Desert Watch

What is Truth (and why does it matter)?

What is Truth? Pontius Pilate’s famous rhetorical question to Jesus echoes through the twisted wreckage of failed societies down to today. We cannot help but assume that our version of truth is the true version. In this article I want to consider truth from three different perspectives; my own cultural background, current Youth culture, and Contemporary “Consumer” Church culture. Then I evaluate these through a Biblical grid. My interest in this is based around the question: How much of our contemporary church culture is valid contextualization and how much is simply syncretism with the prevailing culture? 

My perspective:

I grew up in a white, middle-class, and mildly religious farming family in New Zealand in the 1960’s and 70’s. Truth seemed simple, yet in our society it was becoming an increasingly complicated issue. My cultural worldview was broadly Western Modernity where it was accepted that truth arose from the power of human reason. Instead of accepting tradition and other forms of authority as the source of truth it was a time when critical thinking was being encouraged in an attempt to free society from “repressive” traditional structures and belief systems. We were being made aware of new ways of thinking and living through the influence for the first time of television, and through more commercially motivated print media. Truth was the name of a newspaper that my father read every Sunday – the truth of the contents was rather questionable. Image was definitely emphasized! The idea of questioning and discovering our own truth and with it the increasing power of image were expressions of emerging postmodernism. Oblivious to this I accepted these conflicting views of truth, unaware that “…modernity is only one particular story of how to read and order life. It is not particularly old…but it became our cultures normative way of reading the world.”[1]

It was this shifting sand of culture and lack of personal foundations that lead me on a search for truth - to seek stability in what we would now call a metanarrative – an overarching story that gives meaning to everything.[2] I remember thinking how lost I felt. My parents’ traditional answers were not satisfying to me. Following my peers into mindless partying also failed to meet my inner hunger. Somehow I realised that there was such a thing as truth that was bigger than tradition and bigger than scientific “proof”. I found Truth experientially in the person of Christ and this truth also gave me cognitive answers to the “big questions” of life. I believed the gospel because of the inner witness of the Spirit. So affectively I was - as John Wesley put it - “strangely warmed”. Cognitively I was satisfied that the Bible was defensible and I should trust it as a better foundation in my life that anything else including my own ideas. Evaluatively I now had a moral foundation – a combination of the promptings of the Spirit and the witness of the scriptures.

However I found that my background worldview of Modernity with its emphasis of digital sets where everything is neatly pigeonholed was to be a hindrance to my walk of faith.  This view of truth – that it is limited to the scientifically and rationally proven – meant that “…truth claims that could not be verified scientifically were relegated to the lesser sphere of private value… with no role in the public life of the culture.”[3] Thus my faith faced a challenge – either prove God’s reality using scientific method or divorce it from reason and let it become a personal faith. My life was being partitioned and I wasn’t aware of it. [4]

I came to faith in the Charismatic movement, which was mixture of the mind-oriented Evangelical Fundamentalist theology[5] and heart-oriented Revivalist experience that called for a life-changing encounter with God. In theory this synthesis was good, but the new wine of the life of God in the Spirit was trapped in old wineskins of modernistic thinking. Every doctrine became a battleground: Should everyone “speak in tongues?” When would the “rapture” take place? The digital mindset couldn’t cope with the diversity of what the Spirit was doing. It was okay to just “believe in my heart” and have a “personal relationship with Jesus”. The atomized compartmentalizing of faith away from works lead to confusion and an increasing distancing of the gospel message from the big issues facing society. Faith wasn’t “provable” in normal scientific method so Christians backed away and the Gospel message was increasingly marginalized from mainstream society. Those who did concern themselves with issues of social justice were mainly the intellectual liberals – accused by the “true believers” of reducing the message to simply a “social gospel”.

Theologian Robert Webber points out the irony that although evangelical fundamentalism was “anti-intellectual” it “…remained rooted in intellectual thought…”[6] I viewed the Bible and Christian life through this essentially modernist lens whereby “…the Bible was transformed from a collection of diverse stories about Yahweh and his people through time to source material for systematic theologies based on linear, rational, abstract, and cognitive reasoning.”[7] Professor Scot McKnight says: “A distinct form of spirituality, not all bad, emerges from this form of Bible reading: an intellectual, heady theory of the Christian life that genuinely believes that if we have the right ideas, we will live more godly lives. That is, such a spirituality is a form of cognitive behaviorism.”[8]

I found myself stuck between a walk in the Spirit on one hand and cognitive behaviorism on the other. This dissonant view of truth limited my effectiveness as a believer - strong on knowing and doing but weak on being and relating.[9] In answer to Pilate’s question “What is truth?” - I could have given a statement of my faith, but I doubt he would have seen much challenge to his world.

Contemporary “Consumer” Church Culture

When applied to theology reason produced a type of evangelicalism that attempted to reduce Christianity to a set of beliefs or formulae. As words became exalted, belief in those words became more important than the reality behind the belief. Instead of faith in God we came to have faith in God’s Word, or at least in our reduced version of God’s word. So right “belief” becomes primary and actions became secondary. Reformation theology was soundly impregnated with this kind of thinking. Webber observes: “…both Luther and Calvin had emphasized that a relationship with God was based largely on right knowing... the emphasis on right doctrines produced a protestant orthodoxy, which in its worst expression was an embrace of orthodox teaching without the transformation of life.” [10] He calls this type of church formed by this thinking pragmatic evangelicalism. This pragmatic approach has produced in our day “…a method of evangelism that paid attention to marketing issues, sought to meet people’s needs, and relied on a seeker service...”[11]

The temptation with this understanding of truth is that it becomes easy for the means to justify the ends. To our end of “church growth” we apply our problem-solving skills and create means to achieve this goal. We set Key Performance Indicators such as levels of giving, attendance and growth. Then we apply the necessary inputs to achieve these goals.[12] So with our thinking shaped by modernity we formed church around this input-output model. Our root metaphor is mechanistic rather than organic.  But because religious truth isn’t accepted in our culture we must add a postmodern version of truth based on image and emotion to provide the means - marketing techniques to promote good feelings in order to gain tacit adherence to propositional truth. Church competes with society not on the level of reason but on the level of image – following the societal trend toward technology, media, marketing, and franchising of church “brands”. [13] The means and ends are neither consistent with each other nor are they very much related to the biblical concept of truth because we have a modernistic, atomistic view of truth rather than a holistic view.

