Riverside Anglican Churches

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You are probably aware that Muslims have been celebrating their holy month, Ramadan, which ends shortly. “Ramadan” was the name of the ninth month in Arab world long before Islam emerged. It is considered special by Muslims because it is claimed that the first verses of the Qu’ran were revealed by God to Muhammad in this month. There is a particular night called “the night of power” some time in the last 10 days of Ramadan. This is said to be the holiest night of the year because it is the night when the first revelation came to Muhammad.

Fasting is the main feature of Ramadan, from the call to prayer at first light until the fourth prayer-time of the day at the setting of the sun. This involves no eating, drinking or sex. People in certain situations are exempt from the fast (but may need to make up the time later on) and it is not compulsory for children, though they are encouraged to practise for adulthood. Fasting is said to help the person to be less worldly and more focused on God.

Ramadan is the time when Muslims should try to be at their very best for God. It is supposed to be a time of heightened prayer. The reading of the whole Qu’ran is also encouraged. They are supposed to try harder to do good works during this month too. Extra effort is made by Muslims in Ramadan because extra blessing from God is on offer during this month. There is a greater return on effort. As it is described by some Christian workers in the Red Sea region:

In this month fasting, praying and kindness have extra merit, 100 or 1000 fold. On a secret and unknown night, called the ‘night of power’, the gates of Heaven are open and a good performance in this month can make up for the rest of the year. Dying in Ramadan also increased your chances of entering Paradise, especially as a martyr for Islam.

To Christians, this is all desperately sad. Is the true God so stingy as to only open the gates of heaven on one night of the year? Does he really to have a “bonus month” in which he makes it a bit easier for people to attain heaven? Do we have to be lucky enough to die on the right day to increase our chances of salvation?

According to the Bible, God is both compassionate and powerful. Therefore, since he wants people to be saved, he saves them. Not only has he left the door to heaven wide open, but he has come down into our world in his Son, paid for our sins himself, and has taken (and will take) us back through the door into his heavenly presence. There is no moral effort required on our part (even my best, multiplied by 1000, couldn’t be good enough for God), just simple dependence on the merits of the crucified Lord Jesus.

A Christian can still fast if they want to. Some say it helps them to focus on God (though that hasn’t been my experience!). But no person earns merit from God for their own efforts. If we don’t trust Jesus for our standing with God, we insult God. Let’s pray for our Muslim friends and neighbours.

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You may already know that there is a campaign being run by the Bible Society at the moment called Jesus. All About Life. Our Sydney Anglican Diocese is supporting this campaign and we have signed up as a supporting church. The campaign is now underway in Sydney. If you are a Christian, it would be worth knowing about what is happening because it is quite possible that people will comment on it to you. The campaign has three phases.

Phase 1: Seeding/Viral Phase (7^th–21^st September)

This phase aims to get people talking about the campaign. It has been publicised that there will be a range of quirky billboards such as one with a flock of seagulls descending to eat a chip with the caption, “Thanks for hot chips. Amen.” Another has a picture of a parrot with feathered legs which reads, “Thank you, Jesus, for birds that look like they’re wearing pants.” The billboards direct people to a website, www.allaboutlife.com, where you can create your own picture with caption giving thanks to Jesus for something, and even order a T-shirt displaying your design!

So far it seems to be working. People seem to be talking and writing about how lame and weird the campaign is – which I assume was the intention from the beginning! (I’m guessing that the organisers are working on the basis that any publicity is better than none, and if this is the only way of getting people talking about Jesus, so be it.)

Examples of how the word has spread include newspapers as far away as England reporting on the campaign with headlines such as Campaign to Mass-Market Jesus Christ and Thanks for the hot chips, Jesus! Australian churches launch bizarre ad campaign to bring the flock back into the fold. There was also a discussion making fun of the campaign on The 7pm Project last Tuesday night. I imagine this is just the beginning, since the billboards aren’t even up yet!

Phase 2: Reach and build awareness through outdoor media (bus shelters) (14^th–27^th September)

This phase includes placing the billboards in bus shelters near churches as well as other forms of visible media promoting the Jesus All About Life campaign. It also attempts to reach people online through the website and social networking (Facebook, Twitter etc.) as people continue to discuss and refer to the campaign. You should start seeing these from tomorrow!

Phase 3: Prime time media – TV, online and cinemas (27^th September – 25^th October)

There will be ads on TV in prime time. These haven’t been released yet, but are apparently “edgy” – so they should generate some discussion.

