What constitutes communion in the setting of the emerging church?  By this term I mean churches in which a ‘fresh expression’ – new forms of worship and practice – are adopted.  Does the distribution of bread and wine in an ecclesial setting constitute the act of communion, or is it simply the sharing of a meal?  What makes the simple meal of bread and wine ‘communion’?  Is it the inclusion of a liturgical act performed by a recognised priest, or the sharing of food with the recognition of Christ’s death and resurrection?  Two experiences in the same small chapel have helped me to reflect on what constitutes communion.

Argoed Baptist Church has recently celebrated its bicentenary, yet it is an emerging church.  The membership is emerging from years of decline and seeking new easy to engage in mission within a rural village where all amenities have been removed.  In the church’s archives a recipe for an early type of yeasted bara brith dating from 1846 was discovered, originally made for a chapel tea.[1]  This rediscovered bread has been recreated and enthusiastically received by the congregation, amazed that they can lay claim to their own recipe.

On Palm Sunday we engaged in a reflective, all age communion service, recounting the whole crucifixion narrative.  Within this service, held in the hall rather than the sanctuary, the participants were gathered around a central low table on which was placed the bread and wine.  The Argoed Loaf, as this bara brith has come to be known, was used.  The whole loaf was broken and distributed by the children rather than the diaconate (as normal), enabling them to participate fully.  As the bread was shared the congregation was invited to think about the ingredients.

Bread is the ‘stuff of life’, yet the addition of fruit, sugar, spice and fat creates a cake.  Bread is often eaten alone, yet cakes are for sharing, associated with festivals and celebrations.  Bread takes time to make, often three days at a minimum allowing for milling grain, growth of natural yeasts to aid fermentation, and kneading the dough.  We are reminded that the falling grain is a vivid symbol of resurrection (John 12: 23-25).  The grain offering in the Old Testament is without yeast or sweetening agents, so the bread speaks of offering (Leviticus 2:11).  Spices were included in the ancient offerings as incense, formed part of the gifts of the Magi, and the burial spices brought by the women to the tomb, as well as the lavish offering of perfume over Jesus’ feet.

Symbols

The Argoed Loaf contained water, the symbol of life, as well as butter.[2]  The vine fruits brought to mind Jesus as the true vine and also the cup of suffering.  We focussed on how grapes are crushed to make wine, or dried as raisins, both symbols of death, but also of joy.  The action of yeast, unseen, working within the dough and bringing the loaf to life is symbolic of God’s power at work, the miracle of bread making to the extent that in mediaeval society yeast was known as ‘Godisgood’.[3]  Yeast is used both positively and negatively within scripture.  It is used as an analogy of the kingdom of heaven, in that yeast permeates every part of the dough, and therefore every part of society (Matthew 13:33, Galatians 5:9). Yeast is also used negatively, indicating the insidious nature of the Pharisees’ teachings (Matthew 16:6, 11-12). 

Typical of the Lord’s Supper, each participant only took a small morsel of the large loaf during communion, but after the service members gathered around the remaining loaf, eagerly cutting and wrapping the bread in serviettes to share with family members, neighbours and friends.  On reflection, this practice spoke eloquently of the sharing of Christ with the whole community, the hospitality of the Lord’s Supper extending beyond the walls of the church and into the community – a visual demonstration of the action of yeast, the kingdom of heaven infiltrating every part of society.  It also echoes the traditional practices of distributing wedding cake to absent guests as a sign of favour.

The distribution of the Argoed Loaf demonstrates the favour in which the recipient is held in by the givers, and it echoes the hope of Christ’s return and the wedding feast of the Lamb.  It also speaks of covenant: we send cake to witness to the covenant of a marriage, in turn it is a metaphor used by OT prophets for God’s covenanted relationship with the people of Israel.  Accepting the food, partaking of the feast indicates participation.  Carter states that it is:

A gracious gift from God, a symbol of God’s justice and provision of adequate resources for all, of God’s goodness and transforming presence.[4]

The sharing of the bread with the community was a surprise to me, being completely spontaneous.  Some Christian traditions keep the communion bread set aside to be taken into the community, others emphasise that the bread must be completely consumed at the meal.  This distribution fitted neither patter.  The communion loaf, broken, shared and gathered by the participants to share further with friends and family, spoke of a longing for the mission of the church to break the bounds of what was considered ‘normal church’.  There was a sense in which this was the ‘priesthood of all believers’ in action.  One can only guess the conversations that these gifts of bread engendered.

