Through my 4 years at theological college I began to engage this stirring in my heart, alongside a relatively new concept I was discovering called ‘social justice’. As my theology and understanding of scripture developed I could not ignore this glaring theme that not only energized my call and passion for ministry, but caused me to question, ‘I’ve spent more than 20 years growing up in the church and this was relatively new to me?’
I began getting involved with Christian groups who shared the same passion as me. While Christian Surfers and Urban Neighbours Of Hope were active in the meaning-making of social justice and the bringing about of the Kingdom of God into peoples’ lives, one thing continued to disturb me .. neither one of these groups were mainline churches. A disturbing thesis began to develop in my mind .. has the established church lost its focus on one of the most dominant themes of scripture? Do I have to work with other organizations outside the established church in order to have the resources and support to be solely focused on the task at hand? These questions and many more made me more determined to want to work with the established church, to help rediscover that which is truly at the heart of God, the heart for justice.
I put a poll on our website recently as an experiment to test the waters. It was titled: ‘Is seeking justice the primary Christian agenda?’ 100% of those who answered the poll answered ‘no’. Next to the ‘no’ answer I had asked people to email me and let me know what then is the Christian agenda? No-one emailed me. Does that mean they don’t know or just won’t share? So if justice is not high on the agenda then what is?
For the sake of this reflection I want to answer my original question. Marcus J. Borg suggests that the Christian emphasis on God’s passion for justice has been neglected. Borg suggests that from the time of the Emperor Constantine and up until now, there has been a strong move for Christians in positions of influence to align themselves with the structure of power. The Christian focus rapidly shifted to personal salvation and cared less about social justice. Yet if we really read and engage scripture we find the many voices of justice protest against the systemic injustice of empires and kingdoms. Borg writes, “Protesting the nightmare of injustice, its central voices proclaim God’s dream of justice.” “They do so in the name of God and on behalf of the victims – slaves in Egypt, exiles in Babylon, exploited peasants most vulnerable in all times –widows, orphans, the poor, and the marginalized.” In the name of God major figures advocate a God of love and justice. New Testament scholar John Reumann writes, “Ask any hundred New Testament scholars around the world, what the central message of Jesus of Nazareth was, and the vast majority would agree that this message centered in the Kingdom of God.”
Social justice underlines the Kingdom of God. So my question then is, why is it that it is not high, if not the highest on our agenda as Christians? Why are we so preoccupied with church services, our buildings, ourselves?
God’s heart for justice in this world was expressed clearly through the life of Jesus. He was a political agitator for good reason, he sought to change social structure by touching and talking with the ‘wrong people’, and that is what he died for – the hope for a more just world – the Kingdom of God coming near. Let us not fail to live the vision Jesus died for.
Shalom
Mark
Friday, September 29, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Truth be told
This week I came across an interview with Princess Di’s former butler, Paul Burrell. He seemed quite adamantly passionate about telling the truth about the life of the late Princess Di. One of the things he seemed particularly concerned about was, if he didn’t tell the story then it would be told by someone else who wouldn’t get the facts right, therefore would not display the truth of the life of Diana (according to his understanding of what is true). Well, it’s all relative to experience isn’t it?Whenever I come to writing these reflections, it’s always in response to some reading or an experience I had during the week. In this case, I stumbled across this interview during the same week I had begun reading another book that had been sitting on my book shelf, ‘The Heart of Christianity’ by Marcus J. Borg. It didn’t take long for Borg’s book to be regarded as ‘controversial’ as Borg sought to get to the matters at the heart of Christianity. Depending on your approach, that is a very dangerous place to go, yet I like many others, attempt to go there now.
What is the bible? Is it the unique revelation of God, the literal word of God, the spoken truth of God without question or deviation? If so, who tells us such things that we should believe it? If you asked people if the bible was the literal word of God 50 years ago, the majority of Christians would have responded ‘yes’. If you asked Christians today to answer truthfully what they thought, the majority would now say ‘no’. So what’s changed? We live in an age of information, a time where the modern meets post-modern, everyone is scientifically and historically liberated by new scholarship and so on. In this light we view and understand the bible differently. We discover new things about the origins of its authors, why they wrote what they wrote, who they were writing to and their historical context. What I find interesting is, as soon as I begin to explore this new biblical understanding, a faithful Christian will leap to the defence of the bible. My first response to that is, I don’t think the bible needs any defence, and second, what are people threatened by?
