religion

Christianity, rules and regulations

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Christianity is about freedom, yet we keep tying ourselves up with rules and rituals, and then feeling guilty when we break them.

It seems to be in our nature to want rules.  We want to be told what we can do and what we can’t do.  We don’t want to have to think.  Take driving for example.  We know that we shouldn’t go at high speed in built up areas, so why do we need to be told that we mustn’t go above 30 miles per hour?  What’s special about 30, why not 29, or 33?

Setting a rule is a way of avoiding guilt.  We prefer to pretend that we are not guilty rather than that accept we are guilty and ask for forgiveness.  If I go at 29 miles per hour and knock someone over, then you can’t accuse me of going too fast – I was within the speed limit.  I can say “it wasn’t my fault – it was the person who set the speed limit.”

This is living the Old Testament way: “Thou shalt not exceed 30 miles per hour in a built up zone”.

If we were to ask Jesus then he would say “don’t go so fast that you knock someone over”.  It’s a much tougher requirement, and means that there is no way we can escape our personal responsibility.  If we knock someone over it’s our fault and that’s that.  All we can do is to ask for forgiveness, to which he would reply “Are you really sorry? Are you going to change your driving habits so that you don’t do it again? Yes? Then I forgive you.”

Tougher, isn’t it?  I have to take full responsibility, and I have to be humble enough to admit that I was wrong and to ask for forgiveness.

Christians, as anyone else would, find it difficult trying to live a life which is totally without laws, but where the standard is perfection. There is no speed limit, but you are responsible if your driving harms someone. So we make up our own laws.  Some are moral, some are conventions or traditions.  Although Christianity is about freedom, we have tied ourselves up in chains again.

Everybody does it without realising it.  Have you ever been to a conference or meeting that runs over a couple of days.  On day one, we look round the room, and then choose a seat.  Next day, that’s our seat – we go straight there.  It’s easiest, it worked yesterday, but we’ve just made up a little law: “that’s where I sit”.  It’s OK to make up rules, so long as we don’t let the rule become more important than the issue it’s solving.  We need to keep remembering the reason behind the law.  Going 30 miles an hour in itself is not important; avoiding running someone over is the issue.  Christians need to be wary of our natural love of rules and laws; Jesus looks at the heart; do we want to do what is right or do we want just to keep the law?

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If you enjoyed this and like to read reasoned thinking, buy my book The Big Picture

A tribute to Pastor Antonia Bonga, who passed away on Friday night.

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A man who I counted as a friend died on Friday night.

I first met Pastor Bonga in 2004 when I visited Mozambique for the first time.  He was running a center for street children called Casa Reom.  That visit was a turning point in my life, showing me many things: that we don’t need monetary richness to be rich, that it is better to do what is right today even if it risks an uncertain future, that most people live in far more difficult circumstances than we do in the West but can still be happy, and that God is close to the poor.

A few years ago he visited England, and sent us a short resume of his life:

 “I was born on 3rd February 1950 at Bawaze-Lampene, Marromeu, the son of Tomo Bonga and Carita. I was educated at Jaravura. My parents were very poor and they were only able to pay for my education up to grade 3.

When I was 18 I came to Beira where I worked during the day and went to a night school. The same year (1968) I was converted in the Apostolic Faith Mission, and was baptized in 1969. I got married and later on was ordained to be a deacon. I had a spiritual experience.

I have had 12 children, 8 of them have died so only 4 remain.

I went to Zimbabwe to Bible school, and when I came back to Mozambique was ordained to be a church pastor. I have planted 5 new churches.

In 1986, I did another bible course in Zimbabwe when I returned home things were worse. A civil war was causing difficulties among Mozambicans. In 1988 things had got so bad that even some of the church leaders were fighting over power.

In 1989, I met 5 missionaries with whom I shared my vision of ministering and planting new churches. The civil war was still going on and the government were harassing me. The government became my number one enemy. It was not easy to preach the word of God at this time. Eventually, God gave a solution to my difficulties. Later on, I founded my present church called “International Body of Christ church”. This started with meetings under a tree. Many people were laughing at the church and at me. Now the churches are all over Mozambique.

When I joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM), I did Discipleship Training (1993) and a Leadership Training programme (1997) in Zimbabwe.

In 2000 God touched my life and told me to care for the orphans and those living in difficult situations on the street. The same year I began leading the YWAM base in Beira.”

I visited Pastor Bonga and the Casa Reom project several times, and I wrote about one visit in my book ‘The Leap’:

When I came back from my last trip to Mozambique, my friend Pastor Bonga had just taken on the running of a second orphanage, with about forty children from ages 1 to 10.  He was asked to take it on, but was not given any money to pay for the running costs.  He couldn’t refuse when he’d been asked.  He couldn’t allow the children to be turned out onto the streets again.  What would happen to the one year old babies? He chose to do what was right, without considering the consequences; he left them up to God.

Pastor Bonga was not perfect, none of us are, but he pursued what his heart told him.  He persevered in extremely difficult circumstances, supported sometimes only by his love of God.  He died unexpectedly.  The evening before he died he had been meeting with others about a new project to help orphans in Nhamatanda, Mozambique.

