Christian Concern - More Essential Than Ever

Difficult Tan

If you have a cafe/bar situated next door to a tanning centre naemd Easy Tan what do you call your business?

Its Noah's Yard, Uplands, Swansea

I’m Not Religious, I’m a Christian?

There was a fascinating discussion this week on Andrew Marr's BBC Radio 4 broadcast Start the Week in which the always interesting if controversial Baroness Mary Warnock spoke about morality in a “post religious world.” If you want to listen to her contribution follow the link and it can be found at around the thirty minute mark. She said that we assume, in a culture so heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian thinking, that morality is the product of religion. Her central assertion was that, “Being morally good is desirable but doesn't necessarily come from religion. Otherwise children brought up without religion may be in danger of casting off morality.”

In certain circles she would be met with the response, “But I am not religious. I am a Christian!” this designed to provoke the question – what is the difference? The answer comes back, “Religion is man's feeble and ultimately futile attempt to reach up to God while Christianity is God's reaching down to man in Jesus.” It is a point well enough made, if a little trite. I have never felt entirely comfortable with it myself. The issue, I suggest, is more to do with the correct use of the word 'religion' in Christian circles, rather than that 'religion' is something other than Christianity.

Baroness Warnock suggests that religion is one of a number of social influences that make us moral creatures; others might be parents, teachers, public figures and role models, etc. True, it doesn't necessarily follow that the absence of religion leads to moral decline (although it does lead to moral relativism, which may be decline by another name). But I do have to question where the moral lights of the non-religious person come from. To wonder about the the general influence of religion in a secular society nevertheless built on religious foundations. In other words, does religion have a subliminal influence even though it is overtly rejected?

The Bible takes a different view of both morality and religion. Where Mary Warnock sees religion as one root of morality among many, the Bible sees religion as an outworking of morality. Where she might speak of the religious man's morality, the Bible would speak of the moral man's religion. In one a man might be influenced to moral good by religion, in the other his morality would find its clearest and best outworking in religion.

God Made Man A Moral Creature

If man's moral instinct precedes religion where does that instinct come from? The Bible tells us that man was created a moral creature. In Genesis man, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), is described as a moral agent. God commanded him, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17) Here we have the three elements of moral responsibility: an injunction to obey; an agency with which to choose and a penalty for disobedience. Man's moral instinct, whether he is religious or not, is ultimately inherent rather than instilled. Teaching and example can enhance or blunt it but does not create it.

His failure to choose obedience has made man ever after inclined to the grossest immorality, while simultaneously capable of the noblest acts of moral service and sacrifice. It is not that man is incapable of acts of kindness and service. Rather, it is that his inclination always is to go against his inherent sense of moral good. The image of God is broken in man yet not entirely, his morality is no longer intact yet remains. Paul describes people who, without knowledge of the law, nevertheless, “do by nature things required by the law...they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Romans 2:14-15)

This is the confusion of fallen man. He knows right from wrong because he is a moral creature yet his own conscience so often condemns him because he is a fallen creature. Paul later describes perfectly the problem: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19) Even in his best moments man is aware of his failing to be all his moral instinct tells him he should be. The prayer book speaks of those things we should have done but have failed to do, of those things we have done that should have been left undone. It speaks of our sinning in thought, word and deed. Paul sums it up, “There is no one righteous, not one” (Romans 3:10)

Fallen man is yet culpable for his choices before a just God and will stand before his Maker at the final day. “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done which was recorded in the books” (Revelation 20:12) The gospel is the good news that Jesus has paid the price for our sins and that, by putting our trust in him, entering into a saving relationship with him we may be saved from our sins. That relationship is key to what describes the religious man in Scripture.

The Religion of a Godly Man

We tend to think of a godly man as pious, devout, church-going – deeply 'religious'. In Scripture 'godly' translates the Greek eusébeia which denotes, not a life of religious observances, but a true and living relationship with God. This is described in one of Peter's letters. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (eusébeia) through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (1 Peter 1:3) In the first instance 'godliness' does not describe the man that has chosen a 'religious' life so much as a man that has chosen a daily life lived out of a new and vital relationship with the living God.

