding services. That introduced control, regularity, ensured things were 'right'.

The churches even acted as beacons, shining lights in an otherwise spiritually impoverished land. Thats good you might think, but with the hindsight of a few years it was clearly less effective, less dynamic, 'less God' than the original movement.

Remember going viral is the opposite of containment. Gathering as church is for sure Biblical, but buildings with fixed patterns of services ... hmmm! Maybe the latter inadvertently becomes containment, though of course no participant would have ever wanted that!

Incarnational Mission to Hyenas?

A middle-aged African Muslim woman speaks up: "Jesus came as a human to save humans, even though he is God. If God had wanted to save hyenas, he would have become like a hyena. We want to save Muslims and so this compels us to go into the mosque ...". [1]

This middle-aged woman understands incarnational mission perfectly, and has expressed it far better than I ever could. The Word became flesh (Jn 1:14), and 'I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some' (1 Cor 9:22) put into practical action.

God becomes fully human to reach humans. Human ... yet also somehow different, standing out, but not apart.

Today Muslim background believers in Christ are instinctively doing incarnational mission - sharing Jesus in their local context, without going to theological college or picking up a single textbook.

We are called to do the same - to enter in a local culture, right where they are ... yet also somehow different, standing out, but not apart.


[1] Quote from 'A Wind in the House of Islam' by Garrison - an excellent book.

Nothing Less than Radical Will Do

The talk of the news is the fear of radicalisation, how to stop people being radicalised and so on. For sure it is a real problem. The real issue though is not so much radicalisation itself, but the direction of radical thinking & action.

The thinking, teaching and actions of Jesus were radical, and still are today. As followers of Jesus we need to be radical! Yet not radical in the direction of controlling people, killing people, doing terrorist acts and the like. No, radical in the direction of Jesus. A direction that calls for laying down power, shunning violence, no longer asserting control. A direction that releases people, restores people, enables them to flourish.

Steve Chalke with the Oasis Trust says "If we are going to overcome the escalating problem of extremism and terrorism that our world faces, we need a different answer. We need to find a narrative that is radical enough to turn the tide". On this point I agree with him - and that narrative is Jesus Christ.

Our Western consumer/individualist culture has dumbed our senses, and seduced us into non-radical lives. Maybe our younger generation, especially those disaffected in any way from the soup of consumer living, are searching for something, a cause, a radical way of living. Will we offer them the radical way of Jesus, or will a lack of distinctiveness in us mean that they believe there is only one option ... that of radicalisation in a different direction?

Back to Ekklesia

Say the word 'church' and what comes to mind? For Christians hopefully not a building ... but the mentality might not be not far off. Rather than physical stones or bricks there may be building blocks in the form of activities or ministries that people assume must be in place. Often that range may be extensive, even if the church is small in number, perhaps resulting in an anxiety that unless this or that is in place then this is not really church.

Such a mindset is detached from the New Testament use of the Greek word 'ekklesia', which at its most basic simply means a group of people called together. There is no special requirement for any particular ministry or activity, other than being called together by the Spirit to live as Christ's followers presumably as some form of community.

That definition can apply to a group of any size - starting with a mere handful. Their legitimate anxiety need only be 'are we living for Christ as the Spirit would have us do?', rather than 'do we have ministry X, Y or Z?'. Presumably the Spirit will call them to do things that they can achieve (at least with the Spirit's supernatural help!), and it will be tailored for the people involved, rather than a cloned blueprint of a.n.other church.

We need to re-calibrate our mindsets back to ekklesia, and be both formed and led by the Spirit as He will ... not by our preconceived expectations.

Yikes - I agree with the National Secularist Society

This week I found myself agreeing with the National Secularist Society ... well, on one point at least.

The Anglican Church published their figures, showing how regular attendance had dropped below 1 million people on Sundays. Representing less than 2% of the population, the secularists have pointed out that this invalidates the case for the link between state and (anglican) church.

I agree ... although thats really because I'm not in favour of a link between church and state in the first place!

We preach Jesus, and His Kingdom. A Kingdom that transcends nation states and national identity. Within a nation it could be that a vast majority of the population believe and are inheritors of His Kingdom, and a natural consequence of their Jesus-discipleship would be to help their nation align its values with Kingdom values. That in turn would lead to practical application in many positive ways.

Yet even in such a society state and church can and (as many baptists argue) should remain separate. Yes they can respect each other, yes they can work together in many useful ways.  But remember a nation state's power system, though established by God (Romans 13), remains a human power system and therefore transient and temporary, as well as carrying risk of corruption. The Kingdom, however, is a foretaste of what will be, and will be eternal.

Best not confuse the two.