We were driving to the shops to continue the annual safari of hunting for Christmas gifts for our family. I was commenting on how much I love Christmas, a disposition formed by many happy childhood memories and the joy of our children on Christmas Day over the years. To me Christmas is still magical, I love carols and trees and decorations and lights, and we jokingly realised that not only is Christmas my favourite time of year, it's my favourite pagan holiday!
I actually couldn't care less about the origins of the various Christmas traditions, even the timing of the celebration. I'm interested because it's history, but I don't care, it doesn't make any difference to me - I love Christmas! And it isn't because I'm about to say that it's all about Jesus' birthday (although it is) because let's be honest, that really doesn't mean too much to most people. I know many churches will be packed with people they haven't seen since last year, and although we would like to see them more often, it's actually good that they recognise the core reason we adopted this pagan holiday and many of the traditions in the first place.
I think one of the reasons I continue to love Christmas is because of what it means and does for most people. Christmas reminds us of the importance of family and friends, it brings us together, it causes us to think beyond our own wants and consider what other people would like. Yes, I think it's too commercial; yes, I think we all spend too much; yes, there is often a competition about who spends the most; yes, there are a lot of people in our society who miss out and find Christmas a particularly difficult time of year. Consider this, however, that on this one day of the year, right across the globe, people are pausing in their lives and planning to take the time to enjoy a meal with the ones they care about.
This is a good thing. The miracle of the first Christmas was that a baby was born who would restore relationship (fellowship, communion) between God and humanity, this miracle continues to bring people together (in fellowship, communion) whether they believe in, celebrate or care about the birth of that child or not.
I was spoiled as a child. I was the only child of upper-middle class parents who enjoyed buying me presents almost as much as I enjoyed receiving them. I don't ever remember a Christmas lunch at home. I remember going to a restaurant every year with other families, eating beautiful food, singing around a tree and getting presents from Father Christmas (we never called him Santa Claus, that wasn't British). I remember presents under the tree Christmas morning, a spread my Mum prepared for Christmas tea (that we would continue to enjoy for a couple of days after), and my Dad's anticipation of Mum's trifle (which I find a particularly disgusting dessert).
I remember leaving out biscuits and either port or sherry for Father Christmas (which probably explains his big belly and red face); I remember my Dad relaxing when we got home after lunch with a cigar or his pipe and a glass of brandy before the obligatory afternoon nap; I remember snow; I remember the carols and Christmas songs playing and Mum and Dad humming or singing along as the day unfolded; I remember the smell of the real pine Christmas tree and the annoying needles it would shed; I remember going to sleep Christmas night full and happy and wishing the day would last forever.
I remember some of my expensive presents, but not many. My memories revolve around the time spent with my parents, around food and laughter, around the simple joys of stopping to be family. We didn't attend church, we didn't even say grace. My parents believed, after a fashion, but although they knew the 'reason for the season' (an expression so overused it irritates), the meaning of Christmas was family, and a thankfulness for all we had, especially for each other.
I love Christmas because I live in a society that has largely forgotten or rejected the cultural Christianity we inherited from previous generations. To be honest I think that might actually be a good thing, there are some aspects that needed forgetting or rejecting, but in Christmas the heart of God to bring people together, to foster meaningful relationships, to inspire love and joy and peace and hope and generosity is seen in homes everywhere.
When I think about that I sometimes wonder where God is most likely to be experienced at Christmas, where he is most likely to be at work. Is it where people gather to sing and remember that baby born in Bethlehem? Probably, those are good things to do. But might it not also be at the other times, the more attended and less obvious times when we share our Christmas meal and in our own way appreciate what we have?
Whatever you do and wherever you are this Christmas I hope it will be a happy day full of joy and laughter. I hope you will embrace the ones you love and give thanks for the good things in your life. And I hope that like me, Christmas will remain or perhaps become, your favourite pagan holiday as well!
Merry Christmas!!