We need to be ready for people to comment about this campaign to us, especially if they know that we are Christians. We need to think about how we might answer a range of responses, from interested and approving to scornful and dismissive. Perhaps we should practise the line: “I thought the ad was a bit silly too – but how do you think Christians should get people talking about Jesus? What do you make of him?” This could create opportunities to talk to your friends that you won’t want to miss!

Steve

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One of my favourite metaphors for the way churches should work is the orchestra, however…

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Believe it or not, it is almost time to start planning for church next year and beyond. This year has been a special year in which we planned to pour much of our energy into the Connect 09 outreach. We planned for very few new initiatives beyond the effort of door-knocking our whole parish and running outreach activities. Thinking beyond this year, we need to work out how to keep the outreach momentum going as well as a longer term strategy for reaching our parish and building each other up in Christ.

I went to a pastors’ conference recently to listen for fresh ideas to apply in our church. The main speaker was another visiting American mega-church pastor, Matt Chandler (35 year-old pastor of the 6000+ member church called The Village in Dallas, Texas). There weren’t so many new ideas to me, but it was helpful to have the importance of some things reinforced…

• Lack of vision is a barrier to church growth.
• Lack of resources is a barrier to church growth.
• Ministers not using their time properly is a barrier to church growth (getting bogged down working “in” rather than “on” the business, doing what others would be better at, not doing the important stuff well such as evangelism, following people up and training).
• Failure of Christians to care about the lost is a barrier to church growth.
• We need to develop an “inviting culture” in our church, where it’s natural for us to invite our not-yet-Christian friends. This involves making our churches visitor-accessible, from what is said up the front to the decor in our churches.
• Since younger generations think very differently, we need to think about how to appeal to them differently with the gospel. For example, right and wrong are no longer universally agreed so the idea of being the traditional “good person” no longer has any meaning to younger people. Rather, they value the freedom to be true to themselves.
• We need to equip people better for living as Christians in our culture, which is increasingly secular.
• We need to be a community that “does life together” during the week, not just a collection of people who sit next to each other at church and Bible study group.
• We need to encourage people to “get real” and share their struggles and failures with each other (rather than wearing their “church face”) so that we can truly know and learn from each other.

We need to take at least some of these issues seriously in trying to chart a course for our church for the coming years, along with many more. I would love to hear what you think are the crucial issues for our church to consider in planning for the future. Please catch me, call me or write to me to let me know what you think.

Steve

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I recently read a BBC news item titled “What have the noughties done for God?” The article highlights some of the huge changes that have occurred in the past decade to the place that religion occupies in Western society. The influence of religion has been so diminished in the eyes of some that they are even talking about the possible death of religion altogether!

In England, over 200 Anglican churches have been declared redundant in the past decade, with even more being closed down from other denominations. Religiously based morality has been increasingly ignored in the areas of euthanasia, genetic research, homosexual marriage and family life. Religion, and particularly Christianity, has been increasingly mocked in the arts and media. There were court cases over the right of Christian students to wear “purity rings” and for female Muslim students to wear their jilbabs at school. A British Airways employee was told that she wasn’t allowed to wear a cross as a pendant in view around her neck. Just last week, a street preacher in England was threatened with arrest by several police officers for reading the Bible aloud in public on the basis that it incites homophobia and racism.

The root of all of this is summed up in the article by a quote from an atheist religious commentator: “People are now saying ‘I want the law to answer to me. I don’t want to be told by a hierarchy, by a religious ruler, what I can believe, how I can behave’. Those days are over.” He believes that in the noughties, religion has been forced to “demythologise”, or in other words explain itself in a way that makes sense to people. This is something that the church has not really had to do before. Society no longer allows religion to stand over it; rather, people are now standing over religion.

This sidelining of religion is due to the decline of older generations who habitually attended church and respected religion. But it has also been accelerated by the issues raised by Islamic extremism (9/11, 7/7, Bali bombings, etc.). Richard Dawkins, the much publicised atheist who wrote a book called The God Delusion, has said that he wanted to write his book in the 90’s but his publisher told him to wait. He puts the success of his book in the noughties down to George Bush, who, along with Al Qaeda, has given religion a bad name.

The pressure from society for the church to explain itself has forced the church to ask questions of itself which have brought deep divisions to the surface.  The Anglican Church is currently being torn in two. On one side are those who are sticking with the Bible; on the other are those who are abandoning the Bible (or at least reinterpreting it in a way that essentially abandons it). The presenting issue is homosexuality and the ordination of openly gay ministers and bishops, but the fundamental issue is the authority of the Bible.