He will be missed on this earth.

Time to come alive!

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As you walk round this weekend, look at the faces of those you pass.  Look perhaps at the men pushing the trolleys in Aldi, Asda or Sainsbury’s.  How many of them are lifeless, pursuing the daily trudge?  Then look in the mirror – are we the same?

Life is not meant to be like that.  We are made for life in abundance, life in all its fullness.  A great man once said “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

What does life in abundance mean?  Perhaps we should see what the man said.  When asked he answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'”

It’s not so much what you do as how you live that brings life in abundance.  It’s not so much climbing the mountain or sailing the seas – although I recommend both – it’s about choosing to love, every moment of every day, even in the aisles in Asda.

It’s been said “Find out what makes you come alive, and go and do it.” If you are not alive today, you need to follow that advice.  Perhaps you feel you don’t have the energy to love at the moment, perhaps your work is just so draining that it deadens you.  If so then it is worth looking for a change.  Perhaps there’s an addiction that you need to break; it’s possible, you can break it!

But the key to coming alive is love; positive, hardworking, determined expending of ourselves for the benefit of others.

Does injustice make you angry?  Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

Does poverty make you angry? Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

Does child abuse make you angry? Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

Does the sex trade make you angry? Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

Does human trafficking make you angry? Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

Does the hopeless plight of teenagers make you angry? Don’t just grumble, go and do something about it. Come alive fighting it.

The list goes on.

St. Irenaeus said that “Man Fully Alive is the Glory of God”

It is time to come alive.

 

Tony

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Tony was a man of action.  He had always enjoyed sport as a boy, and loved adventure books.   At work he would be frustrated by rules and regulations, red tape put in place just to avoid being blamed in case something went wrong.  Why didn’t people just get on and do what was needed?

Tony had committed his life to Christ.  He was convinced of the truth, read his bible daily and tried his best to follow Jesus teaching.  Jesus was his hero, and he was constantly challenged by what Jesus taught – but liberated too!  He went to church each week.

But somehow he often wondered what church was about.  He found the songs would have him singing words that didn’t represent how he felt towards Christ; love songs and adoration of Christ’s beauty, songs more about being ‘in love’ than selfless love.  He would look around at others who appeared in raptures of delight and wonder what was wrong with him.  He couldn’t help drifting off in the sermons, and couldn’t see what they had to do with his day-to-day life.

He often came away saddened; if church left him cold he presumed that he can’t have been a very good Christian!  Satan smiled, but Jesus led Tony to the verse:

Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. (John 14:21)

“We love you Tony” he whispered.

Pete and Graham

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Pete and Graham had worked with each other for years.  Pete went to church every week, a fact that Graham was unaware of.

“Hi Pete”, said Graham, “Did I see you coming out of the Christian book shop yesterday?”

“Yes, I was buying a Christening card for a friend.  I’m going to the Christening this weekend.”

“Ah, that explains it,” said Graham, “I didn’t imagine that you could be a Christian, after knowing you all these years!” said Graham smiling.

“No” mumbled Pete, embarrassed.

Graham went away just hoping that he could find someone to talk to about the lump that he’d got on his stomach, and the questions that the possibility of cancer and death had raised in his mind about whether God existed.

Pete went away ashamed, but after a day or two he felt better … after all God forgives everything (doesn’t he?).  Still, he found it rather hard in the singing that Sunday, “I will offer up my life ….”

Jesus sighed,  “was this the sort of forgiveness that I went through it all for?”

“But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:33

Things that a Minimalist Christian does not have to believe – The Bible is the complete and perfect truth

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I struggled to phrase the title of this post, but I’m talking about the attitude that because something is written in the Bible it must be taken as absolutely accurate and true. The Bible is often called the ‘Word of God’, and Christians are encouraged to study God’s Word, but the basis for such assertions is seldom presented.  St Paul referred to scriptures being ‘God breathed’, but if we think about it, what isn’t ‘God breathed’?  Can anything exist without God?

Bible study often takes the form of taking each sentence and trying to interpret it. This can lead to lengthy discussions about the translation of a particular word. It is trying to understand by dissection, but then risks missing the whole. It is similar perhaps to trying to understand the human being by examining each molecule, or ‘The Scream’ by examining a single brush stroke.

If we view the Bible as a collection of documents that were written by human beings describing their journey with God then we can understand why, for instance, different accounts of the same event may differ. We can understand that the meaning of any part must be discerned in the context of the day. We can understand that the writers might simply have got some things wrong. It was men who decided what the best books were to put in the Bible, and they made their decision based on sober judgement. But we should not now view the book as somehow having a magic spell on it that says that ‘this is God’s complete and unchallengeable word’.

There is immense value in the Bible, but I fear that modern Christians have been led to worship the Bible rather than God. It contains wisdom and encouragement, and is correctly used to support our growth rather than constrain it.

Oswald Chambers

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If you’ve never come across him, I recommend Oswald Chambers.  I feel he has great insight into so much of life.  See http://utmost.org/ for daily thoughts.  From this morning:

“The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in my life. Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey.”