A couple of days ago I attended a very special graduation ceremony as my wife completed her Bachelor's degree complete with an award for academic achievement after three years of hard work, a impossibly steep learning curve and numerous lectures, tutorials and assignments. The ceremony was marked by tradition and pomp as the classical music played and the various deans and other faculty, garbed in their gowns and hoods and hats of different colours, entered the auditorium. One staff member carries the mace (apparently also known informally as the Qudditch stick) representing the leadership of the chancellor and the authority of the University.
The ceremony is long, and seems longer. There are so many graduates, and being a courteous sort of person I wanted to applaud each one as I also expect others to applaud my wife. I did the same with my daughter, I will do the same with my son. That's fine when their award is an early one and their name begins with an early letter of the alphabet. In our case there were many other awards before they got to my wife's, and we are 'Ws', so my applause tapered off a little and my interest became engaged by the attempts to pronounce some of the names and the graduates who were too nervous or too busy showboating to remember to 'doff' their cap to the Deputy Chancellor.
During the ceremony there were three speeches, one by the Deputy Chancellor, one by an invited dignitary, and one by a graduating student. The first two were ok, the one by the student was excellent, but what was of interest to me, and occasioned this post, was a common theme in all three addresses.
Naturally they all recognised that the many graduates were intending for a rewarding and successful career in their chosen field. In the same way that it's improbable we will ever hear anyone answer the question, "And do you (whoever) take (the other one) whom you hold by the hand...." with, "I'll give it a go and see how it works out"; it's also unlikely (although not impossible) that any of the graduating students intend to take their expensive and hard earned degree and immediately retire to their couch an spend their time watching Oprah, Dr. Phil and Days of our Lives.
All three speeches, however, also reminded the graduates that with the privilege of education comes the responsibility to give back, to use the gifts, talents and opportunities they have to be of benefit to the wider community. Did you get that? All three speeches articulated an important aspect of the Christian message - find fulfilment, look after your family, and do something for others!
The biblical value of not just living for yourself but using what you have for other people and the wider community (particularly the poorest, the hurting, the oppressed and the excluded) is an overflow of the Trinitarian love that welcomes humanity, in all our lost and fallen state, and redeems us, transforms us, and embraces us in fellowship. As we enter the Christmas season the idea of a God that is for 'others' to the degree that he became human in order to redeem his creation is so clearly imaged in a baby in a manger. This is the God who came, who lived and suffered and died, who gave his life for others - for us.
Right now you might be skeptical. Come on Jeremy, the idea of community and service are pretty trendy right now. And what about the motivations? Don't they come into it? Just what's you point?
Here's my point: God is at work. To sit in the audience of a secular university, one that is actively opposed to spiritual issues (well, Christian spiritual issues anyway), and hear three people exhort the graduates to not live just for themselves but for others as well reminded me that God is at work in his world. Wherever there is love, wherever there is forgiveness, wherever there is mercy, wherever there is justice, wherever the poor are cared for and the hurting find healing - God is at work.
Right throughout the Bible we are reminded that this is God's world. The one who created it in the Genesis story hasn't abandoned it but is intimately involved in it. In our scientific age we might reconsider the 'facts' of, "He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call," (Ps. 147:9) and, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (Matt. 6:26), but the truth of those verses isn't about how animals are fed, but that God is involved in his creation.
In Acts 17 Paul encourages the Athenians that he can tell them about the God they have unknowingly been seeking and affirms, "...he is not far from any one of us." In fact most of the New Testament gospel message to Gentile audiences took the theme of, "Look around, God is at work, let me tell you his story."
Sometimes we forget that God doesn't need us, doesn't only work through us or through the church, and that he is constantly at work by his Spirit throughout the world. Jesus explained it like this in John 3, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it has come from or where it is going." The context here is, of course, the issue of the Spirit 'birthing' followers of God who were not born Israelites and the need for Jews to be 'born again'. There is, though, the implicit truth that God is at work where and when we don't expect and in places and ways that we are completely unaware of. God is at work in his world.
