So many ideas - So few to take them up

Last night past conversations crowded in. One upon another they crashed together causing sparks and yet, despite the highly flammable material of life, there was not even a hint of smouldering!

I woke with a start as the memories of so many opportunities for engagement were identified, acknowledged and . . . Passed by!

People issued the cry, 'Why doesn't someone do something about [insert any need you might have identified]?' That done, they look at me to provide an endorsement of their perspicacity and well-honed Christian missional skills and agree that, 'There must be someone!' And of course there is. But who?

So far this year I've worked with people in various settings and circumstances and, between us, we have tried:

+ sign up' sheets - but no one signed them!

+ vision meetings - but myopia appeared to rule!

+ training courses - but Downturn Abbey provided a greater attraction!

Many years ago I read a book by Richard Bach (illusions) which contained the words, 'Argue for your limitations and, surely, they are yours!'

I have found this year to contain more people who have told me why they can't do anything (it wasn't even 'more'); more people who have bemoaned the lack of engagement from 'the church' and complained about those who, 'Need to do more!'

I have engaged with people who are full of promise and ability who have promised much and delivered so much less than nothing as their inactivity (always accompanied by a reason and often an accusation) also debilitated others and rendered them, and us, impotent and defeated too!

There are eight months left to us in this current year:

+ eight months to make the case for all-member engagement (collaborative church)

+ eight months to motivate and mobilise members (courses, sermons, vision meetings) with no quarter given

+ eight months to get the message across that being Christian is not a hobby

Those who come to church, those on PCC or DCC, Volunteers, Pew Warmers, Lay Ministers, Clergy (for no one is exempt) - the gauntlet has to be laid down (and taken up).

It's so hard to smile and nod when people tell you that they can see the needs but don't care (they don't use those words, they merely absent themselves or tell you about their hobby, family, whatever; that takes them away to other things).

It's galling when people tell you that they've been challenged by something they heard so went somewhere else to avoid the feeling again!

So here is a plea to all who read this:

Get involved, get praying, get engaging or get the estate agent in and get ready to close our doors. We can no longer exist as museums showing where 'God used to live'; architecturally magnificent holy shrines to a former age; holy huddles who exist to meet for themselves, not their communities and certainly not God.

So here’s another line drawn - another challenge issued.

Please hear it, pass it on and respond to the call.


Pax

Hobby? Yes, I'm a Christian!

Intriguing conversation regarding what people do in their spare time, especially with regard to what we usually refer to as a 'hobby' (which I am defining as something done, for pleasure and enjoyment, on a regular basis outside one's usual work life); for it appears that alongside stamp collecting, railway modelling and toenail painting we also have that really, once most, popular hobby, that of  'Being Christian!'

All you need to do to thick this box is turn up every now and then (Easter and Christmas being the most favoured) and plonk your pound coin on the plate (see, admission hasn't gone up since the late sixties). The bestest bit of this 'Christian' bit is that it doesn't require any equipment and you don't need to keep rushing out buying stuff to keep it going either.

Interested?

Great, then let's do some comparisons and see if we can convince you to join a church near you - here are two of my (many) interests laid bare for you:

Fishing: To do it properly you have to buy rods, reels, lines, floats, flies (and if you're one of those coarse types - bait too!). Those who like the smell of salt can do it from piers or boats (or on beaches too) and get stuck in to a spot if sea fishing. The key to doing the fishing bit is that it takes you off for long periods, frequently and costs a bit : licence, day tickets, club memberships, bait (or flies and lures) and see you standing, sitting (or even sleeping) in sun, wind, rain and snow.

You need to be really committed to be able to say you're a fisherman. You need to put the hours in mastering the cast, the tactics, which sort of water and how to fish it and much more besides - fishing takes long periods of talking about the hobby in tackle shops, lodges and pubs. There are specialists for the type of fish - yes indeedy being a Carp fisherman is not a typo that denigrates one's abilities but more of a lifestyle!

Gliding: More of my passions and both powered unpowered flight are heavy on both wallet (especially if you fancy owning your own bird) and draining with regard to time. Gliding - once you've paid your subs you have to pay for each and every launch on the road to solo flight and then pay for the launch and the time you're aloft. The longer you're up the more you pay -which might explain why attempting to thermal in sink results in a cheaper hobby!

When you're not driving to and from the field and flying there's other stuff that demands your attention. It might be studying all the stuff you need to stay legal, understand the weather and navigate between launch and destination points. The arrival at the clubhouse in the early hours to make the dreaded 'eight O'clock draw' (when you each take a number and the lowest goes first and the highest flies last - usually meaning not at all!) on Saturday and Sunday (if you can get away with it!).

Then there's the hours in the bar when the weather stops flying and the club nights and the time taken just to arrive, even though not flying, to talk about flying, dream about flying and learn from the experiences of others who might have been flying longer (or are just better at it) than you. This occurs whether you have an engine or not - the bar is the chapel where aviation is worshipped and taught, where sins are addressed and rectified and dreams are made (and dashed) and flyers are discipled and grown. Yes - the clubhouse and the bar especially is more like Church than church for those who fly!

