Talk me through the Bible

One of the hardest things to do for most Christians is to talk to those who are not Christian about their faith or practice.

For example. Could you give a secular friend a quick statement (an 'elevator' statement) as to why you read the Bible, or think the Bible is important?

Moreover, could you do it in non-churchy language; language and terms that a secular person would understand and be familiar with?

I thought about this while watching a video where Jordan Peterson sets out what he sees as the importance of the Bible.

My quick thoughts about my own approach might be something like:

The Bible is a very subtle, cohesive collection of documents that exposes and then resolves the human condition. And that condition? Mankind's rebellion against the world in which he finds himself!

That is, we fight continually against the existential discontinuities of suffering, tyranny, frustration and death, and without hope.

We have a vain and forlorn desire for liberty, peace, love and joy. Yet the world embeds only fleeting glimpses of these, sparkling points of light in a fog of grey disquiet.

All religions seek to give humanity a credible location that does justice to their obvious personhood in an ostensibly mute cosmos. They have this quest, just as all philosophy quests for understanding our experience of the world, but all except Christianity make the quest within the world, either by nugatizing or floccinaucinihilipilificating it (claiming that the material is imaginary) or by accepting it and 'worshiping' it: paganism and modern materialism. Thus is their collective failure because they don't really deal with the dilemma of mankind and his despair or his nobility and grasp of inherent purpose.

The Bible does. It sets out the resolution through the creator resolving it himself. The resolution cannot come from disregarding the world (because you remain in it), or from within it (because that just feeds the problem). This cannot be from within the world that only produces death, but from the life-giver, from outside this world. It's creator!

A transcript of Peterson is linked.

Usher/welcomer

The usher or welcomer is the first person one meets at most church houses (ecclesea) before they join a gathering.

When I was young the welcomer at our church was an elderly man who handed out the hymn books and inserted the news bulletin. Sometimes a source of a witty remark, usually a friendly 'good morning' and a smile.

A straightforward job?

It might look so, but in my view it is far from it.

The ushers certainly do the above, but also handle new comers. They make a special note to chat to them later and offer refreshment if they stay on after the formal proceedings are concluded.

And there's more.

As the first point of contact, the usher needs to be able to give a ready answer to any of the five basic questions of church life.

They also need to be the 'first responder' and be able to handle everyday emergencies and provide a security function (in a good way). They need to be able to handle difficult people, people in distress and people needing emergency aid. They need to know basic emergency life support, how to use the fire-fighting apparatus on hand, and be the emergency wardens to manage evacuation, crowd control and calling emergency services in the case of fire or other life threatening event.

Our church is working towards this; so should yours.

T R A I N

Mostly we 'teach' people when we think we are 'discipling' them. And the teaching is often by the least effective form: lectures.

We need to understand that it is training we need to deliver. Training is different from teaching and a playlist is here.

In this video Wallace speaks about his training model adopted from his police career: TRAIN

T - test: find out what people don't know: use simulations (role plays) to test what people believe.

R - raise expectations: require more (not just turning up at church meetings)

A - arm people with content: make the case that God exists, is good and the only way to resolution of life's disconnections.

I - involve in the battlefield of ideas: at university, for instance, have novices raise discussions with the various groups touting their ideological wares: Muslims, Marxists, Animal 'rights', etc. (set 'involve' appointments about 6-8 weeks ahead to encourage preparation: learning, thinking, discussing.

N - nurture: continually support, encourage and coach the people around you: in fact, each other!

And, the bonus: you can use this model in any context, work, your club, at home!

When one falls ill

A member of our parish who is quite unwell spoke to me after the service. I remarked to her that a number of people has asked after her, including some 'worthies' in the church, those who'd taken on pastoral volunteering responsibilities.

She replied that odd they didn't seek her out to ask after her. She went on to mention that the local studies club she was involved with had made more effort of concern than her church. She'd received cards of sympathy from her secular group, and a phone inquiry from that group's 'welfare' officer. But the church women's group and other church volunteer groups she was involved with? Nada!