Borg would suggest that there are 2 expressions of the Christian faith today. There’s the earlier paradigm who accept the ‘traditional’ beliefs, then there’s the emerging paradigm, wanting to question and understand why we believe what we do. To a large degree the emerging people are in exile from the church for all kinds of reasons because they feel they’ve been asked to check their intellect at the door.
The bible is viewed by many as speaking the ‘truth’ about the nature of God, yet we all approach this in different ways. So where does the bible come from? I’ll say this straight up just for clarification, the bible did not drop from the sky, leather bound and conveniently organized into books with chapters and verses, translated in the old King James English. There are a number of authors, writing over a span of several centuries, to very different cultural contexts, in different languages. So how then are we to interpret the bible? If it’s not the scripture we’ve been led to believe in, where every word is to be literally interpreted for Christian living today, then what can we trust, what can we believe in?This can really blow a lot of people out of the water, is anything in the bible true? Well what is truth? I believe the kingdoms in the Old Testament really existed, as did their kings. The prophets who told of the coming of Christ, really lived, Jesus really did walk this earth and he really was killed by way of Roman crucifixion for being a political agitator. These can be proven historical facts. I also believe in the resurrection as witnessed and testified to by many, now there’s a matter of faith.
The bible is not a proof text! It was never meant to be. It is a living breathing testimony of how people through the ages have experienced the living God. It is relevant to us not as a legalistic document for Christian living today, but as a conversation tool with the people of faith both past and present.I wonder what the reaction of ‘biblical authors’ would have been if told their writings would one day be seen as scripture? The Apostle Paul for instance was only writing letters to churches because of the issues they faced as followers of a ‘new way’. I wonder if he would have written differently, knowing it would be published in a book for millions around the world to read? The author of John’s Gospel writes that Jesus did many other things that if written down, there would not be room in the whole world to contain the writings (Jn 21:25). Well I wonder if he would have said that if he had heard of CD ROMs and Hard drives. I’d love to be able to write back to John and say, ‘did you know we now call your story a Gospel? Furthermore, there were other things written about Jesus and we call them the 3 synoptic Gospels, they sit right alongside yours in something we call the bible.’ There was far more written about Jesus than even we are aware of. In the 1940s the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. In these scrolls are writings of other prophets from the time of the prophets, more creation stories, an extra Psalm, at least 50 more Gospels, and more. So what makes our 66 books in the bible ‘scripture’ yet these are not? Because a bunch of men in the 3rd century CE during the time of Constantine decided what’s in and what’s out? These extra writings are referred to as the Apocryphal writings. What we have available to us in ‘the bible’ is the directors cut. So can the experience of God, God’s story expressed through God’s people, be limited to the directors cut? Hey, the truth has to be told by someone, but the truth according to who? Friends, over time we have put our faith in the wrong things. We are told to put our faith in the bible and we use it as a proof text, when we should first put our faith in God. Yes the truth and revelation of God can be told and expressed in many ways.
The word of God is embodied though the expression of the faith and life of the people of God, not just contained in the text. Let the truth be told, God cannot be contained or boxed in a neat package, our God is a living God whose word and revelation is being expressed though God’s people.
Shalom Mark
What is the bible? Is it the unique revelation of God, the literal word of God, the spoken truth of God without question or deviation? If so, who tells us such things that we should believe it? If you asked people if the bible was the literal word of God 50 years ago, the majority of Christians would have responded ‘yes’. If you asked Christians today to answer truthfully what they thought, the majority would now say ‘no’. So what’s changed? We live in an age of information, a time where the modern meets post-modern, everyone is scientifically and historically liberated by new scholarship and so on. In this light we view and understand the bible differently. We discover new things about the origins of its authors, why they wrote what they wrote, who they were writing to and their historical context. What I find interesting is, as soon as I begin to explore this new biblical understanding, a faithful Christian will leap to the defence of the bible. My first response to that is, I don’t think the bible needs any defence, and second, what are people threatened by?