So truth for contemporary “consumer” church can be divorced from actions. In trying to compete in the marketplace it has forgotten that the “medium is the message”.[14] Truth is seen as a set of propositions – a statement of faith – that we give assent to. How we persuade people to assent is less important - and because the “conversion” process is incongruent to the message neither does the lifestyle need to be conguent. Truth hasn’t impacted on what Missionary-statesman Lesslie Newbigin calls the “plausibility structure” level[15]. Behavioralism is all that’s left and it’s not particularly effective. 

To impact at this world-view level the gospel must be incarnated into the practices of the faith community. Our statement of faith is our community. Our community is our statement of faith. Instead in our attempts to contextualize the gospel to contemporary culture we have taken on board the worst of modern and postmodern thinking. We are simply consumers of cheap religious goods and services that lack the substance to meet the deep hunger and healing our society needs.[16]

Under the influence of postmodernity, both youth culture and consumer church culture are heavily influenced by image.[17] Image conscious consumers want to be seen as part of the hip church just as they want to be seen drinking the hip beer. In becoming just another product churches become competitive – their brand of church being better than the next. Competition destroys intimacy and unity – both precious commodities to the Christian faith. Is it okay for the gospel to be just another consumer product?

As the children of modernity we scoff at Pilate’s question. We know what is true and we can happily explain it in rational terms. But when it comes to “spiritual” truth the categories of modernity fail us and we turn to the subjective appeal of image that is the hallmark of postmodernity. We dither before Pilate and try to change the subject, hoping to draw him into the fold instead through our entertaining programs and slick presentations.

Youth Culture

Most youth do not talk about truth much. On one level they equate truth with “scientifically proven facts”, but they react against those who try to use truth to control them with the postmodern “whatever” or “yeah right” response – whether that be “evidence-based” truth (“drinking is bad for you”) or traditional moralistic truth (“God doesn’t like sex before marriage”).[18] They accept as truth that science has answered the questions about life and therefore faith is simply belief in myth to provide comfort for those who cannot face reality. So our young people are a product of rationalism and a scientific worldview fueled by the assumptions of the Enlightenment. Unfortunately while this may meet to some degree their cognitive need, it leaves the affective and evaluative areas barren and in crisis.  This has birthed “…a ravenous materialism as matters of the soul were ignored or re-interpreted within this tightly controlled version of reality. When the life of the spirit is ignored, people will seek to feed the hunger of the neglected soul with the only nourishment available: in our context, the consumptive acquisition of material goods.”[19] Youth also try to fill the dreadful void with all manner of entertainment and activity. Psychologist Bruce Anderson says that this “poverty of the spirit” and the resulting slide into all manner of addiction is the inevitable result the destruction of community and commodification of culture that globalization brings – with it’s emphasis on image-as-truth for the sake of encouraging consumption.[20]

In pre-modern times truth was in the hands of those who claimed to speak for God. Their view of truth could be summarized by “might is right.”  Their abuses of power lead to the Enlightenment reaction and the birth of modernity. Modernity instead put truth into the domain of the intellectual and scientist where “knowledge is power”. Postmodernity is in turn a reaction to the failure and abuses of modernity.[21] Truth and power have now been passed into the hands of the image-makers – the media and advertising world where “image is everything”. Youth do not realize that the truth they receive through the media is just as abusive and destructive as what they have rejected as it emanates from a globalized consumer culture intent on exploiting them. Therefore “…consumers and borrowers lacking self-control and self-awareness become easy targets for the selfish manipulation of producers and lenders. Advertising that offers instant credit, or that promotes products or instruments of sexual seduction, directly undermines the consumers self-control.”[22]

So affectively many young people are often dominated by fear, anger and frustration that they attempt to combat through “highs”. Their mechanistic view of the world, whereby we are simply bio-chemical products or evolutionary chance, sees no problem with chemically induced good-feelings. Their atomistic view of human nature sees no problem in abusing the body to extremes through binge-drinking, drug-taking, and all manner of high-risk behavior. These good feelings are tinged with negativity as the deeper needs go unmet, so self-harm, eating disorders and suicide are an epidemic. Evaluatively they often display high emotion, are particularist in their beliefs (“that’s right for you but this is what is right for me”) and place high value on achievement within the goals that are set for them by the market (having the latest things, having the right clothes, watching the right movies). They are often avid consumers and like any addiction it is insatiable. Everything becomes a commodity – including the spiritual, sexual and relational.[23] Their consumer-driven world is one of image with very little substance.[24] Such a life has little real hope. Newbigin says: “the absence of any sense of worthwhile future is one of the marks of our present culture. By contrast one of the marks of biblical counterculture will be a confident hope that makes hopeful action possible even in situations which are humanly speaking, hopeless.”[25]

Why are few young people finding hope in the contemporary consumer church? It is because consumer church is built on an uncomfortable mix of pre-modern authoritative truth, modern rationalism, and postmodern consumerism. This mix of values is confusing enough to Christians – so how can the young person find reality there? Missional Church Leader Tim Keel says: “I have found that many Christians, consciously or not, try first to convert postmodern people into a modern, Enlightenment way of thinking before they can share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. Why? Because we have encoded the gospel in the categories of modernity.”[26] Yet with our commitment to the categories of modernity, we also have built contemporary church on a consumptive model that was the obsession of a past generation. So actually “…the Contemporary Church, having been built and enmeshed in the generational values of the baby boomer, is alienating a generation of adolescents.”[27] Globalization has seen the adoption of internationalised styles of “McChurch” that are simply a reflection of trends in society. Individuality and diversity both of people and nations are discouraged. Brand identity and conformity are essential.

So youth are hungry for more than the truth of image – they hunger to belong[28] - yet the global consumption model is so all-encompassing that the whole of life can be spent in it’s pursuit, and it is so seductive that we are unaware that in it “we live and move and have our being.” To Pilate’s question “what is truth?” the bored yet over-stimulated young person might reply: “whatever.”

The Biblical Concept of Truth

In the Bible, truth is in the ultimate reality of God and is incarnated through Christ and his Church. Christ is the Word made flesh. God spoke creatively and expressed himself in word (Logos) that produced the created order (Cosmos). The creation speaks truth that reflects the maker: "The heavens declare the glory of God..."

