Tag Archives: church

The Underground Railway…

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In response to Brian McLaren’s event in Glasgow (mentioned in my previous post- here), here is an excerpt from part of a book called ‘Blue-dark’, available here.

I reproduce it as a kind of mission statement- a reminder of what I set myself towards.

I have a feeling I may have posted this before, but for my own sake at least, I think it is worth saying again!

The term ‘underground railroad’ was first used in relation to an organisation of people who helped slaves escape from the American south to the northern states who had declared against slavery.

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In the dark days of the Third Reich, when the whole of Europe was under the heel of dictatorship, still there was a remnant. There were men and women who were uncontaminated by circumstance, and emboldened by passions born of a different Kingdom. Sleeping now like spring in winter were memories of better times now gone. And with the sleep came dreams of justice for the oppressed, liberation for captives, and ministry to the sick and the lame and the alien in a conquered land.

Ordinary people – just like you and me, in an extraordinary situation, performing simple acts of heroism, in the face of certain prosecution and possible death. At first they were loud in their outrage, but hard lessons taught caution and subterfuge, and so they went underground.

And quietly, in the shadows, they grew bolder, and found that they were not alone. Many people opened up their lives and their homes, and began to gather the unlovely and the unloved, to give food, and warmth and shelter. They found others who still kept the light alive. And so they formed a network. No-one knew the whole of this network – the overall plan was less important than the simplicity of saving those immediately at risk. But almost by some hidden hand, Jews, gypsies, gentiles, escaped soldiers, political undesirables – all were passed down the line – closer to freedom, closer to the other Kingdom.

So was born a time of heroes.

And the Underground Railway…

I think that we are called to live what we believe.

And to believe in how we live.

It sounds simple, but so few do. Jesus said that when we are born again in him, we become new creations. The old parts of us are dead and gone, and the new person is made in His image. This means that we become more like him.

More passionate
More compassionate
More holy
More real
More loving
More merciful
More open
More hungry for justice
More whole
More like a child
More willing to go for it!

Less selfish
Less concerned about earthly security
Less proud
Less jealous of what others have
Less carnal
Less judging of others
Less earthbound
Less empty.

So what gets in the way? Why is it that the old habits drag me down? It is almost as if the old man, who is dead, rises in me like a corpse and fills me with the smell of death.

And somehow this becomes normal. It becomes culturally acceptable. We see it all around us, in both the secular and the so-called sacred. Jesus told us to enter through the narrow gate, because the alternative is broad and easy, but leads to destruction. Narrow is the way to life, and only a few find it (Matt 7: 13-14).

He was never much into going with the flow.

What would it be like to live what we believe? It would mean loving God, and loving others. Simple.

Unlearning lots of layers of stuff that get between us and Him, between us and people.

I believe it is possible. Because I have seen it. I have seen men changed. I have felt it. I am not the same.

And I am not my own – I belong to a different kingdom. This kingdom has different rules and has a different culture.

So I decided to set myself again to live what I believe. I became less tolerant of the smell of death, and instead went for life, and laughter, and freedom. Like Lazarus, I walked to the mouth of the tomb, and looked out.

And I began to see a world full of different colours. It brought me to tears, but still I wanted to sing praise songs, redemption songs, songs of freedom.

But also, I saw again the people all about me through new eyes. Some were broken almost beyond repair, at least in this world. Others were hungry, others were homeless. And here and there were people captured by addictions and close to death. Many of them had been inoculated against God by their experience of religion. It was almost as if he was giving me a window into their souls. And my heart broke open.

I decided that it was wrong, and something needed to be done. But it is hard to go against the culture, to swim against the tide.

What is needed, I thought, is an underground railway…

(From ‘Blue Dark, 2006, by Chris Goan)

Starbucks, learning from church??

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Terry sent me a link to this- which raised a few painful chuckles.

Painful as it was very familiar!

Not quite sure what point they are making though. Is the issue about image and presentation? Do we just need to be hipper and more trendy? I thought this had been tried, and had not worked, at least in the UK. Perhaps we are just not trendy enough? Perhaps we aimed at Starbucks but got stuck somewhere in a 1950’s milk bar?

