Christmas: Tinsel, Yule or Jesus?

Someone who holds dearly to a different faith to Christianity recently asked an honest question. They asked about the way Christmas is celebrated in the UK, noting (correctly) that a lot of it seems to come from directions like paganism.

I was encouraged at the openness of their question, and the insight they already had - intuitively sensing that much was little to do with the Christian faith and beliefs. To answer the enquirer properly would require an in depth face to face conversation. Churches up and down the country will rehearse the line 'in amongst all the tinsel let us remember the real meaning of Christmas - Jesus is born to us', but it is worth remembering that there is a clear principle to explain.

Jesus came - was physically born and lived. Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom, and taught Kingdom principles that were centred on believing in Himself. But Jesus did not teach a 'Ritual How To ...' guide, with nothing about calendars, festivals and special celebrations. You can argue that this is surprising, given that the Jewish faith he was fulfilling did indeed have such a calendar and prescribed festivals. Instead he left us with a clear call to believe in Himself, and the communion fellowship meal (with its connotations and links back to the Jewish passover) as one clear ritual.

I wonder if the enquirer, coming from their own religious base of prescribed festivals and observances, expect to find the same in the Christian faith? Just as their own faith has things that relate back to the founding figure(s) that became well prescribed as annual faith-rituals in the early days of their own faith tradition, perhaps they assume the same should exist for us Christians?

The possible conversation opportunity here is to explain that Jesus called people to Himself. He was not signposting to an otherwise distant God, but calling people to life in God through Him. That is available to all, and therefore to any and all cultures. In drawing people to Himself Jesus was not hoping to convert people culturally, but to transform each and every culture from within, starting with me and you.

The messiness of this approach is that, with it's lack of fundamental prescription, believers might re-appropriate existing festivals, or mix in their belief in Jesus with them. The real picture that we inherit is even more complicated than that, since the Romans introduced their calendar which combined with the natural European seasons, mid-winter and so on. The result is all of a bit of a tangle - plentiful grounds for confusion for those of other faiths!

But in amongst the crossed wires and maybe even mixed signals is the truth that God reveals and comes to us. In human form He has a name - His name is Jesus, the one who saves!  We can join with God not by observing ritual but by knowing the One who was sent to us. That is worth changing your life for, and was set in motion through the birth of Jesus as a baby - something worth remembering with a special celebration once a year (just as we celebrate one another's birthday)!

Human Power Structures

Events of the past couple of years have brought short-comings of the UN Security Council into sharp focus. One permanent member nation launched unprovoked aggression against another sovereign state, and yet is allowed to keep its permanent status. And now there is widespread agreement that a ceasefire should be called in another conflict, but this can be vetoed by just one nation. All the while the lives of ordinary people are literally blown to ruins, as if nothing was learnt from the 'war to end all wars', or the war that came after that!

The key reality to grasp is that all human constructed power structures have capacity for being flawed - because of the fallen nature of mankind. We have to pinch ourselves and recognise that this applies at every level: from the school tiddlywinks club, to regional & national politics, right up to the international stage of the UN. It is an enduring spiritual problem that we have to recognise in ourselves, and that it will ever be so until Jesus returns.

We have to be honest and admit that churches and church structures should be understood in the same category - capacity for being flawed - for they are human structures too. Our faith in Christ does not immunise us from this - though hopefully with the 'renewing of our minds' (Romans 12) we can both mitigate and do better.

The UN was founded after World War II, but let's face it: the security council (with its five permanent members) was established by the winners of that conflict. The flawed assumption at the time was that 'being winners equalled having enduring good wisdom for all future issues'! Over decades and generations things change - human societies are in fact quite fickle and often have poor collective memories.

Surely the incarnation of Christ, with his physical birth, cross and resurrection all combine to teach us that human systems and structures - while inevitable and necessary - should all be seen as provisional and open to question. The way of Jesus cut through human power structures like a knife through soft butter (so to speak) and opened our eyes to thinking way different to the 'winners & losers' mentality.

In our contemporary witness to Christ we will have to accept the ongoing presence of human structures, but at best we need to keep them at arms length to explaining how the Good News of Jesus is available for all.

Choose Life

The Pope's emissary to the COP28 Summit delivered the Pope's message on his behalf. A clear and simple part of that message was: "Choose Life".

The Pope was calling on the global community to make decisions, enact promises and adopt everyday ways of living that responded to the global climate disaster that we are all facing. His call was not unique of course - many others have been making similar calls for quite some time.

