Best Thing I've read on Scripture

I read this book last year and was inspired. It is the best book I have read on Scripture. It goes beyond the typical discussions of Inerrancy, liberal/literal and takes a literary approach to scripture because, well scripture is literature - it is largely story! It especially 'clicks' with me as I consider myself a story-teller.

The Book - 'CS Lewis on Scripture' by Michael Christensen, 1980 Hodder & Stoughton. [still available at Amazon]. Lewis himself never wrote a systematic understanding of Scripture. This is Christensen's pulling together of Lewis' approach to scripture from all the sources he could muster.

Lewis was comfortable with myth having significant meaning, indeed being the closest way to understand in concrete ways what can otherwise only be expressed abstractly. Myth can be truer than history or fact, able to put us in touch with reality in more intimate ways than knowing or facts ever could. Thus while he was OK with Adam and Eve being 'myth' he was passionate about the deep truth revealed in the myth!

Lewis was also uncomfortable with the tendency of others to dismiss as unhistorical any text which reported miracles. He said the historical truth or otherwise of a text was not to be pre-judged on the assumption that miracles can not happen. That would be to make a mistake, for there is no philosophical grounds to make such an assumption. Miracles by definition are such because they can not happen!

He was scathing of those who were supposedly biblical literary critics posturing that it was obvious they had never read or studied any literature at all given their conclusions.

The appendix on 'The rational Romantic' is worth the price of the book alone and it's discussion of the idea Sehnsucht.

Lewis frees us from literal and liberal interpretations of scripture, freeing us from doctrinal determination of how we approach and understand scripture - of putting God, and the bible in a box. Rather scripture was literature; to be read, experienced and taken [not naively] at face value as God's word to us.

If you can find this book, do yourself a favour and read it!

No life without sacrifice

There is a deep truth that is older than the bible, a truth that was true before the bible was written, a truth the bible was written to reveal. A truth that was there at the beginning of time that actually shapes life and existence. It's a truth that can help us understand and navigate life if we grasp it's deep significance. This is the truth...

There is no life without sacrifice.

It's a truth the modern world has almost forgotten, a truth the modern world tries to cover over with red-tape and OH&S thinking that we can get through life without cost - but it's still there, hiding in the pages of history.

We see this truth at work in parents - who must give for their children. Who must sacrifice to bring up the next generation. Husbands and wives must 'give up' so much of themselves to create a marriage and if they don't do this, the do not create a marriage; the two can not become one of the two never sacrifice.

We see this truth so simply in nature where for one animal to live, another must give their life. Our own Sunday Roast cannot happen until the chicken dies. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.

Perhaps it is only in war where we acknowledge this truth - where we honour the sacrifice of our soldiers. Otherwise we want to live in the delusion that we can get through life with our lives!

All ancient religions were based on this deep truth. They all understood, there is no life without sacrifice. If this is a deep truth, then it reveals an even deeper truth...

There is no eternal life without a perfect sacrifice.

This cosmic truth [no live without sacrifice], stitched into the fabric of reality from the very beginning - was preparing us for the one who would reveal the even greater truth on a wooden cross on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

We can live in denial of this truth and think we can save ourselves, that we can get through life without sacrifice - we can't. Until we acknowledge this truth, and submit to it and the one who is this truth, we will always be fighting against the very fabric of reality.

If this reality is true, what is your sacrifice?

Catching the Faith

Despite the growing popularity of Christian schools and the long-term reality of Religious Instruction in the state education systems, we are still facing a decline in those that profess faith in the West, especially among the younger generation.

Why is it that much of our faith-based education seems to have the effect of inoculating, rather than inculcating the faith?

Could it be that our methodology is all backwards? Much of our faith-based education is what you would call indoctrination. It is based on the assumption that our children are already Christians, and we need to school them in the essentials of the faith. Often this schooling can be very moralistic, trying to ‘house-train’ good little Christian boys and girls.

This is in direct contrast to the way Jesus taught the crowd. Jesus’ teaching method to those 'outside' the faith was story-telling, particularly parables; riddles of the Kingdom. Jesus didn’t bother to explain these riddles, but allowed to sit in the air and perch in people’s hearts when the time was right. [to be bait, waiting to hook the fish!] These riddles didn’t inoculate the hearer, as the mysteries were kept hidden, but now and then one would take root and bear fruit in someone’s life.

If you examine the parables of the Sower in Matthew's gospel [chap 13:1-52], and the discussion during and after it, you see that the gospel in a treasure not to be thrown to swine, but protected in the oyster shell of the parable. Everyone is up to a different stage [road, rock, weeds, good soil], and when the time is right, the seed can take root. If you plant it too early, it will spoil.

I content that we need to rediscover the Master teacher’s method for proclaiming the kingdom. I know it sounds risky; our Western minds want to explain, dissect, and ensure children understand. But when you dissect something that is alive, you have a tendency to kill it. What is more alive than the word of God. I know this sounds like a risky method, but how could it be less successful than what we have now - indeed, isn't it about following Jesus?

