Contradiction

A contradiction is not an event or an occasion or an issue or a complication, it is a place where we now live. We do not visit it, or travel to it occasionally but it is home, our dwelling place while we are on the earth. 

It is as if two competing truths are seeking to influence us. We are to embrace both, reject neither, welcome the confusion, seek to find clarity, yearn for understanding, trust God with each dichotomy. Knowing that to understand one truth needs the embracing of the other, rejecting one also means the rejection of the other

There are so many examples

• Living in the present but looking to the future
• The present kingdom and the coming kingdom
• The presence of Jesus and the Christ who will return
• Made holy by Christ but seeking to become holy
• Living in this world but not being of this world
• Being at rest but straining for something more
• Caring for our bodies as we wait to be clothed with our heavenly body
• Already made righteous but seeking to live righteously 
• Wanting to be strong but knowing strength comes from weakness 
• Knowing the hidden God and the omnipresent God 
• Caring for creation as we long for the new heaven and new earth
• Speaking the language of our culture as well as the language of heaven
• Embracing the now and the not yet

My faith is not straight forward, simple and neat and tidy, it is not meant to be. I need to learn the secret of being content, like Paul, in any and every situation. I want to be at rest in the theological, philosophical and practical contradictions in which I find myself. Content to trust God that at present 'I see through a glass darkly but then I shall see face to face'. My knowledge of God will be complete when I see fully

The curse of the expert

The leadership of the organisation had finished the discussion, there was a great need to pray for God's will not to be done. Although they came from different traditions, they was a singleness of purpose. Two or three got their diaries out to arrange a day for a prayer meeting, not easy with busy lives and responsibilities. One of the others looked somewhat bewildered, 'Why don't we just pray now?' He asked

There were two approaches to prayer, one complicated the other simple. One influenced by rooting prayer in everyday life, the other by the great praying saints of the past. Rees Howells, the founder of the Bible College of Wales, prayed ten hours a day, six days a week for nine months before the was able to receive an answer to his prayer. He and many others are wonderful examples of lives submitted to God. However, are we inspired by these 'great' saints or do they set a standard that we struggle to meet? Are they always a blessing or can they somehow be a curse?

A few years ago, I was asked to preach at a rural chapel, the minister was away on holiday and I filled his preaching slot. A couple of the members were going to lead the service and they were quite nervous about their responsibilities. Just before the meeting started one of them came up to me and said, 'I am so pleased, a visitor has just turned up and he is a professional worship leader and he has agreed to lead the service.'

After the meeting, very well led by this godly man I considered the morning. Bringing in a 'professional' to lead the meeting meant that we had a well-crafted and expertly led service. But we also had a congregation that had been shown that expertise is what is valued. That it is better to have a professional leader than to train and release the whole congregation into ministry. That, to be blunt, most of us are simply not up to the task

The priesthood of all believers has, for a long time, been in effect the priesthood of a few. Whether in Anglican or Catholic Churches or in non-conformist settings (pointy or non-pointy as we call them) there is a often a clear demarcation line between the experts and the others

I am all for leadership, I support the concept of ministry gifts, but not in a way that has led to the de-skilling and restricting the ministry of countless 'non-expert' disciples of Jesus. Paul in Ephesians says this:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

I think that it is therefore reasonable to suggest that the purpose of ministry gifts is not to do the ministry but to equip God's people for ministry! It is the body of believers that should do the works of service leading to Christ's body being built up resulting in unity and maturity

Experts doing all the important roles demonstrates the opposite to the above and if not checked can become a curse to the church 

What are you reading?

This is the conversation I would love to have while reading my Bible on the train a few days ago. It didn't happen but I am ready if it ever does!

Question Much happening in the world?

Me Oh, I'm not online or checking Facebook but reading

Question What's the book?

Me It's a real classic, a sweeping story full of romance, political intrigue, war, heroism with a fantastic ending. It has parts with songs and poems and has a thread running through it that hooks you in and keeps you wanting more

Question Who is the main character?

Me Initially at the start of the book we see him as a shadowy figure, you are never quite sure who he is or when he will turn up next, even if he really exists at all. Towards the end of the book he becomes a more straight forward character, one who inspires and shatters in equal measure

Question Who wrote it?

Me That's a good question; interestingly it does not have just one author but many. All sorts of people from a nomadic tribesman to Kings in palaces, from government officials to people in food production, they all collaborated to write this masterpiece. It was as if an unknown power was somehow guiding them to write this book

Question Would you recommend it to others?

Me Absolutely, it is thrilling and uplifting but also deeply socking and challenging. Some parts are straight forward to read, others difficult to understand and some seem almost impossible. Not everyone will enjoy the book, some may even find it appalling, but it is very difficult to ignore

Question What is it called?

Me It has different names in different languages, but the English translation is called The Bible

Go Further

Sometimes the important can be obscured by the familiar

Sometimes the beautiful is hidden in the day-to-day 

Can our knowledge sometimes prevent us from seeking to know more?

Is our certainty a hindrance to digging deeper?

How is it that I can read beautiful passages of Scripture and fail to dive in and immerse myself in their transforming power?

Is my orthodoxy actually a hedge that prevents me from seeing to the distant horizon?

I may be able to quote the passage, but has it transformed my thinking and my living?

Is my knowledge of God provoking me to go further or am I remaining safe and secure where I am?

Made for God

You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you

St Augustine of Hippo

Made for God

Birthed for his glory

Formed to display his grace

Shaped by the Spirit

Conceived within family

Fashioned in his image

Fathered for relationship

Brought forward to exalt 

Chosen for his fame

Loved for his renown

Created for his pleasure