The phrase 'Choose Life' is an invitation from God. In Deuteronomy 30 God invites the people to stick with Him, follow in His ways, live and flourish ... but His ways did not ultimately mean to live at the expense of others or the planet!

Interestingly the chapter in Deuteronomy couches it as a simple binary choice: Choose life and all will go well, or choose differently and surely end up in destruction. That's the same simple choice the human population is (and has been) facing with the climate crisis! The Pope's choice of this ancient chapter deep from (the people) Israel's formational years resonates clearly with the heart-cry of many activists - including many young people - today. For sure many today may simply be crying 'Choose Life' from a largely secular worldview, blissfully unaware of the scriptures. Scientists may be calling the same from an "It's obvious from the data" viewpoint. Still others perhaps from a humanist basis ... but they all see a fundamental choice: life beyond ourselves or self-destruction. A growing collective voice rising up against the Goliath of never ending selfish consumerism!

Now read back in the same chapter to the beginning of the (sub)section: verse 11 onwards. God tells them: "What I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach". It explains that the solution is not beyond reach in the heights or the depths ... it is near, in fact already within the people who were open and willing. God has already given all that we may need to not only say 'Choose Life', but follow through with it. To choose life is to join the mission purpose of God, and He pre-activated the resources we need to get on and get the job done way way back.

What will we do? What will we choose?

Discovery Bible Study

One of the most important tools for working with interested enquirers and nurturing people into discipleship is Discovery Bible Study - a format in which you look at Jesus together using (initially) the Gospel contents.

The exact nature of the time together can be tailored to suit the person or group you are working with. For example we have used a very simple meal + short video + story of Jesus + basic prayer exercise sitting with one or two families, and used a more classic sitting just with the gospel text with a faith seeking adult. The crucial thing is to help people look for themselves, putting the word 'Discovery' in Discovery Bible Study! The prayer is that people discover who Jesus is, believe and receive Him (John 1:12).

Ultimately we desire that people are spiritually reborn (John 3), rather than simply benefiting from our own Biblical understanding and wisdom. That probably means holding back in the early stages - giving people time to process and receive the initial nuggets they are discovering - resisting the temptation to heap on more complex information. That became obvious to me when sitting with someone who was born in another country, another culture and another belief system. Using the gospel story before us (Jesus healing the paralytic) we discussed who the story suggests Jesus is. The person's answer was in one sense correct, but their bigger answer included aspects that are questionable. As a theologically trained person I could have easily weighed in with something like "Ah, but that isn't right because ...". However I pinched myself, reminding myself 'This is session number 1! Hopefully we can sharpen the lens on this point in future sessions as they discover further ...".

As we discover together we encourage to apply: to receive Jesus and follow requires action on the part of each person. This can be introduced in the very first session, and is about modelling obedience to Jesus from the beginning. A Discovery Bible Study isn't simply studying for the increase of head knowledge: it is helping a person (or a group) discover for themselves, and learn to put into practice what Jesus is telling each of them to do.

Prayer is Hard Work

I go on many prayer walks around the local estate. On these walks I can pray in two different styles: one is simply pondering & wandering, praying on different topics as I meander the streets, while the other style is more intentional with a clear focus and direction to the prayers. For example the latter might be directly praying for a spiritual openness across the estate.

Both are valid and have their place, but here I want to focus on the second style with the intentional and purposeful prayers as I pass house by house. I discovered that such prayer is hard work! I would find myself physically & mentally tired after such a walk. I had already decided to pray round the estate methodically, so that each section is covered ... but in finding myself so tired it became necessary to divide the estate into zones to be prayed through on different days, so on each occasion I might have fresh strength!

On some walks I would feel like I was carrying a burden, as if walking round with a suitcase or heavy backpack: these were not casual strolls with the bonus of letting my mind wander!

It should not surprise us to understand such focussed prayer as 'hard work', for when we are praying like this we are interacting in the spiritual so that things might be re-arranged (in a Godly way) here in the physical. Just as gardening is physical, or moving around furniture requires strength and effort ... so it is as we pray for movement in the heavenlies concerning a place or situation.

It reminds me of focussed sessions of prayer for an individual ministering in the Holy Spirit - often I would come away from these feeling tired and as if I had just done a work-out. Recall the episode in Exodus 17 where Moses prays over the physical battle, and needs helpers to hold up his arms so he could persist in that prayer until the battle was won.