Dr Spiros Zodhiates of AMG International said, “When eusébeia is applied to the Christian life, it denotes a life that is acceptable to Christ, indicating the proper attitude of the believer toward Christ who has saved him. It is both an attitude and a manner of life.” What form does this godly manner of life take in the Christian?

In his letter James writes:“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:26-27)

The word translated 'religion' here is thrēskeia. While eusébeia translates as godly and relates, in Christian terms, to our relationship with God in Christ, thrēskeia describes outward forms of worship. James makes clear that a Christian's outward acts of worship are to do with the conduct of his life rather than any overtly 'religious' observances or ceremonies. Indeed, the New Testament is almost entirely silent about gathered worship. There are fragments of hymns (1 Timothy 3:16), doxologies (Ephesians 3:20-21) but an indifference to forms of worship. Rather, the New Testament emphasises what John Piper calls whole of life worship.

The writer to the Hebrews urges, “Let us consider how to stir one another up in love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another ...” (Hebrews 10:24-25) In meeting together to encourage one another Christians follow certain forms which become traditions involving hymns of praise, liturgical worship, prayer, doxologies etc. These may vary widely in different cultures and times simply accomodating how a particular group expresses gospel truth in prayer and confession. But in any legitimate form it is the people of God, gathered around the Word of God, ready to do the will of God.

This reflects the description found in Acts: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:42,44) It fulfils the imperative to meet together (Hebrews 10:24-25), pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16) and to be devoted “to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13) These of themselves neither make us godly nor religious. We know that “going to church” doesn't make you a Christian. Rather, these are one outward expression of a godliness (relationship with God) expressed in a whole of life worship (a life lived for God).

We are, then, made moral creatures, created in God's image, but our fallen nature has broken that image and ended the relationship with God we had in the beginning. We are still moral creatures but now our moral sense condemns us as sinners. Christ came to mend our relationship with God, making us godly, and it is in that relationship that we find the strength to change our mind and change our ways – repent. The outworking of that new life – born again in Christ – is what, to a Christian, is religion. In this way a Christian seeks to be evermore religious, being salt and light in a world of morally compromised people - sinners.

If Your Easily Offended…

Last night my wife and I enjoyed the Swansea visit of the Seriously Funny Tour featuring  the music of Nicki Rogers (You really must hear her new single I Bless the Day. No, I insist. No, really, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t, all your teeth will fall out and people will point and laugh) and the wit and wisdom of Adrian Plass and Jeff Lucas. It was mostly location humour and I doubt Christians have ever laughed so much in church  – mostly at ourselves. There was blessing in abundance as we walked out with permission to take the gospel seriously while not take ourselves too seriously.

Some think humour doesn’t belong in church but I have a high doctrine of humour. Indeed, if humour is essential anywhere it is in church. Having worked for many years in ministry to the cults I have found humour one essential marker in the progress of the former cultist/new Christian in their journey out of the cult and into the church. It is when someone stops being precious or fearful about their cult past, can look back and chuckle at themselves and where they came from, that we begin to see real progress.

That said, there are pitfalls. It is the case that, especially among men, jokes can become very competitive. As each one-liner or shaggy dog story is told and the laughter rises to a pitch of hysteria (or so we like to think) things can get out of control. In the race to be the funniest someone tells an off-colour joke which gives permission to others to become more risqué. Soon the contest seems to override all sense of propriety until you are stopped short by the sudden realisation that you are laughing at the a dirty joke, or worse, telling one.

If we can see where the joke is going we might have the courage to object or, failing that,  make excuses and go to the toilet or something but sometimes an inappropriate joke can be upon us before we know it. Years ago someone uttered a one-liner in our company at work and before I knew it I had heard a grubby little joke (a pretty lame one at that) that comes unbidden to my mind every time a particular Christian teaching is preached or discussed.  Wild horses would not induce me to tell it and I deal with it by giving it to God and asking for his grace, but it does spoil things.

