Why do I do what I do? - Reflection 07

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According to Shakespeare, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”  If Shakespeare had been writing in the Greek of the New Testament the final word in this sentence would have been ‘hypocrite’. Our word hypocrite comes directly from the Greek word for an actor. So when Jesus tells his disciples not to be like the hypocrites he is telling them to make sure that they’re not living some kind of lie – where the inside and the outside of their lives don’t match up. On Sunday we were looking at Jesus’ teaching on giving to the needy, prayer and fasting from Matthew 6:1-18. If you’ve not listened yet then you’ll find it here. Jesus’ assumption was that giving to the needy, prayer and fasting were all things that his disciples would do. His disciples were Jewish, his audience was Jewish and these were all aspects of Jewish life. And so Jesus is not trying to convince his disciples that if they want to become more like him they need to start caring for those in need, spending time in prayer and fasting.  His assumption was that they would be doing these things. But he wanted them to make sure that their motives were right. That they were wanting to do these things out of their love for God and their desire to be more like Jesus. The hypocrites on the other hand were doing these things to be seen by others and to win their applause.  Within our culture there is a very high probability that people will need to be taught biblical principles for giving, praying and fasting – and we’re going to be looking at these topics again next week, and on the 13th and 6th March respectively. But our motives for why we do what we do can be very complex. On Sunday I used the example of running. I’ve not run for several months because of a niggling injury that won’t go away – but when I was running there was never just one motive that got me out of the door. Sometimes if it was a really nice day I might just decide to go for a run because it is something that I enjoy. I enjoy the freedom, the countryside and I know that when I get back I will feel better than when I left. But if it’s dark, and I can hear the rain on the window, and the wind is blowing, then getting out of a comfy, warm bed sometimes just didn’t happen. Things that would help in that situation would be the knowledge that I was training for a specific event that people knew about. Or being involved in some online competition or challenge that meant I needed to log a run that morning. When it comes to our spiritual life I expect it is as equally challenging to try and untangle our motives for why we do what we do. Whilst we might agree that love for God, love for others and a desire to follow Jesus are the right motives for what we do there’s probably a lot more in the mix. Whilst we agree that it is only God’s opinion that matters I’m sure we are all effected by what others think and say. Doing my Bible reading because I’ve committed to reading the Bible in a year and I need to tick the box isn’t a right motive for reading the Bible – but reading the Bible is preferable to not reading the Bible. At least I am putting myself in a place where God can talk to me. I could go on – but I won’t. Keeping the commandments outwardly is one thing. Making sure our heart is right at the same time is something else altogether. Something that is only possible with the work of the Holy Spirit. Thankfully God is gracious and merciful and forgiving. And patient. Our loving heavenly Father. Within that context let’s examine our hearts to see why we do what we do. And invite the Holy Spirit to challenge and change us where necessary.

Breaking down cultural barriers - Reflection 6

At our 4pm service on Sunday we explored the theme of ‘Breaking down Barriers’. If you’ve not yet had a chance to listen to Keith’s talk you’ll find it here.

Between finishing teaching and starting as a full-time Baptist minister I spent four years at college. The first two years were full-time at All Nations Christian College and the second two were as a student minister. I was a student minister at a church in north London and then spent a couple of days a week at Spurgeon’s College in south London. 

 

When I went to All Nations, I was planning on returning to teaching overseas. I hadn’t got as far as thinking as who that would be with – but BMS World Mission was a serious contender. All Nations specialise in cross-cultural training. Training missionaries is what they do. The course I took was in ‘Biblical and cross-cultural studies’.

There is a saying that goes something like, ‘a goldfish isn’t aware that it’s surrounded by water until it’s taken out of its tank’. And culture is a bit like that. Generally speaking we’re unaware of it until we’re taken out of it and put in a different culture. We’re unaware of how much of our lives are shaped by our culture – and how other people might think and behave very differently.

 

One of the great things about the courses at All Nations is that they didn’t necessarily give many answers – but they taught you to ask the right sort of questions.

 

The apostle Paul understood culture. He straddled the Jewish and the Roman worlds. He travelled extensively. His strategy as a missionary was to adapt his methods of sharing the gospel depending on his audience (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). He didn’t compromise the message – but he wanted to remove unnecessary barriers. That’s why he used his Jewish name, Saul, when talking with Jews and his Roman name, Paul, when talking with Romans. 

We talked on Sunday about ethnic differences as well as generational and class differences. And there will be other differences that will be relevant for our context. My original presentation was black writing on a yellow background – but after a visit to the Sight Loss Friendly Church website I changed it to yellow writing on black background. Just one less thing to get in the way of someone responding to the gospel.

 

How much of what we do as a church is cultural? And how much of that is a barrier to the community we are trying to reach?

What should Christians watch? - Reflection 04

This week we continued our series from the Sermon on the Mount – looking at Jesus’ teaching on adultery, divorce and telling the truth. If you’ve not yet had a chance to listen then you’ll find Keith’s talk here.

