Planted by Water

In thinking about and discussing the idea of changing the world, it is important, as with any discussion and debate, that we do not set as opposites things that are not opposite, or mutually exclusive. It is not a case of either preaching for personal salvation or contributing to changes in society. We can and should do both. As I have often said, I agree with Howard Snyder who saw personal salvation as central in God’s redeeming purpose and world transformation at the circumference. Why does it have to be either, or?

There are other reasons for Christians being involved in world change. It seems to me as I consider some of the terrible suffering that is going on in the world - for example, in Baghdad or in Darfur right now - then it is simply an act of Christian love and compassion to at least want to contribute towards minimising such suffering.

Yesterday I suggested that a reason for getting involved is that this world is God’s world. Here’s a great quote from Abraham Kuyper about that:

‘There is not one inch in the entire area of human life about which Christ, who is Sovereign of all, does not cry out "Mine!"’ 

I’ve said that I’ll use this blog to explore some of the ways in which, as Christians, I believe that we can and should help change the world according to God’s purpose of restoration. However, some people have asked me whether this is even a valid enterprise for Christians to be involved with. They would say that our purpose as Christains is simply to preach the gospel and to save people from this corrupt generation which is simply under judgement and beyond change. They might use the well-worn analogies of ‘rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic’ or ‘hanging curtains in a burning house.’ for such social activism and dismiss it as another re-working of the discredited social gospel of the earlier 20th Century or the liberation theology of the 60s and 70s that equated salvation with social and economic liberation. They would question whether there is a biblical basis at all for ‘changing the world.’

This week then I am going to set out to give some biblical arguments for a commitment to world transformation that begins with but is not limited to the salvation of individuals.

To begin with I would point out that although the world is spoken of as being under the control of the evil one, the Bible also says that ‘the earth is the Lord’s and eveyrthing in it, the world and all who live in it.’ (Ps.24)  As God’s people we should be concerned with what is happening in and to his world.

But the key to really understanding why we should be involved in world change lies in the fact that the ‘restoration of all things’ and the ‘new creation’ begins in the here and now. The Kingdom is already come as well as yet to come. I will explore this further tomorrow but maybe some readers would like to contribute some ideas as to why we Christains should be and must be involved in changing the world.

I liked this brief account of an interview with Eugene Peterson (writer of The Message) from LICC, about how words can become so cliched among Christians. I guess one thing you could never accuse Peterson of is being cliched (sorry I don’t know how to get an ‘e acute’ with my current typing facilities for my blog!) but I do feel it is a little unfair of him to quote actual Bible verses as examples (though I suppose it is possible to use even the Bible’s words in a barren, routine way). As I can’t find a link for this article, I have copied it, from the email sent to me, below.

But I was wondering whether any of my readers can think of Christian cliches - or ‘Strange Things Christians Say’ - that we might hear in our meetings or among Christians. I’ll start with one that I would have to admit to saying myself. It is when making an appeal at the end of a sermon:

If you’re here and…..(duh, like, how are they going to respond if they are not ‘here.’)

Any other suggestions? Here’s the interview with Eugene

choose your words

When I interviewed Eugene Peterson for Church Times recently, the author of The Message had a few choice words for Christians who speak jargon without thinking.

‘A cliché is as bad as a blasphemy,’ he observed.

That’s a serious allegation, which, if true, means that all of us probably need to wash our mouths out with soapy water on a regular basis. He picks out such well-worn phrases as ‘Jesus saves’, ‘born-again’, ‘God is love’ and ‘All things work together…’ as ‘pious conventions’ which, once they’ve lost their freshness, lead to us taking the name of God in vain.

Perhaps you’d expect a man who spent 12 years creating his own, multi-million-selling paraphrase of the Bible to be sensitive when it comes to the use of words. It’s not that he thinks the Bible needs embellishing to make it more attractive – in fact, he says he is ‘fiercely orthodox’ in his beliefs. Instead he argues that any language we use habitually can lose its power as we become over-familiar with it. Even words of life can die a death.

Dr Peterson now has a new book out. Eat This Book: The Art of Spiritual Reading looks not just at how we speak words but how we ‘take’ the words of the Bible and make the most of them - or not, as the case may be.

‘Passionate words of men and women spoken in ecstasy can end up flattened on the page and dissected with an impersonal eye,’ he warns. ‘Wild words wrung out of excruciating suffering can be skinned and stuffed, mounted and labelled as museum specimens.’

We have a choice, therefore: to reduce the words of the Bible to a series of statements we must believe, fullstop - or to allow them to transform us through the life-changing power of story, which ‘invites our participation’.

How, then, do we approach the Good Book without simply treating it as a tract? Dr Peterson explains that, through a process he calls lectio divina, we can read the text, meditate, ‘pray the text’ and ‘live the text’.

God’s love, ideally, is being incarnated as we speak… And as we read, and as we choose to respond. After all, ‘the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood,’ as it says in The Message. Choice words, indeed, which can bring our faith to life.

Brian Draper

Thinking back to the posting I made at the end of last week about monuments or sons, I was also thinking about when David expresses his desire to build a temple, a house for God. It seem that God has mixed feelings about monuments too! Although he eventually ordains Solomon to build the Temple and it is part of his plan, even then there is a recognition of the limitation of physical buildings - ‘will God really dwell on earth?’ (1 Kings 8:27). The key to understanding why is shown when David wants to build God a house (temple) and God makes a play on the word to say to David that he (God) will give him (David) a house:

"And now the Lord declares that he will build a house for you - a dynasty of Kings." (2 samuel 7:11)

God is more interested in living sons than stone monuments, in a line of faith that will be faithful to his covenant purpose down through the generations than in a magnificent temple. The answer to the question ‘will God really dwell on earth’ is yes, but he will do so not in a special building, a holy place, but rather in a people, a Kingdom community, a community of disciples, of sons of promise, a spiritual temple made of living stones where he can dwell by his Spirit! Now that’s the kind of house that is worth being part of, the church that Jesus is building and which we are called to be a part of! We are part of that dynasty of Kings promised to David! Hallellujah!!!

We had a great time last Sunday when Richard Anniss, leading elder of King’s Church Manchester, came to minister to us (he is pictured here with his wife, Judith). He brought an excellent word on ‘now we are a people’, called for a purpose and equipped with power. It is so important to realise that the church is a people, not just some people, a community and not just a collection of individuals. Richard is a great, passionate preacher, a man of faith and boldness with a love for God’s Word, Kingdom and Church. I must also must say that I am very impressed that he could repeat "a people who are purposeful and powerful" rather quickly without dropping any of his Ps! Well done, Richard!! Thanks!

I thought I’d take a break from changing the world today! Instead, just a quick thought from recent reflections on the Word (which is of course the great source of world-changing truth and which we must be rooted in if we are going to be world-changers!) I was reading recently about Absalom’s rebellion against his father, King David. It all came about because he wanted to be a king, and, of course he failed (though not until thousands of people had died - rebellion is always costly!) and he came himself to a sticky end (head in the branches - pun not intended!) But there is a verse about him after he had ben killed which really struck me:

During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for he had said, "I have no son to carry on my name." He named the monument after himself, and it is known as Absalom’s monument to this day.  (2 Samuel 19:18  NLT)

How sad! The man who would be King was left with a lifeless monument instead of living sons. In seems to me that we can choose in our lifetimes to either try to make a name for ourselves - build a monument to our own glory - or we can have something of true, lasting spiritual value that we simply aim to pass on to natural and spiritual sons (and daughters) as an inheritance that will enable them to serve God’s purpose in their generation and contribute to the advance of God’s purpose through all generations. I know which I’d rather go for!