Perhaps like me you have learned the hard way to guard yourself against these things. People who maintain a standard whose value is so hard-earned can find themselves the object of mocking and derision, described as prudish and judgemental. A meaningless nod is sometimes given to our sensibilities as we are warned that what is imminent is not for people who are easily offended. I get angered by this misrepresentation of people with values as somehow milksop weak and old-womanly and want to say, “I am not easily offended. You are simply offensive!”

Comedy, it has been said, is the new rock and roll. Given the drive to shock, the rise in irreverence and sometimes downright insolence and cruelty in that field I can see the parallels.  I find myself sometimes asking whether anything is sacred to people and that, I suppose, is my point. There are some things in life altogether too sacred to be mocked. Adrian Plass and Jeff Lucas demonstrated that nothing need be out of bounds for well- handled good humour but they also demonstrated that, while it is good to laugh, even then some things are simply sacred and even our humour should revere the sacred.

If nothing is sacred to us I suggest our lives are impoverished, even as they are colourless without a good sense of humour. Without a good sense of the ridiculous we risk becoming far too self-regarding and serious. Without a sense of the sacred our sense of humour becomes a vehicle for bitterness and snide cynicism. I thank God for the lessons and laughs of the Seriously Funny Tour and hope we can find more and more inventive ways to laugh at ourselves while holding the sacred in the highest place in our thinking and living.

Halloween – Counting all Things Loss

Happy New Year!

These Islands (UK) are rich with history, moments and events of great significance. Among our many customs and traditions we have had, at different times, three New Years. The current New Year with which we are all familiar dates back to the days of the Roman Republic. January is named for Janus the Roman god of endings and transitions, of doorways and entrances. This was the time when two consuls were elected to lead the Republic for the year ahead. This is a metropolitan new year.

Another New Year, marked in England until the adoption of the modern calendar, is 25 March, which coincides roughly with the Vernal Equinox when day and night are of equal length. This is an agricultural new year. It marked the end of winter and it was a time when taxes were paid, contracts ended, were renewed, or first entered into.

If you have ever wondered why our tax year ends on April 5th it is because in 1752 the new, Gregorian calendar was introduced and the following Spring people woke up to find that March 25th had suddenly and mysteriously become April 5 because of an 11 day disparity between the old, Julian, and new, Gregorian calendar.

We might think history is dry and academic but we are influenced by it more than we can imagine. So often what we do today is dictated by what they did then.

Samhain

In the ancient world 1 November marked the Celtic New Year's Day which, when you think of it, has its own logic. Another agricultural new year, it too was related to the seasons. By this time the crops should be harvested and stored in barns and animals brought in from distant fields.

In Wales November 1st was Calan Gaeaf, Winter Season, and October 31st was known as Nos Calan Gaeaf, Winter Night, and sometimes Ysbrydnos , Spirit Night. It was also the Winter Eve Massacre, when prime stock was prepared to be wintered ready for the next season while other animals were slaughtered to supply the meat over the coming winter.

In the Celtic world this time was known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in). While the New Year was “born” on 1 November, the old year “died” on October 31^st – Halloween. This was seen as an appropriate time to honour the dead. The Celts believed it was a time when the barrier between our world and the spirit world was at its weakest, a time when evil spirits roamed the land. It was considered a time of the wandering dead, when the dead revisited their homes. The tradition of putting pumpkin candles in windows goes back to a time when folk would light candles to guide their departed loved ones home.

It was felt appropriate to placate supernatural powers abroad on this day, especially those controlling nature. Folk left offerings of food and drink for masked and costumed revellers representing evil spirits to keep the spirits out. Bonfires were lit and a combination of fire and noise were said to frighten away evil spirits. In England bonfires were moved to 5^th November after Guy Fawkes but retain their pagan roots.