Borg would suggest that there are 2 expressions of the Christian faith today. There’s the earlier paradigm who accept the ‘traditional’ beliefs, then there’s the emerging paradigm, wanting to question and understand why we believe what we do. To a large degree the emerging people are in exile from the church for all kinds of reasons because they feel they’ve been asked to check their intellect at the door.
The bible is viewed by many as speaking the ‘truth’ about the nature of God, yet we all approach this in different ways. So where does the bible come from? I’ll say this straight up just for clarification, the bible did not drop from the sky, leather bound and conveniently organized into books with chapters and verses, translated in the old King James English. There are a number of authors, writing over a span of several centuries, to very different cultural contexts, in different languages. So how then are we to interpret the bible? If it’s not the scripture we’ve been led to believe in, where every word is to be literally interpreted for Christian living today, then what can we trust, what can we believe in?This can really blow a lot of people out of the water, is anything in the bible true? Well what is truth? I believe the kingdoms in the Old Testament really existed, as did their kings. The prophets who told of the coming of Christ, really lived, Jesus really did walk this earth and he really was killed by way of Roman crucifixion for being a political agitator. These can be proven historical facts. I also believe in the resurrection as witnessed and testified to by many, now there’s a matter of faith.
The bible is not a proof text! It was never meant to be. It is a living breathing testimony of how people through the ages have experienced the living God. It is relevant to us not as a legalistic document for Christian living today, but as a conversation tool with the people of faith both past and present.I wonder what the reaction of ‘biblical authors’ would have been if told their writings would one day be seen as scripture? The Apostle Paul for instance was only writing letters to churches because of the issues they faced as followers of a ‘new way’. I wonder if he would have written differently, knowing it would be published in a book for millions around the world to read? The author of John’s Gospel writes that Jesus did many other things that if written down, there would not be room in the whole world to contain the writings (Jn 21:25). Well I wonder if he would have said that if he had heard of CD ROMs and Hard drives. I’d love to be able to write back to John and say, ‘did you know we now call your story a Gospel? Furthermore, there were other things written about Jesus and we call them the 3 synoptic Gospels, they sit right alongside yours in something we call the bible.’ There was far more written about Jesus than even we are aware of. In the 1940s the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. In these scrolls are writings of other prophets from the time of the prophets, more creation stories, an extra Psalm, at least 50 more Gospels, and more. So what makes our 66 books in the bible ‘scripture’ yet these are not? Because a bunch of men in the 3rd century CE during the time of Constantine decided what’s in and what’s out? These extra writings are referred to as the Apocryphal writings. What we have available to us in ‘the bible’ is the directors cut. So can the experience of God, God’s story expressed through God’s people, be limited to the directors cut? Hey, the truth has to be told by someone, but the truth according to who? Friends, over time we have put our faith in the wrong things. We are told to put our faith in the bible and we use it as a proof text, when we should first put our faith in God. Yes the truth and revelation of God can be told and expressed in many ways.
The word of God is embodied though the expression of the faith and life of the people of God, not just contained in the text. Let the truth be told, God cannot be contained or boxed in a neat package, our God is a living God whose word and revelation is being expressed though God’s people.
Shalom Mark
Friday, September 15, 2006
Favours make the world go round?
Extract from a local newspaper source:
'Do a favour: These smiling faces show the kindness and friendship Pay it Forward creator Catherine Ryan Hyde hopes to spread around the world.
Hyde created the Pay it Forward concept, which eventually became a hit movie, where one person does a favour for three people and each of those do a favour for three more.
She is in Australia to help promote National Friendship Day on Sunday.
"National Friendship Day highlights that friendship and kindness make the world go round." she said.
"The reactions I see to the idea of Pay it Forward are remarkable."
Ms Hyde came up with the idea after two strangers helped her put out her car fire.
She said if the concept begun in Australia, by the 14th level of favours everyone in the country would have received a favour from a stranger.'
- Katie Lapthorne
Wow! What an exciting concept! If only it was so simple and easy to implement. I actually do celebrate in the idea, in fact, I advocate the idea of helping our fellow human beings. However, what’s going on here? Where does the motivation come from? Is it all just about random acts of kindness? Do we limit ourselves to just helping 3 people then our job is done?