The Shamu Show

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The crowd assembles for the Shamu show. Children eagerly seek out seats in the ‘soak zone’ whilst anxious parents cover up all valuable belongings to keep them dry.

Shamu is a killer whale who does marvellous tricks with his trainers, but the biggest thrill is when the whale leaps out of the water and splashes the first 12 rows of spectators.

Seats fill up quickly for about half an hour before the show. To keep people entertained there is a 50m x 20m screen behind the pool – a massive TV screen. There is a simple quiz, with questions shown on the screen whilst a camera (who knows where) picks out a member of the audience who then hold up one, two or three fingers to indicate the right answer.

The quiz is fun but trivial. What fascinates me is the response of the people when they see themselves on the big screen. Many smile and wave. The shy little girl slowly slips behind her Dad. The man idly picking his nose suddenly sees himself 10m high – starts – and whips his finger out of his nose and back down to his side.

How different it would feel to see ourselves live on the big screen. How differently we would behave. Yet perhaps we are already on the big screen – God’s big screen. How are we going to behave now? Which of our actions are going to please him and make him happy? Which are we going to stop in embarrassment? Are we going to wave and smile with joy, or are we going to crawl away and try to hide?

Let’s imagine we are always on God’s big screen, and let that help to guide what we do.

Stereoscopic vision

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A few years ago there was quite a craze about magic-eye pictures. When you first see one of the pictures there are usually interesting colours and shapes, and you might like it just for that.

Then someone tells you that there is 3D picture of a train (or such thing) hidden in the picture.  You might respond with “don’t talk rubbish”, or you might look and look at the detail, turn it upside down, look at it in the mirror.  But you can’t find anything by yourself!

Your friend might give you some hints on how to find it.  You might follow their suggestion and still see nothing.  You challenge them that they are mistaken, but they insist that there is something there.  If you didn’t trust them or if they weren’t your friend then you’d give up looking.

But maybe you still trust them enough. You try harder, but that doesn’t work.  Then you just relax and gaze at it – and catch a glimpse!  Slowly you learn how to hold that glimpse and suddenly you can see there is a whole picture.  You learn to explore it, and see its wonder. Then something distracts you and it’s gone again.  But now you know…it’s waiting there for you to find next time.

We all see the wonder of the world, but we go through much of life not realising the big picture behind it.  We need someone to tell us it’s there, and to help us find it.  But we need to trust their intentions, and to be willing to feel embarrassed in our searching or else we will give up and perhaps even try to ridicule those who claim there is a God behind it, who claim that there is truth in Jesus’ teaching, that the holy spirit can guide and change our lives for the better.  If we are not ready to take the risk then we may dismiss the whole thing, but if we are ready to risk then perhaps we will indeed find something of great worth.

We need two eyes to see the magic eye picture.  If you look with only one you will never find it.  Perhaps we need two eyes to see the big picture of the universe:  The ‘material’ eye that sees the material world, the scientific discoveries, the wonder of life itself.  And the ‘spiritual’ eye that listens to the message of the love that God has for us through what he reveals to us, that discerns truth from falsehood, that sees another spiritual being in everyone we meet.

An argument for, and definition of God.

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I have started reading Anselm; interesting stuff. Not sure I’ve really got my head round it yet, but nevertheless let me try to paraphrase my understanding of his argument so far in a modern context:

We are all aware that there are ‘non-material’ things: love, justice, purpose, hope, belief, to name a few.  An act of love is carried-out through ‘love’, and an act of justice is carried-out through ‘justice’.  If love did not exist then one could not carry-out an act of love. And it is through ‘goodness’ that we are able to carry-out an act of love; without goodness we could not carry-out an act of love, or of justice, or…  Apart from goodness, all other non-material things are carried-out through goodness, and therefore goodness is the ultimate non-material thing, or ‘essence’ and it exists through itself.

We can also perceive that some acts are express more love than others; there can be great love, or great justice, or great goodness.  And we can imagine that for any great goodness there could be a goodness that is just a little greater … until we reach infinite goodness.  And so everything that is good in any way is within that infinite, or supreme goodness.

Everything exists through something, and we have seen that of things immaterial everything exists through supreme goodness.  But everything must exist through one thing.  If we imagine that there were more than one thing, then either there would be one thing through which the more than one thing were able to exist – which would then be the one thing, or they might exist through a ‘power to exist through oneself’ – which would then be the one thing, or they would exist mutually through each other – which defies reason.

The universe exists, and so it exists through something. Non-material things exist, and they exist through supreme goodness.  Therefore either the universe exists through supreme goodness, or supreme goodness exists through the universe.  But can supreme goodness exist through the universe?  We can conceive that there are other universes, but it is inconceivable that those other universes exist without supreme goodness; being non-material supreme goodness cannot be constrained within a material context.  Therefore it is impossible that supreme goodness exists through the universe, but the universe must exist through supreme goodness, and there can only be one supreme goodness –  which we define as God.

Related posts

https://philhemsley.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/proof-of-god/

https://philhemsley.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-god-of-science/