Perhaps too the church in America is a bit different- they can still count on large numbers of folk who go every Sunday, even though numbers are going down there also.

For my part, I think that church as an institution does need change. But perhaps the real issue is that we Christians need to change the way we live out faith, rather than the way we institutionalise it…

The clip above seems to be challenging the church to market itself better. Is this what we should be about? Sure, I can see the wisdom of being creative and relevant in how engage with the world around us, but I still feel uncomfortable with the idea of ‘church marketing’.

I think this relates to a certain extent to New Labour, and ‘spin’. In 1997, I was euphoric along with many others as the Labour government swept aside the Tories and finally came into government. They had finally found themselves a winning formula that was eminently marketable, just as the Conservatives seemed to degenerate into a sleeze jelly.

But ideology, passion, reality- all seems to have been subordinated to spin. The message was lost in the marketing.

But I also feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of church as ‘corporation’.

Church is (or I think SHOULD be) a collective of activists, whose rules of engagement are counter cultural, as well as intra cultural. We are called out, to seek and to save. To liberate captives and bring sight where there is blindness.

Marketing techniques, whose aim is to attract more people in, to build up the corporation- nope, not for me I think…

Church: as garden, park, glen and meadow…

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the-church-in-emerging-culture

I have been reading this book- ‘The church in emerging culture’, ed Leonard Sweet. It takes a look at where church is up to from 5 perspectives- Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Fredrica Mathewes-Green, Brian McLaren and Erwin McManus.

I have lost my way with it a little- more because of the format I think. Each person writes a chapter, then the other authors get a chance to put in footnotes and comments. I like the idea, but in practice, it makes for a strange book- lots of the comments are congratulatory, or disagreeing whilst being terribly nice.

However, there is an introduction by Leonard Sweet in which he uses this image to make us think about the different ways of being church. I have simplified (because I had to- the bloke it too clever for me!) the discussion, and reproduce it here.

What do you think? Is this a good analogy?

I suppose the interesting thing is that flowers and fruit grow in all of these places- and they can all be very beautiful…

Garden- traditional church?formal-garden

An ‘enclosure’- fenced off enclave of righteousness. Rooted in traditions. Collaboration between divine gardener (God), master gardeners (ministers) and horticulturalists (theologians), along with the canonical seasons.

Fruit and flowers grow and are appreciated.

The outside of the garden is of little concern. The garden is shaped and hallowed.

The garden demands that we walk slowly, prune quickly, earn the flowers by hard work- composting them well with the goodness distilled from previous generations.

Alien seeds are not tolerated. Constant struggle to win back the garden from the encroachment of time and surrounding wilderness.

Park- evangelical church?phoenix-park

Made for walking. Tied together by paths and vistas. Taking the old story of nature, and reforming it in new ways.

Rather than setting up high barriers, the park regulates the space by RULES. It is open to visitors at appointed times and under the supervision of park-keepers.

Technology and innovation are employed in parks- fountains, play areas- things that attract visitors.

The park manager decides which features to include in the park, borrowing from a wide variety of flora and fauna- but does not do so uncritically- always striving to work within the opportunities given by landscape and tradition.

Glen- progressive church?welcome-to-glen-clova-scotland

The glen is an open and unprotected, surrounded by encroaching vegetation and forest.

It is defined by the relationship between landscape and soil fertility that allows settlement. The edges of the glen- its crags and steep slopes, require hard work to navigate. People avoid these places because of the fear of falling.

Glen dwellers revel in the mystery of the seed and season. They travel in packs of people of group consciousness. They are concerned with the cultivation of food from the land to feed the hungry, not about the beauty of gardens and parklands.

In the garden, you are what your parents planted- here, you are what your seeds become…

The people of the glen have to be highly adaptable and innovative to survive. The thin soil easily washes away, and new production methods have to be embraced.

However, in the Glen, tradition is powerful. People are more likely to look backwards than forwards. The reformers often seek to purify what already exists…

The meadow- emerging church?meadow-grass-blue-flowers

A tract of moist grassland where flowers and grasses grow in profusion- all muddled together. There are also boggy places with fragile mosses and lichens. Willows and shrubs also grow there. They just happen. They are not managed by humans. The are rich in botanical (theological) diversity.

