Tuesday 29 March 2011
Bible reading programme (2)
Part 2 of our Bible reading programme at WCF, that will take us from April to the end of June, is now avaiable online here, if you're interested....
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Church, but not as we know it....
Well, we're now into a week of readings in the book of Acts, giving us a snapshot of life in the early church. There is clearly a gap between the picture of church life presented in Acts and what most of us experience now. What I find fascinating is how different Christians define that gap.
For some, the gap is all about our experience of the supernatural, the work of the Holy Spirit. Linked to that (but not always), for others, the gap is all about evangelistic effectiveness and boldness in witness. Equally, for others it's all about the common life of the early church, their commitment to narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Or it's about their willingness to break out of their comfort zones and take the gospel cross-culturally.
The point is that we tend to read our own priorities back into the New Testament, here as in so many places. It seems to me that when we take the lenses of our own preferences off, it's about all these things and more besides. What we need more and more to learn to do is to let our reading of Scripture shape our preferences and not the other way round.
For some, the gap is all about our experience of the supernatural, the work of the Holy Spirit. Linked to that (but not always), for others, the gap is all about evangelistic effectiveness and boldness in witness. Equally, for others it's all about the common life of the early church, their commitment to narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Or it's about their willingness to break out of their comfort zones and take the gospel cross-culturally.
The point is that we tend to read our own priorities back into the New Testament, here as in so many places. It seems to me that when we take the lenses of our own preferences off, it's about all these things and more besides. What we need more and more to learn to do is to let our reading of Scripture shape our preferences and not the other way round.
Friday 4 March 2011
A dirty word...
Going through Mark's gospel in our Bible reading programme, one of the things that comes out from very early on is Jesus' authority; authority to teach, authority over sickness and the demonic, over the weather and the natural world, authority to call people to follow Him.
Even as you come into the final week of Jesus' life, whether in cleansing the Temple, or even in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is so often the one in charge, rebuking the one who struck off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Authority is a bit of a dirty word nowadays; it's there to be kicked against, rebelled against. And frankly, more often than not, my sympathies lie with the rebel, the one who stands up to authority rather than with those who exercise it. I guess it's what comes of having been born post-1960!
The thing about Jesus' authority is that it is authority of relationship, not of status as such. And it comes out of His submission - to His Father's will in Gethsemane, and to His understanding of the Scriptures (see eg Mark 14:49). The fact is, we all desire to have more authority; maybe not status as such, but the ability to take control of our circumstances, for instance. The irony seems to be that authority of that kind comes out of submitting to a higher authority - the highest authority, God's. To reign you have to submit, to gain control you have to let go.
Even as you come into the final week of Jesus' life, whether in cleansing the Temple, or even in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is so often the one in charge, rebuking the one who struck off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Authority is a bit of a dirty word nowadays; it's there to be kicked against, rebelled against. And frankly, more often than not, my sympathies lie with the rebel, the one who stands up to authority rather than with those who exercise it. I guess it's what comes of having been born post-1960!
The thing about Jesus' authority is that it is authority of relationship, not of status as such. And it comes out of His submission - to His Father's will in Gethsemane, and to His understanding of the Scriptures (see eg Mark 14:49). The fact is, we all desire to have more authority; maybe not status as such, but the ability to take control of our circumstances, for instance. The irony seems to be that authority of that kind comes out of submitting to a higher authority - the highest authority, God's. To reign you have to submit, to gain control you have to let go.
Wednesday 2 March 2011
Oh dear
Well, maybe the issues around the recent judgement on fostering and Christian views of sexuality aren't so straightforward after all. Or at least, maybe the judgement isn't as clear cut as orginally presented. At least that's the view of some Christians who have studied the judgement see here, and here, for example. Others, meanwhile are still concerned, albeit for different reasons.
Hmm. Where does that all leave us? First, if it is true that Christians, for whatever reason are deliberately reporting this in a sensationalist manner, that is a cause for concern. Second, whatever the facts about this particular case it does highlight the tensions that arise when everything in public life is framed around questions of "rights". Inevitably, someone else's rights will conflict with mine at some point, and if in some way or other, society opts to prefer one set of rights over the other, someone will be unhappy. Maybe Christians have got too used to other people being unhappy for too long. For all that, there are some important questions here about how we bring up children, that the Bishop of Croydon highlights on his blog. Once the dust has settled on this case, I'm sure it won't be long before a similar one comes out of the woodwork.
Hmm. Where does that all leave us? First, if it is true that Christians, for whatever reason are deliberately reporting this in a sensationalist manner, that is a cause for concern. Second, whatever the facts about this particular case it does highlight the tensions that arise when everything in public life is framed around questions of "rights". Inevitably, someone else's rights will conflict with mine at some point, and if in some way or other, society opts to prefer one set of rights over the other, someone will be unhappy. Maybe Christians have got too used to other people being unhappy for too long. For all that, there are some important questions here about how we bring up children, that the Bishop of Croydon highlights on his blog. Once the dust has settled on this case, I'm sure it won't be long before a similar one comes out of the woodwork.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Fostering tolerance...?
Yesterday's High Court judgement about the suitability of a Christian couple as Foster carers because of their views on homosexuality is a cause for concern. I must admit that there are many of these cases that have made the press recently where, in all honesty, I'm not sure where my sympathies lie. Where, it looks like some Christians have a victim mentality, or seem to do their best to come across as narrow minded with an unhealthy focus on sex.
But this seems different. The ruling seems to suggest that holding orthodox Christian views about sexuality makes you somehow unfit to care for children of a certain age. Now I don't claim any expertise on this, and certainly don't want to jump on any hyper-conservative bandwagon; however this is troubling. As always, some helpful comment at the Jubilee Centre website...espcially interesting as they had previously suggested that the Christian B&B owners who were in the news last month were in the wrong (and I happen to sympathise with them on this). I've no doubt this won't be the last we hear on this.
But this seems different. The ruling seems to suggest that holding orthodox Christian views about sexuality makes you somehow unfit to care for children of a certain age. Now I don't claim any expertise on this, and certainly don't want to jump on any hyper-conservative bandwagon; however this is troubling. As always, some helpful comment at the Jubilee Centre website...espcially interesting as they had previously suggested that the Christian B&B owners who were in the news last month were in the wrong (and I happen to sympathise with them on this). I've no doubt this won't be the last we hear on this.
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