evangelism

A bunch of us from Kettering just spent 3 days supporting the church household in Ipswich with their campaign.

To be honest I hate evangelism- the "jump out on people with a leaflet" approach does not work for me and the "sit around looking friendly and inviting so they come to talk to you" just makes me feel like a spare part.

Evangelism is also not that popular generally. It is seen as rather intense and the realm of religious fanatics. In Britain we are too polite and too eager to be tolerant of other views to be brave enough to speak out. That's a bit strange seeing that the first Christians were radical enough to be accused of turning the world upside down.

The other problem with trying to decide wether one should or should not evangelise is:- we are told to do it!
I could try to find a church where "we don't do that kind of thing" or "it's for those who 'have the calling'", but it is still there in the Bible in black and white.
Jesus, before he went back up to heaven, comissioned the disciples to be his witnesses and promised that the Holy Spirit would be with them to help them.
I agree that not everyone does it by taking a painted bus into town to attract attention and bring "church to the street", but everyone should be doing it- somehow.

On Friday afternoon there were some lads shouting at us "Jesus is a **** ****" and so on. Their use of adjectives scares me because I know God is awesome and does not apreciate his name being disrespected. I would not personally risk the wrath of God like that, and sometimes I am concerened that being "high profile" about Jesus provokes people to hurl the abuse they do.

Anyway, in the end these lads came over to talk and we had a good chat with them. We met them again late at night when the lad who had been overshadowed by his more mouthy mate asked us some really searching questions. That is what I do enjoy- testing and stretching and exercising my faith, to reach outside of the limits of what is spoken about in church to find out that it does all still hold true and our eternal and ancient God is big enough to meet the demands of modern thinking and dilemas.

I think Jesus would have enjoyed a good discussion with the disciples, pushing the horizon of their faith to make it stronger.

Anyway, some of the questions and answers will probably come up in blogs soon....

Covenant

Last night in our Bible study we looked at how God chose a covenant people, and we looked at the Old Covenant with it's sacrifices and the New Covenant through Jesus. We also read some covenants from other churches, where the members (same as we do in our church) have tried to spell out what they stand for and then promise to stick by it.

Anyway.... the one that really inspired me was from the Methodists.

A covenant with God

'I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.'

This is a bit more mystical than e.g. the Salvation Army articles of war but it spoke to me because it is a heart thing more than a law thing. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he said it was to love God, and then love your neighbour. Moses gave the people 10 commandments, but they needed/wanted more detail and ended up with books and books of minor rules and regulations. Human nature is to try to get out of things, that's why we end up with so many rules 'cos we have to cover all the cop-out clauses. Surely obeying the spirit behind the rules is better than obeying the letter of the law with the wrong heart?

The other thing about covenant is.... we make covenant as a love response to God and to His people. Then real life kicks in and we realise what we have really let ourselves in for. We have chosen the big thing but then daily we have to chose the little things that make up that choice. We might like the vision of Holy Zion set apart and blazing on the hill, then we realise it also includes late nights and washing up and giving up our opinions/habits/quirks and doing things 'cos we are committed to them and not necessarily because they are inspiring/rewarding/fun any more. We have to keep choosing our choice. That's when the heart response is more help than the letter of the law.

Hard Work and Righteousness

"Hard work and righteousness" is the moto I have as my computer screensaver and wallpaper at work. What do I mean by that? I mean that we need to both work hard and be righteous in our work.

Righteousness at work, to me, means being honest in dealing with customers and suppliers and fair when dealing with staff. It means loving the brothers and sisters I work with and not being stressy/snappy/rude. It means not wasting time and being punctual. It means not taking advantage of my position to have enjoy benefits that others in my department don't get. It means not using the fact no-one checks up on what I am doing to use work time to do things for myself.

Hard work means getting the work done quickly so we make the most money (quite an important factor in a production environment). It doesn't mean stressing out and dashing about so you kill yourself trying to do things to meet unrealistically short deadlines. Hard work means that when there is a slow patch we can use the time to do things we don't usually get around to. Hard work doesn't mean that there is not time to appreciate those around you. Hard work means there is a satisfaction in having done a good days work, and you can take a break/holiday knowing the work will still get done. Hard work means doing what you do the best you can.

Working hard on its own does not guarantee God's honour. There are a lot of people in the business world who work very hard, are very succesful, and are cut-throat/dis-honest/exploiting others in their business dealings.

Likewise, sitting around being holy will not get the work done- it's a balance. Some well holy famous people like monks and nuns have said that their work is a prayer. They don't divide between "work" and "worship" 'cos they know the presence of God in everything they do- that's a lot to live up to!

There is plenty in the Bible both about working hard and being honest (righteous) in work.

For now, I'm going to keep that as my moto and aim to get a bit nearer the goal.

Out of the Ark

On Tuesday we were singing one of the (many) songs about being free, and I had this picture:...

I imagined all the animals being let out of the ark and all charging and whooping down the gang plank in a load of chaos and noise, glad to be out of the ark, eager to explore the fresh new world that was waiting.

Wouldn't it have been strange if, having been saved from the flood waters, they stayed stuck in the gloomy stinking ark?

I thought it was a bit like us. We can live as people who have been technically saved but don't enjoy the new life. We just sit there gloomy and dreary and bored. Or we can go running and shouting and yelling into the fullness and excitement of new life that God has got for us.

Choosing to be hurt

It seems a right daft thing to do, but I spent most of last week choosing to be hurt!

