Keeping it real

Fed up with Christmas adverts already? One of the scariest, for me is the type of game that allows you to interact as if you were there, in a real space with others, but are not. Keep fit playing games: jumping around on a screen with others but there in the room by yourself! Yet the attraction of three dimensional games, that mimic real space and time, is growing. And engaging.

The Gospel is designed to be engaging. So why, for so many, is it not? We can short-sell the Gospel. There are meant to be three dimensions to it that can really take hold of the imagination of friends who don't know Jesus. Sometimes folk just get one or two dimensions offered to them.

So how can we speak of the Gospel in three dimensions?

The 1st dimension is instruction. the message itself, the Word, the declaration of who God is, what He does and how He loves - all revealed expressed in the life of Jesus Christ. It's what people have to hear about in order to know about Jesus and His love. This is the message that is in preaching, teaching and evangelism. It's the message of Jesus and His love. It's what we do when we talk to and tell people about Jesus and the God revealed in the Bible.

The 2nd dimension is impartation. We are given ability by God to impart to others, in the power of Holy Spirit's enabling. The expressions of Christ's ministry that come through us. Helping. Serving. Healing. Imparting peace to others. This is what God does to us and through us, as we give expression through our lives to the love of God for others. It has the smell of heaven about it, as people can sense something of God present as we share with them. It happens through close and caring relationships, as well as in acts of service.

The 3rd dimension is intentional intervention. Stepping out in God's agenda for deliberately strategising His concern for the marginalised and disadvantage in society in order to actively bless and encourage them. Pursuing justice and expressing righteousness. This happens through taking initiatives out into society to actively care for those in need.

We need to work on expressing all of these together. A single or two-dimensional Gospel may be 'right', but it is inadequate. To actively touch people with the real life of God, we need to have all three dimensions present in and through the life of church. Keeping it real.

What book for Christmas?

Want a suggestion for a good book for Christmas? If you're not afraid of being stretched a bit, I can't think of anything better than Michael Gorman's new book, Inhabiting the Cruciform God. It's terrific. Fully up to date in terms of scholarship, yet truly pastoral and missional in application. Don't be put off by the title - you don't need to be a specialist to understand it. There's a lot of 'junk food' books around, this is not one of them. It will bless you and possibly change your life. Is that a commendation that pleases you?

Served & Serving

At Bristo we are presently seeing a change in the constitution of our meetings together, as we move into a more blended support of two complementary forms of meeting:

a. ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings, primarily for Christians

b. ‘missional’ meetings, which intentionally invite, involve and serve non-Christians.

For many years, the focus at Bristo was on gathering Christians into fellowship, in addition to the times of Sunday worship, so that there would be some further teaching, support and prayer’ during the week. Indeed, out of these gatherings was born missional activity such as involvement in the Care Van, Night Shelter, the IT club and Alpha. In addition, we now have both the International Club and Home from Home serving immigrants and foreigns students. And there are and will be more opportunities to reach out to the unreached.

As we look towards the future, I see the need to recognise the place of encouraging Christians into a blended involvement in both ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings and also ‘missional’ meetings. Changes in culture had forced us to recognise that Sunday alone can no longer be the only occasion for ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meeting. Cell groups can and do function quite appropriately to supplement Sunday support. At the same time, there is a place for intentional, missional gatherings of Christians for varied forms of missional activity and service.

So here is the challenge. For the development of disciples, rather than the sating of consumers, we need to have Christians exposed to gathering and also working together, both for ‘teaching, support and prayer’ meetings, and also ‘missional’ purposes which intentionally invite, involve and serve non-Christians.

But with one qualification: let’s not look for gimmicks as platforms for these missional meetings. Let’s remember the Old Testament theologian Brueggemann’s definition of Biblical righteousness. And pursue it, as those who participate in the life of Christ Jesus:

‘Righteousness concerns active intervention in social affairs, taking an initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society, to respond to social grievance, and to correct every humanity-diminishing activity’.

Justice & Righteousness

Brueggemann's definitions are helpful and workable:

Justice (mishpat) in the Old Testament concerns distribution in order to make sure that all members of the community have access to resources and goods for the sake of a viable life of dignity. In covenantal tradition the particular subject of YHWH’s justice is the triad, ‘widow, orphan, immigrant,’ those without leverage or muscle to sustain their own legitimate place in society.

Righteousness (sedaqah) concerns active intervention in social affairs, taking an initiative to intervene effectively in order to rehabilitate society, to respond to social grievance, and to correct every humanity-diminishing activity.

We have to grasp both this purpose and passion of God: Jeremiah 9.23-26

Wrath and mercy

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh - Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." (Jeremiah .23-26)

Understanding the nature of God’s sovereignty in terms of process, or journey, is not simply contemporary and fashionable. This is integral to the revelation of the Old Testament. The World depicted there is one of cosmic chaos, where there are many influences and spiritual forces, including evil ones. But the Creator remains supreme, and the Creator deals with His creation in a forming, moulding manner. Out of intense, overcoming love. Even when that which He has created does not choose to conform to Him but rebel and decline from His plan and purpose, God elects to remould and reform that which he has made to conform to His character and will.

And when we open our lives to the Lordship of Christ, God will be relentlessly loving in bringing this about in us. Whether we like it or not.

Walter Brueggemann's new book is great at applying this profound and reassuring truth to present political realities. Old Testament scholarship well applied.

Like leadership?

Back at Bristo, and reflection again on the challenges of leadership. The nature of leadership is something I’ve thought on a lot as I am preparing to write as essay on the Philippian Hymn (Philippians 2.5-11). It's possible to confuse leadership with status or qualifications. It requires neither. Leadership, I believe, involves:

Recognition of revelation

A sense and conviction of what is right and of what is required – for Christians, a sense of revelation as to what conforms with the Word of God revealed in Scripture and fulfilled in Christ. This is where it starts. But it doesn’t stop there. Good or right ideas are not enough. It also is marked by ….

Responsibility & Resolution

Leaders have a resolute determination to pursue the path they see before them. And a commitment that takes personal responsibility for action and delivery in doing so. Leaders don’t just have ideas for others to deliver on. But ….

Recruiting

A person is only a leader if others are choosing to join in with where they're going and what they're doing.

Jesus was a leader when among us. He calls some to be leaders now. Has God called you? Have a look at yourself and then you can answer the question, in the light of the above.

And let me know if you are, if you like!