Druids were concerned with making contact with the dead, who were seen as sources of guidance and inspiration, guardians of the root wisdom of the tribe. Others thought this a good time to seek the Devil's help concerning marriages, health and various enterprises.

The Devil was thought to be a master builder and anyone facing a building project, especially bridges, that seemed beyond the skill of man might enter into a contract with the devil in which he would build the structure in exchange for a soul. Stories abound of how he was usually cheated out of his reward. There are at least forty nine places in the UK called Devil’s Bridge.

People tended graves to honour the dead but avoided grave yards after dark, journeys had to end before dusk. Folk believed they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes on this night and so they wore masks and dressed up so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. Trick-or-Treat originated in the fact that this was also Mischief Night when children would knock on doors demanding treats – a sort of early-medieval protection racket.

So am I saying that the children who will be knocking our doors at Halloween are in the service of the Devil? Are they in thrall to evil forces? Of course not. But I am suggesting that this is not simply the harmless fun they so obviously have as they dress up for the occasion..

The challenge and influence of Culture

Our culture and history have a profound influence on how we live our lives today of which we are often unaware. As Christians we are as much a product of our culture as of our faith and thoughtful Christians find themselves challenged about where we can compromise and where we cannot.

Consider Daniel who co-operated with Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king when he and his companions had their names changed and were given a Babylonian education but who stood firm and refused to eat meat from the king's table because it was forbidden in the Law.

We too compromise on some things and not on others. Any JW will tell you that Christmas and Easter are originally Pagan festivals on which the church has painted a Christian gloss but then our days of the week and months of the year are named after Pagan gods but we don't insist on giving them Christian names. To do so might make us not of the world but it would make being in the world impractical, impossible. Some things we compromise on.

spiritual forces of evil

The Bible tells us that we struggle against “the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” (Eph.6:12) We are told that Christ ascended far above these powers, conquering and ruling over them (Eph.4:8; Col.2:15) We might ask then whether we should be “celebrating” those things from which Christ died to free us.

You see, this is a time of year that is taken very seriously by pagans, witches and Satanists (three very different groups). It is a time when ancient rituals are recited, gods and spirits are worshipped, some worshipping the Devil, others repudiating Satanism but conjuring the dead to help them in life and love. It is a time for divination and spirit worship.

The ironically named Christian Day, a “modern day warlock”, has written The Witches Book of the Dead. In it he claims to help you “summon the spirits of our beloved to help you discover hidden opportunities, influence the minds of others, seduce the object of your affection, and even reach into the dreams of the unwary.”

As someone who has ministered to the cults for many years I know people who have been wonderfully saved out of witchcraft, Satanism, the occult – occult meaning hidden. They tell stories to make your eyes water and cause you to thank God for his power and grace in salvation. They have seen the powers of darkness at work. Halloween for them, far from being the fun event it might be to others is a time to lock their doors, ignore the persistent knocking and pray for it to be over.

It is not that they haven't faith in Christ so much as that they know first hand what this night means to millions around the world who are trapped by principalities and powers, spiritual forces of evil.

Come Out of Her

When Abraham was called by God he was called out of such a Pagan society (Genesis 12), in which gods were worshipped, the help of spirits sought and in which men sought to become gods themselves.  In the Bible’s last book God’s people were urged to, come out her my people,” Rev.18:5) meaning pagan Babylon. This has been the pattern throughout the history of God's people, a people set apart by God.The Bible tells us, to be a nation of kings and priests to God. (Rev.1:6) A people so different that in the Old Testament even what they ate and what they wore marked them out from all other nations.

With Daniel we are challenged to consider carefully our choices, where we can safely and reasonably compromise to continue being in the world and where we must stand and not compromise to avoid being of the world.

