I’m a sport fan through and through. Where there are two individuals or teams battling it out against each other for the glory of victory – I’m there glued to the T.V. Hey I’ll even watch a game of netball if it looks like a close contest! The thing about sport, in particular winning at sport, is the battle to overcome all odds and opposition to prove to be the stronger, fitter, faster man or woman on the day. The thrill of victory is made most real in the presence of the genuine threat of defeat. It’s just not the same if you rock up to the SCG to see the Australian Cricket team do battle, when their opponent for the day is the under 13 girls B team from Mudgee. (Although on current form you’d be a brave man to bet against the young ladies) The point is – if there is no possibility of defeat, then victory loses all meaning.
Now even though God is a fanatical Sydney swans fan, I'm sure He loves all sport, and it was Him who actually invented the concept of victory and defeat in the first place.
People so often site the fact that there is so much evil, pain and suffering in the world as their major case against the existence of God. However, what if God’s most powerful act of love was to wire within our hard drive the capacity to make real decisions that have real consequences. I’m sure God could have made us to be entirely good without the option of doing anything wrong, yet could you imagine being a robot that could only do what you were told?
God knows there can only be love if there can also be hate, there can only be good if evil is also an option and there can only be victory if it is possible for us to be defeated by life's temptations. There's just no other way.
It seems like such a risky plan to let us choose whether we will accept and return His love, but when we do, it is actually real. God waits longing for us to choose Him, but he never forces our hand, You can’t very well choose to open yourself to God unless you can choose to reject him.
You were made with the incredible capacity to choose how you will live. There is so much evil in the world because people choose it all the time and God does not take that ability away from them. Sure God could stop evil, but in doing so he would violate who he has made us to be. In the words of a friend of mine “God has given you a free will, let that be a warning to you
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What is a Christian anyway?
If Jesus were to rock into G town tomorrow with plans to stay for the weekend, which church would he go to?
The funny thing is that when Jesus came to the earth 2000 years ago, ( I recently overheard a yr 2 kid complaining to his scripture teacher “No way miss, it can’t still be 2000 years, they told us that last year!”) it was the religious people who hated him and who eventually killed Him. He was a major threat to their systems of control and ancient traditions - and I reckon it might just be the same today. As hard as it is to say, I really don’t know how comfortable he would be in any of our churches, instead you'd probably find Him at the Astor!
There is approximately 1.2 billion people around the world who would call themselves Christians, but without the title, what do they look like and how should they act? And if it's so good, why is there often just as much evil in the church as there is outside it? So what is a Christian anyway? Is it just about believing in God, faithful church attendance, not drinking smoking or swearing, belonging to a club of like minded believers that makes you feel better about yourself and better than others, a ticket to heaven, trying to keep the 10 commandments, or being a good person with good morals who gives to charity? While this may be the experience of a lot of 'Christians' I'm just not sure these things sum up what it should look like to live a life connected to God.
At the core of the real Christian message is the fact that at some stage everyone has chosen independence from God which has left us separated from Him. We have blood on our hands and dirt on our hearts and the only way back to God is to receive the forgiveness He offers each of us made possible by Jesus taking the punishment for wrong in our place.
So then Christianity is to have your life transformed by the power of that gift and as a result be genuinely plugged into God, then to follow Jesus all the way home. It is to be so changed by love and forgiveness that you no longer are driven by what is best for you, but filled with the love of God for others. Life then becomes a clear demonstration of all the things Jesus was about – love, justice, freedom, inclusion, hope, helping the poor, embracing the social outcasts , confronting the systems of control and injustice, real peace, truth, and generosity. Now that is really living!
The funny thing is that when Jesus came to the earth 2000 years ago, ( I recently overheard a yr 2 kid complaining to his scripture teacher “No way miss, it can’t still be 2000 years, they told us that last year!”) it was the religious people who hated him and who eventually killed Him. He was a major threat to their systems of control and ancient traditions - and I reckon it might just be the same today. As hard as it is to say, I really don’t know how comfortable he would be in any of our churches, instead you'd probably find Him at the Astor!
There is approximately 1.2 billion people around the world who would call themselves Christians, but without the title, what do they look like and how should they act? And if it's so good, why is there often just as much evil in the church as there is outside it? So what is a Christian anyway? Is it just about believing in God, faithful church attendance, not drinking smoking or swearing, belonging to a club of like minded believers that makes you feel better about yourself and better than others, a ticket to heaven, trying to keep the 10 commandments, or being a good person with good morals who gives to charity? While this may be the experience of a lot of 'Christians' I'm just not sure these things sum up what it should look like to live a life connected to God.
