Tag Archives: christianity

“In the name of Christ, I quit being a Christian…”

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Not my words, but the words of novelist Anne Rice– see this recent article in the Guardian.

I confess not to have read anything that she has written- I am not into Vampire related literature, but others who are tell me that she is very good.

This is what she said on her facebook page–

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For tenyears, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

And later-

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

Check out her facebook page– it has literally thousands of responses- mostly supportive, but some predictably angry-

I read Rice’s comments, and find myself in full agreement. In the circles I move in, these are not controversial. There seems to be an increasing number of Christians who can no longer cope with Christianity- or rather what we have made of it.

The challenge for organised religious Christianity is to find a way to engage with us again. Some will return later- we will have our times of rebellion, but then come home. Others will never come back- it is too hard to return to an environment that may have been perceived as abusive and manipulative.

Many more are looking for a way to re-engage and network with a different kind of Christianity- even though we are not quite sure what this looks like. We know what it is NOT, but lack certainty as to what it could be.

But it is certainly about a return to Jesus- to a radical, counter cultural faith that turns over the tables in the temple- that takes another look at all this baggage we have accumulated.

And it will happen. It is happening.

Here is another status update from Anne Rice-

My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.

Amen.

Bible Sunday…

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Today is ‘Bible Sunday‘- a celebration co-ordinated by the Bible Society, with the title ‘Living in the certainty of God’s Word’.

We are pointed in the direction of that wonderful passage in Isaiah 55– which begins ‘Come all who are thirsty…‘

I very much agree that the Bible is something to celebrate, so I have been reading some of the information about Bible Sunday. However, I find myself in a familiar uncomfortable place. I have posted before about some of these issues- here and here for example.

Some of it might relate to the language used in this celebration- the assumptions and presumptions inherent. The very title- ‘Living in the certainty of God’s word’- what this means for many is a closing down of debate, a final understanding of Truth– the Bible says it, I believe it, end of story. We are encouraged to approach the Bible as we would a mathematical formula- to engage with the different elements, order them correctly and so arrive at the only logical reasonable outcome.

But I have become increasingly aware that in doing this, we diminish the words. Indeed, we are in danger of recreating God in our own image.

Another image I have used before is this one

gray areas

The Bible is full of truth, wisdom, poetry, history, prophecy and mystery. We humans are logical orderly creatures, who are made to look for patterns. However, we look through at things through a perspective formed by presumptions- it is much easier that way, and it is very hard (if not impossible) to approach any issue afresh without the influence of time and place and heritage. Most of the time this stands us in very good stead. It allows us to be what we are. It allows us to build logical portable and replicatable blocks of truth. It allows us to find commonality and build Church.

But then there are those elusive dots.

We can try to ignore them, but they keep popping up- like those passages in the Bible that just do not fit very well… Or others who have understood a passage in a different way, and God seems to be blessing them. Or the realisation that what we have regarded as fixed and absolute, is suddenly- shifting…

We can regard them as irrelevant and but then they still irritate. Or we can outlaw them, suggest that they are heretical distractions- but then we find that they are increasingly difficult to ignore.

But my humble experience of the Bible suggests that they will always be there. Because the Word of God can not be contained in a book. Neither can God be reduced to a formula. God will simply not be contained.

Does this diminish the Bible for Christians? Perhaps for some, it does. For these folk, the theological blocks hewn from the huge quarry of Scripture are so rigid, that to suggest a different perspective is to bring the whole edifice crashing down. In this, we are in danger of worshiping an idol of our own construction.

But for many others, the Bible is a cherished gift- one that shines light, but also contains many shadows cast by our lack of understanding, and the assumptions made by previous generations.

So I am going to celebrate Bible Sunday by reading the passage from Isaiah 55, and reminding myself that this wonderful poetry points us not at the words, but at the word giver.

Isaiah 55

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”

Bonhoeffer- was he wrong?

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Bonhoeffer is one of our Evangelical heroes.

