What If We Got Secularism Wrong?

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can get a little obsessive about learning. I get a question in my head and have to get to the bottom of it. Around 2004 I became obsessed with the way in which consumerism was shaping our worldviews, out of that investigation the Trouble With Paris emerged. Then a few years later I became obsessed with the way in which stored media memories affected our contemporary view of identity, and out of that journey The Vertical Self was born.

Lately I have been obsessed with secularism. I realised it is one of those words which we drop all of the time, we think we know what it means. I thought I did. That was until I had a discussion with a Christian religious sociologist, I discovered that most of the secular theory that missional authors refer to, is now out of date. Classic secularisation theories have now been heavily questioned and turned on their heads.

One book above any other, that has caused this rethink is Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age. I have been wading through it for months, and I can read a fairly heavy book in a couple of days. I can say that it is the most important book I think I have read in the last five, maybe ten years. It changes everything. It has been encouraging in that it confirms much of what I have been suspecting, but it is also deeply disturbing in that it shows the depth of change that has occurred in our culture and how the average person today processes faith and life in a way that virtually no leader has their head around.

For if we don’t really understand the culture we are in, how on earth can we serve it? If we misdiagnosed our illness, than our attempts at a cure will be misdirected. We cannot be missionaries if we think we are in Africa, when we are actually in the Caribbean.

I don’t have time to download all that I have been learning here, but we are going to put on a night here in Melbourne soon for leaders and their teams to get their heads around these key learnings. I will let you know as the details come together.

Lostness, Mission and Michael Caine

Why do missional Churches in the West struggle? Sure the concept sounds right. The theories seem to strike an intuitive chord within us. So why do so few come to faith in missional churches in the West?

Churches and movements that see people come to faith are a result of two inward and personal movements. A movement of joy and a movement of sorrow. In the 21st century we like the joy bit, the idea that God beat death, that he got up from the grave and offers us abundant and eternal life in the here, now and to come. We also dig the concept of the kingdom, the Messianic feast. Homeless people coming to the great banquet, justice breaking out. We love that stuff, I know I do, thus we involve our selves in works of justice. We also dig the idea of God’s kingdom as a kingdom of Goodness, of the worshipping God through enjoying a good meal, of seeing the touch of grace in a child smile or a panoramic sunset. All of that stuff is cool. We love the joy bit. We can’t get enough of hearing about the air punching implications of the resurrection.

But we don’t like the sorrow element of the Good News. We don’t get as excited about the idea that some people might miss out or choose to not partake in the good stuff. We don’t like the concept of lostness. So like mid nineties bad techno-pop from Belgium, it just drops of the radar, out of fashion, out of sight. It is to us unpalatable. But the tough thing is this does not mean it is not true.

I realised this the other night as I watched an old movie. It was Mike Hodges 1971 crime drama Get Carter. It is a brutal and callous film. Half way through I considered going to bed. But I was intrigued by the fact that the movie had been named by total film magazine as the greatest British film ever. As I continued to watch, the true meaning of the film began to dawn on me. The story is basically a revenge caper, Carter played by Michael Caine is a hired killer who returns to his hometown of Newcastle in England’s north to avenge his brothers death. But the true message of the film is deeper. There are no good people in the film. Everyone is complicit in some way in the sordid happenings. There is no trust, no decency, no love. Carter kills with no remorse, his vengence is cold, calculating and without mercy. The film’s sex scenes which were quite explicit for the time, are mechanical and loveless, performed between people who have only disgust for each other. The action takes place in an urban landscape comprised of early Le Corbusier-esque half completed concrete buildings.

The movie is brutal and souless, that is its genius. It portrays a world devoid of anything good. In which violence and evil play out against a desolate and disenchanted landscape. You could say that it is a world in which good and God have been removed. It reminded me of the boring, grey english city in which C.S. Lewis set his allegory of an eternity without God, in his classic work The Great Divorce. The brutality of the movie, made me contemplate a present and a future devoid of God. It made me think of what this meant for others. I sat late in my lounge room and wondered to myself how I slowly had come to care less about the present and eternal futures of those around me. I realised how I love the joy element but forget the sorrow element of the Gospel.