So the ultimate reality of the creator was expressed in his speaking into being of creation and finally in the expression of his son Jesus –who is Truth incarnate. He not only speaks words of truth but also is the expression of truth. His actions are completely congruent with his words that are also a complete reflection of the Father:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Heb 1:1-3. 

So Jesus says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus, the word of truth “…became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Jesus, who says of himself: “I am… the truth…” (John 14:6) calls us to walk in the same manner: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”John 20:21.  We are called to also incarnate the truth in our lives and communities. We are not just to believe truth but to “walk in the truth” (3 John 1:4).

Professor Leonard Sweet says: “Jesus is the truth. Truth resides in relationships, not documents or principles. The Gospels don’t teach us about Jesus as principle but as Jesus as person…Not until the fourteenth century (at the earliest) did truth become embedded in propositions and positions.”[29] So truth is not found in words as modernity assumes but in the ultimate reality behind the words. Words and scientific reductionism are only weak attempts to describe ultimate reality.The apostle Paul says: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”1 Cor 13:9. Completeness of knowing is impossible in our current state, as we live in bodies that are still unredeemed and have limited finite minds also marred by sin. They must be renewed progressively but will never comprehend fully.[30] So Jesus describes truth - not in terms of hypothesis and theory or systematic theology or evidence-based conclusions or provable propositions - but mostly through narrative, metaphor and demonstration. This actually works in a postmodern world where “…the alternative way of knowing truth… is to be convinced of truth through participation, not consumer appeals; through wholly lived display, not reasoned arguments.”[31] Webber asserts: “…the church becomes the post modern portal to truth”[32] In today’s society the community of God’s people “…needs to be an alternative culture. It needs to be defined over against the ruling values of society…a sign, a foretaste, and a witness to a humanity and a world shaped by the vision of God’s reign over the lives of his people.”[33]

Our medium is our message. Consumer church lives in a pragmatic divide where we think we can use marketing methods so long as the result is church attendance. This is faulty thinking that eventually only alienates most postmodern youth. Newbigin says:“The biblical story is unique. But how does the telling of it challenge the reigning world-view? The answer is that it can do so through the witness of a community which, in unbroken continuity with the biblical actors and witnesses, indwells the story the Bible tells.”[34] How do we know when biblical truth is present? Webber says that it is when “…the message takes up residence within the listeners life and heart… and has transformed that person into the image of the content.”[35] The answer to Pilate’s question from a Biblical perspective – if he was a young person today starving for truth and connection - could perhaps be “come and see”. Do we have faith communities that can say that?

So returning to my initial question: How much of our contemporary church culture is valid contextualization and how much is simply syncretism with the prevailing culture? I would have to conclude that too much of contemporary church culture is simply syncretism which mimics rather than challenges the world-views – simply adding a layer of Christian jargon over the top. True contextualization, Newbigin says “…happens when the word is not a disembodied word, but comes from a community which embodies the true story, God’s story...”[36] God give us grace to be that community.

---

 

[1] Alan J. Roxburgh, Missional Map-Making: Skills for Leadership in Times of Transition. (Jossey-Bass, 2010), 11.

[2] Within postmodernity “…the idea of a consistent, understandable whole shaping human life (often called a metanarrative) is replaced by the idea of a pastiche, where our lives are actually characterized by a multiplicity of private styles, moments, experiences, and choices that we use to pick and choose our own self-definition.” Roxburgh, 101.

[3] Michael W. Goheen & Craig G. Bartholomew,  Living at the Crossroads, an Introduction to Christian Worldview. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 96.

[4] “Sociologically, modernity partitions each human life into a variety of segments, each with its own norms of behavior.” - Roxburgh, 10.

[5] Fundamentalism, the root of contemporary church culture, “…was characterized by a rigorous foundationalism – an intellectual frame of reference that adhered to the scientific method of empiricism and to the ability of the mind to arrive at factual propositional truth.” Robert E.Webber, The Younger Evangelicals – Facing the Challenges of the New World. (Grand Rapids: Baker,2002), 25.

[6] This “…Common Sense philosophy insisted that “facts” could be known directly. This conviction derived from Descartes’ emphasis on knowledge gained through the empirical method.” Webber, The Younger Evangelicals, 27.

[7] Tim Keel, Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos. (Grand Rapids:Baker, 2007), 124.

[8] Scot McKnight in: Corcoran, Kevin. (Ed), Scot McKnight, Peter Rollins, Jason Clark. Church in the Present Tense – A Candid Look at what is Emerging. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 110.

[9] Categories from Tim Keel’s “Missional Leadership” paper, 2010.

[10] Robert E.Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism – Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community . (Grand Rapids: Baker,2003),32.

[11] Webber. The Younger Evangelicals, 36.

[12] Roxburgh says “Western culture came to see the world as a vast-input-and-output machine… This measure-predict-manage methodology became the framework for leadership, based on the conviction that we had the capacity and the method (science) to name all the parts and control those parts to produce our desired ends.”Roxburgh, 60.

[13] Webber says: “…many contemporary church leaders argue that the most effective churches will be those that allow Christian commitments to connect with the more laissez-faire attitudes of society. By making Christianity more like the culture of which it is part, some argue, the church will become more attractive, more relevant, and more accessible. ” Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 158.

[14] “The idea that “the medium is the message” holds important ramifications for the communication of the Christian faith. First, the real message of Christianity is not rational propositions but the person of Jesus Christ with whom a personal relationship is possible…the church must be an embodied presence…communicating faith …through a combination of oral, visual, and print forms of participatory immersed community communication (or cultural transmission)”. Webber. The Younger Evangelicals, 65.

[15] Newbigin, Lesslie, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, (Grand Rapids:Eeerdmans,1989), 57.

[16] “…the general tenor of Christian faith has been watered down to a view perilously close to the meism and experience-centered spirituality of the day. In this setting the very substance of the gospel – both it’s doctrine and lifestyle, are threatened.” Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 163.