In Genesis God tasks and empowers humankind to be His stewards over creation (1:26,28 and 2:15). This is a spiritual combined with physical tasking for us. It is easy for us to imagine that the physical aspect can be hard work (especially subsequent to The Fall), but we should accept and tone ourselves up for the hard work in the spiritual as well.

Redeeming Halloween?

The new estate where we work has a Christian-seeded community work, along with a fledgeling Christian church. For Halloween the community work aspect proposed (as per previous years) to hold in their small community centre a 'Treat Station' - serving sweets, hot chocolate, pumpkin soup ... and warmth. This is a different approach to the classic church 'Light Party', in that it embedded itself in the secular Halloween culture - but within it offered something positive.

The same community work has encouraged year on year a respect for people's wishes and privacy: advocating across the estate that people should only knock on doors where households have placed a light, pumpkin, or other decoration outside, leaving those unlit undisturbed.

The experience in the community centre was positive. From 4pm until nearly 7pm there was a continuous stream of families passing through to meet, greet, and enjoy the refreshments. The atmosphere was lively and friendly. Many dressed up, but it was just as much general fancy dress as questionable costumes: there were dinosaurs, princesses, iron/spider-men as well as the darker choice of attire. For sure some of the older children had some unsavoury costumes and makeup, but they weren't in the majority, and they did not spoil the otherwise family atmosphere. Families came together: children with their mums and dads. All were welcomed and were pleased to be welcomed.

The warmth inside was echoed outside. Children tended to go around the estate in family & friends groupings with their parents. Many houses on the estate willingly opened their doors. This was interesting in itself, because we have been praying across the estate for 'open doors'!!

We heard no reports, nor saw any evidence of any nastiness or unpleasant behaviours. So overall it made us wonder: is this perhaps pointing towards a redeemed Halloween - in part at least? For sure some of the costumes worn and house outside displays were not wholesome from a Christian perspective, but the overall atmosphere and community-shared goodwill was way better than we had ever experienced.

Maybe the following points can be said from a Kingdom mission perspective:

• In this place at least, Halloween largely seems to have become more of a secularised party than a time with any great dark spiritual significance or overtones
  
• Year on year, positive influences can help set the tone for a secular cultural event to help it be more wholesome than it might otherwise be
• For Christians intentionally being a light within (rather than an alternative to) arguably gives potential to influence a much greater number of people across the diverse community
• Amidst the secular party atmosphere, there a ways to do this without endorsing the darker aspects that Halloween traditionally represents
  

Christians are called to be a contrast society - but that doesn't necessarily mean isolation in everything. Jesus affirmed his hearers as the salt and light. For salt to be a preservative it has to be put against the meat. For the light to shine it has to be raised, not hidden away. In every context, and in ever changing contexts, we have to work out what being put against the meat and being present so as to be seen might look like.

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Jesus famously said 'Blessed are the peacemakers ...' (Matthew 5 verse 9). Yet peacemaking is hard work. Genuine peacemaking is an active role, not simply sitting on the sidelines with hopes of a better future world.

And peacemaking risks being misunderstood by either one or even both fighting parties. It risks being caught in the crossfire in an awkward "no man's land" that none of the sides recognise the validity of. It can therefore be a lonely place.

To be a peacemaker means separating subtle yet clear distinctions in one's thinking. For instance, seeing the differences between the atrocities of people and the humanity of a people. The fact that hideous, outrageous and unjustifiable acts have been carried about by people does not mean it is right to 'label' a whole people group - even though a casual observer might only see them as effectively one and the same.

To be a peacemaker means accepting the humanity of all people groups involved. It also means recognising sustained and prolonged systemic injustices against a people, and affirming in clear terms their humanity and right to dignity (this is why the slogan 'Black Lives Matter' is valid to promote, even though we would of course assert 'All Lives Matter').

To be a peacemaker means striving not merely for a lack of violence, not merely for accepted co-existence, but a pathway towards all able to flourish without loss of their positive cultural heritage. That may seem an unbelievably lofty goal, but it surely has to be the ultimate hope of the peacemaker.

Jesus said 'Blessed are the peacemakers ...' in the context of other statements. The set of statements portray a spiritual struggle: a recognition of spiritual poverty, deep pain, and worldly power systems for what they are. A struggle for that which is right, a way of mercy rather revenge (no matter how measured or proportionate that revenge might be considered to be by others), and a way of purity amongst the carnage of fallen humanity. Into that progression Jesus drops this statement on peacemaking, and goes on to signal the people enacting this set face the real possibility of being directly attacked themselves.