Thus any individual, any church, any movement who wishes to see mission happen, must hold in tension the joy and the sorrow, the kingdom and the Cross. We must be compelled into mission by the joy of the resurrection and all the good news that it brings, but we must also be motivated by the reality of lostness, and the sorrow of the fact that there are those walking the path towards a future without God. People who desperately need you and I to share with them the entry point to a future filled with love, goodness and God.

A Plea To Young Evangelicals

I have in the last couple of years become increasingly concerned with how we are treating each other within the Evangelical Christian sub-culture. The relativist context of the nineties and early noughties created a reluctance amongst many Christians leaders to push their opinions too strongly. At first there was some debates over church shape and what constitutes effective mission in a post-Christian culture.  However this debate seems to have subsided as a new battle has begun to rage, this time around what constitutes ‘evangelical’ theology.

Most of this battle seems to be waged on the internet. The rather unhelfpul comment/response format of blogs and youtube creates a kind of anonymous cyber duel in which very few seem to be able to exercise humility and winning the argument at all costs is the order of the day. This kind of battle is particularly tempting for young men, who seem to make up most of ranks of these new theological skirmishes.

Now I am all for people expressing their opinions, I supports critique, I am also all for protecting orthodoxy, and have no problem with robust debate. But it is worthwhile raising a warning flag from history at this stage. And I will do so by asking a seemingly unrelated question. How did the secularism which has marginalised the church in the West begin? Some of you will point to an anti-Christian bias of some European intellectuals during the Enlightenment, others will think of the rise of reason and science, others will point the finger at Darwin. All of these factors are part of the story which began the process that we know as secularism.

However the ignition spark which creates the blaze began as a result of the inter christian theological disputes which begun with the reformation, which at first pitted Catholic against Protestant, then Protestant against Protestant, in a struggle to establish what was orthodox Christian thought and practice. It did not take long for this struggle to spill into actual violence, violence which took the form of anything from Church sanctioned torture to full blown war.

It was no wonder that after seeing their continent torn apart by inter-Christian wars that thinkers like Hume, Locke, Voltaire, and Gibbon begun to question the legitimacy of Christianity. The deep suspicion towards religion and strong beliefs that we find in the religions West has its roots in this reaction. This is why we use the term Post-Christian to describe the West.

Many experts in secular theory point to the Dutch legal expert Hugo Grotius’ attempts to create a system of government separate of religious influence in Holland as the beginning of secularism. Grotius was a committed Christian, he was an apologist for Christianity. However Grotius realised that in order to stop the bloodshed that a secular state must be created so that Calvinists, Catholics, Anabaptists, and Jews could live in peace.

This history looms large over us today, as tempting as it is to ‘own’ some on on the internet who thinks differently, we must remember that such debates are waged in the public realm, those outside the faith observe these arguments. To the outsiders such debates seem like wars over unintelligible esoterica, and only confirm preconceived ideas about Christians and the Christian faith. So for the sake of the gospel we must learn to debate each other with respect, humility and civility. We must see the Image of God in others who we disagree with. To do so is probably going to one of our most important witnesses in the post-Christian culture of the West.

Creating Experiences vs Sharing the Gospel

Mark Galli asks a very hard question – Is much of the contemporary church’s effort simply going into creating pleasurable and entertaining worship expereinces rather than communicating the gospel? Galli writes,

“In short, what Christians uniquely have to offer the world is not religious experience or even a unique religious way of life. We’re not hawking “your best religion now,”…No, what Christians bring to the world is a message embedded in a story, and nothing less than a God-given, God-revealed message and story.”

Read the Full Article Here

How Prosperity Theology Creates Economic Chaos

Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That’s what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California at Riverside, he realized that Prosperity’s central promise — that God will “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime-lending boom.

Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe “God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house.” The results, he says, “were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers.”

Read Full Article in Time Magazine Here

Panoramic vs Practical

Ever come away from hearing that expert on ministry who made you felt like you could change the world, only for you to return smack bang into the difficulty of your daily ministry routine? Have you found yourself reading a book and wondering why everything seems to easy in comparison to what you have to face in your context? Getting the balance between Panoramic vs Practical modes of ministry is key for any leader. (Warning: Video contains images of Pigeon dropping that some viewers may find offensive.)

What is Uber Up To?

Uber has been up to quite a bit lately check out all of the happenings in our newsletter Uber News

Christianity Today Gets Way Too Sexy

Christianity Today has an extract from my book up today in which I explore our culture’s fascination with the concept of ‘sexy’. Check it out here

History is the New Future

Who is this guy? He is the newest sex symbol in Japan and he has been in the grave for over a century.

Japan has been at the forefront of global pop culture for some time now. However young women in Japan are eschewing futuristic trends for a new obsession, history. What happens when the hottest thing becomes the past and the new Rock Stars are historical figures obsessed over by fawning teenage girls? Meet the history girls here.

Cool Terrorism

I have talked a lot about the esoteric power of cool in our culture, especially in The Vertical Self. Now a think tank in Europe has come up with a way of defeating Al Qaeda, by making them seem less cool. Michael Holden of The News Daily writes,

The way to beat al Qaeda and stop Islamist groups gaining recruits to violent causes is to remove their “cool” image and make fun of terrorists instead, according to a major international study published on Friday.

The two-year study by the British think-tank Demos concluded that the notion of “cool jihad” was more important in seducing young Muslims to violence than radical preachers, the foreign policy of Western governments, or their social background.

Those who became interested in terrorism had more in common with subversive groups such as street gangs and soccer hooligans than with Muslims who held radical views but rejected violence, the Demos report said.

“Young people are drawn to radical causes, and to rebellion against authority,” said Jamie Bartlett, one of the report’s co-authors.

“For most radical young Muslims, this takes the form of protest, argument and learning, but for a minority, al Qaeda might seem a ‘cool’ gang to join, even though the truth is its members are ignorant and incompetent.”

Read full article here

The Non U.S. Myths of The Five Myths of Emerging Young Adults

Christian Smith and Patricia Snell have released Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, a sequel to the excellent Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. The books are statistical and sociological analysis of the religious lives of American teens and now Young Adults or in their language Emerging Adults. Leadership Journal has put together their own trends in reflection of their reading of the book. The interesting question I would like to explore is do these US trends also reflect what is going on in Australia, New Zealand and Europe which is where many of you readers find yourselves.

Myth 1: Emerging adults serve out of concern for the common good.

College campuses are wallpapered with fliers promoting service opportunities. Churches send their youth on local and foreign mission projects. Political analysts credit youth volunteers and voters with helping to elect President Obama in 2008.

It’s mostly a mirage.

According to Smith and Snell, emerging adults are far less likely than their parents or grandparents to volunteer or contribute to charitable causes. They share no qualms about materialism and long to someday live the American dream with a large salary and large home.

“Few emerging adults are involved in community organizations or other social change-oriented groups or movements,” Smith and Snell observe. “Not many care to know much of substance about political issues and world events.

This one is fairly spot on with most of the research that I have seen outside of the US. Young Adult activism, political and social engagement is practiced by a vocal but small minority. In fact many experts claim that young adults are the least socially and politically engaged generation alive.

Myth 2: Emerging adults reject their parents’ religious influence.

As children approach the teenage years, their parents anticipate conflict. Because many parents worry about dragging their teens to church against their will, many resign themselves to parental irrelevance. Yet Smith and Snell find that most emerging adults fall into their parents’ religious patterns one way or another. Still, parents are slow to realize they need to change how they relate to foster maturity and independence.

Again this is probably true outside of the US. As many young adults at least here in Australia share the values of the parents in a way not seen in previous post-war generations.

