There Will Be A Judgement

An accounting for all that a person has and hasn't done. A time, I believe, when each will come face to face with the consequences of their actions, and inaction. Not just in a cerebral, abstract way, but actually feeling the joys and pains they have caused. For terrorists and child-abusers it is hard to see how this could be borne.

Churches often obsess about sexual preferences and social control, bringing the idea of 'sin' into disrepute. Yet there are actions and activities which are clearly evil and for which judgement and an accounting is all too necessary. In recent weeks such actions have been seen in Boston, London and Paris. Less seen are the shadowy figures behind the scenes who fill vulnerable young men with hatred, priming them to cause harm. Seen but often ignored are the media, and the troublemakers, who blame many for the actions of a few, creating a climate of hatred where those who are different live in fear. Evil has consequences and needs to be dealt with.

A distinctively Christian view of judgement emphasises that grace, an opportunity to change, is available to all. We all face the accounting, but we all have the opportunity to turn away from what has been wrong and turn to God, through Jesus, who can make all things right. Jesus once said that we are to be perfect, just as God is perfect. This can be seen as a threat, or an impossible demand, but it can also be seen as a promise. Good will last forever, whilst evil is to be eternally destroyed, and we can become part of the good. Or we can refuse to change and be lost forever, what the Bible calls the 'second death'.

Forgiveness is important but it is taking the opportunity for change which is key to life.

I do think it's important that if God is going to sort out the world, to remake things the way they were supposed to be, then terrorism and abuse, along with the attitudes that lie behind them, have to be dealt with. There is a great deal in this world which is beautiful and good, but there is also much that is ugly and evil. It needs sorting out ... sooner rather than later.

I am told that at one of Caversham's churches yesterday the minister used the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby as an excuse to attack all Muslims: to encourage prejudice, fear and hatred amongst that congregation. There will be a judgement.

Who's A Christian?

I had a long conversation with someone a few weeks ago which got me thinking (the best sort). If being a Christian isn't about going to church (which it isn't), and it's not about believing specific doctrines (ditto), and not even about 'living a good life' (whatever that means), then what does make someone a Christian?

I know a middle-aged guy who runs a church, but I see no evidence to suggest that he is in any meaningful way a Christian. I also know a younger man who hardly ever goes to church, and isn't really sure that he believes in any sort of big, 'up-there' God anyway. If I were a betting man I'd reckon that, come the resurrection, the odds are far better on seeing him on the 'new earth' than the self-importantly religious person.

Maybe that's a part of the answer: being a Christian is less about where you are now, than where you will be when the choices are made and the journey reaches its end. We're none of us where we need to be at present, which tells us that a Christian has to be willing to change, and to grow, and to travel in the right direction. Jesus called himself 'the way': you can wander all over the place but if your net direction is going his way, you are on the Christian journey; you can go straight as a die, but if that's in the opposite direction to Jesus then you are stuffed (technical theological term there). That, surely, is the lesson of Jesus' story about the Pharisee and the tax collector.

What about someone who's never heard of Jesus the Christ, could they be a Christian? Or someone who has been brought up on lies about a harsh, authoritarian Christ who condones abuse and/or wants to send everyone to hell? The Bible tells us that Jesus has opened the way to life - now and forever - and that his people will recognise his voice and follow him. If someone hears Jesus' voice and follows him, whether they know him as 'Jesus of Nazareth' or not, that is the important thing.

So why go to church? Or read the Bible? Or listen to preachers? The Christian way can be a long journey, potentially a life-long one - isn't it better to travel in company? To walk with people who cheerfully help one another, and those along the way? Isn't it more fun and more interesting if you know something about the places you travel through, as well as where you are headed, to have a guidebook and/or a knowledgeable and entertaining guide? Following Jesus isn't meant to be a grind of duties and burdens; it's meant to be life lived to the full: joys and sorrows, laughter and tears, shared and carried together, not alone.

One final thing: I don't think the Christian journey is something I could complete on my own; nor even in company with others. I need more drastic help from time to time, and am sure I will be lost without such aid at journey's end. I don't think I am alone in that.

So, in addition to being willing to change and grow, and to recognising and following (roughly) Jesus' voice along the way, I think there must be a third element to being a Christian: being willing to accept Jesus' help when we need it. I'm not sure anything else is as important as those three things to the Christian life; what do you think?

Christianity Is ...

Christianity is about following Jesus,

not about believing doctrines and following rules,

certainly not about joining an organisation.

Following Jesus can start from the smallest foundation,

depending on Grace, then setting out

on an unknown journey.