They are what first grows after devastation- for example, a forest fire.

Meadows are then inventive, creative and developmental.

The plants that grow in the meadow are intermingled and to some extent dependent. A Flax will never become a meadowsweet, but they will grow side by side. Beauty is evident in each. Fruit grows amid flowers and weeds.

Dwellers in the meadow are not interested in rules or doctrines- but rather in images and relationships and stories that bring people together.

There may be no easy, well trodden paths, but the meadow invites you to run through it bare foot. In this way, every generation can cut its own path. Every generation can turn from a world in which we have tried to garden everything and walk free.

In the meadow, all parties are active, none are passive.

In the meadow, there is a high rate of invention, but a high rate of failure. Plants come for a while, but die away to be replaced by other plants, as the soil conditions and moisture levels change.

Three weddings and a flash of the blindingly obvious…

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civil-wedding

We have been away in Staffordshire at a wedding this weekend- a friend of ours from student days called Gaynor, and it was great to see her so obviously happy and in love with her now husband, Chris. They became an ‘item’ on a trip up north to visit us, so all the better.

This is our third wedding of the year- all of them lovely, all of them very different. John and Fiona’s wedding in a idyllic highland chapel- a Christian ceremony, full of their own faith and hopes for the future. Then there was my brother-in-law Chris’s wedding to Emma in a Unitarian chapel. It was another lovely family ceremony, led very well by a minister, and a chance for them to make their commitment to one another before God and man (and woman of course.)

Gaynor and Chris’s wedding was an entirely civil affair- held in an old converted barn, presided over by a representative of the hotel, with a registrar in attendance. God was not mentioned, but I think he was as happy as we were to see them committing themselves to one another. There is something good and whole and lovely about two people finding one another and learning to love.

So- three weddings. One Christian, one Unitarian and one civil. May they all be blessed with long and happy lives together.

I found myself asking familiar questions again about the place of faith in the lives of those of us who live in 21st Century Britain.

For some time it seems the Christian church has had its place as a marker of life’s transitions- births deaths and marriages. For some (like John and Fiona) a live faith means that this is a natural decision. For others, the church offers a solemnity and tradition that also has its place.

But many others see this tradition as irrelevant to how they might live their lives. They might seek their own spiritual path outside the traditional Christian Church, like Chris and Emma. Or they might celebrate their life together with friends in a civil ceremony, like Gaynor and Chris- an honest and faithful statement that does not need church, and church has no honest part of the rest of life.

Now none of this is a surprise. For me, the decline in the centrality of the institution of church is not even necessarily a reason for mourning- although it could be argued even by those who have no faith that the loss of church as an anchor and facilitator for society is potentially problematic- as nothing else seems to be taking over. I have mentioned old Durkheim and the concept of ‘anomie’ before (here.)

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So what about my little eureka moment? Well during the wedding, I think I found myself smacked between the eyes by a bit of an evangelical cliche.

I missed Jesus so much.

Not the Christian wedding ceremony- or church- but simply the person of Jesus.

I took me by surprise, as for some time, I have journeyed into an understanding of the Kingdom of God, and the image of God in people, that made me increasingly aware of how God is present and participating in places that we Christian’s have often regarded as Godless and secular.

But here I found myself again longing to hear the words of Jesus- longing for the words of the sermon on the mount to fall again like manna.

And for my friends to believe again in the possibility of a better way- not because it would make them (or me) better, but rather because if we set our faces to living this way, then the world could indeed be changed forever.

Renovation as a spiritual discipline…

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This week I am on annual leave, and am taking the opportunity to do some work on the house.

Our house is old and well lived in so is always in need of renovation and repair. When time, energy and money allows, I will start a project, and work like a slave until it is done. I get stressed as I feel responsible for getting the thing finished.

This time, however, things are different- as I am the understudy to a craftsman.

Michaela’s uncle is up here to upgrade the plumbing.  This involves ripping out a massive inefficient old boiler that is asthmatic and rusty, and virtually rebuilding the boiler room around a sleek and compact new model. We will then rip out the old hot water tank, which is surrounded by a network of pipes- many of which are redundant.

