Religion vs Relationship

It's a peculiar thing - telling people that you're going in to or are involved in Christian ministry. It can be awkward - very awkward. You never know how people will react. Sometimes I find it easier to have the, "I'm adopted, I've been in at least 6 foster homes, I don't know my birth parents and my siblings are in jail for murder..." conversation first. I haven't even begun my studies at ICC but sharing my plans for the next four years has provoked some interesting reactions. One reaction I have noticed most recently is the 'automatic stance' - that is, where people feel the need to immediately spell out their position in the faith spectrum, whether atheist, agnostic or other, and make quite clear their beliefs. Why is this? Perhaps it's a defence; a way of saying, "Don't try and convert me, I've made up my mind!". Perhaps it's an invitation or even a challenge; "Well I know what I think. What have you got to offer?". Whatever the motive, it's interesting. I rarely say much in such encounters, particularly when a person is new or unfamiliar to me. More often than not they seem to expect a reaction, a counter argument or perhaps a submission - an indication that I will not pursue it further. My response is neither. Instead, I listen... then I move on. To some it may appear as submission or even a lack of theological grounding to contest their viewpoint. In some cases this is certainly true. I am not foolish enough to take on arguments to which I cannot present a valid contribution. However, even where I feel able I rarely pitch in on these initial exchanges other than to ask a question or two. Why? Well, most recently it's because the viewpoints I've been presented with surround the issue of Christianity as an organised religion. In particular there is strong feeling about the church; the power of the global church and it's misuse, the unnecessary traditions, the irrelevance of the bible and the attitude of those in ministry. Very often if I dig deeper I find a significant history - people who used to go to church (or were dragged there), people who have been affected negatively by the church and people who altogether find little relevance in what they know of Christianity.

However, what I'm slowly calling in to question is this: Are people judging Christianity as an 'organised religion' or as an authentic relationship? Do they separate the issue of the church / the organisation of Christianity on a global scale, and the fact that Christianity is, according to the gospel, a living and authentic relationship between each individual and God. In many cases, I suspect not. It is for this reason that I rarely engage in any initial discussion about the organisation of the church, the authority of the bible or the impact of Christianity world-wide. If my understanding of the Christian faith is correct (and I am always willing to be corrected), it stems down to the individual. It is about being saved by grace through faith - faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, His defeat of death and the gift of grace which is an open invitation from God to everyone. It is the acceptance of this invitation, resulting in an authentic relationship with God. It is not about religion: it is about relationship.

When people have made up their mind about Christianity as an organised religion, sometimes no constructive debate, historical evidence or academic reasoning will change their views. They may not ever understand Christians or why people follow 'Christianity as a religion' until they have seen a demonstrative example of this relationship, between the individual and God, lived out. Therefor, in an attempt to witness I do not see it as my place to argue them down and change their views on the religion of Christianity and the relevance of the church. There is a time and a place for those conversations. I see it as my job to be an example of genuine faith to help them understand the gift of grace. I'm no saint. Very often I will fail to live up to the example I hope to set. But I will try - try to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ and the God's gift of grace through the way I live.

Perhaps then I will engage in conversation - not about my religion but about my relationship.

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Embracing Our Culture for 21st Century Ministry

Bet you took one look at the title and thought, 'Ooft - sounds heavy. Not reading that!' but perhaps if I say the words 'Bebo' and 'Forums' you might change your mind? If so, read on!

Very recently a young girl in our church died, age 16, after a two year battle with cancer. It was a devastating occasion for all those who knew her. On the day she died I got a phone call in the early afternoon to let me know. By the time I got home from university at 4pm and checked my bebo (there it is again!) I saw that many of the young people who knew EJ had set up a bebo page in her honour. It was a beautiful thing to see. To some it might seem inappropriate or unkind to create such a site but as I thought about it I began to see a different side to that story. This is 21st Century youth culture. It is how young people communicate, keep in touch, let others know what is going and how we show our common interests and appreciations. What better way to celebrate someone's life than to bring them in to this culture? Our minister kindly acknowledged the Bebo page during the remembrance service. It seemed surprising that such a thing should be mentioned in a church on such an occasion but I realised that it was a validation and an acknowledgment that the young people had expressed their love for EJ in the way that they knew best.

When we seek to engage in mission and ministry, as with teaching, it is so important that we learn to embrace the culture of our mission field and understand the way it works. This is a vital way of showing people how relevant the Christian faith is to every aspect of life and makes the church, in a sense, more accessible. If we wish to meet with the unchurched community around us we must, where appropriate, acknowledge and validate their surrounding culture and seek to engage with them in a time and place where they will understand the relevance of the Christian faith in their lives. As a good friend once said, "There is no aspect of your life that God is not interested or involved in." Where our kids are passionate about sports and skating, let's bring the gospel to the skate parks. Where our young people struggle with the morality of conversations held on msn or by texting, let's talk about it in bible classes and house groups. What ever their culture let's acknowledge it, respect, talk about it and use it.

Our church has recently opened a discussion forum online for the worship teams to discuss any aspect of worship, the music, the services etc. and to engage in the sharing of thoughts and ideas. It has only been running for a short time but has proved itself to be a productive and valid way of communicating. We don't have time to come to meetings every week and discuss all our current thinking and ideas. We tend to share them with close friends who perhaps pass these conversations on to others, but rarely have time to sit down as a whole team and talk about it. Opening the online forum has provided an easy and accessible way for us to do this and to formalise our discussion. Of course, every online venture has it's dangers but where there is a genuine desire for productivity and meaningful discussion, such forums can be a valuable tool for the ministry of our church and the mission in our community. Naturally, all the outcomes will be brought to meetings and face to face discussion in due time - it is essential that we do so - but until then let me be thankful that we are moving forward with the times and culture of today and using it to further our thinking and effectiveness as a team.