The use of a loaf indigenous to the culture of the believers provided a sense of communal identity.  This community is able to trace its roots through many generations.  The people remember the church in its heyday, a time of demographic growth in the village with the arrival of the coal industry coinciding with a religious fervour.  The recreation of the loaf also looks forward to a new generation, using the past to inform and provide continuity with the future.

While celebrating communion away from the sanctuary and the table raised a few eyebrows, moving the altar to the centre of the church is sometimes seen in modern ecclesiastical architecture, notably the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

The central place given to the altar or communion table has strong symbolic significance.  The community is gathered for a meal.  It is an offer of hospitality.  This is in marked contrast to the focus placed on a pulpit located on a stage.  It is a move from the celebrity to the celebrant, from someone speaking who is speaking to you to one who is eating with you and who welcomes you to the feast on behalf of Christ.[5]

Interestingly, those who had excluded themselves from communion felt able to share the loaf after the formalities of the service had ended, which raises questions of hospitality.  The fencing of the table, combined with an emphasis on self-examination before communion, has led many to believe that they are ‘not good enough’ to share the feast.  By contrast, in the gospels Jesus feasts with sinners and outcasts, not asking them to change prior to the meal.  After eating with Christ they often do change.  Paul’s injunction for examination is to ask whether the Corinthian church practices are hospitable to the whole body, rather than a check for unconfessed sins.

A second Eucharistic meal?

A second meal within the same community took place a week later when a small group of members spent the day cleaning, decorating and preparing the chapel for the Easter celebrations, which included a baptism.  Topics of conversation moved around hopes and dreams for the church community, the anticipation of new life evidenced through the baptism and the opportunity to open the doors of the chapel building to the wider community in evangelism and mission.  Finally the little group became hungry and so one member went out for fish and chips.  The members gathered for that meal laughed at the implications of the order: ‘five fish and two chips’.

The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand was recounted from memory, without recourse to a Bible and while there was not ‘prayer’ in a liturgical sense, there was still a sense of prayer and praise, acknowledging God’s abundant provision.  Was this meal of fellow believers, remembering Christ’s actions and God’s goodness, any less a real communion than a liturgical celebration of the Lord’s Supper?  This question raises the question of whether it is the bread and wine that make ‘communion’, or the words of institution and liturgical prayers, or is it that Jesus is present when his followers meet and eat, remembering his life and seeking to live his way in the power the Holy Spirit?  I would argue that this meal of fish and chips was indeed a holy communion, Christ present where two or three were gathered.

Throughout the gospels we witness many meals where Jesus is both host and guest.  The fish and chips at Argoed were reminiscent of the post-resurrection breakfast hosted by Jesus of grilled fish (John 21:11-14).  As with the bread, the fish must be broken to be shared and eaten.  The single fish, being part of a shoal, echoes the many pieces from the one loaf.  More importantly, it is Jesus’ presence which elevates this from being a simple barbecue on a beach.  With our fish and chips, it was the presence of Christ, ‘where two or three are gathered in my name’, that made this simple meal into a Eucharistic experience.  In our gathering, our informal prayer, and our laughter, we were remembering the whole of Christ’s ministry encapsulated in the story of the feeding of the five thousand.

In The Prodigal Project,[6] the authors discuss ‘reframing’ as being essential in ‘curating’ worship experiences.  Reframing means placing something into a new context, bread and wine becoming not simply elements of a meal, but endowed with symbolic meaning.  The authors explore other communion meals in which traditional elements were replaced by hamburger buns and coke at a festival, the elements being appropriate to the setting.  Jesus reframed the common elements of a meal within his society.  In the 21^st century the common elements of a meal may well be beer and chips!