In these statements Jesus is saying 'There is a way ...', and He is associating that Way with Himself - the Way that He leads and invites us to follow in. He closes out the set of statements with this chilling reality: to follow this Way might well lead you to be persecuted and maligned ... but that is part of the deal.

Blessed are the peacemakers ... but not an easy option.
Blessed are the peacemakers ... a role that sits in a bigger spiritual struggle - one in which Jesus leads and others are called to follow, most likely at deep personal cost to themselves.

Field Number Two - Gospel Sharing

As mentioned previously, in our work on a new housing estate we are following a model for outreach called 'Four Fields'. This is not a quick-fix system, but is about being intentional and recognising that there will be different phases to our efforts. The first phase (Field Number One) is simply about meeting people and building relationships. We intentionally get ourselves 'out there', volunteer locally and so on for this to happen. This phase is open ended - the timescales are in God's hands, not ours.

In our conversations we share who we are. We have always found it better to be up front and honest about our faith identity - people can react with interest or disinterest, either is fine and need not cause any offence. Sometimes this can lead to a conversation about faith developing along the way ... which brings us to Field Number Two: Gospel Sharing. Here we start actively sharing, seeing if the conversation might develop from a casual exchange to more interest being shown. Spiritual discernment for this phase is crucial: might the person we are talking to be open to being invited to a place where we can talk in greater depth? Are they showing signs of being genuinely spiritually open and seeking, or just interested in passing?

The wonderful thing is that God can surprise us! At a time when we would be quite happy to continue meeting people in the first field, someone comes along who appears to be actively asking for conversation about faith - in other words we find ourselves in the second field already! This has been our experience recently, which we are now following up. Hopefully those seeking can be invited into exploration sessions including Discovery from the Bible (another important tool in the toolkit).

Of course there is still a long way to go (fields number three and four await for the future). Note that in this model introducing to the wider church is delayed until that fourth field: for now the action occurs in the 'third space' meeting places or in homes, and will mostly continue in these places whilst we are in fields two and three. The small setting is a better environment for someone to discover Jesus and learn what it means for them to follow Him: the model pursues depth with each individual.

You might be asking: 'Do these four fields relate to the parable Jesus told about scattering seed?'. There is indeed a rough parallel, but not an exact correspondence. In meeting people and gospel sharing we are indeed scattering: liberally and plentifully. Some falls on the path (the people we get to merely encourage along the way). Some may fall on rocky ground - there is interest but no real roots are put down. Some may explore with us, maybe even accept Jesus, but be choked off by the cares of the world (entering field three, but not moving beyond it). Finally some may endure and be fruitful - only time will tell.

Learn to Declare!

Reading afresh Mark's Gospel I am struck at how many times Jesus spoke directly to impure spirits, to sickness conditions, and to people afflicted with conditions (even when the affliction was being dead!). Just a few examples in the first 5 chapters are:

• 1:25 commanding the impure spirit to come out
• 1:42 commanding the man afflicted with a skin condition to 'be clean'
• 3:5 directing the man to 'stretch out his hand'
• 5:41 commanding the dead girl to 'get up'
  

The phrases recorded in the gospels are direct, sharp, and to the point. They are not couched in 'ifs', 'buts' or other hedging your bets type expressions! This is Jesus commanding specific action in the physical. I assume (and this is my own theological speculation) that he did this knowing the spiritual-physical connections, and that as he uttered the words I presume he implied a corresponding change in the spiritual that would sit behind the physical outcome.

But regardless of how the spiritual & physical interact (it is hard for us to be sure on such matters), it is worth us learning from these examples! Often our prayers are less direct, filled with 'ifs' and 'maybes'. Can we learn when a direct approach is appropriate, and learn to use direct language in those circumstances?

Certainly with the impure spirits there is surely no argument in the matter. An impure spirit afflicting someone is plain wrong - full stop. It is not Kingdom, not in any way aligned with God's will. So anything less than direct words in these circumstances would actually be inappropriate.

Can we learn to do similar with other clearly discernable situations? I.e. circumstances where there is clear evil action or ongoing oppression that any of us can know is plain wrong, and cannot be squared with God's Kingdom. In those cases can we imagine positive next steps and declare those in our prayers with clear, direct, even commanding language?