Even more strange is the fact that pilots (and fishermen too perhaps) are always pilots and fishermen and this is something that exists as a reality for them on a 7 * 24 * 365 basis. Meet a pilot at a party and they will almost always, in a short period of time, tell you that they are flyers. They will work long hours to get more money to support their chosen lifestyle (for hobbies are ephemeral whilst flying is always and for ever). They will talk about aircraft and flying and make you aware of everything about being a pilot and the benefits, challenges, demands and blessings that embracing the faith - whoops, I mean flying - brings!

Christianity: How great is this for a hobby? You turn up when you want and there's no need to go if you don't feel like it. After all if you're not making the tea or doing a reading or something else, you can go shopping for the day secure in the fact that you won't be missed.

'What do you need to do this Christianity thing, ', I hear you cry and that's the really cool bit, for the answer is, 'Nothing! Not even a Bible if you don't want one - after all they're either provided on projected onto the scree should you fancy reading it during the service.' There's no pressure on you to turn up to learn stuff - no ground school or classes (well not unless you're one of those 'keen' types anyway!) and if the weather's bad, then no one will miss you.

Better still - church fits in when you want it to and if you don't fancy it - then you don't do it. There's no standing outside in all weathers like those fishermen and no turning up early and, having drawn a high number, finding yourself pulling gliders about and doing jobs around the airfield to get others into the air.

Yes indeed - Christianity is, for most of us, something that we can do in under two hours on a Sunday and yet we can still wear the badge. Of course we don't tell people that we are Christians (after all we're not pilots for God's sake are we?) when we meet them at parties and gatherings, that would be weird (wouldn't it?) and we don't talk about services we've been to, book we've read and films we've seen - because (again), we're not pilots.

Being Christian is that little 'personal' thing we do when we feel the need; and of course when it fits in to our lifestyle choices (like flying) and work-life.

Do I have any hobbies?

Of course I do - I'm a pilot!

Christianity - Free Lamborghini or McLaren anyone?

Here's a really quick splurge from my grey matter onto the electronic paper of this blog and I apologise for typos, rushed edits and and confusuioon but here goes:

Last night saw the second evening of an Alpha course that we are running jointly with our local Methodists and as we chatted about the Cross and addressed the question, 'Why did Jesus die?' I became very aware of the fact that, generally speaking, many churches (and members) I engage with appear  to fail to make the cost of commitment real and obvious.

For me the answer to the question 'Why' is summed up in the words of John 3:16:

'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God didn't send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that through Him (Jesus) it (the world = us) might be saved!'

The 'Why' for God and the 'What' for us are both clearly visible.

God - Die

Us - Believe and accept that salvific act (made ONCE, for ALL, upon a CROSS)

Simples innit?

So here we are, God is offering us, free and gratis something that is precious and unique, namely:

i. Restoration of relationship with God,

ii. The breaking of the power of sin (which is of course death - and by coming back on Easter Sunday He handed it back to satan with the words, 'Whoops, broken it!', and

iii. The becoming of a new creation - through the indwelling and enabling of the Holy Spirit, one that is about to live within the freedom of 'free choice' making the right choices (and wrong choices, when they are taken, less often).

And all we have to do is accept it and keep it on the road. But it is just too easy to have God bear all the cost and us live with all the benefits. There is a cost for us too and many of my friends over the years have paid out (often sacrificially in terms of money, marriages and relationships) to keep cars on the road, aircraft in the air and radios on the airwaves. Others have devoted free time to trains (real and model) or stamp collecting or many of the other hobbies people have, and this is where it gets hard for me when it comes to Christianity.

I know people who put everything on the line for a hobby and know many people who claim to be Christian and yet are willing to do nothing but accept and demand and give the very minimum in time, money and energy.

If I were to offer you one of the top marques of car (Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, etc.) free of charge, how many would take my hand off in the rush to accept it? But to keep a car like that on the road take some real commitment (and it's not just money I'm talking of here).

A friend with one such car told me how it cost him 'a few thousand' every year to keep his beloved super car on the road and yet, he claimed, it was worth it because look at what he had!

God, through the Cross of Christ offers each of us something that cost Him everything and lasts not just for our lifetime but for eternity and yet many of us will commit less to keeping it on the road than we do for our hobbies and pastimes - after all they cry, 'it's a free gift - how can it cost us anything?'

And oddly, these are also more, often than not the same people who complain about the lack of things being done in the church. They are the same people who wished to be served and to be cared for and to be provided for and to be made happy and listened to and obeyed (yep - that too) and yet they don't put anything in to keep the vehicle that is the church or the component that is their life working effectively and efficiently.

Now here's some questions:

Are you the problem or the solution?

Are you willing to pay (and I don't mean with mere money) to keep your faith on the road?

Is your faith an interest (your hobby) or a life-changing, life-long commitment?

Are you willing to pay what it takes or merely willing to take?

The time is coming when we need to realise that if you merely wish to be an associate member (and you're welcome as such) then you will also have to realise that whilst we can guarantee a life membership being open for you in Church, we cannot guarantee and eternal life membership.

Your choice