The Golden Rule

I have been reading an excellent book which studies the sermon on the mount called Voice From the Hills (Greenslade).

I highly recommend it. It is very well written and incredibly insightful. It’s not a light read, and I do, at times, think he takes a metaphor too far, but it’s no reason not to read the book and let the content shape you.

It did make me think, though, as I read the Golden Rule: “Love others as you love yourself”, at just how twisted our culture has become in London, as we take these words of Jesus, and apply them to our lives.

How self centred are the cultural influences to read that passage and then inform those wanting answers to tell them to “love themselves.”?! Is that really the answer? Jesus asks us to love God, first, and then us last; and we take it to mean we must love ourselves! I am truly astounded.

This is not what Jesus was teaching. He’s not really into the self centred attitude that comes from these uncomfortably wrong applications. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but Jesus knows how dreadfully sinful we are, so for him to say love others as you love yourself means we should love others. Full stop.

Why?

Because we love ourselves. All sin is based around a self-centred attitude that we know better than Jesus how to love our lives. Even if it seems self-sacrificial it is based in the motivation to build our pride. We all know those people who don’t know Jesus and are endlessly selfless, and yet there is a lack. In all of it: we know how to love ourselves.

This leads to the related train of thought; hurt people hurt people. In their love of others they only know how to love by hurting people. Because it’s how they’ve been treated it moves down the chain…

Ultimately, we must remember that Jesus’s command to love others as we love ourselves is supposed to give us a reference for loving others; we should put the energy we usually put into selfish sin into loving others. Losing oneself. As Keller says regularly, the Gospel brings a humility that is not “thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.”

Don’t be fooled by the western trap to bring the imperative “love yourself”. Jesus loves you more than you know, and thought of himself less and less as he was walking from the cradle to the cross.

 

The Importance of Feasting

“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.” – Exodus 12:2

What is he talking about?

Passover.

The Israelites, in Egypt, in slavery, some 5000 years ago, were being told of the second greatest redemption in all of history. At it’s preparation the instruction from God was that their whole calendar would change. It would begin their year afresh and they would celebrate with a feast. Nothing had happened yet. The Passover was to come (where the angel of the LORD would pass over the houses covered by the blood of the lamb). But the blood of the lamb couldn’t be there unless they prepared the feast. The terrifying events to come were foreshadowed by the feasting involved in bringing people together.

Not to drag this through history and make a terribly obvious observation; Christmas isn’t dissimilar to it. The Christmas story has created a preparation feast for us, that even though the terrible and awesome act that Jesus (the lamb whose blood was shed) did on the cross was to come, we would celebrate all that will happen.

The change in calendar won’t go unnoticed; though the Israelites were told to start their year, the birth of Jesus restarted our year count to 0(ish). The great parallel between the two only further shows how Jesus is the true lamb of God whose blood was shed for the salvation of God’s people.

 

Kingdoms: I like them

I never took much interest in political debates. I found them boring, strangely depressing, and I didn’t know enough about the subject to offer anything serious to a discussion. I knew my vote was important, and gave what little attention I could to make my vote marginally worthwhile. I’m not really a party supporter, through and through, but if there are key things I disagree with I move away from supporting them each time a vote comes round. In the last election, as the Lib Dems gave the impression they were gaining ground, I couldn’t help but feel cheated that they prioritised lower taxes (more money for everyone) over abortion rates (increasing the period a child can be killed while in the womb) – I didn’t vote for them. Who in their right mind would think money is more important than life? Well, we have seen that the Lib Dem banner is as confused as a flamingo in a board meeting; distinctive colour and following whoever will let them into number 10.

Anyhow, a kingdom is vastly different. It isn’t about voting but about choosing. Those who are recognised are chosen to have more responsibility. The “King” (I would say monarch but I’m not talking about a monarchy) has close council; friends and advisors who help him do the best job he can do. I’m currently reading through Exodus and Moses was asked to stop taking all the responsibility on himself and to share it with those who he thought could lead, and that they in turn would choose who could lead thousands, hundred, and tens. The whole idea of this kind of organisation is responsibility. Taking responsibility for people and actions, and seeking help when you’re not sure what to do. It’s about a humble, servant heart, to get the best out of all people. This is how a kingdom can truly operate.