If we are to follow Jesus, to learn to do as He did, surely our own prayer life and action should incorporate this style for which we see in the life of Jesus many examples.

Create in us a Desire - O Lord

A clear trait of those with evangelistic giftings is having a clear desire for other people to discover Jesus and to come to faith in Him. A frustration shared between evangelists is that other believers do not always appear to exhibit such a desire! I recall a prominent church leader explaining how their congregation didn't develop as they had hoped in the area of witnessing. After some reflection they concluded two underlying reasons: a lack of simple 'how to ...', and a lack of desire among the individual members. The first aspect can be addressed with training or coaching, but the latter is a spiritual issue.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4 above is a well known verse. But do we forget that God's own heart desire is for each and every person? His heart desire is to reach out to them, to include them in. For that He sent Jesus. For that He chooses to work through us.

Another Christian leader with a multi-decade ministry that has encouraged many to come to Jesus asked it like this: 'Each day, do we wake up with a genuine concern for the lost?'. I myself worry that this depth of concern seems missing among many believers. I pray that dynamic changes!

In our own work locally on a new housing estate, we are refining our thinking on how we express our sense of belonging as believers to one another where we live. Personally, we seem to be coming down to three commitments:

1. A commitment to Christ
2. A commitment to those around us (on the estate)
3. A commitment to seeing God's Kingdom across the whole estate

This set of commitments can also be expressed as what I believe are Godly desires:

1. A desire for God
2. A desire for one another (on the estate)
3. A desire for the whole estate

That third desire conveys a hope for Kingdom flourishing for the whole estate. That implies a clear desire for people to discover Jesus and to come to faith in Him.

Yet such a desire does not necessarily come automatically ... Create in us a desire, O Lord!

Adaptive Ministry

In Acts we see Paul working methodically - in most places he went first to the synagogue (the local collection of Jewish believers), and then later met with a more diverse group elsewhere. Even with his orderly approach there would have been complex mixes of Jewish believers by ancestry, Jewish believers who had 'joined', and then the 'Gentile' audiences. We glean enough in Acts to know that Paul used different angles in his telling of Jesus that best suited the hearers starting points. In other words he adapted his approach to suit.

Also in Acts we see that on their travels Christ followers apparently bumped into one another (somewhat randomly). This provided connections, encouragements and strategic opportunities as they covered the geography. Also in that random meeting there were 'levelling processes' with some - they had only heard of "John's baptism", or not heard/experienced the filling of the Spirit for example. In some cases they 'explained the gospel more adequately' (e.g. Acts 18). In other words they had to adapt their ministry dynamically, based on who they had bumped into.

As mentioned before, we are working methodically with a 'Four Fields' approach - making friendships, listening for who is spiritually open, hoping to help lead to Jesus and discipleship, and then connecting new disciples with wider networks of believers. That model assumes that everyone we meet is starting with no clear faith in Jesus ... but of course real life is way more messy! As we meet people, we discover other believers - some clear in their faith, some attending places of worship elsewhere, some with faith but not so sure on some things, and so on.

We too therefore, whilst following a model for outreach purposes, are open to adaptation. Discovering other believers is a blessing, and we can happily draw alongside to make what we believe are strategic suggestions for emerging spiritual life across the estate. Some might need particular encouragement, or benefit from input into their lives and their own walk with Jesus. Again we can swap into a mode where we offer that for those who want it.

This is ministry that adapts based on the people we meet. We have our own model for outreach, and we have some clear strategic thinking that gives high level direction to the approaches we take - but within that we then adapt, making ourselves available to walk alongside, hoping all the while to lead to more revelation of Jesus for each and every person.

Gearing

When we drive a car we change gears up or down as we pull away, accelerate, change speed etc. The gearbox in the vehicle enables us to select the best ratio of power produced by the engine to wheel speed for the conditions and vehicle speed in the moment. Car design engineers put a lot of work and calculation into those gear ratios for good reason - without the right ratios the car would not drive well.

But do we think about the ratios of our time reserved for prayer with respect to the 'wheel speed' of our activity? Or to put it another way: the 'gearing' associated with our ministry activity? Is the time and effort expended on the actual activity greater than the time (and effort) expended on prayer - and prayer focussed on that activity? Such a ratio of prayer to activity(mathematically prayer:activity) would be less than 1.0 - is that right or a good thing?