[17]  “Are we not in peril of marketing a version of that story in which God’s people are consumers of “spiritual” experiences and “mission” adventures? A story in which to be fully alive is to fulfill dreams and live out fantasies on a global scale…In buying into such a story, are God’s people not faced with the prospect of devastating disappointment, of a fragmented and potentially self-destructive engagement with life?” Rod Thompson in: Goheen Michael W & Erin G. Glanville (Eds.), The Gospel and Globalization – Exploring the Religious Roots of the Globalized World. (Vancouver: Regent, 2009), 130.

[18] “Old notions of ‘authority’, such as the idea that science enables human progress, are viewed with suspicion. Science is reductionist (it explains complex things in terms of its less complex constituents). Scepticism and/or cynicism are common.” G. Lealand and H. Martin, It’s All  Done With Mirrors: About Television. (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 2001), 93.

[19] Keel, 107.

[20] Bruce K. Alexander, The Globalisation Of Addiction: A Study In Poverty Of The Spirit. (Oxford University Press, 2008).

[21] “The postmodern turn is a reaction to the dominant political ideologies that caused the horrors of the twentieth century as well as a growing conviction that the Enlightenment claims of producing “facts” and “absolute truth” through the application of a universal method were fundamentally wrong. Roxburgh, 101.

[22] Paul Spencer Williams in The Gospel and Globalization, 130.

[23] “By disembedding cultural values and then placing them in the service of consumer markets, capitalism gradually reduces all values, all beliefs, and all meaning to a matter of taste, preference and consumption habit.” Williams, 132.

[24] “The surface (‘the look’ of form and style) is often more important than the content of ‘meaning’… a set of effects designed to entertain and to persuade viewers to consume and to experience pleasure. This is nowhere more exemplified than in the music-video genre” Lealand and Martin, 93.

[25] Newbiggin, 101.

[26] Keel, 128.

[27] Webber, The Younger Evangelicals, 156.

[28] “The power of connection is a healing power. Healing connections are here, there and everywhere for picking if the church can help postmoderns understand what it means to be connected – connected to one-another, connected to creation, even connected to the church itself.” Leonard Sweet, Post-Modern Pilgrims. (Broadman & Holman: Nashville, 2000), 120.

[29] Sweet ,131-2.

[30] Newbigin notes that even Albert Einstein understood the limitations of science and mathematics to describe reality where he quotes him as saying: “As far as propositions of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” Newbigin, 29

[31] Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 62.

[32] Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 63.

[33] Webber, Ancient-Future Evangelism, 158.

[34] Newbigin, 97.

[35] Webber, The Younger Evangelicals, 67.

[36] Newbigin, 152.

 

The Great Co-Mission 2 – Teach us to pray

In Luke 11 Jesus’ disciples said – “Lord, teach us to pray” and he taught them a prayer displayed in its full length in Matthew 6. My recently deceased mother taught me this prayer as a young child and I am indebted to her for it. I’ve been meditating a lot on the prayer this year and I want to share with you some thoughts that I hope will be encouraging.

This prayer has to do with how we live as followers of Christ in this life – on his great co-mission: “As the Father sent me so I am sending you” (John 20). Jesus introduces it as follows:

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

There are rewards for prayer – not from people but from God. One reward is that we will be changed so that God can also influence those around us. They will be able to better respond to God as we know him better.  God won’t change them or change our circumstances without first changing us.  He is more interested in our character than our comfort. Someone told me recently that she was struggling in her marriage and felt God say to her: “Don’t complain – pray and there will be change.” Things began to improve. She didn’t realise until years later that God was talking about changing her – not her husband! God’s reward is also greater responsibility in this life and the next. Jesus told a parable about how those who are faithful in this age are given responsibility over cities in the age to come. Our character is formed in this age. I don’t believe that our character suddenly changes upon our death – it’s just that we don’t have our marred “flesh” tripping us up any more. I like to think of prayer as if I am standing on a boat pulling into a wharf. I have thrown the rope over a mooring and I'm pulling the boat toward it. It appears from my perspective that I am moving the wharf!

⁷ When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.  ⁸ Don't be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.  

God is not an idol – he is a Father. It’s not words that matter so much as sharing his heart. The apostle Paul in the book of Romans describes prayer “in the Spirit” as the Spirit helping us pray with “groanings too deep for words”. If we have words use them – but prayer is more about getting close to the heart of the Father and having a deep connection with his ways. The greatest joy of a parent is not that their children just obey them, but when the children begin to share the parents' deeply held values as their own. So in this prayer Jesus gives us not so much words but themes. Prayer is not about magic words or a secret success formula, but themes that we centre ourselves upon. So he starts: 

 ⁹ "Therefore, you should pray like this:  

Our Father in heaven,

    Your name be honored as holy.  

Notice how God comes first in the prayer – not us. God is the centre – not our needs. We revolve around him – not him around us. Paul says in the book of Ephesians that God’s ultimate purpose is the “summing up of all things in Christ in the heaven and on earth”. Then after that Jesus hands it all back to the Father.  Important as it is that our sin and pain is dealt with this is not where Jesus starts the prayer, but on the honour of the Father. He is Father of creation, the originator of all that exists. Why is he in heaven and separated from us? At creation he walked with humankind but his name was not honoured as holy. His honour and integrity were called into question by the serpent and we know the result – separation not just of humankind from God but heaven and earth became clearly separated – dimensioned off - with the connection points now only through God’s initiation (the temple, angelic vsitations, visions, God's Law and finally the Word of God made flesh - Jesus).  There is coming a day when heaven and earth will again be joined as one when all that has destroyed the world is itself destroyed at Jesus’ return. Until that time we are called to be those who honour God’s name and to make his character and will known through our actions and lifestyle so that others will honour him also.

    ¹⁰ Your kingdom come.

    Your will be done

    on earth as it is in heaven. 

God is firstly Father, but he is also described as a King with a kingdom. He is a kind king - not like the ancient kings who dominated and enslaved - but as one who encourages and gives us many chances and opportunities to be reconciled with him. He is the King who sent his own Son so that we may be reconciled to the Father. He didn’t leave us to go down with this sinking ship but made a way of escape. His will is that none should perish but all should come to the knowledge of that truth. He provides a way of escape from destruction through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. His will is unchallenged in the unseen dimension called heaven, but here it is challenged because we are created as free agents. There is no opportunity for a relationship with a robot or a computer but only with a truly free person.  As we acknowledge him as King and pray his Kingdom come we are submitting to him and making him Lord – the very thing that was lost at the fall and caused all the trouble we see. As Jesus went about healing and doing good works he previewed the Kingdom that will be introduced in it’s fullness when he returns – no sickness, no dying, no poverty, no injustice, no broken relationships, no bitterness, no starving, no abused and no oppressed. We are called also to be previews of that Kingdom. As the Father sent Jesus so he sends us – how?

    ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread. 

If we are to do his will and be his co-workers we need help! We are made from the dust - fallen and marred. Even as God’s children and forgiven we still live in a body that is subject to sickness, sin and death. When we receive our redeemed bodies then death the final enemy will be defeated. In the meantime God gives us the down-payment of our full inheritance - the Holy Spirit – God not just with us but his presence living inside us. The theme of ‘daily bread’ hints back to the Exodus. The ‘children of Israel’ were in the wilderness and every day God gave them enough manna – bread from heaven - for the day. The lesson was that they would learn that “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. God will provide our daily food, but much more so he will provide us with his Word and his Spirit.  Again in Luke 11:13 Jesus says “if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” There are many passages that tell us we are also to be filled with – “the knowledge of His will.” We are to grow “in the knowledge of God so we you be filled with all the fullness of God.” By the Spirit God writes his laws on our hearts. We are to pray that we will not just have our material needs met but that we will be filled with the knowledge of his will and have the strength and love to live it. 

    ¹² And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

Followers of Christ are not sinless! While we still live in this body we will stumble and fall – but when we do sin the apostle John tells us that we have “an advocate with the Father”. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that we aren’t to ever forget that we come to the “throne of grace” through the blood of Christ – through his righteousness not our own – where we may “find grace to help in time of need”. We are to never cast away that confidence to come. This is not using his mercy as an excuse to continue in sin but doing our best by his grace while at the same time being realistic. We are a work in progress -damaged goods - earthen vessels - jars of clay. But we are called to carry his glory in the earth as his co-workers. Then he gets the glory not us! It’s okay for people see our humanity - but they see the glory shining through our cracks as we submit to him and walk by his Spirit. Psalm 103 13-14 says “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”  Forgiveness is also the key force that we have in our power to liberate others from slavery to Satan and sin. The spiritual forces - “principalities and powers” - that are defacto rulers of this world hold their power through a web of bitterness, anger, resentment, unforgiveness and desire for vengeance. When we practice these things we feed the power system which holds the world in such disarray.  On the cross when Jesus prayed: “Father forgive them they know not what they are doing…” he sent a shockwave through the kingdom of darkness that will ultimately see it completely destroyed. Stephen did the same at the hands of his murderers. Forgiveness undoes people’s worldviews. Most worldviews are based on “you owe me” – you owe me love, you owe me money, you owe me loyalty, you owe me respect – and taking vengeance on those who don’t. When we forgive we deeply challenge that. The people that changed the world most significantly for good in the in the 20^th century all understood this, and all got it from Jesus' teaching here in Matthew.

For example Mother Teresa said:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. 
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. 
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. 
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." 

Martin Luther King Jr said: 

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." 

Ghandi said :

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

Desmond Tutu said:

"Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what happened."

    ¹³ And do not bring us into temptation, 

    but deliver us from the evil one.

If we as God’s people are honouring his name; being filled with his Spirit; coming before him with confidence and shaking the powers of darkness through forgiveness we will be formidable forces for good in the world and for bringing people into healing and reconciliation with the Father. This will not go unchallenged by the forces trying to maintain their power-base against the invasion of God’s Kingdom. Our own “flesh" is still unredeemed and can let us down badly too. So we have the world systems, our own flesh and the evil forces of the age arrayed against us. So we humbly ask the Father for help and deliverance from their power. We live in hostile territory taking our life into – not our own hands – but Gods hands. In this world we shall have tribulation but Jesus says "...be of good cheer, I have overcome the world". We are promised suffering as followers of Christ – suffering from within and without. But he has promised never to leave us or forsake us. Not even death can separate us from the love of God so we are not to fear even those who can kill the body. Our lives are already hidden with Christ in God.

    For Yours is the kingdom and the power

    and the glory forever. Amen.

It all comes back to God. He gets all the glory, he is acknowledged as King, every knee bows and acknowledges him. Eternity belongs to him. The rebellion will only be a distant memory as we spend eternity in unbroken fellowship with him and with each other free from sickness, oppression and death on the new heavens and earth – no longer separated but joined as God always intended. He had to allow the rebellion so that he would have a people who he calls metaphorically “the bride of Christ”. Our eternal relationship with him is not a forced marriage but that of a bride who has been completely won over through unending patience, forgiveness, love and ultimate sacrifice.

So take this prayer with you as a power pack from Jesus. Meditate on it, pray it and let God speak back to you as you do. Pray it for yourself but remember it often uses the plural “us”. We are in this together as God’s people. Remember that it was our unwillingness to honour him as God that let the darkness in to the world and into our hearts in the first place. So daily make him Lord. Daily pray this prayer. The starting point to this new life is making a public confession of faith through Baptism – identifying with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and signifying you are in on that great gift of life. If you’ve never done that ask someone you know is a real Christian about it. There is a movement of faith being stirred up right now that is going to prepare the way for Jesus to return. It’s something worth living and dying for.

The Bible as Six Act Drama

Stories in the Bible are not random events but part of an interconnected story. Just like a TV series where if you sit down and just see one episode of ‘Lost’ (which is about all I watched) you end up confused and mystified. You may be able to glean a little life-lesson from the episode (or not) but you can’t possibly get the whole story arc. Reading individual episodes of the Bible without reflecting on the big picture can be like that.

Like a good play or movie, the Bible can be divided into Acts. I call these six Acts Creation, Crisis, Covenant, Conquest, Community and Consummation.

ACT 1 - CREATION

This is the set-up. We are introduced to the characters and the scene is set. Firstly we meet the Sovereign Creator, then as Genesis records he says: "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”. 

One writer puts it like this: “By causing the creation to come into being by his word of power, God establishes it as his own vast kingdom. He thus establishes himself as the great King over all creation, without limits of any kind, and worthy to receive all glory, honor, and power in the worship of what he has created.”  He exercises dominion as he speaks and all creation responds.  He names what he creates.  He pronounces blessings over his creation; all unmistakable acts of a monarch.