This newspaper article tells us Catherine Hyde was inspired by the random act of kindness of a couple of strangers. So what motivated them? I read somewhere recently a suggestion that there is, built into each one of us a desire to want to empathise with or be moved to an act of compassion towards people in need. If this is true and this is how our creator created us, then why isn’t this true all of the time? What is it that triggers this desire to respond to others?
I often hear Christians criticize those who don’t align themselves with the Jesus group yet go around advocating random acts of kindness. Who do these people think they are? They don’t believe the right stuff and they’re not converting people? Or are they?
John, one of Jesus’ disciples, submits a complaint to Jesus about a guy they saw driving out demons in Jesus name. They stopped him because he wasn’t ‘one of us’. Jesus’ response is ‘don’t stop him’. Jesus isn’t about copyrighting his movement or selling rights to a franchise. Actually I think we, like the disciples often miss the point about what this Jesus movement is really all about. It is infectious and cannot be contained.
But there is another issue that concerns Christians about all of those who ‘are not one of us’, doing these good things in the world – they’re not one of us! They’re not mentioning Jesus’ name! I am one for advocating the name and movement of Jesus because it is my understanding of Jesus and my transformation in Christ that motivates me to respond to the world around me. However what does the name of Jesus sound and look like? Does it come in the form of a person from the Jesus group coming to me when I’m thirsty and instead of quenching my thirst tells me to get on my knees, pray the sinner’s prayer and receive Jesus, then celebrate because I am saved and the living water runs through me? Or does it come in the form of anyone who comes to me when I’m thirsty and out an act of compassion offers me a cup of water? In fact the author of Mark’s Gospel records, ‘anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, because you belong to me, will certainly not lose his reward.’ (Mk 9:41). Luke simply states Jesus saying, ‘whoever is not against you is for you.’ (Lk 9:50).
This could suggest to me that the language of Jesus name is in the act of compassion, love and understanding. So why do we and Jesus’ disciples feel the desire to box Jesus with exclusivity? A commentary I read on this recently suggests that the spirit of exclusivity entered the church quite early on and still exists today. The commentator asks, ‘Who holds the franchise for relieving human suffering?’ What I find amusing about the conversation between John and Jesus as recorded in Mark and Luke, is that the disciples had just failed to cast a demon out in Jesus name, yet some stranger to the Jesus group succeeds. What are the Gospel writers trying to tell us? Is this cause for us to rethink our Christology and those things we claim exclusive rights to?
So back to the original story. I believe in and applaud the efforts of people of all persuasions to ‘pay it forward’, to ‘make poverty history’. There’s all these causes the secular world are embracing out of a genuine movement of compassion. Maybe it’s the Spirit we (the church) cannot box, that is igniting this movement. However I think many of the people in our secular world struggle with the fact that Christians criticize rather than join the movement we should already be a part of. Many Christians are already leading the way, but there are many more who are still reluctant to respond. The difference for us (Christians) is, we’ve had the secrets of the Kingdom revealed to us, therefore we have the ultimate motivation to get involved. The movement of Jesus is so much more than a random act of kindness, it is a continual way of life.
Shalom
Mark
Friday, September 08, 2006
What’s your fire?
“It is dangerous to arrive in eternity with possibilities that you have prevented from becoming actualities…Trusting in God, I have ventured, but I have failed – there is peace and rest and God’s confidence in that. I have not ventured – it is an utterly unhappy thought, a torment for all eternity.”
Soren Kierkegaard (Extracted from ‘Who Stands Fast’)
What fires you up? What gets you going? What kinds of adventure do you want to take with Jesus? What are you passionate about? Come on! Every Christian is passionate about something right? It’s what makes up the DNA of a follower of Jesus, because if we are all shaped in the image of Christ (as the Apostle Paul suggests to the churches he writes to) then we would get passionately fired up about the things Jesus himself was fired up about.
Once again I have been profoundly touched by one of my favourite authors/speakers Mick Duncan. I just finished reading ‘Who Stands Fast?’ It was in the final chapters that I really engaged this deep yearning to see Christians around the world get excited about the things Jesus gets excited about, and I mean so passionately engaged with the story and creation of God through Jesus that we are moved into action without question. People driven by faith and passion rather than apathy and excuses. People actually stepping out into wild adventures with Jesus.