The good German- an extraordinary man in extraordinary times. Whose incisive faith saw through the evil that had overcome his people like a cancer, and allowed him to stand alone- a candle in darkness, a voice in the wilderness.

I sort of knew this. But I have read very little of his writings.

Michaela is persevering with ‘Life together‘ although it is not an easy read- this is partly because of the style.

The surprise to most of us is that Bonhoeffer was executed not for passive peaceful resistance of Hitler’s regime, but rather for plotting with Canaris and von Stauffenberg to overcome Hitler with a Coup- which included the assassination of Hitler- the famous bomb plot.

The great pacifist theologian, who had visited Ghandi in the 1930s in order to understand non-violent resistance had turned to violence and political power games. He became a double agent.

Did the potential ends justify the means? It is scarcely possible to conceive of a regime that is more evil within our modern experience. What else could a good man do, but seek to overcome by any means possible? Christians fighting against Hitler have long seen this as a ‘just war‘. I think I might have agreed with them had I been a child of Bonhoeffers age.

But history has a way of allowing us time to consider, and weigh the weight of the matter- and for us, the Spirit of the thing, the theology of the thing- this becomes important.

Other Christians resisted. I visited a prison in Berlin years ago where dozens of pastors were hanged much earlier in the war than Bonhoeffer for criticising Hitler. Leaders like Karl Barth and Martin Niemoller formed the Confessing church in protest against the Nazi appropriation of the  Church as part of the State machinery.

What did Bonhoeffer acheive with his part in the plot against Hitler? Probably very little. The plot failed, and by that time the war had been raging for years, and millions of Jews, Gypsy’s, homosexuals and ‘Untermensch‘ had already died and been processed through industrial ovens in Eastern Europe. History records the plot as too little, too late.

Would peaceful protests have achieved more? It seems that death would have come to him either way.

Bonhoeffers feelings about his chosen path appear to have been mixed. He had no doubt that what he was doing was a moral choice that he may well need to answer for before God. He refused to allow prayers for him by the Confessing church whilst he was in prison, as he suggested prayer should be for Christians imprisoned as martyrs, not through acts of direct resistance such as his.

So- what choices are we followers of Jesus to make in the face of war and violence and oppression? His words seem clear enough. But his followers have always found the reality more complex. Jesus seemed to be more than willing to mix with Roman Soldiers, and Peter carried a sword at least once in his company.

For me, violence is something to be resisted in itself- particularly when it is perpetrated by one state on another. Particularly when Christians appear to support this violence and claim that God is on their side. The American/British appetite for war post 911 is a case in point. But Bonhoeffer- his times were very different.

Perhaps circumstances will always demand of us- choices. Extreme circumstances demand the more black and white ones. For the rest of us, we have theory, and theology. Bonhoeffer had enough of theology that was not anchored to practical activity in the service of the oppressed.

But I still wonder if he got it wrong…

There are a few films out about his life- usually American. Bonhoeffer seems to be able to be appropriated as a Saint by the conservatives and the liberals. There are a few clips of You Tube if you are interested-

Scotland, Prophecy and Jean Darnell…

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Jean DarnallIn 1967, American evangelist Jean Darnell, whilst passing through the UK had a ‘prophetic vision’ about the future of faith in these Islands- particularly regarding Scotland. It was such a powerful image that she and her husband stayed in this country for the next 25 years.

I was born in 1967, but had heard of Jean Darnell as I grew up- she had connections to an Anglican community of people in the South of England who were greatly influential as to development of charismatic revival throughout the Anglican church. I always thought of her as a kind and wise person, steeped in the Holy Spirit.

I had not heard about the prophecy however until I moved to Scotland. Here, it is still talked about in hushed and awed tones. She has repeated and clarified her account on several occasions, and various versions can be found using a quick google search- for example this one which is on the Cross rhythms website. However, this is a summary of what she said-

Vision Of Revival In Great Britain

The British Isles were covered in mist (a green haze), and Jean Darnell saw lots of pinpoints of light piercing through. As she looked, they turned out to be fires breaking out all over the nation, from Scotland in the North, to Lands End in the South.