His kingship is relational and loving as he walks with his subjects in the garden he has created. He invites them to participate in his ruler-ship over creation. This is more than creating servants, but of vice-regents, co-heirs, image-bearers and friends. Human beings are ‘image-bearers’ - we have authority and a degree of autonomy to also rule.  So to some extent we are all rulers just because God has created us in his own image to have responsible dominion. What follows is that we all have a little kingdom. We are accountable for the creation’s good as commissioned. This authority is an essential part of our humanness and remains with us to be used for good (if under God’s dominion) or for potential great harm if exercised apart from the relationship we were created for.

At creation everything is good. Shalom (peace, well-being, wholeness, safety, completeness, welfare) reigns. Human-kind is created uniquely in God’s image and put in the perfect environment where all is in harmony. God is in close relationship with his creation.Which leads us to Act 2.

ACT 2 - CORRUPTION

We could also call this Crisis or Chaos: Within creation God had also given a degree of authority and autonomy to another class of being to carry out his will. But within this angelic class there was one who overstepped his God-given boundaries - later called “… the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray…” Satan desires to be like God. To do this he must usurp the authority over the earth that humans alone carry.  

His tactics are the same as that of a scheming abuser. He carefully grooms his victims then once the innocent have fallen their guilt and shame keeps them in his clutches. Afraid and confused they withdraw from each other and hide from God.  The harmony of the Kingdom is shattered and the authority given the vice-regents becomes an instrument of destruction. The “dominion of darkness” has found its entrance into the Kingdom of Peace. Satan becomes the de facto “god of this age ...” continuing to blind and enslave victims who are powerless to break out of the victimhood and abuse cycle.   Another writer says: “Victims victimise others, and even themselves. In this way sin gains momentum. Worse, all sinful lives intersect with other sinful lives....”And so we come to Act 3 - capturing the chaos. 

ACT 3 - COVENANT

Humankind is bound in covenant to their cruel oppressors – sin and Satan. We are powerless to save ourselves or our broken world having surrendered our authority over to Satan.

God wants willing subjects, co-workers, friends and vice –regents. He doesn’t want robots. For free, powerful creatures like us to willingly submit to God is impossible; especially when we have literally sold our souls to the devil by choosing our own way above that of our sovereign King. So God allows us to feel the full weight of our independence from him. Society is like a train that’s jumped the tracks. We plummet to destruction smashing into each other and ripping apart our societies and God’s creation in the process.

So God does an incredible thing – through Covenant he binds himself to our fate. He partners with us in our destruction, not as participant in evil but as co-victim. In setting up the covenant with Abraham he is setting the stage for Act 4 – Conquest through the cross of his Son. Through the covenant God takes back for us what all the effort in the world could never earn; what all the military force could never win; what all the wealth in the world could never buy – but it is incredibly costly.

As God and Abraham bind themselves together in covenant it’s for the blessing and recovery of the whole world as God says: “all nations will be blessed through you”. It’s for Abraham submitting his little kingdom to the Creator King on behalf of all who follow in the path of the faith of Abraham; those who are of faith are the children of Abraham who inherit this blessing. So like the prodigal son "came to his senses" we also realise that we have squandered our inheritance and return to the gracious Father’s house.

Ominously the covenant was about blood. Innocent animals die as if to say "this is serious". Some blood covenants were sealed by the blood of animals, some by the blood of the participants. This covenant looked forward to a time over 2000 years later when a descendant of Abraham and of God would become the sacrifice, would go down with the train wreck, and would win it all back. Covenant captures the chaos.

ACT 4 - CONQUEST

Now the Son of God comes as the truly faithful, righteous covenant partner – the representative of human kind – the faithful Israelite - their expected Messiah. He also becomes the sacrifice. The "god of this age" is defeated – his legal claim over humanity is broken through the cross of Messiah. Jesus' resurrection is absolute conquest over our captors – sin and Satan, making a way for new creation and eternal life – the restoration of all things to the Shalom of the garden.

Recovery and restoration starts with the return of our wayward kingdoms to God’s Kingdom. But in our sinful broken state we can’t even do that - so God makes a way. Have you recognised that? If you’ve been a victim, Jesus has too. Some victims victimise others. We’re all victims and we’re all victimisers to different degrees. The good news is that through him there is forgiveness and freedom and restoration.

If you are afraid of being abused God says to you like he said the Abraham "Do not fear, I am your shield". Satan is the abuser, who whispers that God will never have you back, there’s too much shame; you’re too corrupted. Abram recognises that he is as powerless to help himself as he and Sarah are barren. All he can do is dare to believe and God does the rest.

ACT 5 - COMMUNITY

The victory is won, Satan has been defeated, the prison doors are open; the frail survivors begin to leave the concentration camps of sin. Yet like victims of long-term abuse there is still sometimes an unhealthy affinity with the abuser - a fatal attraction to what has enslaved fuelled by ignorance or fear of the unknown. Freedom feels too foreign. The familiarity of the abusive relationship feels familiar and therefore safer than freedom. So in his patience the King waits, trying to lure us out with foretastes of the goodness of his Kingdom.

This is where we find ourselves; we who know what it’s like to be back in the Father’s house. We willingly submit our ways to his and in return he clothes us with garments of righteousness, a ring of authority and sandals to take the good news to others. We willingly and gladly serve him through love and relationship not through compulsion. Our joy and restoration to true humanness as displayed by Jesus attract others to the house of the Father because the one who is Creator and King is also the loving Father. We model the mercy and justice of the King in the humility and servanthood of Jesus and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. That's our challenge

As the community of the people of God we have inherited the promise that "all nations will be blessed though you"; restated by Jesus as "go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" - offering to people release, freedom from fear, refuge; calling and reconciliation through Jesus the Messiah. We are a foretaste of the fullness of the kingdom yet to come in the final Act.

ACT 6 - CONSUMMATION

Consummation is defined as “the perfect ending; bringing of something to a satisfying conclusion, or the final satisfying completion or achievement of something”. The announcement is complete; the followers have modelled and proclaimed the kingdom so that all of creation has heard the invitation to freedom. It’s time for the Kingdom to come in its fullness. The groaning of creation is over. Evil is finally purged from the earth as the Son returns in unvieled glory with all the returned prodigals from all generations. The masterpiece is restored and heaven and earth can once again dwell as one. God has a creation in harmony and a people who will enjoy him for eternity.