Churches attempt to motivate people in all kinds of ways with ‘purpose driven’ programs and spiritual gift surveys. While they might excite the majority for a while, the excitement is generally short lived and we begin the search for the next exciting program. Before you know it you’re a junky for programs and conferences but in actuality, there have been no real changes in your life, there are no real stories of adventures with Jesus to speak of and the things you’re passionate about have been suppressed and you’re not sure what to do with that.
I often have conversations with people after such experiences, you could call it ‘follow up’ to see how people are going to implement their new learning to engage the adventure of being a Christ follower. The most common response I get is, ’I’m praying about it’, or ‘I’m waiting for God to tell me what to do’. I sorry but the only tone I hear in those responses is excuse and avoidance. I am the first to advocate for consultation with God but most of the time the people I’ve spoken with are still waiting 5 years later! The prophet Micah tells his people, ‘For God has shown you what is good…’ God has already revealed both before Jesus and through Jesus what is required of us, so what are we waiting for?
Mick writes, “It seems many Christians are waiting for God to do something when in fact God may be waiting for them…express yourself not as a waiter but as a decision maker and take initiative in the war zone as a Christ-soldier.” (p77-78) I agree with Mick, what exactly are we waiting for? My theory is we have already made our decisions then we spend the rest of our time having internal battles with ourselves about why we should or shouldn’t act.
So in Mick’s final chapter he calls on the stories of those who have gone before us as models for our movement. These are people who have discovered their fire and acted upon it, they have found the cause in their context where the Good News needs to reign true. There is injustice all around us everyday yet many of us are not outraged enough at it to do anything about it. Mick refers to such people, in this chapter, as Ehud (see book of Judges Old Testament), Rosa Parks (Part of USA’s Civil right movement), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (took a stand against Hitler in WW2) and of course Jesus who was so outraged at the injustices both in the wider region as well as within the religious system he was a part of, that his every breath was used to speak out and act against it to the point where he was killed for it. Bonhoeffer records in his poetry ‘Stations on the road to freedom’ before he was killed, ‘Dare to do what is just…’
Do we dare to act on the passion that wells up within us when we are transformed by the heart of Christ? Jesus says to his disciples, ‘you are the light of the world…you are the salt of the earth’, we are to be the light of Christ in all that means setting out on wild adventures with Jesus in our everyday. You don’t need a special program or spiritual gift survey to tell you what you’re passionate about. What’s your fire? Follow it!
“We delude ourselves into thinking that to refrain from venturing is modesty, and that it must please God as humility. No,no! Not to venture means to make a fool of God- because all he is wanting is that you go forth.”
Soren Kierkegaard (Extracted from ‘Who Stands Fast’)
Shalom
Mark
Soren Kierkegaard (Extracted from ‘Who Stands Fast’)
What fires you up? What gets you going? What kinds of adventure do you want to take with Jesus? What are you passionate about? Come on! Every Christian is passionate about something right? It’s what makes up the DNA of a follower of Jesus, because if we are all shaped in the image of Christ (as the Apostle Paul suggests to the churches he writes to) then we would get passionately fired up about the things Jesus himself was fired up about.
Once again I have been profoundly touched by one of my favourite authors/speakers Mick Duncan. I just finished reading ‘Who Stands Fast?’ It was in the final chapters that I really engaged this deep yearning to see Christians around the world get excited about the things Jesus gets excited about, and I mean so passionately engaged with the story and creation of God through Jesus that we are moved into action without question. People driven by faith and passion rather than apathy and excuses. People actually stepping out into wild adventures with Jesus.
Churches attempt to motivate people in all kinds of ways with ‘purpose driven’ programs and spiritual gift surveys. While they might excite the majority for a while, the excitement is generally short lived and we begin the search for the next exciting program. Before you know it you’re a junky for programs and conferences but in actuality, there have been no real changes in your life, there are no real stories of adventures with Jesus to speak of and the things you’re passionate about have been suppressed and you’re not sure what to do with that.