Although it isn’t perfect, the example of English monarchs, who had knights, barons, and other people watching over areas of the country shows a veering towards a kingdom that reflects what is truly best for the people. The blame culture we live in today creates a massive gap between truth and responsibility. With enough information, the blame for any bad news can be shifted from person to place to event to object to city to thought to book etc… until the actual point being made is lost. Responsibility can be taken by those unafraid of losing their position because they have been chosen, incredibly privileged because they’ve been given responsibility, and incredibly humble to see that they cannot do what they are asked without the help of others.

This is the form a true church government should take, and a kingdom on a larger scale would make this be something entirely different.

I am an idealist, and kingdoms are a long way off, if at all possible. But they are what I see as the way to see this country (and any other with a mind to put things right) take governmental structure in the right direction.

 

Democracy: A Critique

As Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes the creation of Bill Watterson) says, “A good compromise leaves everybody mad”.

I have held this opinion for a while, but it’s time I came out and said it in public. No matter how many people vote “For” something, there will still be a group who voted “against”. And with all the various options we get these days, the winner is usually still not a majority. Even if 60% of the votes are positive, there are still 40% of the voters (which is a large chunk of any populous) that wanted something else. As this gives rise to the majorities choice, we soon find out that even if our choice is the winner, it doesn’t quite shape up how we had planned, and ultimately leaves everybody unhappy.

Democracy gives everyone a voice, it’s true. It’s probably the best option we have for any serious societal government until we can begin to take responsibility for our own actions throughout all of England. The largest part of the societal mix up has been blame. As a general rule, blame is brought on those in authority, with little humility to take responsibility for their own actions. I know that with all my actions, I look for the reasons for why things happened the way they did if they didn’t go according to plan. That way responsibility is moved away from me. I push the blame to things outside my control so I cannot be held to account for the results that happened.

Governmental control feeds this eagerness to blame everyone else. The police are blamed for high crime rates, rather than criminals, the banks are blamed for our debt, rather than those who borrowed, and the government are blamed for poor management of the country, when we have voted them into power. (Of course if you didn’t vote at all, you have no right to complain either. Not voting and then complaining about the state of the government is like having a train ticket left at home, then wondering why you’ve got to pay a penalty fare on the journey. It’s not clever to keep silent when you can make a decision to ensure you are heard.)

The votes given to the people of this country are an attempt to share the power with people. But, in no uncertain terms, I disagree with democracy as an effective form of government. The parties are made up of groups of people all fighting for their own way. Even though we have a Prime Minister, he doesn’t carry the kind of power a leader of a country would expect to, as the members of parliament take what was a good idea, water it down, bring compromise at every hurdle, and ultimately ruin any effective change by vote after vote after vote, creating an inactive, oversubscribed, liberal, messy club. I don’t think America have got it right either, even though the president has more power than any other country’s leader, currently. Though I’ll leave other countries there, for now.

I’m a kingdoms man myself. I like the idea of kingdoms. Not republics, democracies, dictatorships, anarchic states, or any other. No. Kingdoms are my thing. Though they are incredibly difficult to maintain, they are the best for all involved.

I’ll keep you in suspense and open up what a kingdom is in my next post.

 

Thought for the Weekend

God said this to Pharaoh; would he say it to you?

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:16

 

Government from God

A lovely alliteration to start a discussion:

As I posted on Saturday, I began, and have wondered for a while, what we can say when the verses from Romans say God has placed all government where it is, when so many countries are being led by men who should be in psychiatric facilities. Hitler, one of the greatest leaders and speakers of the 20th century, misled thousands, if not millions, of people into a dictatorship costing millions of lives. According to Paul in Romans 13, God put him there.

The current world status of Libya, Egypt, and other Arab nations begs the same question: did God really put these people in power? Surely the devil has more to do with this (I write as a Christian, not a philosopher).

