iGod

'Red Rev' Giles Fraser?

Just reflecting about the resigination of the Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, Rev Dr Giles Fraser. While left-leaning The Guardian fetes the man, I hear, maybe not surprisingly, the Daily Telegraph takes another view.

Whatever side you take, he typifies the need for the Christian to speak up and get involved in politics and injustice, even when it doesn't always make you universally popular with your own peers.

US Christian activist Shane Clairborne says:

"Theologian Karl Barth said, 'We have to read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.' For too long we Christians have used our faith as a ticket out of this world rather than fuel to engage it.

"In his parables, Jesus wasn’t offering pie-in-the-sky theology… he was talking about the real stuff of earth. He talks about wages, debt, widows and orphans, unjust business owners and bad politicians. In fact Woody Guthrie breaks it all down in his song “Jesus Christ.” The song ends with Woody singing, “This song was written in New York City. If Jesus were to preach what he preached in Galilee, they would lay him in his grave again.”

"The more I read the Gospels, the more they seem to confront the very patterns of the world we live in. At one point Mary, pregnant with Jesus cries out: “God casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly… God fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty…”. You can’t help but think if she were alive in contemporary America some folks would try to accuse the Virgin Mother of being Marxist or promoting class warfare. But all through Scripture we see this–over 2000 verses about how God cares for the poor and most vulnerable.

"What would Jesus say about Wall Street?"

 What would Jesus say about the Square MIle?

Would he be for locking up St Paul's Catherdral or for an open air church service?

The thing I am taking away is that if we want our message to be heard we have to first hear what culture is saying. This is not so much about wanting to sound populist like a politician, but to help us avoid sounding pompous like an old fogey.

May God grant us wisdom and courage in these times!

ASD

What are you doing for Hallowe’en?

I am conscious at this time of year there can be some embarrassed coughs over the mention of Hallowe’en parties. As a pastor I have parents coming up to me in church and other places asking what they should do when their child gets invited to a Hallowe’en event. These are not necessarily all Christians either. Whether we have faith or not, there is a lot of squirming and sighing around the 31^st October.

Other people ask me questions like is it really all that bad? After all, what’s wrong with a bit of dressing up and fake blood? Aren’t Christians just getting a little bit anal about the whole thing? Is Satan really waiting around the corner to pounce on our children as they put on their plastic skull mask and latex severed fingers?

Here’s my take.

The thing I find most abhorrent is not the direct allusions to the darkness of horror, although they do concern me greatly, but the way manufacturers and supermarkets prey on the vulnerable with their vast array of related products. It is unrelenting.

Already poor, struggling parents are creaking under the social pressure to keep up with the ‘haves’ with supplying their darlings with DS Ninetedos, Wii, iPods etc, along with all the other seasonal gift occasions of the year. Then the Hallowe’en train comes to town with its expensive Scream masks, flimsy ghoul costumes and devilish chocolate products. Asda alone is expecting to make £280m from the event.

Most of us know that this growing annual event has come from the States, but do we really want to become as obsessed as the Americans with it?  I have lost count on how many US vampire films and TV programmes have been made in the last few years, but that seems to be an ever-growing genre.

Am I simply being a killjoy or could it possibly have an unhealthy underside to it all?

I recently read in one newspaper how grown adults in the UK will be dressing up and pretending to be zombies on the streets in some cities in mock battles to mark the occasion.

Maybe these people have too much time on their hands, but you can’t help but be a little concerned at the level of involvement in this year’s Hallowe’en.

To question the fun, light-hearted spirit of Halloween may get you labeled as an earnest bore who is quietly tiptoed around in the school playground, but you know what? I’ve stopped caring.

I wonder why we have become so accepting of this American import. Fireworks Night was seen as our main thing, but it feels like it is being usurped by Fright Nights instead.

Now I have no doubt there is some fun dressing up in a white sheet going wooo-oooo, but when the sheet is replaced with a mutilated corpse carrying a plastic axe and going ‘Aaaaaagh!’ enough is enough surely?

