Standing or Falling

Any of my readers who are married may know the painfully slow process of working out who to invite to the wedding. If we invite this X, then we have to invite several other people from the same circle of friends, and so on. Of course, the most angst and emotion comes from discerning which family members to invite. Do we invite great uncle Fred who I haven't seen in ten years? Yes? No? My parents had a nasty habit of doing this - which was a rather drawn out process because they kept changing their mind every few weeks.

But it is an important issue - who do we invite to our wedding celebration? And I would suggest that it is an important issue in the bible as well. Who would God invite to his feast? OR if you say it more theologically, who is part of the covenant family (and how can you tell)? It is an issue that we see Israel's prophets wrestling with (cf. Habakkuk, Isaiah 1-12). It is an issue that the early church struggled with (cf. Acts 15, Galatians, Romans, Ephesians, etc.).

This is still an issue that the church in the 21st century is still grappling with. The lack of resolution to the current (and ever-continuing) crisis in the Anglican Communion can be traced back to a failure to tackle this crucial issue.

Crucial? It is only the doctrine which, to paraphrase Luther, the Church stands or falls. Luther's quote has been troubling me for some months. It is often thrown around to support the idea that Justification by Faith (JBF) is the Christian gospel. I don't agree with that anymore. Which is say that I would want to refine the statement and say that JBF is the major implication of the gospel, taking the gospel to mean that Jesus Christ is Lord.

However, I realized last week on the train (which is were I do all my thinking) that JBF is the doctrine by which the church really does stand or fall because is the great ecumenical doctrine. It is JBF that determines the character of the church - what it is to look like. It is JBF that says "If you're saved by grace, then you need to church by grace too" (cf. Romans 15.7) If you get JBF wrong, then your church may indeed just fall over.

If this is true, then church unity is not something to be thrown away lightly. We are united together through the faithfulness of Christ. We are united together in Jesus, who loved us so much that he died for each and every one of us. Upon this does the church stand or fall.

There is more to come...

No Sense of Community

"Evangelicals have nothing to say about community." This is what I was told in a seminar on the rise and fall of liberal theology that I attended last week. Evangelicals are so concerned about the atonement, that they have nothing to add to current debates about community. If you were to classify all the great Christian doctrines, they would fit into three categories: 1. The doctrine of God; 2. The doctrine of Salvation; and 3. The doctrine of the church. And I was told that evangelicals, for the sake of being able to get along with each other, neglect the first and third doctrines and concentrate solely on the second category. (With the effect that the first category has become the domain of Romans and Greeks, and the third category is becoming the domain Pentecostals).

Why is this a problem? Well, with the decline of liberalism and modernity (and it's quest for epistemology) post modern concerns are becoming more and more prevalent. These concerns are not so much about authority (as modernism has been), but a desire for justice, authenticity, and community. And evangelicalism, as a cultural and historical product of modernism, has little to say to these postmodern concerns.

Part of our problem, as I see it, as the way we think of church. In reaction against high churchman-ship, and in order to support fellow evangelicals from variant ecclesiology, we are willing to label almost anything as a church if it has more than one person and a bible involved. I can be sitting in a cafe with a friend, one of us pulls out a bible and - BAM - we've turned into church. It is just too reductionist.

I've felt the solid boot to the head from this reductionism this week as debate as swirled around about the up coming CMS Summer School (start here, then go here).* You see, for two nights there will be a speaker with over 30 of mission experience giving talks on the current state of world mission. Although the bible may be refereed to - these aren't bible talks, John Woodhouse will be giving those in he mornings. The problem of course is that the speaker is female, and if you reduce everything to church, then heaven forbid that you should have a women teaching in a mixed congregation.

From what I understand, CMS, Summer School, Eu et al aren't churches in and of themselves. Although they may have the same essence as a Church (presence of our Lord Jesus Christ through the ministry of Word and Spirit), they have a different purpose. And may I add, that it would be a pretty lousy church that met only once a year. no, there is much more that could be said about this. What I want to know is can evangelicalism have something to say about authenticity community and justice? I would have thought that a biblically robust doctrine of the atonement would have something to say ie welcome one another as Christ welcomed you etc. Or is evangelicalism as the cultural and historical movement that has existed for the past two centuries doomed to die with the great beast of modernism. I for one, certainly hope not.**


* These link from Craig's blog are only intended to be an example of the type of debate that is currently happening, and are not a comment on Craig himself, who has received several personal attacks over his views this week.