What we will be left with is something that still burns the same gas, but quite a bit less of it, and will provide the house with heat and hot water just like the old one- only it will be reliable, and cleaner.

And after a day testing my bad back carrying huge bits of old plumbing, and sawing and drilling, I am tired, but not stressed. I am working with a man who has been a plumber for 40 plus years. There is next to nothing he does not know about pipes and plungers. And he has pride in a job not just done, but well done.

So, this left me thinking…

We, the church, are in need also of constant renovation. Some (perhaps me sometimes) would even wish to demolish and rebuild. Houses are to be lived in, and as we live in them, they become tired and worn. Plumbing leaks and boilers break down.

Technology brings new innovations- new gadgets and household appliances, new ways of using space, and so the building evolves and changes- or it’s value will plummet, and it might find itself only fit for selling on to property developers, or- dereliction and demolition.

But- people still need a roof- a place of warmth and shelter, where family can be nurtured and loved.

So renovation- which is born of hope, nurtured in vision and achieved through hard work, broken finger nails and skinned knuckles.

And as we renovate- how we need to learn under skilled craftsmen- men who need to prove nothing, and take no personal glory from the acts of resurrection they release. Rather the quiet satisfaction of a life lived well.

Leadership in the new context, lessons for post-charismatics…

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There are many questions to be asked in the wake of the so called  ‘Lakeland outpouring’. I asked some of them here but I came across the post below on the ‘subversive influence’ blog. Check it out…

Reinterpreting the Lakeland Fallout : Subversive Influence

Because, I very much agree- the issue is not really about Todd Bentley- but it is about leadership. It is about the power and control we give to (or is taken by) Christian leaders- who are seemingly unassailable because they are seen as anointed from on high, and are perhaps supported by the machinery of a spiritual institution that is all powerful, at least to it’s members.

For people like me, who no longer feel inclined to ally myself closely with movements like these, it might be easy to step back into our small groupings and feel all superior. After all, we knew this was going to happen didn’t we?

But we are at a turning point in the history of the Christian Church in the west, at least. The old is shrinking, and the new is… well where exactly?

Is the church emerging? Is something new being built that will become the proclaimers of the Kingdom of God in this new context?

I hope so, but we have a long way to go yet- and it seems to me that like any other human organisation, our new church will experience conflict, broken relationships and lack of clear direction…

Jesus Promised us the Holy Spirit, as comforter and guide. But it seems that he has also always used LEADERS… and  we who have been part of whatever the ’emerging church conversation’ is now going to call itself desperately need leaders.

Brother Maynard said this;

My informal appeal to post-charismatic and missional bloggers for the month of September might be to spend some time thinking and writing on the forms of leadership (apostolic or otherwise) which we need to see in the church today. What characterizes this form of leadership? How do we recognize leaders, and how is their authority derived and exercised?

Well I am a month late- it is now October, but I will belatedly attempt to take up the challenge!

Leaders.

They have to be big strong accomplished and invulnerable don’t they? They have to charismatic and Charismatic, attractive and attractional, visionary and focussed. Leaders are focussed on goals and strategic targets- and the organisation of resources (money and people) towards the achievement of these.

Except I think that this kind of leadership no longer works. It is no longer works for me. It makes me want to walk in another direction. My context is Post-Christian semi-rural Scotland, and our attempts to engage with our neighbours in a place where church has a poor reputation, and for most, little relevance.

Before I go on, I had better describe something of where I live, work and worship…

I live in a small town, but I am still connected to friends who live in urban situations. I am used to management in my working life (which always seems to me to be a very different thing from leadership) and now find myself within a small community with no designated ‘leader’, with all the strengths and weaknesses that this leaves us with.

We are small. We seek to be partners with others, not competitors. Our ambitions are shaped by bringing our limitations and strengths together, offering them to God and asking him to use them. So for us, leadership remains very much like facilitation- taking a loose agenda and encouraging one another to take some risks. The true leaders are those who are prepared to take a slightly larger risk, whilst always seeking to put the love for others before the task at hand…

Tensions are manageable, but painful. People’s commitment to the group is based on relationship, so the very existence of our project demands that we look after one another.