As these God-lit fires were joined together they burned brighter. As she continued to pray, she saw lightning and explosions of fire and then rivers of fire flowing from North to South; from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales into England and some of the streams of fires crossed the channel into Europe, whilst others stopped.

These fires were pockets of people who had been made intensely hungry for the word of God and for New Testament Christianity, those who read the book of Acts and wondered ‘where is this church?’

These people would come together to pray and extra meetings would have to be laid on to accommodate all the people. Groups would be formed, prayer groups, Bible study groups – some would meet in churches, others would be in homes: some converted, others unconverted who were searching and seeking.

Two Moves Of God

Jean Darnall asked the Lord about the vision and had the distinct impression that there would be two moves of God.

1. Renewal In The Church.

The first would be the renewal of Christian faith and fullness of the Holy Spirit within the church.

2. National Awakening And World Vision.

This renewal of life in the church would spread outside resulting in a public awakening. The second part of the vision was the lightning striking around the nation. This move of God would be a national spiritual awakening, which would move into every level of the nation’s life; on the campuses, universities, colleges, schools etc., into the media and in the government.

There would be so many conversions that it would actually change the character of the nation of Britain and determine the future move of God in Europe. Jean continued that there would not be a part of the nation’s life that will not feel the impact of the spiritual awakening when God releases it to the country.

Great Preachers

The Lord told Jean Darnall that He would also raise up highly anointed preachers who would move in signs and wonders. These people would be a gift to Britain.

Communicators Reaching Britain And Europe

The word ‘communicators’ was strongly laid upon Jean’s heart and was a word that was not trendy in those days. [The internet was not be birthed until nearly three decades later in 1994 and Christian television first came to Britain via satellite in October 1995].

Jean explained that as the rivers of fire moved, it would produce powerfully gifted communicators who would address the nation through the media, (Through the arts, journalism, the radio and television). Actors, singers, teachers and powerful communicators (who have an anointing to work through the media) will be the new warriors that the Lord is raising up for His army [the younger generation] to reach the heart of the people on the European Continent. People with a special anointing will be sent out from these islands (of Britain) to other nations.

These communicators will be excellent in all that they do and will go into Europe and meet those of like quality (in training and abilities) and together they will work to release God’s word speedily into Europe. This will result in another wave of a spiritual awakening into Europe. Also, there would be communicators in government and within the educational system and wherever people are speaking [up] for others.

Jean Darnell visited the UK again this year- here is her speaking about Scotland again-

So what are we to make of this? Some of you will not even be interested in asking the question. If you do not have a Christian faith, you may think that all this stuff is just a little mad. Many Christians will agree with you. Many others (like me) have a more complicated relationship with the ideas and hopes contained in this prophecy.

As I mentioned above, I grew up in a church greatly affected by the wonders and wackyness of the Anglican Charismatic revival. I have since spent a lot of time around charismatic churches. I have blogged before about this experience- here for example. As a result of my experiences, I remain (in the words of Pete Rollins) a devout, faithful skeptic. I have seen much that repels me, but also much that was beautiful.

So here are a few thoughts/possibilities that occur to me as I look again at this prophecy…