LOST?

Why is the most popular genre on TV criminal drama? Why are there so many stories about broken relationships and the struggles to see restoration? Because deep down we know this story – the longing for justice and restored relationship is embedded in our DNA. God has placed eternity in our hearts. It will be a happy ending, but not for all. Not all the prodigals will return. But let us not be a stumbling block to any like the elder brother in the story. God's promise is that if we will take this reality seriously and submit our lives to God's reign then we will come alive in this new life and reflect it out into our world. Are you ready?

The Great Co-Mission

John chapter 20 could be described as the turning point of the whole biblical narrative – the day Jesus is raised from the dead. Tears of grief become tears of joy. Despair turns to faith - darkness to light – death to life – emptiness to fullness – hopelessness to purpose.

John is a poet – an artist with word-images. He deliberately parallels his book to the creation account in Genesis. Both Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 start with “In the beginning.” John 20 is the start of new creation – the day Jesus is raised from the dead - the “first day” of the week. Darkness is over the face of the deep but the Spirit has been at work bringing life out of chaos. This is Day One of a new creation.

Imagine witnessing the creation of the universe? Mary Magdalene is about to witness something equally as significant. Mary was one of the women who travelled with Jesus – a female disciple. It is recorded that she contributed to the support of his ministry so she must have had financial means. She was also recorded in Luke as having had seven demons cast out of her. So she had quite a history. Some commentators think Mary Magdalene is the same person who anointed Jesus' feet with her perfume and tears as recorded by Luke chapter 7. Jesus says of that women: “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

Today she was on a mission – to anoint Jesus’ body again with spices along with Mary the mother of James and Salome (as per Mark).  But the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty! She runs to get the men – what does this mean? Peter and John come to check it out – “yep it’s empty all right – lets go home”. But something of Mary’s female intuition tells her there’s more going on here.

She can’t leave. I like the old word “tarrying” – sometimes we need to listen to those divine prompts to wait instead of rushing on to the next thing. She hesitated – it just didn’t seem right to go yet. She stays – processing the grief, taking in the moment. We only weep over those we love. There’s a line out of a Switchfoot song that comes to mind: “If it doesn’t break your heart it isn’t love.” Then through her tears she sees something (everything looks like angels through tears!)

“Why are you weeping?” The angels ask. Well it seems obvious to her but out of respect she explains to them why. Then another voice – same question – plus “whom are you seeking?” Who are you seeking? What are you seeking? Where are your efforts being placed? Where is your heart passion directed? Mary’s was directed to Jesus.

She thought he was the gardener! John is referencing the creation account again. Adam was the original creation man put in the Garden of Eden to “tend and keep” it. Now here is the new creation Gardener – the second Adam. Paul – explaining the nature of resurrection and the new creation in 1 Corinthians 15 says “Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.” Jesus has a physical resurrection body – but she doesn’t recognize him. In the resurrection there is continuity with our current physicality and discontinuity as well – more than mortal. Paul uses the analogy of comparing a seed to the plant it produces to explain this difference between first creation life and resurrection life.

He says her name: “Mary”. She recognizes him.  Someone saying your name brings back all your history with that person in an instant – not facts but emotions. Mary becomes a “sent one” – the first witness of the resurrection! The first messenger/missionary/apostle of the crucified and risen Son of God. He tells her “go to my brethren”. This is the first time he refers to his followers as “my brethren” – they had become his family – born anew of the same Father - my whanau, my family, my people, my brothers and sisters.

So it’s now evening – the doors are locked. Jesus appears in their midst – physical but different. What does he say? “Peace to you.” This is more than just saying “chill out guys its just me”. This is announcing that something has shifted. The Second Gardener who is also the Sovereign of the World has reclaimed the peace or “shalom” that was lost in the original garden. This was announced hundreds of years before by another poet in Isaiah 9:

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.…

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.

The kingdom of God is a Kingdom of peace – peace with God, reconciliation of races, restoration of the groaning of creation in terms of the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. The people of the world are gripped by anxiety but we as the sent people of God are called to both possess his peace and to take the peace of God into our broken world.

Sometimes things have to be broken before they can be fixed. At one point Jesus says: “I didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.” God will challenge and judge our abusive structures, relationships and belief systems - but the end-goal is peace. Our message is peace and our method is peace. “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” (John 14:27) “Seek peace and pursue it” (1 Pet 3:11). When Jesus sent out his people two by two he instructed them to bring a blessing of peace on a house. This wasn’t just words but something I believe God wants us to draw from his presence – something tangible we can pass on.

Jesus’ pattern was to send out his disciples two by two to places where he was going to come. (Luke 10:1). Like John the Baptist they (and we as “sent ones”) have this task of preparing the way of the Lord. He will come where we take his peace. If we take arguments, anger, criticism and judgment we aren’t preparing the way for him to come. Why? He wants human witnesses to model what it’s like to live in relationship with God. We are broken, imperfect, stumbling people with the life of God within – a treasure in earthen vessels that the glory might be his not ours.

So he says again “Peace to you – as the Father sent me so I send you”. This is the great mission. God is a sending God. God sent his prophets, God sent his Son Jesus, now God sends us in the same way. Author Alan Hirsh says:“Although we frequently say "the church has a mission," according to missional theology a more correct statement would be "the mission has a church."” God has a mission and we are instruments of that mission. We talk about the Great Commission but this is the great “Co-Mission”. He co-missions them and he co-missions us to go as he went – with compassion, with service, with tears, with suffering, with joy – the attitude that was in Christ also be in us (Philippians 2).

Then he says in the next breath (literally) “receive the Holy Spirit”. Jesus was “anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and went about doing good and healing” (Acts 10:38) and so must his followers be. Not putting on shows and selling tickets but doing good and healing – moved with love and compassion as he was with this new-creation-Spirit-life in us now that Jesus is risen from the dead. Here again is a parallel to Genesis where God breathes on Adam and he becomes a living soul. We come alive with the life of God in us – new birth – regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Jesus quickly adds that our attitude and message is to be one of forgiveness in line with his nature of restoration not condemnation. Take a breath of God, receive his peace – and forgive.