This thought informs every aspect of my life. It creates an awareness and expectancy to see God in this world, not in a weird way, like some Christian version of spiritist folk-religions, but in a healthy way that recognises God's presence, activity and care for his creation. It sees the admittedly flawed, broken and distorted and yet still present image of God in acts of mercy, justice and generosity; and it yearns for the clearer and more explicit expression of that image through his followers by his Spirit.
This thought sees the activity of God bringing forth the promised redeemed and transformed creation guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ. This thought fills me with hope and a desire to join with him and be an active part of the process.
It also poses this question: Where is God at work in my world, in my life?
Where is the space that allows me to slow and reflect and really see where he is present and speaking and working?
God speaks in many ways, he is working in unexpected places, he is found in unanticipated events - where is he at work in your life? In your world? What is he saying? What is he doing? And how can you join in?
If you were asked to explain the Christian faith, how would you reply?
I recently read a suggestion that the best way to understand what Christianity is all about is to read/study the epistles of Paul. Some people would discuss the values and ethics that are important to the faith, or the positive social justice initiatives that they are involved in. Others would talk about their church or faith community and the sense of welcome and connection they find there. Some would tell of their personal experiences with God and his presence in their lives. Or, perhaps, some would bring up the gospel (a really misunderstood term) and the 'plan of salvation' (whatever that really is) and how we are all lost but can live in heaven forever if we 'accept Jesus.'
What would you say? I'm not suggesting that any of these things are bad, but it seems to me that often we manage to explain Christianity without real reference to, well, Christ. I mean how can we recommend Romans or Galatians or Ephesians to explain the faith instead of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John? How is it we can seek to explain something that revolves around the life, death and resurrection of Jesus without telling his story?
In his excellent book The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight describes one prominent Bible teacher who asked the question, "Did Jesus preach Paul's gospel?" Thankfully the answer is 'Yes', but that's not the issue. As McKnight points out, shouldn't the question be, "Did Paul preach Jesus' gospel?" Is it possible that Jesus is such a radical, difficult, challenging, hard to box and even irritating person that it is much easier to deal with Paul than Christ himself? Is it possible, and I suggest this with great trepidation, that we explain Christianity without much reference to Jesus and all he said and did because he doesn't fit into the box that is the Christian world today?
Christianity is about Jesus. It's the story of the God whose love for his creation was so expansive that he walked with us as one of us, displayed what it means to connect with the kind of life he always intended for us to live and promise the possibility of this life - kingdom - breaking into our reality and touching and redeeming every facet of our soul, every element of our existence, and every corner of our planet. Ultimately God, enfleshed in the person of Jesus, suffered with and for all of creation and died to experience the extreme of exile and the assault of evil, hate and injustice. It's the story of him rising from the dead to vindicate all that he said, to proclaim victory over all that separates humanity from our God, and to validate his promise of a new kingdom and new creation. It's the reality of living into that promise now by the enabling of the Spirit and a willingness to walk the difficult path to personally and corporately embody the continuing presence of Jesus and his redeeming work in our world.
I think the only way to explain Christianity, and indeed that elusive term 'gospel' is to tell the story of Jesus. He said things and behaved in a way that was uncomfortable and socially unacceptable for his culture. He disturbed those in power (political, cultural, religious, economic and military) and questioned their beliefs and values. He befriended people he shouldn't, crossed social boundaries he wasn't supposed to, welcomed those that were unacceptable and called for justice and mercy to those no one wanted to associate with.
And then it hit me as I typed the previous paragraph - my life doesn't look like that! Is it possible that we avoid including the story of Jesus as the core of how we explain Christianity because our stories don't look like his? Is it possible we describe this faith in terms of theological concepts or religious/spiritual practices or moral values or propositional truth because we are comfortable that our subjective experience connects with those descriptions and not so much with the gospel record of his radical call to discipleship?