Our task isn't to produce moral people, but noble people. Our job isn't about external compulsion, but internal transformation.

Troubled Times

Cyclones, floods, fires, mudslides, snowstorms, earthquakes. It’s been a confronting beginning to 2011 – and that’s not including the human induced tragedies. We can quite legitimately be asking, ‘Where is God in all this?’ Or is this what the Bible speaks about as the ‘birth pains’ – the signs that God is closer than we think?

Are these natural disasters an unusual confluence of events that will settle down, or is this the new normal? Is a hurting globe adjusting to human pollution, like a dog scratching at its fleas, or are we just experiencing what has always been and will always be?

Whatever is going on, such fearsome and frightening events put things in perspective. They put us in our place. They remind us how puny, how powerless and how pointless out lives really are. At the end of the day awards and achievements mean nothing. We are reminded that it is relationships that count. It is relationships that carry us through. It is relationships that we cling to.

The most important of these is a relationship with the Creator of it all. This is the relationship that can last forever, and can ensure our other relationships last beyond this mortal coil.

What else can we do in these tragic times but cry out to God for answers, for meaning – but also for comfort and solace. What have you done about your eternal relationship?

50 People every Christian should know

I read this fascination book at the end of last year and am only now getting a chance to blog about it. "50 People Every Christian Should Know" by Warren Wiersbe is a book that gives short biographical pictures of famous Christians of the 'golden era' - 1700-1940's. Most of them were preachers in England or USA but there are a few missionaries, women and people from other areas.

You will know their names; Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Fanny Crosby, Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, Moody, Chambers.

Obviously I have to confess to an ignorance about most of these preachers, and this era, which is sad, but if you are like me, this is a great book to start with.

I really enjoyed reading about the people, the times, the problems of the era, how God worked in their lives. Each summary had pithy wisdom from the subject, insights and stuff on how they lived. It was fascinating to hear how many past preachers lived their lives. Praying & studying the word from morning to mid afternoon, then doing their pastoral visiting in the cool of the evening - virtually everyday of the week except Sunday.

It seemed a much simpler time to do Ministry - and the author would often harken back to this simpler time and simpler method implying that if this method was 'rediscovered' the mythical success the church is no longer experiencing would simply return. But there was enough variation in method - with some preachers confessing their lack of pray, and lack of visiting - to undermine such a rose coloured view of things.

Many of the 'preachers' spoke of their responsibility for the whole town; they had 5000 souls in their care and they weren't sure of each one's salvation. Again, a passion and vision that would be hard to replicate today.

I was also fascinated to learn that some of these churches were so full you needed tickets to get in. A young Dwight Moody had travelled all the way to England from America to hear Charles Spurgeon preach at his height, and nearly missed out because he didn't have a ticket. When they found out how far he had come, he could enter the standing room.

People would hear one great preacher in the morning, travel across town to hear another in the evening. This was the general public, so regular conversion were expected and experienced. Indeed the Leeds Skeptic Society [we thought Dawkins was new!] turned up on mass to 'heckle' Samuel Chadwick, but their president was soundly converted, and the rest of the group too within the next few months.

They really were the glory days of English/American Christianity - the heart of Christendom, when there was a church on every corner, full and with a wonderful choir to boot, the preachers were famous and influential in the society, the hymn writers renowned and the missionaries superstars!

It's very interesting because one insightful preacher, Phillip Brooks, said to his contemporaries, 'do not be ashamed of the age you live in least you talk of it in a weak tone of despair' [paraphrase, p155]. It seems every preacher did not see him or herself as living in the glory days, but as living in the worst of times with the glory days behind them. What a sobering truth. It is only in hindsight we see the significance of our days, and what might look like struggle to us, others may see as our glory days.

Indeed, the author does harken back to these times, praying that such preachers will arise in our time, that preachers will learn the lessons from this book. I think there is no going back to these times. When there was no TV, no films, the only entertainment on a weekend was the opera, or theatre - the 'preacher' was well placed to provide a burgeoning middle class society with some wholesome entertainment. Where else could you go and hear an amazing orator who would move you to tears and inspire you - all for a penny if that's all you had.

The time was ripe for this ministry, I'm not sure the time will ever be the same again. Rather than dwelling back, we do need to learn the principles from the past, but not stay there. Indeed, in our disparate, complex society - rather than having a whole country on fire for God, can we only expect to ever have a community 'on fire'. Can we see the various ministries doing well around the world as in their glory days [Hillsong, Saddleback, Willow Creek]. If things are going well where you are - see them as glory days, not 'if only' days.

Working with young people I know that while my congregation may not be full and overflowing - these young people are having amazing encounters with the living God through us anyway - they will look back on this as their glory days - when the Glory of the Lord impacted them, grew them. That is glory to be praised.