"Therefore go..."

For those of you who browsed my blog a while ago you may have noticed that on my "Currently Reading" section I had posted Vaughan Roberts' book 'Distinctives'. The book did not sustain my interest although generally I liked and agreed with the concept of each chapter. However, the other day I was flicking idly through it when I came across a small paragraph which seemed to click in to place with a lot of my recent thinking. The chapter title is, "Certainty in a world in which everything is relative" in which Roberts explores our response to the Great Commission set by Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20)

Here Roberts makes what I found to be a very acute observation of church evangelism.

"It is tempting to respond to that pressure by limiting our evangelism to the 'Christianized' - those who have a church background but have drifted away from church activities. That, in effect, is what most churches have done. Evangelism means inviting those on the fringe of church life to attend an event in our building. We have turned the 'go' of Jesus' Great Commission in to a 'come', and we interpret the 'all nations' as 'those like us'." (p.85)

How right he is. It would seem that sometimes in a desperate attempt to prove our evangelistic capablities we are tempted to reach out soley or mainly to those on the periphory of church life. Why is this? Perhaps it is because we know they are already familiar with the gospel and we can skip over explaining 'the basics'. Perhaps it is because they are less likely to put up a resistance to hearing the message and we can appeal to their already-Christianized nature. Let me be clear that it is important that we should continue to reach those on the edges of our church as they are no less important. However, if we are to be following the Great Commission as it was given then we must be going out before we start inviting people in. The word 'mission' translates from Latin roots meaning 'to send'. Therefore the Great Commission was not a command to invite others to our church but to take the church to the community and the nation.

As Roberts points out very few people in Britain are actually church-goers now compared to the last century. Church is an unfamiliar, uncomfortable place and many would rather not darken our doors. Why then is it that we expect them to come to our place of worship to hear the gospel? How ineffective waiting around inside the church may prove to be if this our only strategy for mission and evangelism.

All of this struck a chord with me because of the aforementioned challenge from Luke, where the disciples went out to the place Jesus sent them to catch fish. Jesus did not say, 'Sit about in the boat just here and I'll herd the fish over to you'. No. Jesus said, 'Get out there - I know you don't think it's going to be productive, it's not a likely place for a catch, but get out there!'. If we followed such a command with even greater faith, we truly could be 'fishers of men'. We cannot simply wait in our comfort zone and expect Jesus to send the nation to our doors. No. We must go to the empty places, or indeed the places where there are so many other destructive pressures that there hardly seems to be room for the gospel. If we go out, commissioned by Jesus, we need not fear that our efforts will be fruitless. The fishermen were sceptical yet Jesus displayed his power despite their doubts. How much more could Jesus do if we went out, encouraged by such a message and inspired by such a commission?

Roberts, V. (2005) Distinctives. Milton Keynes. Authentic Media.

Miscommunication

Communication, it would seem, has been greatly aided by all the modern technologies of the 21st century. If we wish to contact someone, even someone a great distance away, it only takes a call, a text, an email or even, dare I say it, snail mail. It would seem that communication is so easy and that we as a church or as Christians should have no trouble in getting ourselves heard in sharing the gospel. However, in church this morning David Gordon brought about the concept of noise as viewed by communication theorists. In a world where communication seems so clear and easy there are a variety of ways in which 'noise' - whether it be physical, semantic, psychological or cultural - interferes with what we are trying to communicate and what is actually heard. He then brought about the reality of this concept by relating it to the passage in Luke 11: 37-54. Here Jesus challenges the Pharisees about what they are trying to communicate, what is actually being communicated and the 'noise' which is interfering with the whole process. In this case, the noise preventing them from clearly communicating the gospel is that of their 'religious protocol'. Jesus challenged the Pharisees on the way in which their pedantic obsession with external matters was greatly deflecting the reality of Godly living. By creating an uneccessary need for perfection they were distracting people from hearing the real message of God that they were trying to get across. They created too much noise to communicate clearly.

By exploring the passage we find that not only did Jesus challenge the Pharisees on their actions and attitude but He also challenges us with six very important issues.

1. Our priorities. Are we more concerned with ensuring that we have given enough of what is demanded of us to withhold our reputation or are we concerned with the matters of justice and salvation? (v.42)

2. Are we too concerned with our own importance and place within our church community? (v.43)

3. Are we modelling Christian living in a way that will have a positive effect on those around us? (v.44)

4. Do we burden others with our high standards and demands or do we help them to carry their own load? (v.46)

5. Are we listening to God? (v. 47-51)

6. Are we a help or a hindrance to others in terms of bringing them to faith? (v. 52)

Jesus presents the pertinent example of the bowl - clean and shiny on the outside (which is nice but doesn't help) and filthy on the insde; the part which has a greater impact on the effectiveness of it's use. Such is the nature of hypocrisy that our appearance and importance soon outweigh the importance of our heart and our faith; the parts which make all the difference to the effectiveness of our witness. It is easy to focus on external issues such as reputation, importance and being seen in the right places with desirable people, however, this will not only deflect the heart of the gospel but it will fail to engage the community around us.

God is in the process of challenging me about my 'image' or the persona that I try to convey, with particular relation to where I'm seen and who I'm seen with. A lot of opportunities have come up for hanging out with non-church / non-christian people in a variety of places which some would deem as 'unsuitable' places for a Christian girl to be seen. However, what this passage confirms for me is that no matter the external image which is presented, what God is concerned about (and indeed what the church should be concerned about) are the motives and the attitude upon which our actions are based. No matter how shiny we are on the outside we can be in tatters, barely clinging to our faith on the inside. If this is the case, how then will we communicate as effectively with the world around us?