One has to wonder sometimes at the lack of diligence and actual exercised care for fellow parishioners that  churches have. If you are just one of the ordinary members...not so much; it just seems to be worldly: the conspicuous, the well known, the popular get the attention.

What to do with Kings?

This morning's sermon sprang from the passages 2 Kings 6:24-25 and 2 Kings 7:3-11, a passage with almost cinematic hilarity. The second passage was from Luke 4:38-44.

The sermon started, and largely comprised a recitation of what had been earlier read to us! That wasted 10 minutes of good time.

Almost any talk on an OT topic invites connections being made with history: the history of Israel and the wider world at the time. Not long; not detailed, but informative.

For example for this passage we might have been show relevant maps of the ANE at the time of Elisha, and a time line of the history of the time.

Then would have been opportunity for some great comments on God working in history to bring the ends he wants. 

The remarks on the Luke passage, again God working in history in the Incarnation, this time, and Yeshua healing, but then stating he was preaching the gospel. So his healing echoing OT prophesies, and pointing back to his undoing of the fall, and his obvious power to so do. Cementing Yeshua's identity in the triune godhead.

Sermons I've never heard

Explaining to an atheist that God is not composed of matter and energy, or even energy particles. He is external to and creator of the cosmos.

God is not made in the image of man: what man is ever loving, merciful, and is three in one? The only gods made in the image of man are the fake Islamic god 'Allah' and every other god, including nature itself.

The incoherent Trinity?

In a recent Stand to Reason podcast the question came up as to the irrationality of Christian faith.

A summary of the response by Greg Koukl:

Reason is grounded in the mind of God

 

If the scriptures are considered unreasonable, then you probably don't understand them.

 

But the example of contradiction that is often brought up is the Trinity.

 

Which law of reason does it violate?

 

It is said that it violates the law of non-contradiction: one god and three gods.

 

And this clearly misunderstands the Trinity.

 

The scriptures do not hold out 'one god and three gods'. They show us one God who subsists in three consciousnesses; integrated yet distinct, each sharing the full nature of God in those separate consciousnesses.

 

A pale parallel is the family: one family with three members (mother, father, child). A business partnership is similar: one partnership, say, three partners, each severally and jointly liable for the obligations of the partnership. But the great difference is that God the Father, Saviour and HS are all fully Yahweh! Neither of my illustrations achieve this level of ontological integration. Its as though the 'community' of the Trinity is akin to an imaginary number floating out of the number plane: all we can see is the number plane. We can know the imaginary number coming out of it, but can't quite grasp it...or at all!

 

Best illustrated in the triquetra, below.

The three vertices represent the three 'centres of consciousness' or persons; although, when we think persons we automatically think of spatially extended and differentiated beings. This is not so for God, except in the incarnate Son in his incarnateness - I think. And the hypostatic union itself is yet another mind-boggling item in scripture.

 

The arcs connecting the vertices represent the eternal and exhaustive communion of the three members of the Trinity in will, purpose and love. Each directly and reciprocally communing with the other two, permanently and as part of their being.

When troubles come

"When troubles come, they come not as single spies but in battalions." (Claudius, Hamlet Act IV, Scene V)

 I wonder if  one of the functions of the story of Job is to enable us to place our own battalions in perspective. I think few would have it as badly as Job did.

A friend remarked to me in respect of some of my recent battalions with words to the effect of 'we wonder what God is doing in all this'.

Oddly, that is not how I wonder.

I'm nothing like Job, but I am well schooled in the corruption and decay that we are part of in this fallen and marred creation, established for us to enjoy God within, but brought to its futility by Adam and all his offspring.

I made the mistake many decades ago of not being able to deal with egregious trials with similar perspective. That mistake did bring some benefits, but at the same time derailed my Christian work for some following decades. Some gain, but much loss.

Now, I don't think such thoughts. With self and family experiencing debilitating health events, all I can think is, life is like this; it can be worse, much worse; and it can be better. But our call is not to this world but is the upward call of God in Christ (Phil 3:14) as he works all things together (as participating agent, not puppet-master) for our (final) good. In this he draws us to himself as we look toward the world made new and un-alloyed fellowship with our Saviour world without end.