Grab the book, it is a simple, but profound read. Baker Books, 2009.

Peter's Sermon in Acts

As a follow up to the previous post, I had always considered Peter's sermon in Acts 2 somewhat of a disappointment. Here was supposed to be the 'perfect sermon', preached at the birth of the church, converting 3000 to the faith. When I read it, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

The problem was obviously not the sermon, but my understanding! Not until I had to preach through Acts did I finally begin to 'get it.' Peter's sermon was 'perfect' for the context. Peter does not preach penal substitution - Peter proclaims that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, in accordance with Scripture, and what they have just witnessed, the coming of the Holy Spirit, confirms this. Not only that but we, the very ones waiting for the Messiah, killed him, but God, again to confirm his status, raised him to life, indeed to the right had of God!

Understandably, many in the crowd were cut to the heart, repented [changed their minds about what they previously believe about Jesus and/or the Messiah], sought forgiveness from this and other sins, and believed.

The genius of Peter's sermon is not it's proclamation of a timeless, one-size-fits-all gospel, but his grand sense of occasion - Peter understood how the cosmic Christ event applied to these people. That's not to cheapen the truth of what he said, it was exactly true, but it's not what Paul later preaches to the Gentiles who do not await a Messiah [Acts 17:16ff]. The gospel, if it is really true, is a Cosmic reality that overshadows every tribe, tongue and nation; that every human can hear 'in their own tongue'. Can we be filled enough with the Spirit, to see how the gospel is good news to the people around us, and thus proclaim.

The Gospel

I had the privilege of visiting the local Presbyterian church and hearing my colleague proclaim the good news recently. He did a fine job of proclaiming penal substitution as outlined in Romans. At the end of the sermon he made the statement that this is what he would do each week, preach the Gospel, and for his congregation to hold him to account for this.

Indeed, I pray that he [and I] do this, each week - proclaim the gospel. But his comment, given the context of his preaching, sparked thoughts for me.

I grew up in 'Evangelical Anglican' territory. Not regularly attending, but having a combined youth group with them. I really appreciated their strong emphasis on Biblical literacy, their carful, logical, expository approach to Scripture. Indeed, to their credit Moore College influenced churches are very clear about the gospel, and offer excellent teaching about foundational theology. They know what the gospel is, they are great at setting foundations in the gospel and thinking logically/rationally.

As I grew, I came to understand though, that at worst, what they meant by the gospel was penal substitution and nothing else. That is, the gospel to them was and could only be understood as penal substitution. They preached penal substitution each week, no matter what the passage of scripture. Indeed, if someone preached and didn't clearly extrapolate penal substitution they had not preached the gospel, and indeed, sometimes even their salvation was questioned.

The Uniting Church meanwhile [my heritage] is a more broad church. It understood that the scriptures contain many atonement metaphors to try to explain the mystery of the cross; penal substitution, adoption, ransom, satisfaction, substitution, etc. What I discovered was that sometimes this meant ministers in the Uniting Church seemed to have no idea about the gospel! No wanting to 'nail down' the cross event, they seemed confused as to exactly what it meant [I have a terrible story about how this was lived out].

My reflection is that the hard line evangelic church clearly knows what their gospel is, is great at teaching foundational theology, but after that struggles and can be very closed to discussion and discovery. Meanwhile some elements of the Uniting church can be very vague about the gospel, is terrible at teaching foundational theology, but is very open to discussion and discovery.

To use a building metaphor - they are great at laying the concrete slab, and frame - but never go beyond that. We are great at discussing the architraves and individual design elements that make a house a home and individualise things, yet the foundations are weak.

In the Uniting Church we want to discuss all the nuances of faith and scriptures and the gospel - when we have no basic foundations to keep the discussion in a common ball park!

For me, obviously the middle ground is the narrow way. We need good solid foundations of the fundamental message of scripture, so that we can then understand it's nuances and let them add grace to our clear categories. Indeed, I think we have so many atonement metaphors as each one speaks to a different people group or situation. To only preach penal substitution misses a whole group of people. Penal substitution has the side effect of painting God into a corner of being a mean, angry God who must be appeased - this is the flaw of the metaphor, not of God. In an authoritarian day, penal substitution works. But in a post modern society, where authority figures and authority institutions are rejected, penal substitution is dismissed.

Our task as preachers is to discover the atonement metaphors that scratch an itch in our community. In our day of recycling, it's amazing to discover that the word for Salvation means recycle. God is the great recycler, who is redeeming, not plastic - but people. Jesus was literally redeeming people from he scrap heap [Ghenna/hell] of life, recycling them - giving them a new beginning [born again]. Now that's a metaphor that might scratch an itch. Then they can discover that penal substitution is also true.

So let's preach the gospel - God was in Christ redeeming the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them - but let's not become myopic on one atonement metaphor.