Myth 3: Emerging adults behave similarly whether religious or not.

Actually, emerging adults devoted to religion are significantly more likely to give money, volunteer for community service, decline alcohol and drugs, and abstain from pornography and premarital sex.

Trouble is, only 5 percent of emerging adults are so devoted to their faith that they attend religious services weekly or read Scripture as much as once or twice per month. And that group includes Mormons, Muslims, Jews, and all Christian denominations.  But their behavior often resembles the irreligious more than the devoted. They practice a different creed: so long as you don’t hurt others, almost anything goes. And since every single person is different, different rules apply, depending on the situation.

Ok the myth could have been written better here. What they are saying is that there is a myth that Christian young adults act in pretty much the same way as non-Christian young adults, but then they say that most self described Christian young adults do act like the rest of the culture. Except for the tiny minority who actually practice an engaged point. Hence you can see why many are confused. This is a similar point to the one made by David Myers in his book A Friendly Letter to Atheists about believers of all ages.

Myth 4: Emerging adults have abandoned liberal Protestantism.

Some evangelicals enjoy pointing out rapidly declining attendance at liberal churches. But Smith and Snell temper that enthusiasm. Even those who check the right boxes on Jesus and heaven do not heed God’s call on their lives. No matter their professed beliefs, emerging adults tend to live for jobs, money, fun, and friends. At the gut level, liberal values trump biblical doctrine.

Smith and Snell observe: “Individual autonomy, unbounded tolerance, freedom from authorities, the affirmation of pluralism, the centrality of human self-consciousness, the practical value of moral religion, epistemological skepticism, and an instinctive aversion to anything ‘dogmatic’ or committed to particulars were routinely taken for granted by respondents.”

Again not a well articulated myth. What they are saying echoes the previous myth, but it does not really mean that liberal protestantism continues to erode. They are confusing terms here with the classic use of the term liberal in the US to describe social values or behaviour, and the concept of theological liberalism.

Myth 5: Emerging adults tend to fall away from faith in college.

Many parents fear their children’s going off to college, where peers and professors deconstruct everything they learned growing up. But Smith and Snell echo other studies that show emerging adults who do not attend college are more likely to fall away from faith. Why? There are a greater number of evangelical faculty members who support like-minded students. The modernist enterprise with its secularizing agenda has all but collapsed. And evangelical campus groups flourish.

The hard data from Australia, New Zealand and the UK goes against this. University has a devastating affect on faith on young adults in those countries. I guess if you like me are reading this outside of the US you would have to giggle at this one. There is no way that in Australia, New Zealand and Europe that the ‘modernist enterprise with its secularizing agenda has all but collapsed’ in Universities. In fact outside the US in our post 9/11 world I would say that it had a shot in the arm. Just look to the example of the fact that New Atheist groups are springing up on University campuses here in Australia.

On the whole for the Western non US reader some interesting trends to observe, but also a reminder that we are in a very different and much more secular environment and therefore challenging landscape than the US church; a fact that we know in our context but often forget as we walk through the doors of the Christian bookstore.

Read the full article here. Thanks to Tim for the spot.

Dealing With Your Thorny Bits

After Jesus, Paul is most definitely the main protagonist of the New Testament. Today we are still in awe of his leadership, his apostolic gifting and his pastoral insights. He was able to mix it with the best of the Rabbis and to also converse and debate with the leading Hellenic thinkers. He planted churches, healed the sick, preached the gospel throughout the Roman world and generally created a magnificently holy ruckus where ever he went.

Yet in 2nd Corinthians he lets us in on an intriguing element of his life. Paul writes,

“I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.”,

What I find fascinating is that here we have the central personality of the early Church, saying that his prayers to be released of from his ‘thorn in his flesh’, where unanswered. We must asked where was his faith? Did he not believe that Jesus had come to offer us life in fullness? Paul’s ongoing struggle with the ‘thorn in his flesh’ seems to be in direct contrast to the suffering-less version of the Christian life preached in many churches today.

