My Daft Friend Rory

Rory’s acquaintance Earlier on this week I had a bit of a bizarre conversation with my friend Rory. Now my day started out much like any other, I had managed to drag myself out of bed just in time to catch the rush hour traffic at 7:30 (my favorite past time) only to result in me being very late for my 8 o’clock lecture. As I sat for half an hour in the frozen traffic I decided to chill out to some Bob Marley tracks and by the fifteenth song I eventually pulled up onto campus. Disillusioned about missing yet another 8 o’clock lecture that week I heard a cheerful greeting from my friend Rory who was as late as I was for his lecture. We contemplated being diligent and catching the last twenty minutes of our lectures despite our tardiness, but that thought soon passed and we opted for coffee in the cafeteria. As we sat down Rory began to enlighten me on the rather bizarre experience he had the previous morning.

Rory was up particularly early the previous day because he was writing a philosophy test and wanted to revise the concept of Descartes ‘Cartesian circle,’ a concept he was particularly struggling to wrap his head around. As he was meandering his way up to campus he was pondering all he had read on the topic, when out of nowhere one of our friendly campus squirrels appeared on the garden path in front of him. As he was about to side step the bushy tailed creature he heard a voice say, “Why so deep in thought dude?” Rory looked round about but saw no one and so continued to walk on, but again heard someone say “What’s on your mind guy?” Thinking it may be Corné and Twakkie he surveyed the area again, Rory then looked down only to see that it was none other than the bushy tailed creature who had directed these questions at him. Now Rory, being the rather daft guy that he is, proceeded to tell the squirrel what preoccupied his mind. At this point of the story I stepped in, ‘Good gracious Rory could you be Dr. Doolittle?’ he ignored my sardonic remark and continued.

After telling the squirrel about the test he was about to write and the dilemma he had in understanding a particular concept the squirrel attempted to explain to him that it was all rather simple and that Descartes seemed to be committed to two different priorities. He told Rory to consider that if we clearly and distinctly perceive some proposition p, then it is true that p. And he abbreviated this to (CDp –> Tp), reading that if p is clear and distinct (‘CD’), then it is true (‘T’)…and I forget the rest of what Rory said because at this point I out rightly asked him if he was stoned? Annoyed he simply said that if it weren’t true then how was it possible that he aced his test? Recognising this was a rhetorical question I decided it would be best not to try and be a smart-ass and answer it. Plus at this point i caught myself hoping that I would run into a squirrel that was accomplished in the art of law, seeing exams were approaching soon.

Sound ludicrous?

It’s supposed to, because what is even more ludicrous is that I had a very real conversation with a friend earlier this week who told me that he believed that the gospel may very well be true and that he thought it was amazing that Jesus would die for sinners, but that it just wasn’t for him. This not only saddened me but I thought it was utterly ludicrous to turn down the free gift that God offers through Jesus Christ.

To Judge or not to Judge…

I’ve been working on the Sermon on the Mount as part of a post grad program and have found it wonderfully satisfying as well as troubling at the same time.  Jesus’ words are both immensely encouraging and go right to the heart of hypocritical religion.  As I study it more, His words seem to stick to me as I slowly begin to realise my own religious hypocrisy.  One such text that has taken me aback is Matthew 7:1-6.  Jesus begins simply enough:  

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” 

This is his guiding principle for the text; if one of his followers displays judgment then they will be judged.  Before we go further, we need to realise that Jesus was critiquing the deficient righteousness of the Pharisees (cf. 5: 17-48) urging his followers to capture the true meaning of righteousness as putting Christ’s commands into practise.  So we have Jesus warning the disciples that if they display the same kind of critical, harsh judgemental attitude that the Pharisees did by condemning others then they are in danger of the greater judgement (see v2). This he helpfully illustrates in v3-5 where he uses the word picture of a man trying to help his brother remove the speck from his eye.  But Jesus condemns him as a hypocrite!  Why?  Because of the log in his own eye; this was the fault of the Pharisees who condemned others for their failings while not being able to see the greater problem of their own hearts, hearts hardened to God and others.  And so Jesus warns his followers to not fall into that trap of hypocrisy; Christians do not have the right to condemn a man, which is God’s ultimate job.  Ours is to love our neighbour and love God which is the sum of the Law (cf. 7:12).   