For us, this sort of works- most of the time. I suppose it kind of fits our characters, the context that we have grown out of, and the time and energy our group members have to spare. There is a kind of core group, but a lot of others who are less involved, and might or might not see themselves as ‘members’, but still contribute to and benefit from some of the things we do.

But this kind of absence-of-leadership does not resolve all of the issues. I decided to make a list of leadership issues that apply in my own context. Forgive me if some of these are obvious- but I think that they need to be re-stated.

  1. As things get bigger, they become more complex. Does this mean that things must always be more centalised? Does the imagery of industrial or military command structures really ever fit a church context, or should leadership be best understood as a supportive network– where the comparisons are better made with web-based networking or discussion sites like Facebook or Wikiedia? Here, the issue is not control- although subscribers might have to agree to a degree of regulation. Rather it is a network based on trust and mutual commitment. LEADERSHIP in such a network seems to require a whole different set of skills- the maintenance of good communication, facilitation, ‘framing’ discussions and issues to allow others to engage and respond, providing opportunities for engagement- but not removing responsibility or using power.
  2. But power always remains an issue? There will always be power differentials. Some will always have more to say, more influence and more abilities etc. Does there need to be a way of balancing this- sharing it out? Whilst democracy might not be the aim, methods of engaging and making sure that the voices of the marginalised are moved to the centre also require leadership.
  3. We all need people to look up to. This may not always be healthy, as unrealistic expectations on both sides can emerge- but it seems to me that this network will form around people who others look to with respect. They in turn will look to others who they respect. The danger is that this system throws up more hierarchies- more Todd Bentley’s. We need to have a way of celebrating gifted individuals, whilst making sure that their giftings are not overvalued.
  4. We all need a hand on our shoulder sometimes. Finding sypathetic and understanding mentors in this network can be hard. Without mentoring, how do people grow into the new spaces that church is moving into? How are they held accountable? How is gifting recognised and encouraged?
  5. We all need to see the bigger picture. Housegroups are great, but most of us also love to meet in a larger group- to make some more noise at times, and feel part of something bigger. Internet connections are no substitute for human ones. To bring people together requires organisation. Organisations need to be led.
  6. Women, minority groups etc. can no longer be excluded, and must be encouraged. For too long, the white, male, middle class church professional has been centre stage. It’s time to share.
  7. Authority, orthodoxy and mission statements- these are corporate words, not Kingdom ones. In a network, these will still be important- but should be decentralised. People should be encouraged to work out their own understandings, within practice, not within the academy, or even the blogosphere! There might be some room for ‘big theology‘- but it should be general, and generous. The emphasis should be on ‘small theology’ (Karen Ward’s words not mine) worked out in community. Lets agree that we will disagree on much, but share most. There will always be a difference between broad PRINCIPLES and POWER STATEMENTS that rely on expert interpretations.
  8. Leadership should be judged by servanthood, not by status. Easily said, I know. But there are some things that can be done to encourage this- make some leadership positions time limited perhaps.
  9. People are always more important than projects. That is not to say that we should avoid doing stuff if it upsets people- but that we should get that 1 Corinthians 13 stuff out as a set of goggles through which we examine our programmes, lest they become resounding gongs.
  10. The roles of apostles ( and the other 5-fold ministries)? How does someone come to be called an apostle? I think that this is not a title, but a role performed by a very few- whose influence is recognised over a long period of time. These people have great responsibility, but will always be fallible and human. Let us never pretend they are super-Christians- in fact some of them will be super-human (in the sense of being all the more connected with their humanity). As for the other ministries- i wonder whether we should keep the focus LOCAL, and measure it in COMMUNITY…

I think that is enough for now…

Check out also this really interesting series by futurist guy that begins here

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Emerging church- a review from the blogosphere…

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Well, it had to happen.

The emerging church is no longer ‘the new thing’. In fact it might well now be the old thing.

Does that mean that we have now emerged, and so do not need the label or the ‘conversation’ any more?

