For a good few years now some have been resonating with thinking that comes with the so-called 'Post-modern Mindset' - thinking that leads to some serious questions being asked about how we do faith and church. This kind of thinking is also often known as 'de-constructing' because it involves taking apart structures that have been in place for years (even centuries) and assumed to be fixed and solid. Upon de-constructing it is found that the underlying assumptions perhaps weren't so good after all.
One of those structures has been the fixed weekly Sunday gathering that many seem take as if it was the definition of church. This thinking is often exposed by language such as 'we go to church'. A common symptom is a high degree of focus on the Sunday gathering, and the high level of importance placed on it.
Another symptom is that people seem to confuse taking someone 'to Jesus' with taking them 'to church'. That is not to say that taking someone to a church gathering will not be helpful towards someone meeting Jesus, but we should pinch ourselves and remember our task is first & foremost to take someone to Jesus. Of course the church aspect should then follow, naturally arising in discipleship.
Now don't get me wrong! I still believe that gathering is important (in fact very important). Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 makes the case for not giving up on meeting together. But Deconstructionalists ask whether the Sunday gatherings should bear the weight we put on them.
Now, with our Covid-19 lockdown scenario, our Sunday physical gatherings are simply not possible!
So Deconstructionalists Rejoice! The arguably dubious tower of over-inflated-importance given to Sunday gatherings is demolished! Now (presumably) is our chance to highlight the importance of individual and in-the-small discipleship practices and experiences (an importance that needn't exclude the complementary importance of gatherings, when they become possible again).
Interestingly churches have rushed to attempt 'live streaming' of their services, so that people can gather virtually. There is value in these, I am sure ... but if the Deconstructionalists are right (or at least their thinking has merit), then I fear that the live streaming efforts might be missing a valuable learning point that this strange season affords us.
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
Friday, 13 March 2020
An Alternative Pandemic
We live in uncertain times. The spread of an unseen threat has set governments and policy-makers scrambling to make appropriate decisions. The media has to walk a tight-rope of helpfully informing versus inadvertently stirring panic. The reaction of the public shows some disturbing signs (e.g panic buying).
The whole covid-19 virus outbreak scenario raises some interesting questions. Among them are questions about the sustainability of our developed nation's economies, our dependence on trade and people simply being out and spending!
For Christians, remember that the concepts of virology and being effective witnesses of the good news of Jesus go hand in hand (see my post 'Go Viral' from 2015!). Yes we want to play our part as good citizens in preventing the spread of harmful viruses such as covid-19, but equally we want to be caught in the wind of the Spirit in spreading the good news of Jesus and His Kingdom!
That means being ready and willing to tell of that good news whatever the circumstances. It means being tenacious, jumping beyond the limits and inoculations that society may try to put on gospel-witness.
It means also helping people discover the grace of God but then not limiting them to some kind of faithful holding-pen, but rather releasing them in their God-given calling such that they are able to witness to Jesus themselves to others!
Let us do our bit to limit and prevent the spread of any kind of harm.
Let us do our bit to spread that which is good, and persist with it.
The whole covid-19 virus outbreak scenario raises some interesting questions. Among them are questions about the sustainability of our developed nation's economies, our dependence on trade and people simply being out and spending!
For Christians, remember that the concepts of virology and being effective witnesses of the good news of Jesus go hand in hand (see my post 'Go Viral' from 2015!). Yes we want to play our part as good citizens in preventing the spread of harmful viruses such as covid-19, but equally we want to be caught in the wind of the Spirit in spreading the good news of Jesus and His Kingdom!
That means being ready and willing to tell of that good news whatever the circumstances. It means being tenacious, jumping beyond the limits and inoculations that society may try to put on gospel-witness.
It means also helping people discover the grace of God but then not limiting them to some kind of faithful holding-pen, but rather releasing them in their God-given calling such that they are able to witness to Jesus themselves to others!
Let us do our bit to limit and prevent the spread of any kind of harm.
Let us do our bit to spread that which is good, and persist with it.
Tuesday, 21 January 2020
Kingdom or Church
Recently I asked some small groups to think about the Kingdom of God and the church, which led them to do a classic 'compare and contrast' exercuse. I'm pleased to discover in their feedback that they seem to have 'got it'!
For in the Kingdom the focus is unashamedly on Jesus, whilst in the church that is not always so.
The Kingdom is inherently spiritual, while the church is inherently an earth-based gathering (albeit one that hopefully intends to be a spiritual people).
The Kingdom is perfect (by definition). The church remains imperfect.
The Kingdom is wherever God is at work, seen through what God is doing, or glimpsed in the people where God is present. The church can too easily be focussed on one place, one set of practices, or one set of traditions.
The Kingdom is of God. It is aligned to His will. The church can easily be of people and influenced by their will.
The Kingdom is about the Living Word (Jesus). The church can entrap itself in its own incomplete understanding of the written word (the Bible).
The Kingdom somehow has a way in for those on the margins. The church can inadvertently exclude those on the margins.
The Kingdom focusses on the key issues for God and His relationship to the whole of creation. The church can end up focussing on the key issues of society without discerning the limitations of this endeavour.
So Kingdom or church ... which would you choose?
Join a church and love it - but remind yourself and your fellow church members to keep your sights on The Kingdom!