  1. Jean Darnell was just wrong. Nothing of what she suggests would happen has happened. They used to stone false prophets in the OT days. Far from being a conduit of a massive move of God, the church in the UK is in terminal decline…
  2. Jean Darnell was speaking encouragement into an embryonic move of God. The late 60’s and 70’s did indeed see a charismatic revival- fires did spread through the church, and the ripples go on today. There are communicators, and preachers who still connect with wider Europe…
  3. Jean Darnell was speaking out of a particular context and understanding of evangelism- which longed and hoped for REVIVAL- transformative, all encompassing Holy Spirit saturated revival. No other move of God makes sense, and as such, the prophecy comes from a wish-fulfilling impulse. Revivals like this have happened here before (Wales, Outer Hebrides for example) and continue to happen in other parts of the world (Korea, parts of Africa.) However the outcome and aftermath of these outpourings is often very mixed. I no longer think that attempting to conjour and cajole God into reviving us should be our prime focus. But then again…
  4. Scotland. The central role played by Scotland in Jean’s prophecy seems to imply that what ever is to happen, begins here. I have looked in hope, but see no sign of fires in the North. There are enclaves of fervency and fundamentalism, but there is so much sectarian division and hard heartedness too… I do not see the fires starting inside the churches at the moment, let alone outside.
  5. Because of the decline in church, certain embattled remnants hold on to this prophecy with both hands. We NEED it to be true- because the alternative is an end to all that is held dear. However there is such danger in this- we become people desperate for heavenly Holy Spirit intervention, and forget the call to be Agents of the Kingdom here and now, rather than in the future. The shift in thinking that this requires for the people of faith in Scotland might itself bring about the fires in the north envisioned!
  6. How we understand prophecy seems to be crucial. We tend to think of prophecy as a prediction for the future that will be tested by time. In this instance, the jury is out, and perhaps about to rule against Jean’s prophecy. However, there is another way to understand prophetic utterances- as something that speaks truth into NOW- so many of the OT prophets were encouraging and warning their peers and rulers. Perhaps in this context, Jean was inspiring a generation, and we should not worry about carrying forward this vision like some kind of vision for the future.
  7. Let us just leave it to God.

Islam and the voice of the Spirit…

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quran

If you follow particular streams in the blogosphere, then you will notice how themes emerge- particular issues that crop up here and there. Not surprising really, as we are attracted to those with like interests, and new ideas are viral. At worst this can feel like self congratulatory hot air.

But sometimes there is a feeling that issues arise that are beyond merely like minded people feeding off one another. Some things just feel important, and right- I suppose you could say that there is something of the Spirit mixed in there- speaking into this time and place.

I have this feeling about all the discussion about how we as Christians should engage with Muslim brothers and sisters.

So we see Brian McLaren joining in with the festival of Ramadan, and blogging his experience, along with the chorus of vitriol being aimed at him from fellow Christians.

Check out this excellent and provocative podcast by Samir Salmanovic, called ‘finding our God in the other.‘

TallSkinnyKiwi reported some thoughts about this issue by John Azumah. This is what Azumah has to say

One of the crucial issues facing Christians around the world today is finding the right balance in our response to the various challenges posed by Islam and engagement with Muslims. The quest for an appropriate Christian response to Islam and engagement with Muslims has sadly polarized Christians along evangelical vs. liberal, truth vs. grace, or confrontational vs. conciliatory lines.

As an African, my own struggle is the way these positions are presented as absolutes in either/or categories. In the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City (9/11), the Iraq war, the Madrid bombings, etc., the division among Christians has deepened. Reflecting on the situation, Joseph Cummings talks of a titanic struggle going on in the heavenly realms—a struggle not between Muslims and Christians or between Islam and the West, but “a struggle within Christianity itself, a struggle for the soul of the Christian faith.”1

What Cummings is suggesting, and I couldn’t agree more, is that Islam per se is not necessarily the greatest challenge facing Christians today, but rather how Christians choose to respond to Islam. There seems to be a general consensus that we should be talking about Christian responses rather than “response” to Islam.

I tend to agree- for the following reasons-

There is a perception (which I think is far more imaged than real) of a western democratic capitalism under direct attack from Islamic extremism. Terrorist attacks in New York and London, despotic regimes in Iran and Afghanistan, Israel surrounded by Islamic cultures that breed terror and appear to place no value on the life of innocents.

There is truth here. Islamic terrorists have killed and maimed. Islamic governments seeking to reinstate a primitive version of Sharia law have indeed behaved in despicable ways. Israel has been under attack from neighbouring states since 1948.