Here are some links to blogs that wrestle with this issue- if you are interested in this issue, then these guys are well worth reading;

Jason Clark blogging at deep church

tallskinnykiwi

Scott McKnight

I have posted two earlier discussions in this vein too- here and here

So what do you think? Has the term become a liability- something to be defended, but useless as point of definition?

If so, why do I feel a sense of loss?

I think, for me, it has been a useful portal to a whole set of thoughts, challenges and concepts that have turned me upside down, but have been a real blessing in my life, and in people all around me.

It has also been a way that our small and isolated group could reach out to people in the wider world,and find support and common understanding. Does our planned but as yet unrealised) ‘Emerging Scotland Network’ (see here) need a new name even before it begins?

And if the label is dead- what next? The emerged church? The missional church? The new monastics of Dunoon/Watford/Wherever?

I suppose in others, I still wonder if this is a movement towards something, or away from something else? And whilst the journey may be life long, then there are still fellow travelers, and way side inns- otherwise who will survive the journey?

In my self, I just kind of feel that I have lost a lifeboat, and it’s back to swimming again.

So I will use the term for a little longer… how about you?

Church abuse 3

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I have posted previously about abusive situations in churches (see Church abuse and church abuse 2.)

I felt justified in focusing on such negative aspects of the people of faith as I keep coming across people who used to go to church. When I ask them to tell me their stories, my heart breaks. I have had two conversations in the last week that trod the same path.

But lest it seem as though I just want to bash church- here is something that I hope will redress the balance…

Another film from America, called ‘Lord save us from your followers’ explores the image that Christians portray to the wider US nation and finds evidence that Jesus is at work…

For more info, and a download for the film- check out this link.

Here is another short trailer…

Church abuse 2

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The stark finger of God on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

The things we do in the name of the Prince of Peace.

A friend told me a story recently of her family’s experience of church. She grew up in a very strict religious situation, with strong moral and and ethical codes for life. Her parents did their best to provide a Christian home, and her community still tried to live as they saw the Bible telling us to, for example, avoiding work or travel on the sabbath.

About 15 years ago, there was a significant split in the church over doctrine. It was an incredibly painful time for the people involved. My friend’s parents, as people of strong faith and integrity, were at the centre of it all. They were finding it so difficult, that they were considering leaving the church.

At one point they went to see the pastor, to discuss how that were feeling. The pastor told them that if they left the church (in order to attend another one) they would be leaving the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth.

The strain became so great for my friends parents that her mother had a breakdown, and ended up in psychiatric hospital. Her father had a heart attack.

The amazing thing about both my friend and her parents, is that they are all still Christians. Many people, when the scaffolding of Church is stripped away, loose faith. Our Church leadership and activities easily become the conduits through which our spirituality is expressed- the only way that we can approach God. Strip these away, and for many of us, faith goes too, at least for a while.

But the church situation above seems to me to have developed all the characteristics of an unhealthy, abusive, even toxic institution.

The sort of faith whose members Jesus called ‘a brood of vipers’. Whose religious practices brought him to such anger that he overturned tables.

This kind of Pharisaical dogmatism that places people in bondage has often been termed ‘spiritual abuse’. There are some resources available here if you want to check this out further.

In the meantime, let us remember that it is for FREEDOM that we were set free. And those of us who have been enslaved- let us reintroduce them to the table turner…

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Church is in crisis?

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This post was originally posted on the Aoradh website.

In Britain, all Church denominations are seeing decline in attendance figures. All are asking questions about what it is that we are doing, and what needs to change. Words like Postmodern and Post evangelical are used, and usually there is a suggestion that the new social context requires new expressions and practices from Church.

There is a feeling that Church is in crisis. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as we usually need crisis to create change. Crisis can be very creative. It can also be very scary and threatening, however, leading to the erection of defensive positions, and even to an Alamo mentality in some.

There is an interesting discussion in one of Brian McLarens books (The secret message of Jesus) where he talks about the crisis facing the Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus birth and early life. Jewish culture and history had been overwhelmed by an invading force. The Roman Empire had annexed Israel, and set up its headquarters in Jerusalem, the city of God. All good Jews awaited the coming of Messiah, who would overcome this evil empire and establish a new Kingdom.