Then there is the dreadful trick or treating. (sorry I am on a roll!) Is it really okay to knock on a random stranger’s door at night trick or treating? You know what, it really does scare elderly residents and very young children. It is only fun if you are in on the joke.

Besides, I bet their parents are probably the ones who take offence when in the daytime the JWs come knocking. Intrusion is intrusion, but at night even more so, especially when opening up the door to a pack of menacing children.

The Church of England in one of its more thoughtful outspoken moments said recently: “Halloween trivialises evil”. I think it needs to be said loudly and clearly. Hallowe’en sucks as much as a ravenous vampire.

A writer in the Times said last year they saw a Jack the Ripper Hallowe’en costume on sale for £10.99. They commented: “They are still available online this year, with an adorable accessory kit of “doctor’s bag and bloody knife” — a nod to Jack’s penchant for draping women’s reproductive organs around their necks. Well, if you can’t have a giggle over serial killers, what’s the world coming to?”

So, harmless fun or a bad tasteless joke?

The most disturbing side to this all is that we are becoming desensitised to what is good or bad. The lines are blurred with our response being everything is acceptable in moderation. The trouble is Halloween is not moderate, just plain OTT…and annoying.

Of course the Church will not be listened to. Not with the current hostility of Humanist groups and celebrity New Atheists holding centre stage.

My fear is though when faith groups and the odd humourist writer in a quality newspaper stop putting up an opposite view I wonder what happens next. History is not littered with great examples when faith views are excluded.

For me personally, the real evil is in the exploitation of vulnerable people whose lives are already just about held together with duct tape and string.

It is easy to see Halloween as a fun distraction, but ‘evil’ doesn’t not always come with cloven feet, pointy tale, goatie beard and a trident, it is much more subtle and seductive, like consumerism and capital greed.

The alternative is to offer something inclusive and non-consumerist. Christians celebrate God’s Light coming into the world to expose the darkness, but it needs a little imagination to see what that practically looks like.

One thing I know it isn’t is preaching to young children that they are going to hell. Maybe a better place to start is to stand up to injustice and the exploitation of the weak in times of financial pressure and much uncertainty.

Last year a Rector in County Durham urged people to boycott Hallowe’en, as many children already live hard lives and “there is enough darkness and evil to be going on with”. Hallelujah to that.

ASD

Sweeping change

Well, what an interesting time we are having as a nation. If you are from the US looking in you may well be wondering what on earth had gone on or for that matter gone wrong. 

This week I spent time with two financial guys. One whose business it is to advise the football world on buying and selling clubs and the other to advise normal people, like me, how best to invest their hard earned money to aim for a half decent retirement, among other things. The latter tells me that he has seen 20% of value has been wiped off the Footsie 100 in less than two months. Not a good time if you are looking to cash in your pension. It is something, as we have seen Stateside, that politicans seem unable to influence or affect the outcome.

And if that is not enough we have had the erruptions on the streets of our beloved country. After the peaceful demonstration over the death of Mark Duggan last weekend the term rioters has been quickly replaced with Looters. Yet, some politicians such as the Mayor of London tell us that Britian is not broken. At this point that remark feels very English and stiff-upper lipped. Others might say it is just sheer denial.

Social network platforms such as Twitter and Blackberry Messenger Service have been criticised for fanning the flames of angst-ridden teenagers. But actually, surprisingly, I have come out in support of Twitter and other social platforms. As much as they have been used for bad they have also been redeemed for good.

The community has struck back - with a broom in its hand. It has drawn communities together, black, white, young and old, not seen for a long time. Now no communtiy leader or church leaders seems to know exactly what the Conservatives mean by 'The Big Society', but something has happened without too much involvement from the politicians themselves. This, perhaps, could be described as a great example of their philosophy. Dunno.

A friend of mine who runs a young peoples' charity in South East London is plain exhausted with the constant round of meetings with police, politicians and local organisations, but as a Christian leader in the community he has been encouraging supporters to do acts of kindness.