I am deeply committed to my faith, and love the church Jesus founded, but am more and more aware that this story that we are called to live into presents a disturbing challenge to the contemporary experience of Christianity. I read the gospels and reluctantly ask if God really expects me to try and reflect that kind of life. And to my dismay there is a quiet, "Yes," in my spirit, "but I'll help."
I was discussing some of these issues with a friend of mine this week, a deeply spiritual and thoughtful young man, who truly seeks to follow Jesus in this walk of discipleship. He commented to me that in his job he meets all sorts of people from all sorts of places and all different walks of life. Recently, in conversation about spirituality and faith a few have remarked to him, "You're not like any Christian I've ever met!"
There it is. I want to be that person. I want to be different to what people expect and for my life to look different to what is anticipated. Jesus wasn't like anyone that you would ever meet or ever anticipate encountering, and I don't think we should be either.
So what I want is that when people ask me what Christianity is all about (assuming my life gives them reason to), that I can tell the story of Jesus - without being embarrassed...
My wife and I recently had a holiday in New Zealand, ten days in beautiful Queenstown. The whole area is stunningly beautiful, and I loved the 'vibe' of Queenstown and the wharf. The inevitable happened in our journey, however, when I was picked out by customs in both Brisbane and Queenstown for special attention.
Leaving Brisbane I was selected to undergo a full body scan. I had to remove everything from my pockets, stand in the middle of the scanner, raise my arms, and let the electromagnetic waves wash over me, all the while being assured by the officials that there was no danger of cancer or other health issues. To my credit I restrained myself - with great effort - from asking if the scan was conclusive proof I have a brain or was likely to activate any previously dormant super-powers. My wife was waiting for me and simply commented, "Trust you to get picked out."
When we were leaving Queenstown once again I was asked to step to one side whilst the security officer checked my bag and my clothes for what I can only assume was explosive or drug residue. I had a chat with him and discovered he was a Christian, we discussed mutual authors/teachers we enjoy, and as I left he farewelled me with, "Have a good flight, Pastor. God bless." Once again my wife was waiting for me, but this time had given thought to my ongoing relationship with airport security and said, "You know what it is? You're just too friendly."
I thought about it. Am I too friendly? It seems that each time I have gone overseas I have been stopped for some sort of scan, search or swab. I thought it was because I look suspicious (not very likely), or have that suave 'James Bond' charisma (highly probable), but maybe she was right, maybe I'm just too friendly.
Whenever I go anywhere I like to chat. I chat to people in shops, restaurants, airports (obviously), coffee shops, sporting venues, pretty much anywhere. I like people and I like to hear their stories and their perspective on life. People interest me and I learn from them. I like to listen more than talk (which will astonish my friends), which means that people tend to talk to me. But apparently, when I'm chatty with airport security it raises their suspicions that I have something to hide and I should be investigated.
My wife is really rather clever, and I think she has a point. Airport security pick me out because they think I'm being chatty to cover up my nefarious agenda. Which made me feel sad. After all, since when has being friendly aroused suspicion? But when I really considered it, it's true, when a person, a stranger, is overly friendly we are suspicious that they have an agenda to manipulate us, sell us something, or otherwise take advantage of our good nature.
Is that the world we live in? Is it really a place where being friendly, too friendly, is a cause for suspicion? Is it a place where being chatty and liking people infers that there is some undisclosed agenda? Unfortunately, all too often, that is exactly the sort of world we live in.
So I am determined to bravely defy social conventions and challenge presuppositions and be friendly, chatty and gregarious. And I'm going to bring in the big guns to support my crusade because I think Jesus was a friendly person and would probably have been stopped by airport security as well!
I think Jesus was more than friendly, I think he was over friendly. He stopped and talked to the people the social conventions of his time required that he didn't. He talked to lepers, outcasts, prostitutes, tax collectors, Romans, Samaritans, in fact he seemed to take delight in striking up conversations with the kinds of people that no one else would. I think Jesus was chatty. I don't think (because I'm a realist and not super-spiritual) that every conversation Jesus had was about the kingdom of God and spiritual truth. Believe me, you don't get invited to too many wild parties if you're like that, and Jesus was invited to those parties, it's in the gospels.