I know that some people get a little bit nervous when they hear me say, ‘never do something just because it’s written in the Bible’ – and I understand where they’re coming from. The most obvious concern is over the danger that we can then make the Bible say whatever we want it to say. How do we make sure that what we think the Bible is saying, is actually what the Bible is saying.

But on the flip side – our life is very different to life in the first century – or even earlier. And there is so much of our modern life that the Bible simply does not mention. And so if you restrict yourself to only doing what you read in the Bible you are going to struggle with all sorts of questions and issues that face us today.

One of the things that comes through Matthew 5-7 is that Jesus is calling his disciples to live a life that is radically different. It was a life that was different to their fellow Jews and inconceivable to their Roman and Greek neighbours.

And so whatever this life that Jesus calls us to looks like – the chances are, it’s going to be very different to the lives of those around us – both in terms of what we do and what we think.

And what we think is really important to Jesus. That is clear from these verses. What we think is at least as important, if not more important, than our outward actions. In the section about adultery (verses 27-30) Jesus uses hyperbole and exaggeration to show the sort of lengths we should go to in order to protect what we allow into our minds. (Just to be clear – Jesus is not speaking literally in verses 29 and 30). It’s not just a case of shutting the wrong thoughts down once they are there – it’s also about putting things in place to make sure that those thoughts don’t get there in the first place.

On Sunday I mentioned that for me, one of the choices that I make, is generally speaking, not watching films that are rated above a 12. There is a huge range of content on the internet now. It used to be that if you wanted to watch a film it required a trip to Block Buster and you had to walk out with an actual video cassette. Now, within the privacy of your own bedroom, you can watch almost anything within a couple of mouse clicks. And so setting the filter at 12 helps reduce the temptation of watching something that will be unhelpful in my walk with Jesus.

And each of us will need to make our own decisions – in terms of what helps and what hinders our relationship with Jesus. We need to recognise that some of these decisions may be inconvenient, costly and painful. But are they as inconvenient, costly or painful as the (non-literal) measures mentioned by Jesus? And that’s part of the point. We don’t just need to make choices that are convenient and which fit in with our current lives – but sometimes we need to be prepared to make decisions that will be life-changing and costly. 

Jesus doesn’t mince his words. And there’s no nice way of saying it. But the risk of making consistent choices that pull us away from Jesus is that that’s where we might find ourselves for eternity – away from Jesus.

Reflection 03 - The one about reconciliation

On Sunday we moved into the next section on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus states that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. David Newton, from St. Mary’s, unpacked those thoughts very helpfully for us. If you’ve not yet had a chance to watch or listen you’ll find the video here and the podcast here. 

And then Jesus begins a section where he repeatedly says, ‘you’ve heard it said that … but I tell you …’ (in verses 21, 27, 32, 33,38, 43).

The first of these is to do with murder and anger. Jesus warns us about the dangers of anger and harsh words. He then goes on to a very practical application. A situation where a person is bringing an offering before God. In that process – may be because of a prayer of confession that is being offered – the person remembers a broken relationship. Jesus tells his disciples to stop what they’re doing and go and put things right before returning to the altar and offering the gift to God. This broken relationship is with a brother or sister – not in terms of a blood relative, but in terms of another follower of Jesus.

My Greek is not sufficiently good to know whether the phrase, ‘has something against you’ is specifically talking about a situation where you have wronged someone – so they have something against you. Certainly, for those situations where we are at fault, we have even more responsibility to put things right.

These verses highlight just how important it is to put things right as quickly as possible and how high on God’s list of priorities doing that is.

Few of us like confrontation and many of us will avoid it if we can. I wonder how many of us have unresolved disagreements, hurts or offenses lurking in the background? And rather than deal with it we’ve allowed it to spoil the relationship. You’ll know if you have because God will have just brought that person or situation to mind!

Have a think about the church family at CBC. Is there anyone that you would choose not to sit next to? Is there anyone who, if they invited you out for a coffee, you’d find a reason to say ‘no’? Is there someone you’d not invite to your home for a meal?

Obviously, there are situations where those things would not be appropriate or where strict boundaries need to be in place for our own protection. But hopefully you get the idea I’m driving at.

If God has brought a situation to mind where you need to put things right, then a practical application of these verses is to do that before Sunday. 

Clearly, there are two sides in any relationship and you only have control over one half. You have no idea how the other person is going to respond. They may have no idea that they have offended you in the past. They may have forgotten all about the issue a long time ago. They may still be very bitter and not prepared to move on.

It is quite likely that re-visiting past hurt is going to be painful, and the process of reconciliation is not going to be quick or easy. But fractured relationships within the church family damage our relationship with God and our relationship with each other. That’s why it is so important to stop what you’re doing and go and be reconciled to that person.