For instance, I heard how one police station in SouthEast London had had delivered to them a load of cookies to their exhausted and emotionally tired officers. With all the recent bashing the police got from politicans the public alternatively has shown their solidarity with their local bobbies. I cannot stress that these expressions of love are equally important as any rushed through law or government initiative.

if you are near a police station that has been on the frontline, maybe this is something that your church could organise to do.

The church, at its best, shows compassion through practical outward signs of invisible grace. For as James said, "faith without works is dead." We stand with all, we cry with all, we shout justice for all. This is God's love in action.

This is the outward-focused church at is best. It is not idle, a talking shop, inward-looking or obsessed with evangelism programmes or simply going deeper with God with discipleship courses. It is loving, generous, kind and sacrifical. It loves without terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, on a more mundane note, our church is about to own a football team, but not sure we will be using the services of my city banker friend. Apparently there is no money in it for him. Ah well, that's the fickle world of football.

ASD

 

 

 

 

Christians volunteer more than others - Survey

In the spirit of, you could say, the Big Society, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have pulled together some interesting statistics on volunteering. They show how Christians consistently volunteer more than others.

The data is based on opinion polling, and although the question wasn't asked in 2009, it is clear that every year it has been asked for the past six years Christians shown higher levels of volunteering that others.

BRIN point out that this is in line with other studies, including the British Social Attitudes Survey and the Citizenship Survey.

It has been mooted that perhaps part of the reason why Christian motivation is figure high is because the [traditional] Church has a greying older demographic, which therefore tends to be more community-spirited per se.

Undoubtedly there is more than an element of truth that when you retire you will have more time to volunteer than someone bringing up a young family, working all hours under the sun to provide for them. However, I want to throw some doubt over that conclusion.

In my own tribe, the Vineyard movement, our demographic is much younger, which inevitably has to do with being a young movement. Yet I have to say almost all of our regulars are involved in a voluntary ministry in church life, which, if you think about it is pretty impressive. Well, I am impressed!

This is because we see volunteering as 'serving', as it falls out of our relational worship with God. Our giving of our time is an important and central manifestation of our sacrificial offering to God. It is an act of thanksgiving. It is so much more more than being community-spirited. In short, the two are inseparable in the Kingdom of God. 

Deut 4:6 says that emphatically that we are to love God and love others. Volunteering is a outward response to an invisible grace.

Therefore, as it is impossible to separate serving the community to serving the Lord, maybe we should argue more confidently that our motivation has more going for it than merely being down to an ageing benevolent congregation.

ASD

 

A muslim cleric's view of persecuted Christians and the UK Church

I heard last weekend about an interview on a radio station with Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini, founder of Scripture Reasoning and Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Leo Beck Rabbinical College, has said that the ‘church hierarchy’ in the UK is to blame for Christian persecution around the world because it ‘simply doesn’t care’ and only offers a ‘whimper’ in response to incidents:

The one thing we Muslims can absolutely rely upon is that whereas the tiniest thing kicks off in Gaza or the West Bank and there are protests in Muslim cities all the way from Jakarta to Timbuktu, in the case of persecuted Christian minorities—horrendous machete attacks take place in Nigeria, Christians in Iraq are burned out of their houses, Christians in Pakistan are stoned or attacked on the slightest pretext, Christians in Palestine suffer under Israeli occupation—in all cases what we will hear is just a whimper.

Interestingly and, perhaps, surprisingly, he calls upon the Church to be a voice for justice for persecuted minorities, which he claims would speak ‘into the heart of the Muslim community.

He saves a lot of his criticism for the established church in this country, which he says is more concerned with social position and power than fighting the injustices on behalf of the poor in other parts of the world.  If it was, it would be a faith worth listening to.

Although, there is perhaps some truth in the cleric’s words, maybe we should remember that this is not an excuse for bringing daily misery to the lives of thousands normal Christians who are just trying to survive as a minority in a religiously hostile environment. But an interesting and useful perspective all the same.