I often have conversations with people after such experiences, you could call it ‘follow up’ to see how people are going to implement their new learning to engage the adventure of being a Christ follower. The most common response I get is, ’I’m praying about it’, or ‘I’m waiting for God to tell me what to do’. I sorry but the only tone I hear in those responses is excuse and avoidance. I am the first to advocate for consultation with God but most of the time the people I’ve spoken with are still waiting 5 years later! The prophet Micah tells his people, ‘For God has shown you what is good…’ God has already revealed both before Jesus and through Jesus what is required of us, so what are we waiting for?
Mick writes, “It seems many Christians are waiting for God to do something when in fact God may be waiting for them…express yourself not as a waiter but as a decision maker and take initiative in the war zone as a Christ-soldier.” (p77-78) I agree with Mick, what exactly are we waiting for? My theory is we have already made our decisions then we spend the rest of our time having internal battles with ourselves about why we should or shouldn’t act.
So in Mick’s final chapter he calls on the stories of those who have gone before us as models for our movement. These are people who have discovered their fire and acted upon it, they have found the cause in their context where the Good News needs to reign true. There is injustice all around us everyday yet many of us are not outraged enough at it to do anything about it. Mick refers to such people, in this chapter, as Ehud (see book of Judges Old Testament), Rosa Parks (Part of USA’s Civil right movement), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (took a stand against Hitler in WW2) and of course Jesus who was so outraged at the injustices both in the wider region as well as within the religious system he was a part of, that his every breath was used to speak out and act against it to the point where he was killed for it. Bonhoeffer records in his poetry ‘Stations on the road to freedom’ before he was killed, ‘Dare to do what is just…’
Do we dare to act on the passion that wells up within us when we are transformed by the heart of Christ? Jesus says to his disciples, ‘you are the light of the world…you are the salt of the earth’, we are to be the light of Christ in all that means setting out on wild adventures with Jesus in our everyday. You don’t need a special program or spiritual gift survey to tell you what you’re passionate about. What’s your fire? Follow it!
“We delude ourselves into thinking that to refrain from venturing is modesty, and that it must please God as humility. No,no! Not to venture means to make a fool of God- because all he is wanting is that you go forth.”
Soren Kierkegaard (Extracted from ‘Who Stands Fast’)
Shalom
Mark
Where to draw the line
I’ve always had this issue, as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with some of the tensions between Gospel values and Western Christian values. For the purpose of clarification, in many instances they are two different things, lets be honest here. For this reason we always struggle to respond to and live out with integrity, the things Jesus asks of his followers. We question and try to rationalize the things the Gospel writers record Jesus saying because it doesn’t suit our agenda. I will include myself in the group of people who constantly fail to follow Jesus because I have a problem with some of his teachings.
I was profoundly impacted, disturbed and liberated by last weekend’s Surrender conference. Two speakers captured my attention and said things that fused in my mind and helped shape my response as a follower of Jesus. They were Mick Duncan and Tony Campolo.
Tony said many profound things but for the sake of this reflection I want to highlight one of his favourite sayings. He was talking about the general Western approach to Christianity which put simply is, I’ll give part of my life but not all of it. He played on the tithing rhetoric mixed with that famous hymn, ‘I Surrender All’. He said that after putting our tithe in the offering plate we need to start singing, ‘One tenth to Jesus I surrender…I surrender one tenth, one tenth to Jesus I surrender, I surrender one tenth’, because in reality that best summarizes what we are prepared to give of our lives rather than the I surrender all fib we sometimes sing.
However Mick Duncan helped me grapple with this issue the best. He explained it far better than I’ve ever heard anyone explain. Upon reflection of the hard hitting sayings of the Gospel such as; ‘denying yourself, taking up your cross…’ (Matt 16:21-28; Mk 8:31-38; Lk 9:22-27); ‘Sell everything, give to the poor and follow me’ (Matt 19:16-30; Mk 10:17-30; Lk 18:18-30); ‘If anyone comes and does not hate mother and father…cannot be my disciple’ (Lk 14:25-35); Mick then said this: Whatever we place above the line we live for and worship, whatever we place below the line we love and nurture.