At the core of the real Christian message is the fact that at some stage everyone has chosen independence from God which has left us separated from Him. We have blood on our hands and dirt on our hearts and the only way back to God is to receive the forgiveness He offers each of us made possible by Jesus taking the punishment for wrong in our place.
So then Christianity is to have your life transformed by the power of that gift and as a result be genuinely plugged into God, then to follow Jesus all the way home. It is to be so changed by love and forgiveness that you no longer are driven by what is best for you, but filled with the love of God for others. Life then becomes a clear demonstration of all the things Jesus was about – love, justice, freedom, inclusion, hope, helping the poor, embracing the social outcasts , confronting the systems of control and injustice, real peace, truth, and generosity. Now that is really living!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
God is at work in the world
I was on my way to a Church meeting, walking along Auburn st when I noticed to my dismay that I was about to by confronted by someone from green peace trying to squeeze me for the moths in my wallet.
Now I'm no red neck, but I'm sorry to say, my thoughts about green peace were that they are all a bunch of tree hugging, dolphin kissing, hooch smoking hippies, so my attitude toward this guy wasn't fantastic, yet as soon as he opened his mouth I was shocked to discover that he was an intelligent, passionate, compassionate bloke with a lot to teach me. He seemed compelled to act on behalf of the poor and needy, to speak for the oppressed, not to be blind consumer and to oppose greedy multinational companies who leave a trail of destruction in the pursuit big bucks. I tried to deflect the heat I was beginning to feel by mentioning that I happen to sponsor two children from the third world, unimpressed, he continued on saying his organisation was tackling the issue from a much bigger level, by addressing the corrupt governments in these countries that lead to the horrendous poverty in the first place.
In the course of the conversation he discovered that I was a Christian and proceeded to tell me that he'd be the first person going to hell, when I asked him why, he explained that he'd grown up in church with this passion stirring inside of him for the world and its sustainability, but there never seemed any common ground between his religious world, and his real world. When he was 16 his minister had shown him the door saying that he could go save the trees, but the mission of the church was to save souls.
I think it was at this point that something happened in me that really has changed the way I live. I was all of a sudden able to see God in this “hell bound hippie”. I asked him if he thought it possible that the burning passion for the world and its people might just come from the one who created that same world and that if he were to open his heart to this God, then this God inspired passion and energy for this task would only increase.
The bottom line is that for too long my Christianity had been about trying to make others like me. I was right and they were obviously wrong, God was with me and not with them, and so my job was to conquer them with my view of the truth.
I never did end up giving him any money, but since that day my eyes have been opened to see God at work in the world in all the places and with all the people I'd never thought He'd be.
God is at work in all of us... maybe we should open ourselves more to what He's doing.
Now I'm no red neck, but I'm sorry to say, my thoughts about green peace were that they are all a bunch of tree hugging, dolphin kissing, hooch smoking hippies, so my attitude toward this guy wasn't fantastic, yet as soon as he opened his mouth I was shocked to discover that he was an intelligent, passionate, compassionate bloke with a lot to teach me. He seemed compelled to act on behalf of the poor and needy, to speak for the oppressed, not to be blind consumer and to oppose greedy multinational companies who leave a trail of destruction in the pursuit big bucks. I tried to deflect the heat I was beginning to feel by mentioning that I happen to sponsor two children from the third world, unimpressed, he continued on saying his organisation was tackling the issue from a much bigger level, by addressing the corrupt governments in these countries that lead to the horrendous poverty in the first place.
In the course of the conversation he discovered that I was a Christian and proceeded to tell me that he'd be the first person going to hell, when I asked him why, he explained that he'd grown up in church with this passion stirring inside of him for the world and its sustainability, but there never seemed any common ground between his religious world, and his real world. When he was 16 his minister had shown him the door saying that he could go save the trees, but the mission of the church was to save souls.
I think it was at this point that something happened in me that really has changed the way I live. I was all of a sudden able to see God in this “hell bound hippie”. I asked him if he thought it possible that the burning passion for the world and its people might just come from the one who created that same world and that if he were to open his heart to this God, then this God inspired passion and energy for this task would only increase.
The bottom line is that for too long my Christianity had been about trying to make others like me. I was right and they were obviously wrong, God was with me and not with them, and so my job was to conquer them with my view of the truth.
I never did end up giving him any money, but since that day my eyes have been opened to see God at work in the world in all the places and with all the people I'd never thought He'd be.
God is at work in all of us... maybe we should open ourselves more to what He's doing.
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