But- anyone who seeks to look behind the tabloid headlines will be forced to acknowledge the possibility of contradictory evidence and perspectives. Of thousands killed by western soldiers fighting what has all the appearance of a Crusade against the heathen hordes. Raining down techno-terror on villages and refugee camps. Manipulating and propping up despotic regimes in order to keep the oil taps wide open and flowing westwards. You may look at the sheer numbers of dead Muslims killed by both fellow Muslims and the armies of the West, and compare this to our own losses, terrible as each loss is.

We may also be forced to remember a historical perspective that takes and honest look back at the development of our own modern Christian states- of politics of hate fueled by extremist Christians- hate against heretics, or people with black skins. Civil wars, inquisitions and Pogroms. Of how Sharia compares to Puritanical fervours of our own, and how distorted versions of Jihad can be compared to concepts of a Just War.

Some would also point us to the vacant role left in the international power play by the collapse of Communism- and the need to replace the reds under the bed with… something other, external, alien and less than human, wearing a semtex vest and carrying a copy of the Qu’ran. Something to distract and unify us behind our Governments- according to the conspiracy theorists at least.

But despite this, a rather warped but pervasive view of all things Muslim, and all things Islamic, persists. Perhaps this is because of our ignorance. Ignorance of Islamic faith, and Muslim culture. Ignorance of the rich and wonderful cultural heritage. Ignorance of the serial injustice that some Muslim people have experienced for generations, and of how this has been the fertile subsoil for extremism.

And where ignorance and distorted views of reality interact with a Christian faith that demonises rather than seeks to understand, I start to feel that we Christians are losing the way of Jesus, and joining our lot with a different and more earthly Kingdom.

I grew up in a fairly moderate Evangelical Anglican church, and later attended a left of centre kind of charismatic free church. The general view of the Islamic faith was that it was dangerous, despicable, and a deception of the Devil from which people needed to be rescued. We needed to know nothing else- lest we somehow become infected.

Well I no longer fear infection. I rather fear distortion, and accommodation with (oh the irony) our very own Babylon.

Because we Christians are called to live with our faces towards a different way of being- to seek peace where there is war, understanding where there is ignorance, and to look for love where there is hate- to be a source of hope in times of hopelessness, and healing where there is brokenness.

Even (and perhaps in these times especially) for Muslims.

Some Grey Bloke- you tube prophet for our times!

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Came across Some Grey Bloke today and have been laughing and wincing along with him for a little while.

(WARNING- some sweary words, and perhaps just may offend the sensitive…)

So here is Some Grey Bloke on Christianity-

And just for contrast- and given our recent preoccupations in Dunoon, here is Some Grey Bloke on Swine Flu-

That familiar question- what is emerging?

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building_church1

Like many others, I have been participating in the emerging church ‘conversation’ for a few years now.

It has been wonderful.

It has transformed the way I think about and understand faith, and brought me again to a deep love of Jesus and all he calls us to.

It has brought me into contact with wonderful people who are traveling in the same direction.

It has given me a genuine hope that things are changing- that something NEW is happening.

The Lion of Judah is circling again…

But it has also brought me into conflict with others- whose core beliefs lead them to adopting different positions in relation to some of the building blocks of faith. And within me, after these years of discussing and blogging and reading- I also wonder where we are up to with this thing.

I particularly wonder where we are up to in Scotland, 2009.

So- some questions!

Where are new forms of church emerging and in what ways are they different?

Where are the agitators, the innovators, the people who pioneer new (emerging) forms of church?

The term seems to be used too as a way for traditional churches to seek renewal. Is this genuine change, or is it merely an attempt to do the same things, but be a bit more trendy?

Where is leadership coming from? Do we need it, or is there still a reaction against centralisation and control?

How do we find mentoring and companionship? Do we still need sympathetic and skillful people who will hold us accountable? Where are these people?

These seems to me to be a difficult, but very important questions. Our reaction to them will no doubt very much depend on where we start from.