We all draw the line somewhere as to how far we are prepared to commit to something, including following Jesus. We place things in our lives above the line that shouldn’t be there; this was the problem the rich young ruler faced with Jesus. He walked away from that encounter very distressed. We place family, work and possessions above the line all the time when Jesus is saying they don’t belong there, we are not to live for and worship those things. The only entity we should have above the line is God. Everything else we place below the line in their rightful place. We love and nurture our family, friends, etc but we don’t live for them. If this is the case we face the same dilemma as the rich young ruler.
Jesus is consistent with this message many times throughout four Gospels yet we try to skim past it, reinterpret it, or make excuses over it. I don’t know about you but frankly, I’m sick of hearing my own voice making excuses.
The greatest commandment, Jesus affirms, is to love the Lord you God with all your heart, mind and soul, and to love your neighbour as you love yourself. Nothing else has the right to be placed above the line, if it is it is an obstacle that distracts you from surrendering all to Jesus.
To live for, love and worship God, is also to have the same attitude towards your neighbour. Another consistency throughout scripture is you can’t say you love God yet have no love for your neighbour. It is a lie, if you do not love your neighbour you do not love God. Tony said that you cannot have a relationship with God without also having a relationship with a poor person, a person in need, your ‘neighbour’.
There is nothing meek or mild about Jesus or his message. This is confronting, it must cause us to re-evaluate our relationships, our lives, our very being, if we are to be authentic disciples of the way of Christ.
Shalom
Mark
I was profoundly impacted, disturbed and liberated by last weekend’s Surrender conference. Two speakers captured my attention and said things that fused in my mind and helped shape my response as a follower of Jesus. They were Mick Duncan and Tony Campolo.
Tony said many profound things but for the sake of this reflection I want to highlight one of his favourite sayings. He was talking about the general Western approach to Christianity which put simply is, I’ll give part of my life but not all of it. He played on the tithing rhetoric mixed with that famous hymn, ‘I Surrender All’. He said that after putting our tithe in the offering plate we need to start singing, ‘One tenth to Jesus I surrender…I surrender one tenth, one tenth to Jesus I surrender, I surrender one tenth’, because in reality that best summarizes what we are prepared to give of our lives rather than the I surrender all fib we sometimes sing.
However Mick Duncan helped me grapple with this issue the best. He explained it far better than I’ve ever heard anyone explain. Upon reflection of the hard hitting sayings of the Gospel such as; ‘denying yourself, taking up your cross…’ (Matt 16:21-28; Mk 8:31-38; Lk 9:22-27); ‘Sell everything, give to the poor and follow me’ (Matt 19:16-30; Mk 10:17-30; Lk 18:18-30); ‘If anyone comes and does not hate mother and father…cannot be my disciple’ (Lk 14:25-35); Mick then said this: Whatever we place above the line we live for and worship, whatever we place below the line we love and nurture.
We all draw the line somewhere as to how far we are prepared to commit to something, including following Jesus. We place things in our lives above the line that shouldn’t be there; this was the problem the rich young ruler faced with Jesus. He walked away from that encounter very distressed. We place family, work and possessions above the line all the time when Jesus is saying they don’t belong there, we are not to live for and worship those things. The only entity we should have above the line is God. Everything else we place below the line in their rightful place. We love and nurture our family, friends, etc but we don’t live for them. If this is the case we face the same dilemma as the rich young ruler.
Jesus is consistent with this message many times throughout four Gospels yet we try to skim past it, reinterpret it, or make excuses over it. I don’t know about you but frankly, I’m sick of hearing my own voice making excuses.
The greatest commandment, Jesus affirms, is to love the Lord you God with all your heart, mind and soul, and to love your neighbour as you love yourself. Nothing else has the right to be placed above the line, if it is it is an obstacle that distracts you from surrendering all to Jesus.
To live for, love and worship God, is also to have the same attitude towards your neighbour. Another consistency throughout scripture is you can’t say you love God yet have no love for your neighbour. It is a lie, if you do not love your neighbour you do not love God. Tony said that you cannot have a relationship with God without also having a relationship with a poor person, a person in need, your ‘neighbour’.
There is nothing meek or mild about Jesus or his message. This is confronting, it must cause us to re-evaluate our relationships, our lives, our very being, if we are to be authentic disciples of the way of Christ.
Shalom
Mark
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