Although many have speculated on what Paul’s thorn could have been no one knows. I like this, I think that it means that we can all identify in our life a thorn. It could be anything. A temptation, a past hurt, a medical condition, a relational issue, an addiction, a character flaw. All of us live with thorns. Some of us will be miracuoulsy healed from these thorns, but most of us like Paul will struggle with them for the rest of our lives. Therefore it is essential that we learn how to live with our thorns. Here are some pointers.

• Be Honest in identifying what your thorn or thorns are.
• Find someone who will keep you accountable in regards to your ‘thorn/s’. Make sure that they are someone who will ask you the hard questions. Consider too that you might need to seek professional help.
• Understand your warning signs. Like a mechanic who can work out what is wrong with a car by simply listening to the engine. Get to know your engine and when things are moving into dangerous territory.
• Pray for healing or deliverance from your thorn. But if God does not take it away, make a decision to live victoriously with your thorn. A person who suffers from depression can live with that condition in a victorious or defeated state. Spend some time picturing what victory looks like for you with your thorn.
• Use your thorn as a gift to others. Note Paul says that he was given his thorn in order to stop him from being conceited. Paul’s thorn made him a more humble, and gracious person. Thus his battle to live with his thorn became not just a ministry to himself but to others.
• Recognize that your battle with your thorn is the foundry for most of your spiritual growth. Your success in this struggle with be crucial not just to yourself in this life but those around you.
• Lastly beware the leader who is unaware of his or her thorns. The darkest moments in the life of the church are almost always caused by leaders who are either naive to or unwillingly to seriously confront the thorns in their lives. If you find yourself under a leader like this run away. I am not using hyperbole, seriously get the heck out of there.

Lost Sunglasses and Lost Causes

If you came to my Melbourne book launch and left behind some Bolle Sidewinder sunglasses like the ones worn by our gorgeous male model Glen, shoot Sam@uberlife.com.au an email to arrange picking them up.

Kindle Your Love For Books

If you don’t know what the kindle is it is sort of like an ipod for books. I am not sure what I think of them, I guess I like the tactile nature of books and the joy of finding a musty old classic in a second hand bookstore somewhere. But some people love their kindles (Like my friend Mark) , if you are one of those people who love to be able to download a book onto your kindle in seconds. I can tell you that the Vertical Self is now available on Kindle. Get it here.

Punk Media Pioneers and Creepy Ads

Considering this blog is meant to be about pop culture, it would be remiss of me to not mention the passing of Malcolm Maclaren, who did not invent Punk or Hip Hop or situationist fashion, but sure as heck made sure that we all knew about it. I sadly missed his lecture here in Melbourne about 12 years ago, but someone I knew who went, said it was the most insightful observations of our culture that he had heard. Its hard to think of someone who influenced youth and popular culture more in the last thirty years than Maclaren. For more on Maclaren’s life and contribution for good or bad to popular culture Dave Simpson’s obituary is worth reading.

It would also be remiss of me to not mention how completely disturbing and bizzare I find Nike’s commodification of Tiger Woods recent troubles caused by his sex addiction. If you have not seen the ad here it is with some interesting comments on the video from ad critic Barbara Leppert about the Church of the swoosh. Plus more on the whole campaign here.

For more

TV’s New Trick To Control Your Behaviour

TV executives are trying to find new ways to sell products and causes in the age where digital recording has rendered the traditional 30 second advertising space redundant. At first we saw product placement, in which products were placed in TV shows eg on Seinfeld, Jerry reaches for a Pez dispenser. Sex in the City became the first program to take product placement to a new level when whole episode story lines were sold to companies wishing to feature their product, and screen writers crafted epdisodes around certain products.

But this week things have gone to a whole new level with American network NBC featuring certain ‘behaviours’ adopted by characters in their highest rating shows.