For in the Kingdom the focus is unashamedly on Jesus, whilst in the church that is not always so.
The Kingdom is inherently spiritual, while the church is inherently an earth-based gathering (albeit one that hopefully intends to be a spiritual people).
The Kingdom is perfect (by definition). The church remains imperfect.
The Kingdom is wherever God is at work, seen through what God is doing, or glimpsed in the people where God is present. The church can too easily be focussed on one place, one set of practices, or one set of traditions.
The Kingdom is of God. It is aligned to His will. The church can easily be of people and influenced by their will.
The Kingdom is about the Living Word (Jesus). The church can entrap itself in its own incomplete understanding of the written word (the Bible).
The Kingdom somehow has a way in for those on the margins. The church can inadvertently exclude those on the margins.
The Kingdom focusses on the key issues for God and His relationship to the whole of creation. The church can end up focussing on the key issues of society without discerning the limitations of this endeavour.
So Kingdom or church ... which would you choose?
Join a church and love it - but remind yourself and your fellow church members to keep your sights on The Kingdom!
Tuesday, 24 December 2019
Two Contrasting Peoples
Genesis chapters 11 to 13 give us an insight into two contrasting peoples and two visions for humanity.
The first is of a people who highly self-organise. They build: a city, and with it a tower that 'reaches to the heavens'. This is about being self-sufficient, of setting themselves up despite (or even in spite of) God. It is all about them and what they can do.
Note there is nothing necessarily wrong with organising or building: people will form community and will organise themselves - that is okay. Yet the tower is the give-away: they think they can reach themselves for the heavens, i.e. that sense of more, of something greater, of perfection. They instinctively know that there is more to life, but they are mistaken in thinking they can achieve it for themselves. Their attitude betrays the intrinsic problems of self-organisation of fallen humans - it has a capacity for becoming a greater evil than the sum of the individuals.
The intervention by God, and the ensuing confusion, is called in Hebrew 'Babel'. Or another name: 'Babylon' - symbolic for that which stands against God. It is a name that then echoes through the grand arc of the Bible story right through to the book of Revelation.
The second is Abram and the long-range promises of God. Through him God will make a people, who themselves will be blessed and will be a blessing to others. They will range far and wide, such that they can be salt and light to the whole world.
This is a vision of people walking rightly with God. It is through these people that blessing comes, that proper connection between 'the heavens' and the earth. Note how these people do not always have to cling to certain land or territory: Abram is initially commissioned as something of a nomad. He is also prepared to give up land (see chapter 13 verses 8 to 10), for he already understands something of God's abundant provision wherever he might have to go.
Ironically there is a sense of Abram's descendants being scattered, through which wide ranging blessing will come. This is in contrast to the first set of people who were forcibly scattered to thwart their efforts. Scattering in itself can be blessing or it can be a curse!
Into the lineage of Abram eventually comes Jesus. And he too is of the 'scattering will lead to worldwide blessing' kind of mindset!
So now, for us Jesus-followers in our churches, who stand in the line traced from Jesus and in fact all the way back from Abram: which vision are we called to sign up to? The highly self-organised one in which we build fantastic structures that appear to reach up to the heavens ... or the confidence in being scattered as those who walk rightly with God through which blessing to many may come?
The first is of a people who highly self-organise. They build: a city, and with it a tower that 'reaches to the heavens'. This is about being self-sufficient, of setting themselves up despite (or even in spite of) God. It is all about them and what they can do.
Note there is nothing necessarily wrong with organising or building: people will form community and will organise themselves - that is okay. Yet the tower is the give-away: they think they can reach themselves for the heavens, i.e. that sense of more, of something greater, of perfection. They instinctively know that there is more to life, but they are mistaken in thinking they can achieve it for themselves. Their attitude betrays the intrinsic problems of self-organisation of fallen humans - it has a capacity for becoming a greater evil than the sum of the individuals.
The intervention by God, and the ensuing confusion, is called in Hebrew 'Babel'. Or another name: 'Babylon' - symbolic for that which stands against God. It is a name that then echoes through the grand arc of the Bible story right through to the book of Revelation.
The second is Abram and the long-range promises of God. Through him God will make a people, who themselves will be blessed and will be a blessing to others. They will range far and wide, such that they can be salt and light to the whole world.
This is a vision of people walking rightly with God. It is through these people that blessing comes, that proper connection between 'the heavens' and the earth. Note how these people do not always have to cling to certain land or territory: Abram is initially commissioned as something of a nomad. He is also prepared to give up land (see chapter 13 verses 8 to 10), for he already understands something of God's abundant provision wherever he might have to go.
Ironically there is a sense of Abram's descendants being scattered, through which wide ranging blessing will come. This is in contrast to the first set of people who were forcibly scattered to thwart their efforts. Scattering in itself can be blessing or it can be a curse!
Into the lineage of Abram eventually comes Jesus. And he too is of the 'scattering will lead to worldwide blessing' kind of mindset!
So now, for us Jesus-followers in our churches, who stand in the line traced from Jesus and in fact all the way back from Abram: which vision are we called to sign up to? The highly self-organised one in which we build fantastic structures that appear to reach up to the heavens ... or the confidence in being scattered as those who walk rightly with God through which blessing to many may come?
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