Planted by Water

I am glad to be back from the dreaming spires of Cambridge. I enjoyed my conference with the Jubilee Centre, with papers and discussions on numerous subjects including: Justice and Punishment, Sexual Offences, The Economy, Globalisation, the Family, Welfare, Nationhood, Government and International Relations/Peace-Building. For those who don’t know about the Jubilee Centre, find out more about them on ther website. They are evangelical Christians who are considering these kinds of issues on politics, social reform and public policy from a biblical worldview at a academic level. Most of the speakers are involved in academia, law, the treasury or some kind of international body so they are seeking to apply the principles they believe in at a significant level. They also have an arm that, though biblically based, is more about trying to engage with nonChristians and wider society - called the relationships foundation. They key principle that they get from the Bible is what they call relationism - which basically means what it says - relationship is the priority, with God and with one another. This is largely missing from politics and public policy.

I enjoyed the week and have a great deal of respect for the people involved. I know of no other Christian group in UK that is doing this kind of high level academic study and engagement on such issues. If any of you are interested in this kind of thing, I recommend you sign up for their occasional Cambridge Papers which are on various social and global issues (you can get them as PDF documents). 

Despite these recommendations, I have three significant reservations which reflect the direction I feel the church needs to go in to be a voice and an influence in our society:

1. Too academic - we need a way of engaging more Christians, and speaking in ways that are accessible to more people. It is good to be salt and light in the academic world, but most change will come at the grass-roots level. We have be accessible without being simplistic. And sometimes being overly academic actually clouds the issues.
2. Too cerebral - we need to see something from a charismatic perspective. That doesn’t just mean we speak in tongues while we study! It means taking seriously the work of the Holy Spirit and his relevance to how we live in this present age, and believing that he gives us insights from the Word which go beyond just cerebral and intellectual study.
3. Too much on OT and Mosaic Law - there is big question about whether you can use the OT and particularly the Law in the way that the Jubilee Centre do. I think we need something that deals with the issue of how those of us who are living under a new and better covenant relate to a fallen world. We also need something from a very positive Restorationist perspective.

I am planning to develop some of my thoughts on these issues on my blog over the next few months. Does anyone know of any organisation/website/journal that is coming from the kind of perspective I am talking about? Is anyone interested in getting involved if I was to initiate something? Can anyone suggest any other considerations in terms of equipping the church to be a voice and an influence in our world?