In just one week on NBC, the detectives on “Law and Order” investigated a cash-for-clunkers scam, a nurse on “Mercy” organized a group bike ride, Al Gore made a guest appearance on “30 Rock,” and “The Office” turned Dwight Schrute into a cape-wearing superhero obsessed with recycling.

Coincidence? Hardly. NBC Universal planted these eco-friendly elements into scripted television shows to influence viewers and help sell ads.

The tactic—General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal calls it “behavior placement”—is designed to sway viewers to adopt actions they see modeled in their favorite shows. And it helps sell ads to marketers who want to associate their brands with a feel-good, socially aware show.

Whilst I think that the green message embedded in the various NBC shows is a good one, I can’t help but feel a bit concerned and weirderd out by this new trend. Money talks, and I can only guess what ‘Behaviour Placements’ we will soon witness.  Read Full article here.

Sorry Robert. Vampires are soooo 2009

Vampires have infested popular culture in the last few years like a flock of…ahem…bloodthirsty bats. But now interest in Vampires amongst teens is making way for a new obsession, Angels. Pop culture critic Vanessa Thorn notes that this new trend amongst Gen Z reveals some interesting theological insights into youth culture.

“This spring an angelic host does seem to have taken over a key sector of the book industry, with at least seven new literary series about angels targeted at young adults published here and in America, and two further bestselling titles dominating the European market.

Comparisons with the vogue for teenage stories about vampires are obvious. Just like their blood-sucking supernatural cousins, angels are half-human visitors who can both fly and usefully suggest the mysterious adult world of sexuality that lies beyond. It is a thought that appears to have simultaneously occurred to authors and publishers searching for a new cult reading trend.

Two British academics with new books out about the theology and mystique of angels are very aware of the complexities involved. David Albert Jones’s Angels: A History looks at the origins of the modern concept of angels and their many popular reinventions. “People can project their own meanings on to angels,” he says, “and this makes them perfect for young people and for the adolescent age we live in, an age when we are looking for things to believe in… They have all the ingredients for people who want to take something from established religion, but not in a way that ties them down.” A theology, philosophy and history professor at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, Jones also accepts, he says, the saccharine and superstitious modern faith in angels as part of a strong spiritual tradition of seeking truth in unusual places.”

Read Full Article Here

Easter and the Uncomfortable Chair

On good Friday night I shamefully managed to exhibit everything that is wrong with the Western Church.

Things had begun well. The previous Friday we as a church had broken into smaller groups to celebrate passover in various homes. I have participated in passover meals a number of times before, but this time I was particularly struck by the symbols in the meal that implicitly points towards Jesus suffering during his last days.

We then met as a Church on Good Friday to watch The Passion of the Christ. People were asked to arrive, watch and leave in complete silence. Being good Friday we ended the film before the resurrection. As the movie is a long one, we asked people to bring their own comfortable chairs and cushions.

I offered my seat to someone and found myself being the only person in the room sitting on the uncomfortable metal seat. As Christ moved onscreen through his passion, I found my mind drifting back to my stiff seat, my back began to hurt, I began to fidget, and I found myself casting covetous glances at those around the room reclining comfortably on cushions, and couches. A little voice in my head began to whisper “why do you have to sit on the worst seat?”

The scene began where Christ is scourged, and my selfishness dawned on me. Christ was being tortured for my sins, enduring the most unimaginable pain for humanity, walking towards his gruesome death, and I was worrying about my backside being comfortable, and like a five year old jealously coveting a more comfortable chair. In some small way I was modeling what has become of contemporary Christianity.

We sit and watch detached as Christ moves through his passion, all the time worrying about our own personal comfort. The pew is transformed into extra comfortable stadium seating, and under someone’s seat is a token for a give away for a Wii. In the back of our mind is the thought that somewhere there might be an even more comfortable seat, in a more happening church.

As I watched I sat and decided to forget about my comfort, instead I watched prayerfully, taking in all that Christ bore for me. Soon any thought of uncomfortably was gone, I was lost in the enormity of the idea of God coming to earth and being tortured and killed by humanity, and the miracle of turning that loss into a victory of forgiveness.