But don’t we see Jesus judging others?  The disciples are told to judge false teachers by their fruits so is this a contradiction? No, for the opposite extreme of being judgemental/condemning is just as bad a mistake.  That extreme is to suspend all faculties of critical thought and action.  This would mean to let sin go unpunished within a church community, this would mean allowing false teaching that wrecks faith to go unchallenged and that is why v6 is included in the context. It is puzzling and needs some research but the picture is that of a warning that Christians are not to give what is holy (the pearl) to what is unholy (the dogs and pigs) for they may turn and attack!  The pearl I take it is that is the Gospel message (cf. Mat 13:44-45) which must at some point NOT be given to these “animals”.  The animals come to represent those who are particularly opposed to the Gospel and its implications, who would at any opportunity seek to revile and mock Christ whenever they are given the message. 

So Jesus would have his followers love others by helping them and challenging them in their serving of God and men by not judging and condemning them.  Yet they must show some level of discrimination against serious opponents of the Gospel for the sake of the glory of God. So I take it that as we engage with non believers and believers we are to do so knowing our place, listening and loving.  Yet we cannot accept all that we hear without a critical eye or ear and must be ready to engage and challenge false living and teaching but always be focussing that critical eye to our own lives first (v5). Loving others means challenging their beliefs and life if it does not come in line with Christ’s ethic, but it’s how we do this that is immensely important!   

In conversation with daylight#4

The girl in the alley kneels with exhaustion
She’s guarded by the skinny guy who limps from some infection
Behind a veil of bleached thin hair her eyes tell a story
Like a photo of berlin, december 1944
She’s looking for a handout, she’s been high for several weeks now
She’s too far gone for whoring and the money just gave out

And her heart still beats inside
And the blood runs in her veins
A remnant of life remains
Her heart still beats inside

The man finally comes to the door, i’ve seen him several times
He always looks pissed off and his sunglasses stay on
I think he got his biceps and tattoos while in prison
And it doesnt seem to bother him when he says “go to hell”

And his heart still beats inside
The blood runs in his veins
A remnant of life remains
His heart still beats inside

The thought it comes to my mind, to somehow intervene
But it could bring me trouble, and what can i do anyway?
It’s hard to be effective when it happens so often
To see a life unraveling, through drawn venetian blinds
I’m sickened by compassion, i’m stifled by my limitations
Anesthetic apathy, come take the pain away

And my heart still beats inside
The blood runs in my veins
A remnant of life remains
And my heart still beats inside

Oh god, we need you here
We’re sinking fast and we dont care
The evidence is all around me, on both sides of my door
Our hearts beat

Brave Saint Saturn – Heart Still Beats

Love for God IS Love for People

In Mark 12 Jesus is confronted by a teacher of the law who had evidently been sitting in and around the conversations that we’re going on between Jesus and the other religious authorities that day. He’d noticed how Jesus had skillfully avoided their theological traps and turned numerous questions around so that the other religious authorities scrambling desperately for answers. This teacher was impressed and so wanting to see what Jesus was really about at his core he asked, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

Jesus answers by quoting the ‘Shema’ from Deuteronomy 6 and outlines what he’s about by basically saying, ‘God alone is God, therefore love him with everything you have.’ What is striking is that he doesn’t leave it there, instead he adds another commandment, ‘love people as you love yourself’. The teacher only asked him for one but he gave two – why? Surely it must be because loving God is intricately wrapped up with loving people in this world. Whilst loving people is not all there is to loving God it is so closely connected that Jesus connects the two. Very simply, we cannot love God and not love people.

On Saturday I sat at a lunch table at a homeless shelter with a young guy from the Cape Flats, a Zimbabwean refugee and an elder Xhosa man far displaced from his home desperately looking for work. They were all very different from me, and to be honest conversation was hard and awkward, but Jesus says I have to love them, becuase I claim to love God. May we pray that God would give us the love for all his people that his Son so evidently displayed when he walked this earth.

10 Tips for On-Line Christian Discussion

I read and write comments on a number of blogs that I personally wouldn’t always identify with theologically. If you go through the sidebar you’ll see that although the majority of the blogs come from a theologically reformed position, not all of them do. To be honest I probably spend more time reading the blogs that aren’t theologically reformed than the ones that are. I also don’t think I’m alone in these reading adventures, I think a large number of bloggers often read outside of their own theological school – its surely a healthy blogging habit to pick up. Naturally though, as bloggers read other bloggers from different schools, the debate begins to flow back and forth over certain issues. Now the blogshphere has a bit of a reputation for getting out of hand in these situations, and since we write Christian blogs this really is the last thing we want. Yet at the same time healthy debate is good for all of us in the blogging community. So what I want to share with you are a few tips that I’ve picked through trial and error as I’ve waded into certain debates around the blogsphere:

Tip#1: Don’t go intentionally looking for a brawl. If you’re one of those bloggers who’s only interested in controversy and is always found near it then – shame on you! Put your energy into something more constructive.