Personally I came to realise that for my own situation the ratio was not where I thought it should be - it was way less than 1.0! I figure these days it should quite often be greater than 1.0, i.e. more prayer than activity. The problem was I found that the demands of activity meant that (despite my efforts) I struggled to adjust things towards a better ratio (back to the car analogy: my gear stick was stuck!).

A new gearbox was needed ...

Sometimes we need to take quite radical action to change the gearing of our ministry. Think about your ratios, think about your own gearing. Change as necessary!

Multiplication Sacrifice

When the flood recedes and Noah lands the ark, God gives instructions to him, his family and the animals/birds on board to 'go forth and multiply' (in the polite and positive sense!) - see Genesis 8.

Yet the first thing Noah does on the newly dried land is to build an altar and sacrifice some of the (clean) animals & birds on it. From a multiplication or population growth perspective, this was a counter-productive thing to do! Reducing the population at the outset reduces the probability of successful growth and rich gene diversity in the eventual population. On these calculations it would have been much better to let the several pairs of a certain species breed and produce.

But Noah's multiplication calculations are based on a different logic. Rather than the pure statistics, Noah's heart is set on God and a desire for a Godly population to follow. He therefore sacrifices, putting down a marker at the outset: honour God first & foremost, future growth depends on Him.

Discipleship multiplication movements know the same logic. A true movement, with multi-generational multiplication in evidence, only comes as a result of a move of God - they cannot simply be manufactured no matter how good the intent of the pioneers or the method deployed.

When we start out do we first accept a God-honouring 'reducing down' process, that runs contrary to the human logic of ensuring initial strength and resilience? Are we looking for merely 'growth by the method appearing to work' or God ordained growth? If the motives deep in our hearts were truly exposed, would it be about God or about us?

God commands multiplication, but with Himself as the multiplying-factor! God will work with us and through us - our human endeavours have validity - but we will do well to think how we are to lay down a marker of honouring God first & foremost, and to think how we will continue in that same heart & mindset.

The Curse of the word 'Should'

Our Kingdom Vision is big: we know that in God's Kingdom there is release, healing, transformation ... and we can see an ocean of need around us. This means there are many possibilities for good Kingdom activity around us.

Yet we have limited capacity, and thus churches (collections of people) have limited capacity. Now of course God can supernaturally extend our capacity - He can do 'immeasurably more' (Ephesians 3:20)! But discernment of what God is calling an individual (or a group) to do is needed - God has Kingdom plans and wants us to join in. However we tend to bring our own priorities and agendas to this dynamic, and often we let this stand as higher importance than genuine discernment. This is often betrayed by sentences based on the word 'should'!

"The church should be doing ministry X", said Y to a membership of the church leadership team.

The 'should' implies mandatory. It suggests that if we are not doing it, then we are somehow defective, not meeting the grade, falling short of what God wants for us.

But in many many cases, it is based on opinion rather than discernment!

Personally I have come to see the presence of the word 'should' in our language as a kind of curse ... because it so often represents a projection of someone's opinions or self-determined priorities onto another (or onto a group).

So I am doing my best to avoid using the word 'should'. That doesn't mean we can't suggest or recommend things though, we just have to find alternatives ...

• If we as church were able to do ministry X, it could bring benefits A, B and C
• There is a gap that potentially makes ministry X relevant for us
• Giving attention (or capacity) to X has its merits
• God seems to be laying on my heart the whole idea of ministry X
  

The above presents the possibilities, be they well informed & reasoned possibilities, just hunches, or random thinking. They do not project requirement onto anyone, leaving the space open for individuals, groups or even the whole church to seek God to discern His wisdom and call: where might God wish us to allocate our capacity, where might God extend our capacity supernaturally? The word 'should' projects requirement, alternatives invite us to seek God!

Let's not be slaves beaten into submission by the word 'should', and instead constantly return to Him for discernment, and encourage others to do similarly.

Field Number One - Meet People

Now we are settling in on the new housing estate, we are starting to meet people. This fits our current missional task: to simply meet people, get to know them, and work out who is who.

This represents 'Field number 1' in the 'Four Fields' discipleship making model. Field one is all about entry to a new area, getting to know it and discovering the people, organisations and networks that already exist within it. Conceptually it is an empty wide open space - a liberating space in which Jesus can direct us: because we no pre-conditions or pre-fixed ideas! Within that space we are free to meet people: this phase might seem random, but the process of meeting people is for us purposeful and intentional - it is exploring the first field.