In a world of suspicion and distrust being friendly and outgoing with no agenda or ulterior motive is an act of rebellion. You might almost say like being a light in a dark world. I don't mean *politely* friendly, I mean taking the time to chat, listen, care and laugh (possibly cry) with the people you meet. And yes, people will be suspicious; and yes, people will think you have an agenda; and yes, shopping and daily activities will take longer than they used to; and yes, you will get stopped and questioned and swabbed and scanned at airports - but the rebellion is worth it!
So airports of the world be warned! I don't travel very often, but when I do, I will be friendly! And you will stop me, and I will chat to you, and I will defy your presuppositions, and I will hopefully bring a little cheer to your day. And if it occurs that the next time I go on a flight I don't get stopped I will take it as a sign that I am doing something wrong and will have to try harder.
I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently who is looking for answers to some situations in his life. He has been praying and seeking God and needs to get some sense of direction. Finally, in frustration he said to God, "Here I am needing to hear from you and you aren't saying anything!!!" In response, in a quiet place in his soul he heard the reply, "No, I'm not am I?"
God can be really frustrating at times. I've read the books and heard the sermons from people who seem to get daily, detailed instructions on what to do and where to go and who to talk to. I know people who must be God's favourites because he seems to communicate with them in ways the majority of us only dream about. I look at my life, my spiritual walk, my receptivity and wonder what's wrong with me? Why is God so quiet?
One of the confusing things about the people who hear from God all the time seems to be how often he changes his mind, or gets it wrong, or fails to mention the fine-print or repercussions of his instructions. I think the reality is that we all struggle to hear from God, and are thankful and vocal about when we do, and a little more quiet when we don't.
I've heard from God very clearly a number of times in my life. I heard from God today. I am facing some decisions and I opened my daily Bible reading and the passages I read spoke straight into my situation. Not in the, "Go and do this..." way but in a way that assured me God was aware of what was going on in my life and gave a hint of what I should be thinking as I make decisions.
I thought about what my friend said, about the times when God is intentionally silent, about the times when I've needed to hear from him and he hasn't said anything, and about the times when I know my Father has spoken to me. I thought about all the times I thought I'd heard from him and unless he's as confused and clueless as me, I didn't. I thought about the times when stunningly and unquestionably God has comforted, directed and vividly communicated with me.
I thought about all those things and I realised there was a pattern - the pattern was that there was no pattern!
You're probably reading this having had your daily conversation with God, having received clear instruction and guidance, and shaking your head at such a sorry and hopeless soul such as I am. Only, I've been around a while now and met lots of followers of Jesus along the way and had lots of conversations with them and I've discovered that you're probably not wondering what's wrong with me because your experience has been the same. You've experienced the same response my friend did. You've asked for answers or direction or just something to at least let you know he's listening and when you've accused him of keeping quiet he's merely affirmed that yes, he is.
One of the basic tenets of my faith, based on God's self-revelation in the Bible, is that he is interested, present and intimately involved in my life. It is seen most clearly in the incarnation when "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14). It makes sense, then, that there has been no pattern to when I have heard from God because my relationship with him isn't a formula, but just that, a relationship. There are times when I have heard from him through the Bible, times when I have heard quietly in prayer, times when he has spoken through other people, times when he has communicated with me through circumstances or through events in my life, and times when his silence has encouraged me to make the decision that seems most right and correct in my understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
The randomness of God's communication to me reminds me that he is present in the randomness of life. That his voice isn't reserved for a certain time or place or posture but is heard in the people, places, circumstances and experiences of life. That because he is immanent - intimately present, the God who is with us - he can be heard in many ways and in many places and even through my own thoughts and decisions.
I am glad I heard from God through the Bible this morning. In some sense I hear from him through his Word everyday, but there are times when the clarity is deeply appreciated.