I am part of a small group of people outside established church. We meet in houses and celebrate in non-religious environments. We form partnerships where we can, and have many friends, and some folk who view us with at best considerable suspicion! Groups like ours have many advantages- freedom, mobility, passion and excitement. But they are also fragile and ephemeral. They tend to depend on a small group of innovators, and are held together by friendship. When the storms begin (as the surely will) many things can simply destroy such gatherings.

This may be the natural order of things. Perhaps what survives is what is of worth. But perhaps too, like me, you are hungry for connection and for ways to seek and to provide support. Perhaps you are facing a difficult situation, and just need to speak to someone who has been there before.

Perhaps too you are, or have been, part of church situations where you no longer feel at home, New ideas and ways of doing things are in your mind, but the leadership of the place where you are is not open to such things. Perhaps what you need is to find others who have adventured still within such a situation.

There is a discussion thread that digs into some of these things on the Emerging Scotland site.

Saul of Tarsus- he was only human… wasn’t he?

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Interesting discussion in housegroup the other night.

We are continuing with a study on Acts of the Apostles as part of the Exilio study, and we are up to chapters 25 and 26. It is in this passage that Paul manages to offend the Jews (again) and they get the Roman Governor to throw him into prison.

rembrandt-saint-paul-in-prison

This is not a new thing, Paul has been on the end of imprisonments and beatings in just about every town across the region. Each time, it works out for the best in the end.

But this time, when he is offered a trial, he does something he has not done before- he appeals to Caesar.

Paul was a Roman Citizen. We do not know how he acquired this status, but according to Wikipedia (so it must be true) citizenship was granted for one of the following reasons

  • Roman citizenship was granted automatically to every male child born in a legal marriage of a Roman citizen.
  • Freed slaves were given a limited form of Roman citizenship; they were still obliged in some aspects to their former owner who automatically became their patron.
  • The sons of freed slaves became full citizens.
  • Auxilia were rewarded with Roman citizenship after their term of service. Their children also became citizens.
  • Only Roman citizens could enlist in the Roman Legion. However an enlisted Roman legionary was deprived of many of his rights. He could not legally marry, and therefore all his children born during his military service were denied citizenship, unless and until he married their mother after his discharge.
  • Some individuals received Roman citizenship as a reward for outstanding service to Rome.
  • One could also buy citizenship, but at a very high price.
  • People who were from the Latin states were gradually granted citizenship.
  • Rome gradually granted citizenship to whole provinces; the third-century Constitutio Antoniniana granted it to all free male inhabitants of the Empire.

It iseems clear that in acquiring and then using  his rights as a full Roman Citizen, Paul was pulling rank. I wonder if in some way he was taking a step back- no longer being Paul, but rather reverting to Saul…

Citizenship seemed to involve swimming in some murky waters;

Roman citizenship was also used as a tool of foreign policy and control. Colonies and political allies would be granted a “minor” form of Roman citizenship, there being several graduated levels of citizenship and legal rights (the Latin Right was one of them). The promise of improved standing within the Roman “sphere of influence”, and the rivalry for standing with one’s neighbours, kept the focus of many of Rome’s neighbours and allies centered on the status quo of Roman culture, rather than trying to subvert or overthrow Rome’s influence.

The granting of citizenship to allies and the conquered was a vital step in the process of Romanization. This step was one of the most effective political tools and (at that point in history) original political ideas (perhaps one of the most important reasons for the success of Rome).

As a precursor to this, Alexander the Great had tried to “mingle” his Macedonians and other Greeks with the Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, etc in order to assimilate the people of the conquered Persian Empire, but after his death this policy was largely ignored by his successors. The idea was to assimilate, to turn a defeated and potentially rebellious enemy (or his sons) into a Roman citizen. Instead of having to wait for the unavoidable revolt of a conquered people (a tribe or a city-state) like Sparta and the conquered Helots, Rome made the “known” (conquered) world Roman.

There is the rather telling line in Acts 26 in which Festus suggests that Paul had done nothing wrong, and so would have been free to go, had he not have appealed to Caesar.

Paul was never free again after this point.