We must remember, however, Paul was not living in a world with a perfect government seen as a gift from God. In 2 Corinthians he informs us of his beatings, floggings, stonings, humiliations; all done by local authorities. He wasn’t a man separated from dealings with these forces. Yet he still writes “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval…”

There are a few points to bring from this:
1. Government is more important than anarchy; i.e. Authority is a good thing.
2. Local government should benefit us; i.e. There should be amenities provided by those you pay tax to.
3. Tyrants should be appropriately challenged or confronted, just as Paul called for an audience with Caesar. i.e. The government will be wrong.
4. The kingdom of God overlaps and invades all of life, including governmental powers. i.e. Separating faith from state denies the biblical principle that God placed the rulers where they are.

What else do you think could be said in the current events?

 

Thought for the Weekend

Romans 13:1-2 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

How do we reconcile this against the tyranny of so many governments over the centuries?

 

Breath of Life

It struck me the other day how amazing the story of creation is. I don’t like the debates. I don’t know if they’re as important as they seem to be. But I love the phrase: …then the LORD God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Genesis 2:7)

The distinguishing feature of man against the rest of all creation is the breath of God; the breath of life. Without it, man is not a living creature; merely a creature.

No one can live without the breath of God.

Now there are 2 alternatives that I can see:
1. That only Christians have the life of God through His breath which is His Spirit.
2. That all humans have the life of God and cannot live unless God permits them.

If the first is true, then the understanding of being born again is important to get to the real reason for becoming a Christian. We can only live if God breaths His Spirit into us. This would also mean that when Adam sinned and was kicked out of the garden the breath of life was removed from him. This in turn would mean, as animals don’t have this breath, when anyone or thing without the breath of life dies that is it. There is no eternal dimension to their being.

Now, we know that God alone has immortality and gives to whom He chooses. However, those well read will not agree to the idea of only Christians experiencing eternity. Only the other day I posted a comment on the new Rob Bell publication which twists the idea of the various eternal conclusions to life into one simple end, like taking all the strands of rope, leaving nothing but the weak and feeble string of which it is constructed.

If we follow the other trajectory — that all humans have the breath of God and cannot live their life, physical or other, without God’s permission — this makes both the stories following creation more followable, and gives dignity to human life.

What do you think?

 

Thought for the Weekend

It’s justice and mercy the old dichotomies,
All along the front lines of my heart in both doubt and belief
The sinner and saint, the old arch enemies,
All at war, in me

From “All at War” — Downhere

 

Ministries of Mercy

I’ve read nearly all of Tim Keller’s material. And what I haven’t, I intend to. He is full of wisdom for today’s church. I first found his outlook on the gospel in 2005 and have followed a lot of what he’s done since. I recommend all of his teaching.

This book (Ministries of Mercy) is his first publication, from back in 1995. A lot of what he addresses is as a result to the facts of American poverty. He lays out a picture showing how many people are truly in poverty despite appearances. It isn’t just about the homeless undesirables, like the man on the tube this morning ripping up free newspapers but being ignored by the commuters; it’s about the elderly who can barely get by on their state pension, single parents in communities permeating with drug dealers; it’s about the families who’s father has just lost his factory job due to the economic downturn and is not skilled for anything else. Mercy is the undeserved ministry to these people.

Keller paints a picture in the first half of the book of what it would look like if we were merciful, challenging our individual perceptions, and presenting Jesus to bring us to a place of repentant faith to live a life of mercy. It begins with the story of the good Samaritan, expounds some key parts, works through the individual, then moves onto the church.

It is theological and practical in it’s presentation. There are some excellent guidelines for starting up ministries of mercy through the church. This especially resonated with me, as it gave a positive view to the eventual equipping of churches to show mercy, rather than guilt tripping those into action.

He shared his definitions and applications of justice and mercy. He showed how these work together; and how mercy ministries and evangelism are two sides of the same end, bringing the lordship of Jesus into all of life. It’s balanced in it’s approach but very positive in it’s conclusions.

I highly recommend this book. It’s challenging and gives a grand vision for what the church is capable of, but always brings it back to the ultimate ministry of mercy: Jesus on the cross.