Like Paul we are to weigh what the world values and counts gain, what we once valued and counted gain, against what we now hold dear above all things, counting everything else loss compared to this one thing – knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, for whose sake we are surely prepared to lose all things (Philip.3:7-11)

So, when spooks, ghouls and witches come knocking on Halloween by all means smile on them, have a treat and an appropriate look of horror ready to make them giggle at having shocked you. But think soberly also about what this time of year is all about. Remember the most innocent of fun can blind us to dangers that others know first hand and warn us about Remember, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Ps.1:7)

Just Something People Say

We have the builders in and I hope and pray the outcome will be a nice new bathroom. A situation like this does not fill a person with confidence and I am sure I’m not the only one who finds it all very stressful.

It took weeks – even months - to get to this point with the first plumber mysteriously disappearing, then the second plumber not being available the same time as the plasterer then the roles were reversed and the plasterer couldn’t make it the same time as the plumber. Finally it was sorted out (we thought) when the plasterer said he couldn’t come after all because he “had a big job on but will ring when he’s free.” I am still waiting for the call and the term “hell will freeze over first” springs to mind

Another plasterer has turned up and things are actually happening but not without a few more problems with scheduling. I didn’t know for sure the plumber would make it until the morning he turned up to take out the old bathroom and so I couldn’t give the plasterer the notice he would have liked but, hero that he is, he turned up anyway and fitted us in somehow. If anyone in Swansea and environs needs a good plasterer I can recommend this one. The plumber has turned out alright too – in the end.

In all this what was interesting was the way the conversations went as we tried to negotiate this nightmare and smooth over the frustrations and misunderstandings that seem inevitable in these circumstances.

As I told my sorry tale to the plumber his response was, “Plasterers! They are a nightmare. You can’t depend on them.”

When I apologised to the plasterer for giving such short notice and explained about the plumber he said, “Oh, you know what plumbers are like.”

These two men are not going to meet, at least not on this job, but if they did I am confident they would close ranks, share horror stories and say, “Oh, you know what customers are like. They’re a nightmare to deal with.”

It has nothing, or little to do with the facts and my experience is that there are good tradesmen and bad, as I am sure there are good customers and bad. Its just what people say in those awkward moments when they need to move on from an unfortunate conflict of schedules and ideas to a place where they can be comfortable with each other again and get the job done.

When two parties have fallen out, had a misunderstanding we must find some common ground on which to stand and to start all over again if we are going to move on. At such times what we agree we are against is an easier option than what we agree upon. This may have started with a misunderstanding between us but we are very good at redirecting our frustrations by reference to an absent “other” which we can all agree is the real fly in the ointment (Eccl.10:1) Having laid the blame elsewhere, we can mend fences, build bridges, on the basis that “its not me and its not you – its them!”

When we are talking about plasterers and plumbers no real harm is done and it is, after all, just something people say. We just need to remember that and take it all with a pinch of salt saying, “One day we will look back on this and laugh.” But talking this way about the “other” can be harmful when it becomes gossip and the character and reputation of the absent “other” can receive real damage. Then it becomes personal and the “other” becomes a real victim and not just the butt of your fleeting frustrations.

I hope the talk behind my back is no more than run of the mill “something people say” and maybe I should remember when speaking of others that the things I say can cause real damage. The New Testament leader James wrote:

“The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire…no man can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison…(James 3:3-12)

But what good we can do with our speech if we just realise it. Just “something we say” can encourage, inspire, lift up, strengthen resolve, contribute to building good character in ourselves and others. What potential for good God has given us in this gift of speech – if we consider carefully how we use it.

Gay Marriage; Redefining Reality

An excellent comment from George Weigel in the National Review on the recent decision to legalise same-sex marriage in New York.

“Marriage, as both religious and secular thinkers have acknowledged for millennia, is a social institution that is older than the state and that precedes the state. The task of a just state is to recognize and support this older, prior social institution; it is not to attempt its redefinition. To do the latter involves indulging the totalitarian temptation that lurks within all modern states: the temptation to remanufacture reality. The American civil-rights movement was a call to recognize moral reality; the call for gay marriage is a call to reinvent reality to fit an agenda of personal willfulness.”

Read the article here.