When apparently sensible people prove otherwise!

I don't know about you but I am very concerned about the way people think and act these days. Take a look at the various communities around you for a minute and you'll see what I mean.

Church: One of us walked in to a local shop yesterday to be told that they had heard that the local church was going to be knocked down to enable more housing to be built in there area. When it was pointed out that the church owned the land and that there had been no discussion, suggestion or even planning meeting regarding such an action - the response was, 'Oh yeah! (shrug)'

The same is true of the many accounts of sin and general naughtiness that people have engaged in. I have even been at the wrong end of it myself when someone came and said how they had heard from (person 1) that (person 2) had told them how I (the accused) had thrown (person 3) out of the church.

So I asked them whether they, knowing me, thought that I might even have thrown anyone out of a church and after a minute or two spent thinking (now that caused a bit of pain that they had to think that long) they answered, 'Of course not!'

So I asked them, 'So why did you believe it when you heard to from (person 1)?' The response was, 'Oooh! I don't know know, but they were so convincing!'

The problem is that gossip is always juicy and people are always ready to listen to those things that tickle the ears and point fingers at others. The Bible deals with the issue of gossip (which is often labelled more correctly as 'slander') and also with the way.

It would be so nice to find Christians working on the understanding that: 'One person's story sounds great until you hear the other person's side of things.'

This is, of course, a biblical take on things (Proverbs 18.17). The best way to deal with people who might share things out of concern (not the opportunity to share a bit of juicy conversation at all!) is to ask them what they did with the information when it was being given:

Did they check the accuracy of the information?

have they found out the story from the other side's viewpoint?

Did they offer to broker a conversation and restore the peace?

We are called to restore those caught in sin (gently*) and to reconcile those who are separated by division; perhaps Colossians 3.13 is a help here:

'You need to bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.' 

This is who and what and how we are to live, and to assist others to live.

After all, Jesus came to reconcile us to God - we live to reconcile others to God and to one another because we are called to imitate Jesus, the Christ. Do we?

Not when we gossip and slander and enjoy the juicy titbits - we need to stop and check the facts and be careful how we pass stuff on to others. Check your sources and be looking to reconcile rather than repeat. This is the way the Gospel is lived out and the love of God seen to be in action. Before you hit the 'Enter' key or send that email:

Stop - Think - Pray - Be sure of your facts - Think Again - Press 'Enter'

And here's a little note for those who use Facebook: 

WARNING: From the 1st October Facebook is making public every stupid thing you have ever posted and done.

Not only that but they are going to tell God, the tooth fairy and Richard Dorking about you (and I'm only convinced that two of them are fictional characters so there's cause for real concern here!) unless you pay £5.99 for every month you have been a member.

BUT, if you cut and paste this on your Facebook page before midnight, when the angel of being charged will be checking ALL accounts, then it will pass over and you will be free from all the penalties which otherwise would have been yours. 

This is not a spoof, the information can be found on the website of a Liberal Democrat supporter and has been endorsed by a man in a white rhinestone suit who was singing outside Farm Foods in Tamworth yesterday (so much for those who thought he was dead!).

Be warned - if you don't repost this then be prepared to pay for your use and for your sins (I know one of the three is watching). 

This is not a spoof, there are so many people on Facebook making this information known and there are many who knew someone who has a friend who knows that this is true also. This is official.

ps. If you find there's no underwear on your washing line in the morning don't come rushing to me - it's all part of the same plot to expose you!

* Galatians 6.1

Wherein lies our trust, our courage, our hope?

Last night whilst taking my third communion service of the day I found myself drawn to words from 1 Corinthians 16:

'Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.'

Be alert. Keep watch. Be steadfast. Be brave. Be strong.
Let love be the key, the guide, the reality, the reason and the means by which we exist.

And of course that love is the love that sees Jesus come to this world of ours to bring about the means by which we are reconciled with, and to, God. It is in the Good News of Jesus, the Christ, that we find the path through the dense forests and cloying mire that life demands we pass through.

The problem is that we, the Church, are no longer alert.

The watchmen on the walls are asleep or distracted by issues which, regardless of how important we are being called to think they are, are nothing but a distraction.

The people who bear the name 'beloved'; those who corporately are what is otherwise known as 'The Church' are hopping from foot to foot and turning this way and that as they try to be correct in terms of language, mindset and discipline. They vacillate and vary their beliefs to avoid being unpopular and yet, in doing so, present not a welcoming church but a weak Church!

The Church has set aside being brave for being popular and this means that we have become cowardly in the delivery, and the living out, of our faith. Our strength is failing and we are about to be overrun.

'But,' I am sure some will say, 'We are doing it in love. We are being strong because we stand against those in 'The Church' who oppose x and y and z. We are steadfast and courageous as we change our position and welcome those who otherwise might not be welcome; those who would find the traditional views of The Church unpopular and unwelcoming. We're just being creative.' 

The problem is that what is being created is fluffy fiction not solid faith!

Last night, as I left the church building, one of those who had been present came to me and said:

'The Church is full of cowards. If we believed that Jesus holds the keys to life then surely we would have the courage to tell those we love about Him. Surely we would act to see them brought into relationship with God through the atoning work of the cross.'

He thought he was being controversial - I thought he was being exactly what I wanted as a response to the sermon last night.

And that's part of the problem with Church today. We focus on the wrong things and believe those who tell us that they are more important than the Gospel itself and when people stand for the real issues, they are told they are out of touch or confused or just a little bit bonkers!

When we find the average age increasing, the average attendance decreasing and the ability to pay the parish share a challenge, what do we do:

i. We start becoming fixated on 'bringing children and young people into church',

ii. We stop looking outside the building and gather in a fear-filled huddle inside it, looking out only for ourselves,

iii. We become more concerned with numbers (age, attendance, money) and, letting this become our focus, take our eyes off of Jesus,

iv. We see bringing people in as the solution to our ills and yet are unwilling to create for them a place of welcome, security and nurture: We take things of the menu to ensure that there's nothing difficult for people to swallow,

v. We promote diocesan, deanery and parish plans and call people to concentrate on whatever the fad those who are supposed to be leading have been convinced to take up as the salvation of the Church, and

vi. We rush off to see what thew 'successful' churches are doing in the hope that emulation and 'adopting best practice' will reverse the trends.

There are many more points I would like to add but by now, if you're anything like me, you're probably so depressed / angry / frustrated / (add your emotion here)  that I would just be compounding the misery.

Love is the key; and that love begins, resides and ends in Jesus.

I'm going to be an even bigger pain over the next few days and week because I'm going to challenge colleagues and congregations and the man in the mirror before me and the person with the pointy hat and those who occupy the elevated positions within 'The Church'. I am fed up with being someone who is among a people who are discontent at 'managing decline' and yet resigned to that role. I am so grateful for that one person last night who has inspired me so (and got me out of bed and praying and reading my Bible and scribbling these thoughts at four in the morning) - this is the passion and the spur I desired to see in the church: one out of a population of 100,000 in our town: I think that's probably all we need to get the stone rolling away from the tomb!



Be warned (and be watchful)

Be afraid (very afraid)

Be blessed (and be a blessing)