I was struck by the character of Simon of Cyrene, compelled against his will to carry the cross with Christ, who in The Passion of the Christ walks with Jesus during his suffering, who bears Christ’s cross literally. Simon of Cyrene through the process is transformed, he is moved from the role of a reluctant bystander into a participant in Christ’s suffering and redemptive act.

As I reflect on what it will take to again remind our culture of Christ’s work on the cross and  the good news of his emergence from the tomb on Easter Sunday, I can’t help but wonder if we need to swap our contemporary fixation on comfort and entertainment, and to rediscover something seemingly old fashion, but more needed than ever, devotedness.

The White Stone

Writing a book is a strange affair, you bang out this word document on your laptop, it is edited, proded, shaped, marketed and then two years later is born onto bookshelves in bookstores around the world that you as an author will never visit, to be read by people you will never meet.

But then you every now and then hear or read something that reminds you of the reason why you write. That happened to me when I read this. (Those of you who attended one of the book launches or who have read the book will understand the symbolism of the white stone.)

Resurrection – Now What?

So Jesus beats death, hope and life explodes from the grave, the promises of the prophets stand true, the heavens and the earth will be made anew. Good wins. Evil, death and sin is vanquished and the high point of the cosmic drama is completed.

With millions of others around the world, today on easter Sunday we worship and remember the greatest miracle. But then we get into our cars, or head to the bus stop or walk home and a small nagging voice enters into many of our heads. This force, this resurrection power, where is it in my life? Why does my life not fizz, snap and sparkle with the kind of power that rolled back the stone and animated the dead Christ back to life? Surely such power of which we hear so much from the pulpit, must be due at some time to rudely interrupt our mundane reality?

We ask when will the power which blew away the dust of death, break into our world of email, supermarkets, and household chores and transform our lives? We wonder when our lives will be swept up in a moment and be transformed in the blink of an eye.

Now maybe some of you who are reading can point to a moment in time when the resurrection power of Christ changed your life in an instant. But the majority of us do not know such instantaneous transformation.

The other day I chanced upon my journals from a decade ago, I have not looked them for many years. I began to read, and before I knew it a couple of hours had passed as I revisited the person I was. This is not the time nor place to delve deeply into my story, but ten years ago I was in a bad place, and in desperate need of healing and transformation. As I read on, I noticed tiny, incremental changes in my life, changes that can only be recognised from the vantage point of time.

I thought of who I am now, and the incredible change that Christ has wrought in my life. A change that you could not pin point to one earth shattering moment, when the resurrection power of Christ broke into my life. Instead God’s resurrection power has operated in my life in the way a slow realise fertiliser does. Perhaps a more appropriate metaphor would be that of a mustard seed.

So how did this incremental resurrection power change me? I noticed key decisions that I made, disciplines that I adopted. As I looked back I realised that resurrection power operates something akin rhythm in our lives, a beat that we are invited to march to. Here are the keys which ensured change in my life, my suspicion is that they will be the same for you.

• Committing to Spiritual Community: Doggedly turning up to church, seeing attendance as a spiritual discipline. Realising that christian faith is always a community practice.
• Allowing People to Speak into My Life: Letting people who are ahead of me on the road of faith to speak both encouraging and correcting words into my life.
• Confronting Sins and Dysfunctions: Realising that my life project is to become more Christ like, to allow myself to be transformed through confronting my dark side.
• Keeping Spiritual Disciplines: Sticking to spiritual disciplines even when I don’t feel like it. Doing the basics.
• Living for Others: Understanding that we do not live in the kingdom of the rugged individual, rather we live in the Kingdom of God. Therefore just as Jesus gave his life for me, I am required to lay down my life for others.

These rhythms are not flash or slick. They are not built for a culture that demands instant results and immediate gratification. They are the walk that Jesus invites us into, a walk that step by step opens our lives to the power that opened the tomb two thousand years ago.