And there are those other times, the normal times, when I want him to say something and he just smiles, and stays quiet, and I remember that maybe his voice is found in making the choices I hesitate to make, doing the things I don't want to do, following the path that stretches before me, or simply just doing what makes the most sense.
So those times when I want God to say something and he doesn't, it's good for me to remember that in so many ways, he already has...
A friend sent me an email the other day containing the old illustration about the mother eagle and her young. It's the observation that the chicks are comfortable in the nest and don't want to leave, but in order to fly and mature they have to, so the mother eagle nudges them out of the nest to force them to fly. The babies like their comfort and don't like change until they aren't given a choice. My friend (rightly) felt it was appropriate for the journey our faith community is on at the moment, having to embrace change in order to mature and grow. (I know, the picture is sheep not eagles, but I just liked it...)
That got me thinking about change. It occurred to me that I've always thought there were two types of people, those who resist change and those who embrace change. And that might be true, but I actually think that for the most part everyone resists change. I wonder how often the people who like change and are stimulated by it do so in order to avoid internal change and personal growth? I wonder if there are times when I have embraced external change because it is easier to change the external elements of my life that struggle through the growth or face the issues that I am dealing with?
Change is a necessary part of life. When we refuse to change we begin to stagnate and are choosing a smaller, safer self and way of living. Change isn't good or bad, change just is. When our circumstances change it often means we need to adapt and grow and adopt different ways of thinking or different ways of behaving. Change is uncomfortable and means disruption to the way we are used to being. Change means we have to...well...change...
My family has been living in our current home for just over five years. With one of our children already moved out and another possibly doing so next year we are looking at the concept of downsizing. After all, with just my wife and I and two of our kids (plus a little black dog) we wouldn't really need a five bedroom house plus study any more. But that means moving! All the trauma of packing and sorting and getting the house ready for sale and looking for somewhere else. The concept of such a change is uncomfortable! No matter how much sense it makes, it's the discomfort involved that discourages me.
That's the sort of change many of us can agree we prefer to avoid. And yet what about the internal changes that challenge us and we make external ones to avoid? What about the times we might change jobs to avoid having to change our attitudes or behaviour to deal with our new boss? What about when we are unwilling to grow and develop relationships so we find new friends, new partners, or even a new state or country? What about when we don't want to mature and engage in the slog of life and so we travel or constantly chase some unattainable dream? What about when God challenges us in our faith community and so we find another where we can avoid the necessity of change?
My observation is that most if not all of us avoid the discomfort of change, whether that change is the external aspects of life or the internal ones. But of course as I noted above - change is.
In a remarkable scripture we read, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Gen. 8:22) That's change! God intends for change and mandates change, not just in the seasons of the earth but in people as well. We often talk about the transformation he is performing to conform his people to the image of his Son, Jesus, but all of life involves change for every place and every person. Of course not everybody chooses change, but at the very least, time and the seasons pass and despite the advances of medical science and cosmetic surgery ultimately we all change.
How have you changed? How are you a different person to who you were yesterday, or last month, or last year? What has happened in your external world that has brought the discomfort of change? What are the challenges to your internal world that is forcing you to think and question and grow?
Or are you resisting? Are you avoiding? Are you escaping to a place where you can remain comfortable?
Change is often difficult and sometimes even painful. But...CHANGE IS! We live in a society that sees many things change at a rapid and often terrifying pace. I think the issue we face isn't the rate of change in our world, but how we are developing and growing as people in the midst of challenges we face.
I don't know much about eagles, but I do know a little about me. I like to be comfortable, but God wants me to change because I'm a better person and better for him when I do. So he nudges, he confronts, and at times literally tosses me out of the nest to teach me the importance of learning to fly.
Wherever you're at in life, whatever challenges you face, whatever changes are confronting you - flap!!! Let me encourage you to flap your wings, face the change, and then look at who you have become as a result.