So- the question that hit me was whether in playing this political game, Paul got it wrong somehow. Perhaps he stopped relying on God, and the rollercoaster ride of following the Spirit into the missional life he was called to.

Because he was human. We easily forget this, I think as we read the accounts of his life in Acts, and as we live out doctrine based on his inspired writings. But there are enough hints of his human frailty despite the esteem in which he is described. The falling out with other people, the ‘thorn in his flesh’.

But if we can read the Roman Citizenship thing in this way- it seems harsh. Almost as if God is vengeful, merciless towards the mistakes of Paul, his faithful but imperfect servant. Is this a God you recognise?

It kind of reminds me of Pilgrims Progress, by Bunyan- a work that I have always disliked. Pilgrim has a road laid out before him, and should he step off this road- should he make the wrong turn, then he is in for trouble…

The fact is, this way of understanding the life of faith is just too deterministic. Almost as if Paul lived out a life of micro cause and effect, making choices like moving chess pieces, leading to sacred or profane consequences.

Almost as if God has mapped out a plan- a pre-determined track for each of our lives, and our task in life is to find it, and stumble along taking the utmost care to stay on this path at all costs…

footrpints

If this is not true, then how does God interact or respond to our choices? Is he just a (mostly) benign presence watching from afar as we, the ephemera, live out our little lives?

I think that this view of God neither matches the account from the Bible, nor my own experience.

I have come to believe that life is indeed about choice- decisions made in the presence of the Spirit of God, as we move through the difficult terrain of life. Some things go bad. But the Spirit is still there, still prompting and calling us on to a higher deeper way of loving others and serving the Kingdom.

And some decisions have consequences that go beyond the immediate situation. Does that mean that we can count on miraculous intervention by Angels to rescue us? I do not think so. But then again…

But if not, it is perhaps good to remember that the mission of Paul began anew- on a journey to Rome, and through the wonderful letters written to early outposts of the Kingdom that survive today.

Kindness- as a measure of spiritual maturity

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Another great collection on Radio 4’s start the week programme. Listen again to it here.

There was this fascinating discussion about KINDNESS, relating to this new book, co written by a psycho analyst Adam Philips  and Historian Barbara Taylor.

on-kindness

They appear to take the view that our society has retreated from kindness as a way of interacting and engaging with the people around us. We assume that we are no longer inter-dependent and needful of others, and so kindness becomes identified with a kind of weakness and vulnerability.

They go as far as to suggest that we tend naturally towards kindness, but learn to suppress this as we grow into our culture. All Kindness, suggests Philips, is a RISK- but a risk that is transformative in the taking.

There is a review of this book in Guardian by Mary Warnock where she says this

Kindness to others arises out of sympathy. As the authors note, there is much evidence that other animals besides human beings (or “men” as they properly designate them) can enter into the sufferings and fears of others of their kind. But it is human animals alone who, because of their imaginative powers, can enter into the feelings of other people far removed from them, whom they cannot see or touch, but whose plight as fellow-humans they can share

In the Gospel of St Luke, a lawyer is told by Jesus that to live well he must love his neighbour as himself and, when he further asks who is to count as his neighbour, Jesus answers with the story of the good Samaritan, for many the very essence of Christianity. Kindness here arose spontaneously, not in obedience to any rule, in fact in defiance of convention. But as Christianity became increasingly ecclesiastical and hierarchical, with the consequent corruption of the priesthood, the good Samaritan was forgotten.

The new Protestantism declared man to be fundamentally sinful, such good actions as he could do dependent on the grace of God; and so the possibility of natural kindness disappeared.

So we come back to Jesus, and his call to live for a radically different agenda, according to the rules of a New Kingdom. And one of the watch-words of this new kingdom- is kindness.

It is one of those fruit listed by Paul as evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (See here for some more ponderings on this.)

When we come into contact with kindness at a point of real need, we rarely forget it. It lives on in our souls. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians- all sorts of other loud and visible manifestations of faith will clang like gongs and then fall silent- but love will last for ever.