Christians meet together to share that journey,

to share the burdens and celebrate the joys,

supporting and encouraging one another

along the way:

in coffee shops, in homes, in pubs,

sometimes even in church buildings,

always with Jesus.

God is changing the world,

fixing the mess;

we can be part of that,

if we so choose.

Christianity Is.

Do To Others

A few years back UK TV station Channel 4 ran a poll looking for a new set of ten commandments*. Top of the list they came up with was "Treat others as you would have them treat you".

This is, of course, familiar, not from the old ten commandments, but from Jesus' 'Golden Rule', expressed in the NIV translation as "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (another translation, the NASB, has almost the same words as C4 came up with: "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you").

Some sort of principle of 'reciprocity' is common to many belief systems, religious and otherwise, but Jesus' version is actually rather odd, when you think about it. Consider three different variations of 'reciprocity':

 "In everything, do to others what they have previously done to you."

 "In everything, do to others what you expect they would do to you."

"In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you."

The latter, Jesus' version, isn't really reciprocal at all: you're not called to treat others as they actually do treat you, but as you would want them to. The first two could be termed 'enlightened human nature' - really just a development of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" - but the Golden Rule is different.

The challenge of Jesus' version is that it shows grace:  you treat everyone well, not just those whom you feel deserve it, nor just those you feel can reciprocate. The call is to love the haters, be kind to the unkind, and to help people who would happily leave you helpless. The good Samaritan springs to mind.

There is an issue of boundaries when it comes to applying this. Does it mean battered wives should love their husbands, and abused children their abusive parent? Possibly so, although this may be only a long term aspiration for many. But the point of grace is not about being 'nice', nor about pretending things haven't happened.

Grace is active. If my head got so messed up that I was abusing others, would I really just want to be left to get on with it? To repeat the abuse, again and again? Surely not! Surely the gracious thing to do is to stop the behaviour, to get help for abuser and abused, to protect both. Some relationships are simply toxic and separation is best for all; others maybe just need time, space and commitment. There may be few hard and fast rules, but abuse should be challenged, confronted and, if necessary, physically prevented - whether by separation or confinement of the abuser. Consider what you "would have them do to you": in that circumstance and for all involved.

The most immediate application of the Golden Rule for most of us, though, is how we treat people who we don't like, and who don't like us. If we see someone in need, do we first weigh up their race and their creed and how those groupings have treated people like us, or do we simply see someone who needs our help and treat them as we would want to be treated ourselves?

* Channel 4's top ten 'new commandments' were as follows:-

1. Treat others as you would have them treat you.
2. Take responsibility for your actions
3. Do not kill.
4. Be honest.
5. Do not steal.
6. Protect and nurture children.
7. Protect the environment.
8. Look after the vulnerable.
9. Never be violent.
10. Protect your family.

Resurrection

Resurrection: Rob Bell.

Not long ago I heard a (rather rubbish) preacher claim that the gospel hope is "going to heaven when you die". This is a fairly common viewpoint - you get it in several Victorian hymns - but it does have two big problems: firstly it is not in the Bible; and secondly it makes this world seem like a pointless waiting room, like hanging around at Heathrow for a flight to Madrid whilst Spanish Air Traffic Control is on strike.

In the Bible the gospel hope is, on one level at least, clear enough: it is resurrection (see, for example, 1 Cor 15 and  Acts 23:6). The trickier bit is understanding what resurrection, in this context, is all about.

The Acts quote above looks to be about a general resurrection of the dead 'at the end of the age' - ie after Jesus returns, when God's Kingdom is fully realised in a 'new heaven and a new earth'. Whilst that's more concrete than just 'going to heaven', it's still not obvious what its relevance is to here and now.

The chapter to the Corinthians is different though. That starts from a statement of the gospel that Jesus died and was raised, in the past, and then argues from this that there will be a general resurrection in the future. So the basic gospel message that the Corinthians had already accepted was about Jesus' resurrection, and Paul was teasing out for them the implications of this for their present and future.

An expansion on resurrection as the 'gospel hope' then would start with Jesus' death and resurrection setting us free from anything that is wrong in our past.

Then the resurrection message for here and now is that however bad things may be, God will have the last word. When Jesus died on the cross it looked as though it was all over, but God raised him from the dead and defeat was changed to victory. When we are at our most hopeless, when darkness is all around, then God will act and everything will change in an instant. The resurrection message is that God transforms despair to joy and defeat into victory; we just need to hang in there as best we can.

Finally, resurrection is hope for the future: a double hope in that we hope to be reunited with those who we have loved, but also in that we hope to live in a renewed world where life, justice and love are all around (and within).

Rob Bell, of course, puts all this much better, so I have included a video of his about Resurrection at the top of this post. Enjoy!