So where does this leave us? Our method is our message. In our busy anxious world we are called to be like Mary – a seeker of his face. If it doesn’t break your heart it isn’t love. We are called to be people of the heart more than people of the head. Jesus calls us to be his brethren, his whanau, his people - to live in this world as ambassadors of the age to come. Where we go in his name taking his peace he will follow. As the Father sent me so I send you. Peace to you.

Two dead guys

Jesus tells the story recorded by Luke about two characters from vastly different backgrounds. We first meet a named character - Lazarus - who comes from the lowest of the low. He's a beggar, homeless and dying. There's no Social Welfare, no ACC, no Health Insurance - just some hungry dogs licking his open sores as he lies dying outside the rather plush home of the second man.

Character two is un-named even though in this life he is obviously the important powerful person. Inside the strong door and high walls he is partying with his friends. Jesus simply calls him 'a rich man'. Traditionally he's been given the name 'Dives' because apparently that's the Latin word for rich. Dives seems to be in good shape but maybe his over-indulgent lifestyle gets the best of him because within a short space of time both he and Lazarus depart this life.

Scene two is the afterlife where we see now a dramatic role reversal. Lazarus is comforted by Father Abraham and the rich man is in torment. Why? Is this just Karma? Payback for being rich? Revenge of the Universe?

There's lots of possible levels here:

1. The rich man was a member of the ruling class that fed off the poor class; not just uncaring but actually largely responsible for the plight of the poor. He represents the fat cats of society that create conditions where poverty thrives so they can profit from the misfortune of others. The scene represents the reasonable justice of God on those who would live so uncaringly towards the powerless.
2. The rich man was simply too blind to see the plight of those around; preoccupied with his own Very Important Business, like the story of the Good Samaritan where the religious people simply passed by and were not the 'neighbour' that the wounded man needed. If this is the case then the judgement seems a little harsh (i.e. uncomfortable for us middle class people). 
3. The rich man represents the religious leaders and the poor man represents the people they considered unworthy of the Kingdom. Lazarus wasn't playing their religious games so he was an outsider who 'deserved' what he got. Jesus used this theme a lot; the story of the Prodigal Son for instance. He's saying to the religious leaders: "Guys, my Kingdom doesn't look like yours. How about trying to see it the other way around. You've got it totally upside down - wake up!"
4. Perhaps the story is actually about God's Law. As Jesus tells it when the rich man is in torment he asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his brothers, Abraham replies that they wouldn't listen even if one rises from the dead, but they have God's Law if they cared to heed it - they are without excuse. Note Jesus is not approaching the Law like the religious leaders; as something to score people against to see if they are 'in' or 'out' (because on that basis Lazarus and the Prodigal son were definitely out), but the Law was about how to treat other people with mercy, dignity and compassion because we are all created in God's image. The Law was given to help us understand God's love and extend that love to the world, not to give us a sword of judgement. 

All these levels are valid. I think we often read God's Law wrong and miss the point. Jesus said that he didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Yes God will deal with evil because he is just, but stories like this illustrate that we may not always perceive evil as God does. Believers in Jesus are meant to have not just the external Law but God's Law written on our hearts and his Spirit within outworking his care for the world. 

The challenge is to treat the Lazarus' on earth as they are in heaven, and maybe see the rich, famous, powerful and charismatic in this world as the 'Dives' they are - to be pitied rather than to be imitated.  

Prostitutes and tax collectors part 2 - Greasy Grace

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." (Matthew 21: 28)   

Rahab wasn't by any means perfect. Her background and culture were no doubt highly dysfunctional. She would carry wounds from that (as we all do) all her life. She was prone to lie on the spur of the moment (many struggle with this story because she lied to protect the spies), but like we say 'her heart was in the right place'. Does that mean that God just sees our hearts and doesn't care about our lifestyle? 

Our modern Christian world is full of what has been called 'Greasy Grace'. The message is 'come to Jesus, say you are sorry, be forgiven so you can go to heaven then do your best to live a good life'. The thought process then goes like this:

 - God loves me unconditionally (which is true).

 - God will forgive me if I sin (which is true).

 - I do my best to do what Jesus would do but I still sin (true but a subtle twist coming in here).

 - Its really hard to live a live up to God's standards (it's actually impossible by our efforts).

 - God knows I can't, and hey, I'm forgiven and going to heaven and this is just all going to pass away anyway, so it desn't really matter how I live so long as I don't really hurt anybody else, so although I know some of the things I'm doing aren't what God likes he understands - I hope (this is now right off track - we are living in 'Greasy Grace', confessing to be followers of Christ yet by our actions denying him and bringing reproach to his name. Like washed pigs we return to our wallowing.

True grace is quite different. It realises that the power of grace is not only to be forgiven but to also be transformed. 

Paul the apostle said:  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.(Romans 12:1-2)

To paraphrase: God's mercy in reconciling and forgiving us is so great that we owe it to him break free from the dysfunctional patterns of our corrupt culture and be so transformed by him that we no longer think in terms of those destructive patterns so that by our transformed lives we will model to the world the will of God. This life of worship and service is to be our complete focus.

The grace of God works by the Holy Spirit living inside us, leading us into all truth, renewing and transforming. But to walk in his grace requires our focus. More on this to come... 

Prostitutes and tax collectors

Recently I did some teaching on Rahab that really got me thinking... what does God like?

Rahab lived in the city of Jericho just west of the Jordan river in around 1446BC. She was a prostitute and lived among people that were into serious evil - in God's justice system they had passed the point of no return; Jericho and it's people were to be destroyed.

Yet when Joshua sent spies in to check out Jericho it was Rahab who offered them protection and helped them escape. She effectively defected - committing treason against her own people. Apparently this was more than just an act of self-interest because later the Bible commends Rahab  for her great faith and she is clearly honoured within Israel by being accepted into the people of God; even to the extent of being listed among other non-Israelites in the genealogy of Christ himself! 

It's almost as if God sent the spies in to get Rahab out because there was something in her that he wanted in the bloodline of his son - faith!

Jesus talked about this kind of faith is when he told this story:

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?"  "The first," they answered.   Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." (Matthew 21: 28)   

Apparently faith has nothing to do with saying the right thing or being the right race or coming from the right background; it's about connection with the Father and doing what he wants.

(image from Francine Rivers book 'Unashamed' based on Rahab)