The previous Friday I had tried to sort something out at work that I thought would be nice for the others Problem was someone else thought I was being awkward/fussy and the rest did not appreciate it anyway! The result was I decided not to spend any time with anyone 'cos whatever you say/do is bound to be wrong , so it's better to stay out of the way.

So, is that sulking? Is it some kind of emotional self defence that says "I know you'll hurt me, so I'll make sure you can't, even if doing so means I hurt myself"?

By the end of the week I was totally fed up and lonely etc etc so it didn't work staying out of the way. It just spoiled everything else and meant I couldn't find my spirit to worship/pray until I sorted myself out.


How does that inspire me about Jesus?
It made me think that the pain he went through on the cross was more than physical. He had to put up with being misunderstood, mis represented, teased, mocked, criticised, abandoned, rejected, humiliated, exposed etc etc.

These are the psychological pains we humans go to all kinds of complicated lengths to avoid.

And he went through it for us.

That makes me well ashamed.

I don't celebrate Christmas

The most simple reason why I do not is that Jesus asked us to remember us in the bread and wine (communion). We take bread and wine on a Sunday, and on a Tuesday when we have a meal together a bit like the last supper (we call this agape). I don't find the need to "specially remember" at Christmas or Easter because I remember all through the year.

Other reasons are to do with the commercialism of the modern Xmas and the pagan roots of the festival. I can't find trees and tinsel and Santa in the bible, so why use them to celebrate Jesus birth? I don't think Jesus would be honoured by the drunkeness and partying that goes on in this season. Or the selfishness that sees some people in excess and others left out.

But... I am not slamming people who celebrate from a sincere heart. I think the thing is to know why you do or do not do it, and honour God in that from your own conscience.

Demanding

Ever felt that life is too demanding?

Have a look at this lot from Matthew 14:

• Herod has John (Jesus cousin) killed. When Jesus hears about it he goes off in a boat to a quiet place.
• When the boat arrives there is a crowd of people waiting for Jesus, so he spends the day healing them
• As it gets late they realise no-one has any food and it is too late to get any, so Jesus does the miracle of feed 5thousand people with 2 loves and 5 fish
• After they have cleared up 12 baskets of leftovers Jesus sends the disciples off in the boat and goes up the hill to be by himself
• In the middle of the night Jesus walks across the water to catch up with the disciples who are having a hard time in a storm
• When the disciples see Jesus they freak out. Then Peter decides he wants to try walking on the water too and Jesus has to catch him.
• Once Peter is safe back in the boat Jesus sorts out the storm
• When they get to the shore, there is a crowd of people waiting again, and again Jesus spends time with them healing them
• Then the Pharisees turn up wanting a religious discussion about handwashing.....
  

Jesus had every right to take some time out to mourn for John. He did not have to heal the people in the crowd who were pestering him, but he had compassion on them. He was not obliged to feed them, but he cared about them. He did not have to spend time teaching Peter about faith by letting him try walking on water, but he was dedicated to training this chap and saw it was important in the long term. He could have avoided the crowd when they turned up again- he had done more than his duty the day before, but he did not keep a record like that. And so on....

Sometimes when I am busy I forget to smile or forget to talk to people. I get snappy when someone asks for something and I think I already have more than enough to do. Generally I don’t mind doing things for people, my problem is I am so much in my own world I don’t notice things that need doing, or people who could do with a friendly word, a txt or a visit.

Who am I that I am so important that my needs should always come before everyone else’s? Am I so selfish that all my time should always be all my own? Jesus did not think like that, he was loving and patient and generous to everyone.

At the cross, when Jesus was being crucified, he saw Mary his mother and John his closest disciple. Jesus cared deeply for them both and told John to take her home as his own mother, and reassured Mary that John would care for her. I would not have done that. I would have been like “excuse me! I’m getting crucified here, can’t you sort yourselves out? Who do you think I am? Social services?”

It was because Jesus cared so much and was so unselfish that he was even prepared to go through the cross and take the blame for us so we could get to know him, and through him get to know God who loves the stubborn and selfish people of this world who have been doing their own thing since the Garden of Eden.

It’s a challenge to me to think outside of my own little box, and to step out and do something for someone else that will cut across my own plans or comforts.

"Kingdom business"

I work in what we call a "Kingdom Business" ie everyone employed is a member of the church and the profit from the business goes to the church to pay for stuff the church does. So what's so cool about that?

The best thing is being able to express my faith at work, things that I believe in like equality and righteousness are the standards we all work to. My life is not divided into who I am in my private life and who I am at work- I can be who I am 24/7.
I think it's great 'cos we all get paid the same. The managers are not aloof and unavailable, we are on first name terms and we know that everyone on site is in it together and supports each other. There is not back-biting or fighting to get up the career ladder ahead of your colleagues.
We have people working here who have been out of work or in prison and they need a chance to prove they can work and to gain self respect- I am glad we can give them that chance. We have people here who have degrees and have given up high-powered jobs and careers to make the business work- that's a radcial example of laying down your life (your plans and ambitions) down for others, for the sake of the kingdom. There is not the superiority here that says a man at a desk is worth more than the man in the warehouse.
I appreciate knowing that the profit from what I do goes to help the church and support what I believe in. I really appreciate that I am not working for the sake of rich share holders or corrupt investments.
We pray every morning before we start work- that's radical. Sometimes we pray about well basic stuff, e.g. for an overdue delivery to arrive, or for an impatient customer to give us a more realistic deadline- and God answers those prayers! It is good to know you are not working in your own strength, but in His.


All this stuff is inspired by Jesus. He stood for equality. He stood for honesty. He stood for integrity. He stood up for the poor. He called the rich to account. We can dare to follow his ethics in business.