What should we do about this? Firstly, we should be concerned out of love for our neighbours. If we believe that God knows what’s best for people, we should recognise that the decline of Christian influence in society is bad for society. But second, we shouldn’t panic. Rather, we should have some confidence in the power of the truth and the Spirit of God. Therefore we should pray that many people are saved and keep preaching the plain meaning of the Bible, which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. This may be becoming less fashionable, but being Christian has never been a popularity contest.

Steve

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Would you regard yourself as a particularly “spiritual” person? In many circles, a “spiritual” person is someone who claims a connection with some kind of higher life. It involves some form of enlightenment or experience that transcends our ordinary bodily existence in this world. Often, people who follow Eastern religions and practise transcendental meditation are seen as “spiritual”. Or in the Christian scene, churches which generate much emotion in worshippers through music or which emphasise extraordinary manifestations such as speaking in tongues are regarded by some as more “spiritual”. In common usage, the word “spiritual” refers to anything that’s a bit deeper or higher than our normal day-to-day experience.

As Christians, we need to be careful to avoid confusion when we use the word “spiritual” (or refer to “spirituality”) because the Bible uses this word differently to the way it’s commonly used. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul refers to the “spiritual person” as the person who is helped by God’s Holy Spirit to understand the wisdom and power of God in the gospel of the crucified Christ.

Earlier in 1:18, Paul said, “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” He goes on to say that the difference between the person who believes and is saved and the person who doesn’t is not human wisdom or power. The decisive factor is that God reveals the “secret wisdom” of the Christian gospel to some through the Spirit.

According to Paul, the Spirit searches the depths of God and reveals his thoughts to people. This is how a person might come to understand “what God has feely given us” in Jesus Christ. It is in this context that Paul describes people as “spiritual”. Spiritual people are those who understand the mind of God and therefore see his wisdom and power in the death of Jesus (where the “natural” person sees only weakness and folly in the cross). In this sense, it is faith in Jesus that is truly “spiritual”.

For a Christian then, being “spiritual” has nothing to do with transcending our normal bodily lives. It is a matter of approaching our normal lives with the mind of God. That is, being so shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ who died for us that it dominates the way we view ourselves, our lives and the world around us. It is still possible for “spiritual people” to act immaturely like “people of the flesh”, as the Corinthians were doing when Paul wrote to them (1 Corinthians 3:1). This doesn’t mean a lack of amazing experiences, but rather a failure to live life in line with the gospel.

According to the Bible then, a “spiritual” person is a Jesus-focused person, and a “spiritual” church is one where God’s Word is central. That is Christian “spirituality”.

Steve

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We are naturally inclined to look to our own performance in order to gauge where we stand with God. We might measure ourselves by our regularity at church or the amount that we pray, or we might ask ourselves less tangible questions such as “Am I a good person?” (often measured by comparing with someone else). The result of such self-assessment is either discouragement and doubt if we don’t measure up or pride if we judge ourselves to be going well.

1 Corinthians 1:30 is a very important and profound verse: “[God] is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” It is important for us to remember that we are not the source of our own life in Christ Jesus. All the effort and goodness in the world cannot attain life in Christ Jesus. Nor is the Church the source of our life in Christ Jesus. Life in Christ is a gift from God direct to people whom God has chosen and called who are not necessarily impressive by any standard.

As the verse says, those who have eternal life in Christ have not manufactured their own wisdom (the smarts to live for God), righteousness (right standing with God), sanctification (set apart as holy for God) or redemption (deliverance from sin). Rather, God has made Christ Jesus all those things for us. In other words, even though we are nothing in ourselves, God has clothed us with the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption of Jesus Christ.

I read an illustration during the week that said it is as if our spiritual bank account was in overdraft but Jesus’ spiritual bank account was full. Jesus has not just topped up our account from his. He has swapped bank accounts with us, putting his name on our debt, and our name on his riches. That is the basis on which God treats the believer.

This truth should encourage the person who knows they can’t make God’s grade (which none of us have made), especially at times when our failures weigh heavily on us. It should also flatten the pride of those who foolishly feel superior. To the Corinthians, who were forming factions and looking for ways to be superior, Paul goes on to say: “Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Cor 1:31).

Steve

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You may be aware that governments in Australia have been stirring up the issue of human rights this year.  For example, the Victorian government has been looking at widening anti-discrimination laws. The federal government has also set up a Human Rights Consultation, which has been touring Australia asking people what they think about how their human rights should be protected and promoted. It will present its findings to the government at the end of September.