Tip#2: When debating a specific point always be open to admit the weaknesses in your own argument. Healthy debate is a learning process – if you can’t face up to the fact that your argument might not be flawless then don’t enter the discussions.

Tip#3: Always praise the good and the areas of agreement in your opponent’s case. Christian unity is only ever going to be built around what we all agree on. Look for those points of contact and work gently from there.

Tip#4: Be quick to apologize. Often we misunderstand someone or say something rashly – don’t be afraid to say that you were wrong and apologize.

Tip#5: Keep checking with your opponent to see if you understand him/her correctly. There’s nothing worse then two people going at each other and they arguing on two completely different levels. Make sure you understand what the discussion is about.

Tip#6: Never throw your weight around in a discussion if you haven’t done the reading. Many posts that preempt discussion often quote other on-line posts or articles and call for a response, if you haven’t already read the material under discussion then to just throw in your opinion is highly arrogant.

Tip#7: Try and open up email contact. The comment threads are often limited in how much actual discussion can take place. When discussing really important topics see if those who are involved with you are not interested in probing the topic further through email correspondence. I know this takes the discussion away from the public sometimes, but it also helps build trust and relationships between people from opposing viewpoints (I’ve personally experienced this on three or four occasions).

Tip#8: Always remember the gentleness and humility that comes with being a Christian. We are Christians before we are bloggers – being behind a computer screen doesn’t absolve you of your ethical and moral responsibility.

Tip#9: Don’t be afraid to give your viewpoint. Being confident over your view (due to evidence in support there of) and being arrogant are not the same thing. You can still be humble and gentle but firm in certain convictions. We always want to please God and man – there will be occasions where this is not possible. Please God first and then man.

Tip#10: Have fun. Ask lots of questions, approach things from different angles, be a learner.

Gospel Conviction: What We’ve Missed #5

Links to Part I, II, III, & IV

The average member of an average western evangelical church (MRC) needs a mindset change in order to overcome the compartmentalization that we’ve already talked about in Part IV. That mindset revolves around the idea of envisioning oneself as a missionary in the surrounding culture. This concept has been the cornerstone concept of what it means to be ‘missional’ all along. The question is: What motivates us to adopt such a mindset.

Some might feel we need to adopt this mindset after looking around at the evangelical church and noting how its failed to engage culture effectively with the gospel – especially cultures that have postmodern tendencies. However whilst this failure should spur us on to improve the situation it cannot be our basis. We are not simply ‘re-actionaries’, we are first and foremost ‘actionaries’.

Some of us might be adopting this mindset because its ‘cool’ to be missional in the new trendy church climate – sipping wine, wearing Crocs and discussing new church forms in low-key small groups meetings (okay maybe skip the Crocs part if you live outside of Gauteng). This is completely inadequate and we need to check ourselves on this one.

What drives us and motivates us to adopt a missionary mindset is first and foremost a deep conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is at work reconciling an alienated people to himself. That has to be our basis for motivation in becoming missional. We are not missional because the generation before us wasn’t, we are missional because God is reconciling people to himself in Jesus. Now this might sound like a simple point that doesn’t really shatter the ground you’re standing on. Yet I think that whether or not we will actually adopt a missional approach to ministry and life hinges on whether or not we have deep convictions about the gospel.

Being involved in the whole missional conversation has temptations of its own, we get caught up with the fads and ‘cool-speak’ of being missional and lose then basis of why we’re being missional in the first place. If all we’re ever doing is blogging about this, attending conferences, reading books, drinking coffee and meeting in trendy small groups then we’ve bought into ‘being missional’ without the basis of the gospel.

What is your basis for ‘being missional’?

In conversation with daylight #3

‘We don’t want you gospel or your Christianity thing – that big church on the hill makes us promises but steals our money!’
- teenage Zulu street kids in Durban, South Africa, burned by the big ‘prosperity gospel’ church at the top of the road.

In conversation with daylight #2

‘We have a bit of bread, three of the children will eat today, the other three will eat tomorrow – we keep going like that. The children realise it…they understand.‘

- Elderly woman looking after 6 children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa.

In conversation with daylight #1

“It seems like more people die in a weekend on the Cape Flats than in a week of the war in Iraq“

- Local Cape Flats Pastor, Cape Town, South Africa