ASD

Living in a growing culture of distrust

Is society broken? Now there’s a question.

It is something that I have asked myself repeatedly this weekend when reading the newspapers. Here are three quick cases in point.

Firstly, just down the road, not far from where I live, in Great Tey, Colchester, I heard how a dinner lady has been suspended for telling a bullied child’s parents what was happening to her at school. Apparently, the school was not amused that confidence had been being breached. However, friends, neighbours and fellow parents have rallied around this popular woman in an act of community-led solidarity.  

Secondly, I read earlier in the week in another part of Essex how a boy aged just nine was allegedly accused of racism for making the gun shape with his fingers towards a friend during a lesson. After a conversation with the deputy head he went home to ask his parents what racism was.

From what I understand the child was simply playing a game, but because the other boy was Polish it was seen as more sinister.  Hmm!  

Thirdly, I hear that school teachers can no longer apply a plaster or antiseptic cream to a cut or graze. Instead they give a child a damp cloth to put on it. At the end of the day the teacher has to ask each child if they have been hurt at all and then write it up to report back to each parent. Of course, at 5 years old children see this is as a game, not an exercise in health and safety.

All this leads me, and probably you, to think what is happening to our society. It seems to be equally gripped by fear and good intentions. It is not hard to see how stories like these breed distrust while earnestly no doubt trying to protect the vulnerable. Of course, there are always two sides to a story and I suspect the teachers have been misrepresented along the way for just trying to do their jobs.

There is undoubtedly an element of good in the original thinking, but I am concerned by the increasing reaction by some who should, perhaps, rediscover the merit of giving the benefit of the doubt. Now that’s a phrase that isn’t heard too much nowadays, is it?

In the school playground, in the workplace and among neighbours our society is being taught to become suspicious of others. Nothing is to be taken as innocent anymore. Not a great place to build good relationships from.

It has been my experience that even when you have known someone for a long length of time they can still think the worse of you. Is it something you have done?  No. The problem often lies with the insecurity that has been exploited in us. They have been taught not to trust, to think the worse, because that is how you survive. How sad.

Remember Jesus’ words: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind”?

I find our Lord’s words becoming increasingly relevant these days. Trust has become an unreliable word. Church leaders aren’t trusted. Doctors aren’t trusted. Police aren’t trusted. Politicians definitely aren’t trusted.

The notion of trust needs to be redeemed. It is a central tenet in Christian thought and is part of the common Christian experience. We should not underestimate how trusting someone empowers them and gives confidence. Not least helps them be fulfilled as adults. With trust comes responsibility. Surely that is no bad thing.

If ever the church can find space to stand out for something in these insecure and fearful times it is by living out a culture of trust in church life.  Of course, this will mean from time-to-time people will take advantage of us, but that is part of the cost of vulnerability. We have to be willing to be fools for Christ for people to see the wisdom of his words.

Meantime, in our church we will do our government-required CRB checks. We will do our best to practice grace to all; acceptance of all. We want to live by the Christ-like principle of giving people the benefit of the doubt, not thinking the worse.  

And just for the record, the teachers in my kids’ schools do a wonderful job.  They have my trust. Furthermore, if one of them broke the ranks and stuck a plaster on my child’s graze they would not be hearing from my solicitor, but probably my wife, along with a letter of indebted thanks.

ASD

To choose mercy is the tough choice

The release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has not been far from the front page in the last few days.

It has caused a huge stirring of feelings across the Transatlantic waters with our American friends. British jouno Ben White has guest blogged on Jim Wallis' God's Politics website on some of the other views abounding. There are some uncomfortable things being said here (I don't necessarily agree with them mind you).

In a nutshell, he talks about how we treat others makes a huge statement about our own morals. It ultimately defines us. Mercy, for sure, is not a light or soft option. However, it is a virtue that will undoubtedly test the most stoical of us at least once in our lifetimes.

ASD