**Although I have to admit that I would like to see reform in several areas of evangelicalism - hence this post.

Reformation Polka

This comes on the recommendation of Tim Roberetson, supposedly to celebrate Reformation Day on October 31. Enjoy:

Celebrating a year of HEBEL

On 10 October 2006 a young punk, in reaction to an adverse decision about his career, started this blog - not with too much purpose in mind. It survived the high infant mortality rate for blogs, despite never finishing any of the series of posts it started (i.e. James, British hymns + nationalism, etc.). It had lots of NT Wright, a bit of O'Donovan, and one quote about a Moore College mission that was posted somewhat illegally. It has been a blog that has had to survive a poor sense of grammar, vocabulary and an inept spell checker. Often it has been a pale imitation Michael Jensen, Justin Moffatt, and Byron Smith, and suffered from the rise of Facebook and my lack of internet access this past six months. Hebel has been a blog that has taken a healthy interest in ecclesiastical doctrine, and to celebrate (if indeed there is anything worth celebrating), Hebel will feature this month a series on Church unity - a Gospel truth.

If someone comes up with a snappy title for this series (like Byron's Not the end of the World series), let me know. And stay tuned for the first post of the series: Church Unity = Jesus is Lord.

"...and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Jesus - Matthew 16.18

Church History and Unity

"We spend most of our time studying the history of the reformation. This is in turn informs the way we do church and relate to poeple from other churches. We have a whole heap of baggage from the reformation, when the church was literally at war with each other. Instead, we should spend more time reading and studying early church history. It's an overlooked part of our history, but extremley important. It is when many of our major doctrines were first articulated and developed. And church leaders did so in unity and consultation with leaders from other church cultures and contexts. Maybe we should look to the history of the early church to inform how we should relate to Roman Catholics and other groups."

- Peter F. Jensen, at a recent gathering of MTS people for the Newcastle region of NSW.

Well, I was impressed by this statement that Peter made.

Colin Chapman on Islam and Christianity

I was able to go to Colin Chapman's Cross and the Cresecnt course that was run by Colin a few weeks ago in Sydney. It was a great time exploring both religions, and although there were a few things Colin said that I disagreed with (such as where Muslims fit into salvation) , the big thing that I was struct by is this:

The Qu'ran is not a muslim version of the Bible. It is actually the muslim equivalent of Jesus.

That explains a lot I think in regards to apologetics etc.

Living out Scripture meme

Andrew tagged me a fair while ago in the 'living out scripture meme'. This is my first ever meme, and I'm supposed to: “that verse or story of scripture which is important to you, which you find yourself re-visiting time after time”. So here goes.

My piece of scripture isn't as amazing as some other selections have been, but it represents a fond time in my life, when I was enjoying the ministry I was in and growing, I think, quite significantly as a christian (which isn't to say that I am not growing or enjoying life today). And my selection of scripture is a piece of the Bible that is terribly important.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, ²³⁴⁵⁶

7 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I find Paul's introduction to his letter to the church in Rome as the piece that I time and again come back to. It was through studying this passage that I really came to understand the Christian gospel. It was such a breakthrough for me to realize that the gospel isn't first and foremost a message (or a philosophy), but the event of Jesus life, death and resurrection - the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Having been raised to understand the gospel to be a couple of stick-figures in a box, this was quite refreshing for me. And it was by studying this passage that all whole heap of other things fell into place. such as the context and structure of the epistle to the Romans, and the significance of 'The Resurrection' to both the early church and Christian thought and life.

However, what my friends and I found most liberating was to understand that the gospel isn't justification by faith first and foremost, but Jesus Christ is Lord. As great a doctrine as JBF is, I think we found ourselves breathing a sigh of relief when we discovered the gospel is what it is. It was significant for us then to also think through the implications of the all-encompassing Lordship of Jesus - that he really is Lord, lord of all the universe (the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name) with implications not just for me just for now; and lord of my life. What a paradigm shift it was to realize that living the Christian life is to live out the lordship of Christ in every aspect of my life.

These are some of the theological reasons why I love this passage, but I also love it because I was studying it at a time of 'peak experiences in my life': studying Romans at uni in small group leaders training, the eu mission that year, hearing some great talks on Colossians in Public Meetings and running the PM team at the time, and reading a great book that also helped change my life and praxis. I think Romans 1.1-7 is a great passage. And I praise God for his faithfulness in acting to restore his creation in and through his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I tag Alison, Michael, Andrew R, Tim, and Iain.

