Dawkins & The Media

Came across this article in The Herald - thought it was a useful corrective to Richard Dawkin's increasingly desperate attacks on faith and Christianity in particular - with the added bonus that it comes from a 'neutral source'. It also highlights the inbuilt bias with which so much of the media approach these issues.

LINK: DAWKINS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

RD reminds me of the George Orwell quote concerning one of his characters that, 'he wasn't so much the type of atheist who didn't believe in God as the type who just didn't like Him'.

Full List of Posts: Dec 2006 - June 2008

Confessions of a Failed Atheist
Honouring God with Empty Hands
Paul's All or Nothing Gospel
The Reason for God - Quotes
Denial
An Intelligent Faith
Weary Worship?
Giant slaying - 'ANXIETY' is his name.
Teaching - it's a deal-breaker
Vision by numbers...
'The Lost Message...' - if only!
Jesus Driven Ministry - Quotes (3)
Jesus Driven Ministry - Quotes (2)
Jesus Driven Ministry - Quotes
The Gospel according to Hollywood
Not the same... (Benedict XVI & Indulgences)
Podcast Presuppositions
Deleting the Junk
The Golden Compass - Atheism for Kids
How the UK changed betwen 1997 & 2007
Hitch Hikers Guide to Evangelism Pt 1
Hitch Hikers Guide to Evangelism Pt 2
Worshipping in the Study
The Vision Thing
Clan Adam or Clan Jesus?
Dawkins & The Media
snag is coming
Playing with Words
The Gospel’s Guilty Secret
The Last Taboo
Pollokshaws Carnival 07
Spiritual Yobs
Attention Perfectionists
A Senate Prayer
Zechariah Calling
Additive Free Gospel
Day of Shame
Freedom & Service
Great Expectations
Church Planting
Ballot Box Morality
Spiritual Tourists
Permission to say ‘No’
A Mother’s Prayer
Why the British Stopped going to Church
Jesus and Romantic Love
Disciples or Christians?
Philip Yancey Book Review: ‘Prayer’
Mark Driscoll Book Review: ‘COARR’
Check out Jessica Hagy
Last Call to Prayer
The Christian’s Secret Stress Buster
The Most Important Person in Greenview
Personal Happiness and the Trinity
Saddam & the Death Penalty
CUs and the Ekklesia Report
Non-religious Objectivity?
Wheels within Wheels
Standing with the Brothers
Jesus & President Bartlett
Ministry Checklist
A Call for Unreasonable Christians
Filling Up

snag - programme 2007/08

That it might be done on earth as it is in heaven...

Christian ethics in a complex world
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snag (saturday nights at greenview) will be kicking-off a new winter series on Saturday 13th October at 7.30pm.

Sat 13th October - Drawing the Lines - Dr Stephen McQuoid

Tolerance,intolerance and how we decide

Sat 10th November - Playing God? - Dr Brian Neilly
Stem Cell Research, IVF & Genetics

Sat 8th December - Godly & Green - Dr John Bingham

The Bible and environmental concerns

Sat 12th January - God & Mammon - Edward Lobb
Handling wealth in a material world

Sat 9th February - Culture Clash - Dr Ken McPhail
How Christianity & Culture shape each other

Sat 15th March - Loving me - David Clarkson
Fashion, Fitness & Self esteem

The cafe will be open from 7pm each night.