Which makes me think again about the myth of the super-Christian. I am interested in the stature aquired and the adoration we give to some of our leaders- perhaps for their charisma, their vision or their oratory power. When one of these paragons of Christianity falls from Grace, how dreadful it seems… how shocking.

Might this be because we measure spirituality according to a strange criteria? We equate knowledge with understanding, declaration with practice and power with ordination from on high.

Might we best return to a simple measure- of kindness shown, and a skew towards grace in all things. These are the leaders I look for. Jesus has ruined the others for me!

Why should the Devil have all the good apples?

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wassail3

Apparently, in the old orchards of Somerset and Devon, we are entering Wassailing season- traditionaly 12th night (5th January.)

A lovely word is wassailing- thought to be from the old Norse influenced English- meaning ‘good health’. It rolls on the tongue like scrumpy.

Which is kind of appropriate, as the most common use of the word concerns an old tradition of ceremonies of song and dance and drinking to bless the apple trees, warding off evil spirits and willing the tree to produce a crop for the coming year.

Wassailing also is a word used to describe carol singing in the streets, around new year, and also seems to have been a time when feudal masters were celebrated by their subjects, in response to their seasonal munificence.

The origins of these ceremonies have all been lost in time, but they seem to have more than a whiff of the Pagan about them. The old festivals of the passing of the winter equinox, and the hope of a coming spring. The early Church, as with other festivals, embraced it, and made it Christian. The songs of the wassailers became ones seeking the blessing of God.

So the most well known Wassailing song is this one;

Here we come a wassailing
among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering
So fair to be seen.

Chorus:
Love and joy come to you
and to your good Christmas too
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year
And God send you a happy New Year.

We are not daily beggars
that beg from door to door,
We are your neighbor’s children
whom you have seen before.

Chorus

We have got a little purse
of stretching leather skin;
We want a little money
to line it well within.

Chorus

God bless the master of this house,
likewise the mistress, too,
And all the little children
that round the table go.

Chorus

So- why on earth am I going on about this, I hear you ask?

Well, I have been part of groups of charismatic Christians who have tended to understand spirituality as a warfare, first and foremost. So all things come to be measured according to what significance they might have within this unseen war.

This insight is an important one. In Pauls letter to the Ephesians, we read this famous passage-

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

An understanding flowing from these passages has led to a rejection of anything that has a hint of alternative spirituality- whether this comes from other religions, or perhaps even more so when Pagan traditions are invoked.

People seemed to express real fear that exposure to such things could in some way corrupt or damage us- we could be affected by a ‘Spirit-of….’, which could only be dealt with by those who practice deliverance ministry-releasing us from the bondage of evil influence on our lives.

This view of the world and the many things within it can lead to an intense exclusivity and isolation. Whatever the truth of the spiritual powers understood or suspected (and I should confess to a skepticism in some cases at least!) then I think it important to remember that like the festivals noted above, the early church seemed to have a very different way of working with the traditions and cultural symbols that they encountered.

Paul and the temple to the unknown God, recorded in Acts.

Peter and the Gentiles- the sheet from Heaven etc.

The establishment of early Christian shrines on pre-Christian religious sites that appears to have been common practice.

The example of the early Celtic Church and the use of pre-Christian images and symbols and practices to celebrate the new faith.

Is this corruption or syncretism? I do not think so. Accommodation with a spirituality that is damaging is indeed something that we should guard against- but boxing ourselves into fearful religious enclaves- this seems to me to be even more damaging.

We live in a post-Christian world here in the west, and increasingly, the world around us draws it’s spirituality from outside the Christian tradition. Like those early Celtic missionaries, we have no choice but to engage with this reality. The question that should concern us is how we bring Jesus with us as we move into an alien landscape. How do we live as Agents of the Kingdom in this foreign land?

So on this 12th night, let us put on the armour of the Living God and walk tall- secure in the knowledge that before Him, nothing will stand.

Why should the Devil have all the good apples?