Parish Boundaries in the Inner West

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St Bart's Day

Today is St Bartholomew's Day (the only apostle who doesn't have an Anglican church in Sydney named after him). Being the feast of St Bart makes today the anniversary of the massacre in France 435 years ago (1572), when thousands upon thousands of protestant Christians (the Huguenots) were massacred by their fellow French-men. Although occurring at the height of the French religious war, which was to linger on almost to 1600, the massacre was the straw that broke the camel's back for French protestantism. Although winning official tolerance with the ascension of Henry IV, the Huguenots were became weak, divided and within one hundred years of the Edict of Nancy, the French Protestants were outlawed and force to flee to other European countries and South Africa.

Remember the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. It was so horrendous that even Ivan the Terrible of Russia is said to have denounced it.

France today is a country that has a deep need Spirit of God to work at work in transforming people's lives. 70% of the national is (nominally) Roman Catholic, 10% is Muslim, and less than 3% would describe themselves as evangelical Christian. Please pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise up laborers to work in the Harvest. Please pray that communities of the risen Lord Christ would be gathered together and shine the light of the gospel into France - the gospel that brings new life, new meaning, new hope and new creation.

O'Donovan on resurrection

In proclaiming the resurrection of Christ, the apostles proclaimed also the resurrection of mankind in Christ; and in proclaiming the resurrection of mankind, the proclaimed the renewal of all creation with him. The resurrection of Christ in isolation from mankind would not be a gospel message. The resurrection of mankind apart from apart from creation would be a gospel of a sort, but of a purely Gnostic and world-denying sort which is far from the gospel that the apostles actually preached.[…] So the resurrection of Christ directs our attention back to the creation which it vindicates.

- Oliver O'Donovan. Quoted by Rob Forsyth, AnCon 1998 "Resurrection - the dawning of hope...".

lay ministry part 2

It's been a while since my last past on this subject. Since then I have had some time to think about what I wrote, talk to the 3 people who still read this blog, and try and come up with a way forward.

To recap, I think the very fact that churches can afford to pay several people to do either full or part time ministry is a great gift from God. In fact, given the way that we constitute the church today, many churches wouldn't be able to survive without them. 

However, employing a large staff team does present the church with some challenges - namely, it shoots down ministry by "lay" people (many of whom are committed to church longer than two years). When I was co-ordinating Public Meetings for the EU, I was excited by the second purpose of public meetings, which is to involve as many Christians in the uni as possible in the PM ministry by doing simple tasks such as welcoming or postering. My staff worker, Mike Kwan, would tell me that this would help Christians take ownership, not just of PMs, but of the EU too. My point here is that churches don't nurture and grow lay people and their gifts, it will adversely affect the ownership the feel towards their church, and hence the church's ministry at large.

So my first point here is don't smother lay ministry - work (in partnership) with them, but don't smother them. Their is one church I have in mind where the members have stopped welcoming new people, because early on in the church life it appeared that only the staff members were allowed to. They would push into conversations church members would have with new people, and act as though "only they had the gift of welcoming." Don't smother the laity. Another church is full of young, innovative ministry strategists who see the needs of the church, and would like to start new ministries where there is nothing. However, as all ministry decisions are made by the staff team only, very few of these ideas come to fruition. This has only lead to angst and dissatisfaction with the church. Don't smother the lay ministry.

My second point, which may now require another post, is that the key to lay ministry lies in developing lay pillars. This is a term Andrew Katay used at Grads Con 2005. Katay described lay pillars as the secret  behind every ministry, i.e. churches can't live without them (I write this line from memory. I'm at AnCon right now working for CMS, so don't have paper on me). I think that Katay has a point here. Churches need lay pillars. And in Sydney and other places around the globe, we need to nurture, grow and develop these people. So my question is, what would a lay pillar look like in a congregation where the average age is under 30. What would a lay pillar look like at 7pm St John's? Or in 7.15pm at Barney's? Or in retro-church Leichhardt? Or wherever? 

Let me know what you think.

PS As I  mentioned, I'm writing this from AnCon today. It's being an interesting experience in student ministry and in looking at how the EU has changed since I was a student (this time last year).

PS 2. 15 points for explaining the relevance of the picture to this post

A spot of Volf

'In situations of conflict Christians often find themselves accomplices in war, rather than agents of peace. We find it difficult o distance ourselves from our selves and our own culture and so we echo its reigning opinions and mimic its practices. As we keep the vision of God's future alive, we need to reach out across the firing lines and join hands with our brothers and sisters on the other side. We need to let them pull us out of the enclosure of our own culture and its own peculiar set of prejudices so that we can read afresh the "one Word of God." In this way we might become once again the salt of the world ridden by strife.'

Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, p 54.

I like Volf's concept of ecumenical catholicity. Reading it in book club with some MTC students, some of whom thought Volf was arguing for holding hands with Hindu's and Jedi's, it was great for me to clarify his thesis: that the church needs to keep listening to other parts of the body (the church in other cultures) to make sure it doesn't turn the proclamation of 'Jesus Christ is Lord' into the Australian dream, or American democracy, or the German nationalism that Volf used as an example (that Barmen Declaration is ace).

Coming from a church culture that doesn't always receive top marks for listening to Christians who are 'different', particularly in light of the mess that our international network is in (which you can about here), we need to make sure that we keep listening to and engaging with our brothers and sisters around the globe. A declaration of independence from each other - to whom we belong in and through Jesus has done to us and for us (Bonhoeffer) - would be disastrous.

"Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind." 1 Peter 3.8

1 in 10 Christians live with persecution

For as many as 200 million people, being a Christian can mean:

• You live in daily fear of violence, abuse, rape or even death
• Just talking to a non-Christian friend about Jesus could land you in jail
• You carry a social stigma affecting the jobs you can get, or how your children are treated in school

These people are our family. While they are the one in ten, we are the other nine. We live with freedoms they are often denied, such as to worship together in public, own a Bible or even repair the roof of the church building.

That’s why Barnabas Fund is launching this new campaign – to call on the other nine to care more for their persecuted brothers and sisters.

Because we are the ones with the power to make a difference.

Use the links below to discover how, through Barnabas Fund, you and your church can be there for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Order your The Other Nine resource pack which includes a DVD, Ideas Booklet, Leaflets and prayer cards together with a poster. All designed to help you get your church on board. Order your pack today.

Pray - Join thousands in lifting the persecuted Church before God. And enhance the prayer life of your church or home group.

Understand - Knowledge is essential if we are to love our neighbours as Jesus showed us. Barnabas Fund provides resources, training and information to help you and your church respond to Islam in an intelligent, compassionate, Christian way. Find out more…

Give - Through Barnabas Fund you and your church can do so much for Christians who suffer for their love of Jesus. Donate online now.

World maps of persecution

Africa (3.6 MB)
Central Asia (3.6 MB)
South Asia (3.8 MB)
The Middle East (3.6 MB)

Church leadership and the laity

Something that I and a few friends who have recently moved into Sydney have noticed is that churches in the city presently have a lack of lay leadership. Instead, they have an ever increasing staff team - mostly made up of mts type workers or catechists or something. I have noticed this in several churches I have visited recently, and a friend of mine has noticed it in the particular AFES group that he belongs too.

What this would appear to say about our churches is that we think all problems can be solved by the hiring of new staff. Sadly, this prevents the development of lay leadership within congregations. Actually, and potential leadership from the laity with churches fails to blossom becauser they are the people most likely hired as staff.

for my mind, the most obviosu (but not only) example of this is the fact that I have seen very few (ie none at all) lay people lay service or preach in the city. Coming from the mountains, I and a friend of mine have found it quite bizarre.

Of course, I am sure that churches in the city provide excellent training and experience for their staff. But it is a short term solution, because it fails not only to train all people in the church to exercise their gifts, but also stops people from taking responsibilty. My AFES friend mentioned that some faculties have felt the lack of pastoral care in their group, and have created a pastoral care team for the faculty. And whilst it has marginally increased the amount of pastoral care that is happening, it has also discouraged everyone else from doing pastoral care because they are not on the pastoral care team.

There is another church that springs to my mind way out west that has quite a respectable reputation in being able to train and equip their plethora of apprentices. The only problem was that the church had a string of these people come in for two years and then disappear as quickly as they arrived back to Sydney. And this left many people within the church with a lack of ownership.

I'm sure there is a solution out there, especially in Sydney of all places, the new home for the "priesthood of all believers." I'm just not sure what it is yet.

"The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, the Holy Ghost incomprehensible, the whole thing incomprehensible!"

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.

For as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so we are also forbidden by the catholic religion to say that there are three gods or three lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

And in the Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved is must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching His godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching His manhood; who, although He is God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the godhead into flesh but by taking of the manhood into God; one altogether; not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sits at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the quick and the dead. At His coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

Now say that another 12 times this year and you're set.