In the conversations we might have we can talk about who we are, and therefore potentially talk about our faith in Jesus. In our intentionality we will follow up at least by praying for those we have met by name, but at this stage we are not setting out to quickly win people over for Jesus or win any potential argument. We don't need to do that because we are still in the first field. Time will come later to more directly point people to Jesus, engage in apologetics and so on (these are tasks for fields two and three!). For now, it is enough to just meet people, learn about them, and begin the seed scattering process as we go.

This is a process that will take time. We can deliberately involve ourselves in activities that afford opportunity to meet people, and we can put ourselves out there ... but either way it will take time, maybe many weeks. We should not rush this stage, resisting the temptation to feel frustrated and want to push on prematurely: faith, patience and discernment are required before considering ourselves to be entering the next field!

Open Heaven

In Acts chapter 7 Stephen has given his major speech in the face of opposition. He is resolutely following Jesus, but his opposers cannot accept any reference to Jesus as Lord - their hearts are hard towards God and His purposes. The exchange gets towards its climax when Stephen has a real-time in-the-moment vision of the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand.

He relays what he sees to the crowd:

"I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

This was too much for the antagonisers and precipitates Stephen's mob execution, but the vision still stands, because it sits in the purposes of God. It echoes Jacob's dream (see Genesis 28:12) of an open heaven with a 'ladder' or 'staircase' on which angels could freely descend and ascend. Stephen could see that Jesus had opened the way for that 'open heaven' and flowing connection between heaven & earth through which blessings to all peoples could flow.

As we live and work on an emerging new housing estate, we now strategically and persistently pray for that same sense of 'open heaven' to over all the estate. May each new dwelling, cul de sac and road be within a zone that has a flowing connection between heaven & earth, that people might be open to and receive His blessings.

One Piece of Furniture

A theological topic for pioneers is what constitutes the 'ecclesial minimum', i.e. what is the minimum you need to be church? The real answer is 'not that much ...', but in practice we add layers and layers that seem to make that minimum end up looking quite bloated!

Recently some friends of ours were talking with us on this topic, and posed the related question: 'What is the one piece of furniture useful in starting a church?'. We concluded together that the one piece of furniture is in fact a table! With a table you can gather people round, relax, eat / drink and discuss. With a table you can break bread together. With a table you face each other which affords a dynamic where you can relate as equals, and each bring their voice or contribution. Many of the scenes of Jesus more privately with friends or guests were in a home presumably at some kind of table.

Of course you could do these things without a physical table - you could gather sitting around a rug on the ground, or even agree to stand together for these things. The point is the simplicity, rather than believing anything more complex is needed. A mere table can be the gathering point and catalyst for relationship building between one another, and between people and God.

When we were searching for a place to enable our incarnational living, our key criteria became 'can we fit in our existing dining table?'. Many other things became unimportant compared to this. When viewing a property the first thing we did was measure up in the living/dining space to check the dimensions could fit our table!

Are you toying with the 'ecclesial minimum'? Do you want to get people together with a view to forming a church? Furniture-wise you can do alot by simply starting out with a table!

A Humble Incarnational Abode

We have managed to secure a property to move into on the estate where we feel called to work. This was important to us because 'Incarnational Mission' is important to us - living amongst those we feel called to reach out to.

The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14)

God sent His Son to live amongst those He first decided to reach - He didn't operate at a distance or work remotely! In practical terms the arrival point was a humble abode for 'there was no guest room available' (Luke 2:7). Our arrival point is smaller and thus 'more humble' than we would have naturally wished for - we have had to make hard and bold decisions about 'down-sizing'! Yet in prayer and wrestling through the search process we came to the conclusion that this is right: for us our call is to be living here on the estate, perhaps with just some essentials.

There were larger (and cheaper) houses elsewhere - one possibility just a few minutes walk on the neighbouring estate. Some people we talked to struggled to understand our search principle, assuming we would live where it is convenient to us rather than hanging with us in our search for an incarnational possibility - we had to smile and reply politely, while pressing on in our endeavour.

Incarnational mission is costly. It requires a clear sense of call and re-ordering life priorities to make it work. The gospel accounts show us Jesus who did just that: living this Way of incarnational mission. We are doing our best to follow.

De-clutter

The gospel 'sending' passages, e.g. sending the 12 in Matthew 10, have a number of direct instructions. Among these are 'do not get any gold, silver or copper, no bag, or extra shirt, sandals or staff. In other words 'go light: de-clutter!'.