On Saturday Australia goes to the polls to decide who will govern our nation for the next three years. One of the troubling themes that I have observed is the manner in which Christians have spoken about politicians who support policies with which they disagree.
I watched Insight on SBS a couple of weeks ago (yes, since I turned 50 I have found myself watching SBS...) and one of the guests was Finance Minister Penny Wong. The program was debating the issue of gay marriage and I was moved by something Penny said in response to one 'Christian' politician's presentation of his point of view. She said, "Whatever your opinion of this subject, or any subject, can I ask that you consider the words you use? I'm used to hurtful and damaging things being said about me in the Senate and as a politician, but there are other people who hear what is said and are hurt by what you say." (Or words to that effect)
In the face of a man who claimed to follow Jesus, Ms Wong had to ask that the debate remain objective and rational and not resort to words that have the potential to damage people. That made me stop and think about the national debate on so many issues; it made me consider how often Christians, because of our certainty that what we believe is right, use rhetoric that doesn't sound like the Lord we claim to follow; it made me ashamed of some of the extreme statements that occur in social media; it made me wonder when we stopped sharing the truth in love.
Whatever our position on national issues, the way we communicate matters. Whatever you think about the ALP and the Greens' position on gay marriage and climate change, and whatever you think about the LNPs position on low income superannuation, school kids bonus and paid parental leave, the way you say what you say sends a bigger message than the content of your argument.
It's possible some people have stopped reading already because of how I am communicating my thoughts! But if you've made it this far, thank you, because I think that if Christians are called to be representatives of the Kingdom of God then how we communicate carries great importance. The way Jesus told his followers to treat those who we perceive to be our 'enemies' doesn't look like what I see and hear coming from the church at the moment.
One of the interesting themes in the gospels is how Jesus spoke to people. It went like this: where people were hurting, damaged by life, marginalised, victimised, oppressed, rejected or aware of their struggles - he was compassionate and sought to bring hope; where people were superior, judgmental, self-righteous, religious, lacking in compassion and empathy - he brought rebuke and used harsh words. I think you get my point here.
We all have opinions and usually equate our opinions with the truth. There are people who claim to be Christians of both sides of most debates. I as far as I am aware Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott both claim they are Christian, and on SBS Penny Wong also spoke of her Christian faith and the Uniting church she attends, albeit infrequently. It surprises me that we can consider isolated policies and positions in a secular state and make a decision on whether that person is truly a Christian or not. I thought that was God's call in the end, not mine, not yours. At the risk of being political and upsetting you, it surprises me that many Christians can support both major parties and their simplistic policy on refugees and forget the reality that asylum seekers are people too. I can't help but wonder how many boats Jesus would turn back...
A democratic society calls for vigorous debate on issues that affect the national interest whether it be political, economic, social, educational or any other area of life. But a vigorous debate doesn't mean a debate that uses words that harm and hurt people, a vigorous debate doesn't mean that we forget the man who asked for forgiveness for the people who crucified him, a vigorous debate doesn't mean that Christians descend to a level that obscures the call to respond to opposition and opposing views with anything less than love and grace.
When we disagree, can we do so respectfully and with thought to what we say? When we disagree can we be thoughtful of the words we use and how they might affect the people we disagree with? When we enter into debate and discussion can we have some humility and recognise that whatever we think isn't necessarily right? And even when it is, sometimes the way we speak makes it still sound wrong.
So, before you speak, before you update your status or post on someone else's status, before you text or before you tweet, think about what you are about to say and seek to express your point of view in way that doesn't hurt, isn't damaging, and is salted with grace and humility.
And if you have found this post to fail in any of the above I am sorry and trust that you will extend some grace and forgiveness to me. Like you I have opinions (and anyone who knows will attest to that and that they are often strongly held), and like you I justify what I believe in light of my belief system, and I hope that what I have learned over the course of this election is that when I seek to communicate my opinions I am sensitive enough to do so in a way that sounds more like Jesus and less like me.
At least, that's what Penny reminded me...