Playing with Words

Doesn’t it drive you nuts how slippery people can be when it comes to theology? Frequently this comes in the form of treating (what would appear to most people) straightforward statements as if they were fiendishly complex and impenetrable riddles. Now I don’t want to appear to be a simpleton here – I know language can be complex, nuanced and multi-faceted. But increasingly Christians seem to be using these considerations as an excuse to kick unpopular doctrines into the theological ‘long grass’. So Scripture texts that jar with our 21st century Western sensibilities can be ignored on the basis of, ‘scholars are divided on the precise meaning of this passage’ etc etc. This linguistic ‘get out of jail free’ card is also increasingly deployed whenever we are faced with a dodgy public pronouncement of some Christian leader we admire – ‘oh, I don’t think he/she was actually saying…’ – when if words mean anything it is abundantly clear that Christian Leader X was undoubtedly saying…

You’ll not be surprised to learn that I’m going to blame Post-Modernism for this. It is one more manifestation of the belief that there is no absolute truth – or at least that no-one can ever be certain they have it. Consequently any interpretation of a statement is as valid as any other even if they contradict each other – the old ‘what is true for you may not be true for me’ approach. But like much Post-Modern thinking the situations in which this approach is employed are conveniently selective. So no-one would say, “murder – it’s not my ‘cup of tea’ but I’m happy if it works for you”. Whereas when it comes to something like religious belief it is simply a case of ‘what makes you happy!’

Take the Bible’s apparently clear statements about the existence of Hell. Statements we are told, even by some who call themselves Evangelical, that are not to be taken at face value. Yes, the Bible has all these warnings and depictions of a place of eternal torment but they are just to make a point rather describe an actual reality. The point being to emphasise how strongly God feels about sin and people rejecting Him. We are not to think there is actually such a place - it’s just hyperbole to stress how awful it is to reject God.

The problem is that it all seems just a bit too convenient. Something we are happy to apply to things we don’t like but when it comes to Heaven for example, we tend not to say, ‘Well actually all that Heaven stuff is just there to emphasise how pleased God is when people respond to Him positively – but hey you’re not to think it actually exists’.

Secondly, not only is it self-servingly convenient, but we would never accept such a premise in other areas of life. Imagine you have bought a new DVD player and within the first week it develops a serious fault and no longer works. You read the guarantee which says, ‘In the event of a fault developing we will replace this product with a new DVD player’. However, back at the shop you are told there will be no replacement, the assistant explains: ‘Well of course, the guarantee says we’ll replace it, but that’s just a way of letting you know how much we really hoped it would work - we never intended that people should take it literally’. Or you get a memo from your Boss telling you to sort out some problem but you do nothing on the basis of ‘who is to say what they really mean’– it may just be a way of them telling you something of their inner feelings rather than something to actually be acted upon.

Of course, the reason we don’t generally ignore, reinterpret or plead bafflement with the words of employers, policemen or even friends is that we tend to take those people seriously – we would view it as patronising and even disrespectful to presume that what they say is not really what they mean.

When it comes to God’s words, however, it is difficult not to conclude that the widespread readiness to disregard or fudge them is because we don’t think they really matter that much. We have persuaded ourselves that our relationship with God exists in some mystical sphere unaffected by what we actually believe about Him and that theology is essentially irrelevant to the quality of that relationship. Big mistake! Words are the basic currency of relationships – the ability to be known by and to know another. To say, ‘I am obedient to someone’, but then to disobey what they say is a nonsense. To say, 'I know someone', but to have ignored their own self-disclosure and constructed your own image of them is a delusion. You don’t obey them and you don’t know them.

Much of the linguistic ‘smoke and mirrors’ used in Christian circles today has the effect of refusing to allow God the possibility of having spoken with any significant degree of clarity. Evangelical Christians need to start having a bit more confidence in the ability of God to communicate clearly and to have a bit more courage in accepting what He says.

The Last Taboo

(I missed John Moir’s sermon on ‘Proverbs & Money’ so apologies if these thoughts on Money are just repeating anything he said. )

The Times on Monday (16/7/07) carried an article entitled ‘The Last Taboo’ which carried the subtitle ‘Why it’s OK to talk about sex and death, but never salaries’. Money (i.e. personal wealth) is the last great taboo of our society it seems – it is the last bastion of privacy in a world where people will speak openly about almost anything else – relationships, sex, feelings, likes and dislikes etc. The article quoted the psychologist and author of ‘The Real Meaning of Money’ Dorothy Rowe as saying: ‘it is sensible not to go on about what you earn in a world where money is so important and people are measured and their value is measured by what they have got’. None of this of course is new or should be a surprise to Christians – we live in an incredibly materialistic world. A culture whose worldview is almost the exact opposite of that taught by Jesus (Lk 12:15).