This issue has largely come to the surface in the wake of September 11. The rise of aggressive Islam and the need to protect people has raised all kinds of questions about freedom of religion, freedom of speech, racism, sexism and due process of law for suspects (Is it right to lock people up without trial? If so, for how long?).

In this context, governments are rightly keen to make sure that human rights aren’t forgotten about. However, it is very possible that our ability to exercise a Christian conscience and preach the gospel will suffer badly as a result of these reviews. Two very prominent political figures, from different sides of politics, have spoken out about this issue in recent months, warning of the effects on freedom of religion.

Peter Costello has written in the newspaper about the legal threat to Christian schools. Currently, Christian schools are exempt from anti-discrimination laws on the basis of freedom of religion for religious bodies. Hence, Christian schools can insist on only employing Christian teachers. However, in Victoria, a whole lot of organisations want to widen the anti-discrimination laws to change this. It has been said that “To allow religious organisations a broad exemption for conscience encourages prejudice.” This statement is basically saying that religious bodies should be forced to employ people who are hostile or indifferent to their religion – in the interests of fairness! Costello notes that the whole concept of a Christian school would evaporate if this were the case, which may be what some intend. But what about the rights of Christian parents who want their kids to have a Christian education? Costello contends that there is no problem with the way things currently are. The freedom of Christians to exercise their consciences has only done our society good. The current push from the “human rights industry” is a case of lawyers trying to gain power over the church.

Bob Carr has also written that this is whole human rights push is unnecessary and dangerous. He has urged Christians to speak up about this issue and defend their freedom to exercise their religion. He contends that if lawyers and politicians try to dictate what people can and can’t say on the topic of religion, it will only inflame hostility rather than prevent it. He cites the case in Victoria, which has a religious vilification law, where two Christian pastors were prosecuted for comments they made about Islam. It would not have been a big deal had they simply been ignored!

As Christians, we should be very wary of this human-rights push. We need to defend our freedom of religion and not allow the state to rule over the church. We also need to defend our freedom of speech because open discussion about religion can’t hurt. I recently read of a court case in the United States in which the court held up the banning of a kindergarten child from using a Bible for show and tell. Whose human rights are promoted by silencing all talk about religion?

Steve

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My wife Jo and I wasted an hour of our lives a couple of weeks ago watching a TV show called True Beauty. In the mould of every other reality TV show, it is watchable because of the social dynamics that unfold (i.e. fights and bitchiness) within a bunch of people with range of different personalities. In this case, the bunch of people living together is made up of “beautiful people” – models, actors/actresses, dancers, fitness fanatics – a collection of the vainest group of people you could ever meet.

Like every other reality TV show, each week someone is thrown out of the show. In this case, it is the person who is judged least beautiful that is thrown out. However, there is a hidden factor that the contestants are not aware of until they are thrown out: they are not only judged on outward beauty, but also on the inner beauty of their character (or lack thereof). Throughout the show, as the contestants live together and are compared for outward beauty, they are subjected unawares to little tests of character that are being filmed with hidden cameras.

I guess that the makers of the show feel that the moral element introduces a depth to the show. The lesson supposedly learned is that beauty is more than skin deep. However, the judging of the contestants’ characters make the show itself doubly horrible and ugly.

In the episode that Jo and I watched, a cosmetic surgeon measured each contestant’s outward beauty “scientifically” and gave each a score. The two with the lowest scores were told to pack their bags and be ready to go home. The judges then compared their performance in the secret inner-beauty tests, which showed one being nastier and more selfish than the other. The judges announced their decision and sent the nicer girl back into the competition. When the loser protested, the judges confronted her with the secret footage of her inner-ugliness, to which she had no reply. She left in tears having been told not only that she was the least beautiful outwardly, but also that she was a yucky person on the inside too. Perhaps viewers were supposed to feel that she got what she deserved.

While some people might think that True Beauty upholds the value of Christian virtue by emphasising goodness of character, the fact is that it displays exactly the kind of ugly self-righteousness that God hates. Real goodness of character includes mercy, which was in short supply in the inappropriately named True Beauty.

God operates on a very different basis to True Beauty and all the other reality TV shows. While reality TV shows start with a large group and progressively exclude people for not being good enough, God progressively includes people who never deserved to be included! People think that churches are full of people who think they’re “holier-than-thou” and are looking to exclude others. God forbid that this should be true. In fact, true Christians are those who know they failed the moral test long ago but who, instead of getting what they deserve, have found mercy in Christ. This received mercy should be reflected in mercy shown to others.

It’s true that true beauty is more than skin deep but it goes further than what the self-righteous world thinks. In fact, it extends to loving the truly ugly!

Steve

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