But Messiah seemed to be taking his time, and in the waiting the different stratifications and sects within Judean society adopted fixed positions, partially in response to the crisis. Here are some of them

Essenes. The Essenes all but gave up on Jewish society. It was too sinful, too decadent. They withdrew to the desert, where they sought to establish new communities based on austerity, religious observance and piety. The trappings of Jewish society were spurned, and the Essenes focused their effort and attention on the study of scripture, and the coming Kingdom of Heaven.

What their response to Jesus was, it is not clear. They may have been scandalized by his engagement with ordinary life and ordinary people. They may have been appalled by his apparent party-going, feasting and drinking with unclean and debauched individuals. They may have struggled to understand what he meant by statements like The Kingdom of God is here.

Pharisees. The Pharisees were the evangelicals of their day. They espoused the strict observance of rigid religious codes and laws. They evolved complex legal systems to give shape to every situation, built from the raw material of the Laws given to Moses. Ritual purification through sacrifice and attendance at synagogue and temple was expected of all Pharisees. They also eagerly awaited Messiah, who they saw as heralding a new pure and glorious Jewish Kingdom.

For these Pharisees, the reason that Messiah did not come was because of the sinful state of the nation. Every where there was impurity. Sexual immorality, political compromise and accommodation with the enemy, unclean and unworthy people. So they set out on a mission to clean up society.

Jesus seemed to have no time for the Pharisees at all nor they for him. He seemed to be prepared to hangout with these impure and unworthy individuals, and to break all sorts of religious laws. He taught a perversion of correct doctrinal law, and kept going on about love and forgiveness.

Jesus suggested a radically different path. A radically different New Kingdom.

Herodians. The Kings Herod (there were quite a few different ones) were puppet rulers of a Roman province. Their power came from compromise and political maneuvering. They also had a dreadful reputation for debauchery, incestuous relationships, and murder. Their followers were largely the Jewish ruling class. They were pragmatic realists who may not have liked the situation that the nation found itself in, but recognized the futility of struggle, and the need for peace and stability.

Jesus threatened this stability, because people said he was Messiah. But confusingly, he did not seem to be setting himself against the Romans. He told people to continue to pay taxes, and even HEALED family members of Roman soldiers.

But there was all this talk about the NEW KINGDOM.

Zealots. The Zealots wanted the nation to rise against the oppressor. They lived with the stories of David and Jonathan, who fought in the power of God. If but a few would rise up, surely this would herald the coming of Messiah? After all, was this not the PURPOSE of Messiah?

Jesus invited a Zealot into his inner circle. A man called Judas Iscariot. He seemed to have many of the attributes of a revolutionary. But his message of peace and the loving of enemies found no allies within the ranks of the Zealots.

If there was a New Kingdom, then where was the King, and where were his armies?

Does this have any relevance to the crisis facing Church today? I think it does.

As Christians, our response to the crisis in our age may follow similar paths

  • We might seek to remove ourselves from sinful culture entirely, giving up on this world, and look to the next (like the Essenes.)
  • Or we might seek to hold back the tides of immorality and impure doctrine, to defend the faith (like the Pharisees.)
  • Or perhaps we should just realize that Church has to accommodate and compromise with the changing world about us (like the Herodians.)
  • Finally, perhaps we could fight a Guerrilla warfare against the opposition. We could start to see the enemy as less than human, and that all is fair in the holy game of war.

Our understanding of the Kingdom of God, and the PURPOSE of Church as the collective of this Kingdoms AGENTS, is also challenged by this analogy.

  • Is the Kingdom in the next world- Heaven, when we die? Or is it here, right now?
  • Is the Kingdom based on rules and purity of behaviour and doctrine? Or is it based on sinners?
  • Is the Kingdom to be forwarded by political activity and compromise? Or does it transcend earthy powers and authorities?
  • Is the Kingdom to by promoted by violence and aggression against those who do not recognize it? ( I would include aggressive marketing techniques and media attacks on other denominations, other faiths.) Or does LOVE come first in all things?
  • Is the Kingdom bigger than Church? If so, where should the agents of the Kingdom be? Where is our King?

These are questions, not answers, but I am excited. New things are happening. He is making all things new.

Church is in crisis.

Hooray.

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