Worryingly however is that this is yet another cultural phenomena that has found its way into church life. Now I’m not suggesting that Christians go about announcing their salaries or savings – that would be a recipe for creating envy, pride and deceit. Rather I’m thinking of the danger that teaching about money in many churches becomes more and more a taboo subject. There are a number of factors that might lead to this – (1) The fear of pastors and church workers about raising a subject that may appear to have an element of self-interest for them; (2) The abuses of the Prosperity Gospel peddlars, their obsession with money and the rightful distaste of their lifestyles and techniques; (3) the right desire not to appear to be being judgemental or legalistic about something that ultimately is a matter of conscience before God.

Nevertheless, this is a subject the Bible refuses to avoid. The New Testament has more to say on the subject of ‘Money’ than it does on the subject of ‘Prayer’. To be in a church where there is no regular teaching (with practical application) on the subject of Money – is as Biblically faithful as being in a church where you don’t get regular preaching (with practical application) on Prayer. ‘Money makes the world go round’, goes the old cliché and at a human level it has an element of truth in it. So it would be unthinkable that the Bible wouldn’t have loads to say about the subject – and it does. Which of course makes the unease I feel even writing a piece on this subject, to be read by fellow church members and friends, all the more indicative of the battle we need to fight to regain our Christian distinctiveness in this area of life.

The reality is (as all the surveys seem to show) that Christian giving is not impressive and often amounts to a fairly meagre proportion of individual and family expenditure (the US average is 3% of family per capita income). Giving is a searching issue (no doubt one reason why we are happy to follow the Biblical teaching of keeping it private, Mt 6:3) because it reveals in a very stark and objective way where our priorities really are. Mark Driscoll checks out the giving record of anyone being considered for eldership. After-all you can deceive others about your prayer life and devotions but the Bank Statement never lies!

Well before this piece becomes ‘A Longer Theological Article’ let me suggest three practical ways for Christians to think about our use of money and where we are investing it for the future…

1. Tightening our belts now. Craig Blomberg in his book ‘Neither Poverty or Riches’ quotes a survey in which Christians were asked ‘if they knew that their income would drop by 20% next year where would they try and cut back their expenditure?’. The number one answer was ‘eating out’. So why now give up some of those meals now and give the saved money to Gospel work.
2. Sacrificing. Now of course all giving involves some sacrifice – but how often have we upgraded something that was actually perfectly ok. Yes we got some extra features but it was more a decision based on fashion than practicality. So again why not say ‘I was going to get a new XXX but instead I’ll make do with the old one but give the money I would have spent to a Christian Mission’. (Remember sacrificing a bull in the Old Testament was the equivalent of smashing up your new small car in Greenview’s carpark).
3. Being possession lite. Have you seen the TV adverts for Storage Units? These huge warehouses where you can rent a secure room to keep all the surplus possessions that you no longer have room for at home. Can I suggest that if the average Western Christian ever gets to the stage that their home can no longer accommodate all their possessions – they should be giving them away or selling them and giving the money to a good cause. We don’t need bigger barns we need bigger hearts.

Pollokshaws Carnival 07

Thanks to everyone who helped out, visited and prayed for the Pollokshaws Carnival. The weather confounded the forecasts and stayed dry. The Greenview stall was able to give out stacks of leaflets about GV activities and provided lots of opportunities for putting a human face to the church. Let's pray that further contacts and opportunities to show God's love to people in the area will arise from this.

Spiritual Yobs

Some thoughts on Titus ch.3

Titus 3 opens with a reminder to Christians to be both law abiding and public spirited citizens. That is, people who both uphold the law but add to that basic obedience by ‘being ready to do whatever is good’. Further Christians are to be marked out in their communities as people of good character, e.g. are peaceable (avoiding unnecessary confrontations); considerate (e.g. where they park, the volume of their music); show true humility (self-restraint – biting their lip, Pr 12:16) and extending this to ‘all men’ – not just those they are trying to suck-up to or are intimated by because of their wealth and status etc.

All of which, of course, is just a reiteration of Jesus’ own teaching: to go the second mile, turn the other cheek, and do to others as you would have them do to you. But it’s a tough call – one that goes against the grain of both our natural egos and our culture. The latter which extols the characteristics of self-promotion and pushiness in programmes like the X-Factor and The Apprentice.

After reading Titus 3:1-2 we might be tempted to think – ‘well Paul, that might be alright for some but you don’t know my neighbours or my colleagues and if you had to put up with the kind of behaviour I do then you might have a different approach’. Almost as if sensing this objection Paul immediately turns to why the attitudes and actions of v1-2 are always the only appropriate ones for Christians to follow.

V3 begins ‘for’ (inexplicably missed out in the NIV) - you were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, full of malice, envy and living in a cycle of tit for tat. Strong stuff – but this is the reality of every life outside of Jesus in the sight of God. We were not lovely people in our non-Christian state. In fact we were God’s anti-social noisy neighbours, creational vandals, inconsiderate law-breakers – we were spiritual yobs outside the gates of heaven.

But how did God respond to us? By shutting his windows and hoping we’d go away, by treating us with contempt, by throwing back at us the same kind of inconsideration we had shown Him? No – but with kindness, love (v4), mercy, salvation, cleansing, renewal (v5), with generosity (v6), giving us hope, making us heirs and rewarding us with eternal life (v7).

So we who depend on the fact that God extends to us the very opposite treatment to what we gave Him, who enjoy untold favour and blessing that has no basis in anything we do (v5) – how can we possibly contemplate withholding kindness and love from others. The idea that my sensibilities are so precious or that my indignation is so righteous that I would be entitled to hold a grudge or treat someone with disdain is just outrageous. As my old Pastor, Arthur Campbell, used to say: ‘Don’t stand on your dignity, stand on it!’

Ok, you say, I can see the logic of what you’re saying, but I feel as if you might as well write the word ‘VICTIM’ across my forehead at this point - because it’s a rough world out there and if I’ve got to go out with that kind of attitude I’m going to be eaten for breakfast. Well actually, this call is incredibly powerful and liberating and here are two reasons why….

It breaks the cycle of evil.
This is a well rehearsed observation but one that is worth restating. When we ‘do good’ especially towards those who don’t deserve it we break the endless merry-go-round of ‘tit for tat’ that perpetuates ill-feeling and sinful behaviour. It cuts through the vicious cycle of evil feeding evil. To ‘do good’ as a matter of principle is to live out the Gospel that saved us. Most Christians were not beaten or coerced into the Kingdom of God but were arrested by God’s kindness and love towards them – all the more in the light of their unworthiness of it. Unconditional love shown in the face of hostility is an astonishingly powerful thing.

It liberates us from the tyranny of others.
By treating others with consistent proactive kindness we are making a statement that we are people controlled by God and not 'the crowd'. We are saying: my actions will no longer be determined by how others treat me but by how God has treated me. So whereas the old way and the way of the world is: you cut-in on me while I’m driving and I’ll give you dog’s abuse, or you undermine me at work and leave you high & dry next time you’ve got a problem, or you expose my weakness at church and Ill expose yours. In other words: you yank my chain and I’ll bark! We now go into the world as people whose responses are controlled by God.

This is life transforming and radical stuff. No wonder Paul tells Titus to stress it – so that the people might be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good (v8). This is the Gospel – being understood, being the motivating factor in our lives, and being lived out in the world.