Theological symbolism may be lost when bread and wine are replaced by other foods, but how far removed from the symbolism of abundant wholeness are our offerings of cubed, processed bread and de-alcoholised wine or Ribena?  Willimon compares so much of what is offered in communion, to a Weight-Watchers’ meal, rather than the joyous feast of the bridegroom.[7]  While moving the Lord’s Supper our the sanctuary or using alternative elements might be regarded as sacrilegious, the experiences at Argoed have provided opportunity for reflection.  Perhaps we have superimposed so much meaning on communion that we have forgotten that primarily it is the celebration of the community, with each other and with God, with whatever elements we have to hand, and in whatever context we find ourselves in. Nigel Wright says:

...the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is not to be located in the bread and wine as such but in the way in which the Holy Spirit is present among the people of God in the act of sharing bread and wine together as themselves the body of Christ.[8]

While Clark argues that:

Eternal life is the fruit of communion (John 6:58) with Christ; the Eucharist is the means of that communion.[9]

However, if we are partakers of the body of Christ, sharing in his life and death, this is so much more than simply eating bread and drinking wine.  John perhaps speaks more of our sharing in the actions of Jesus, in community, symbolised by the bread and wine, the body and blood.  Ultimately we are called to take the new life, borne out of communion with Christ into our wider communities, be that through an indigenous bara brith or from the deepening participation in communion over a meal of fish and chips.

This article originally published in the UK Baptist Ministers Journal January 2012.

Fran Bellingham has recently gained her MTh from South Wales Baptist College where she studied while her husband, Richard, was training for Baptist ministry.  They are now in the settlement process searching for their first pastorate.  Richard and Fran have two adult children.

After 27 years in counselling ministry, Dave Carder was not prepared for a sharp rise in his caseload of women addicted to pornography. "If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be seeing rapidly escalating numbers of young women involved in pornography, I would not have believed them," says Carder, a Pastor at First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton, California. "There is a growing body of observation and research that suggests that women's sexual appetites and level of desires are changing," he notes. While men are considered more visual than females, there seems to be a transformation underway.

"Desire for women used to be for closeness and affection; it was more the desire for intimacy," Carder says. "Women are much more sexually aggressive than they used to be," Carder notes. "The whole sexualisation of the culture is bringing about these changes." Radio commentator Dennis Prager observed that at the last Academy Awards ceremony, many of the jokes and songs featured strong sexual innuendo. Even sporting events, which used to be a family-friendly viewing zone, are dripping with sexuality. Pastor Carder finds common backgrounds in the women he counsels about pornography addiction.

"There is a lot of molestation history in the women's lives as children or teens." Some come from broken families, with mums who had several boyfriends. "Many of the women who struggle with pornography also struggle with alcohol and obesity," he notes. Two recent books suggest the neurological wiring for pornography addiction may be changing in women. "These books suggest women have the potential to develop the same arousal response to visual stimulation as men," Carder notes. Another disturbing trend is that more and more Christian couples are watching pornography together.

"Christian couples set up boundaries and say they will watch this, but not that. But over time, they begin to expand their viewing habits and they are headed for trouble. Addiction erodes all boundaries." Pastor Carder has the same approach to treating men and women addicted to pornography. He notes "They need the same kind of support as someone recovering from alcohol. They need a group, a sponsor, and at least three months for recovery," Carder says. The number of Christians battling these issues is astonishing. "Too many women have struggled in silence," he maintains.  With Christ, freedom and victory can be won."

This news article appeared in the Australian Prayer network international news, 15th April,  2013
Source: God Reports www.godreports.com

How is pornography impacting lives in your church?
How can the church help people struggling with addition to pornography?
How can we support and resource churches to talk about issues like this?

Dutch Consul, Mr Hans Nieuwland, officially launched a book written by a member of the Millgrove Baptist Church on February 11, 2012. The colourful event was held in the Warburton Hall and was attended by many friends and family as well as members of the wider community. Those with a Dutch heritage dressed in national costume. Both the Australian and Dutch flags adorned the stage and those gathered sang the national anthems of both countries. The author undertook the obligatory signing of copies sold. The book has been in demand, so much so that a second printing is now available.

This remarkable family history was written Mr Henk Boer, long-time resident and businessman of the Yarra Valley. It is remarkable in that it covers the family history from 1635 to 1998 – some eight generations. The first part of the book encapsulates interesting Dutch history as much as the family story. There is detail of contemporary events and social conditions, obviously well researched. Throughout runs the strong Christian heritage which began with the conversion of the ancestor Evert Kyrs in 1635.

Historic pictures and photos are a great adjunct to the text, particularly pertaining to the period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which forms the bulk of the work. The major focus is the emigration of the family from the Netherlands post World War 2. It gives a very detailed insight into the issues confronting immigrants in Australia during this period. It also details some of the history of the Millgrove Church of which Henk’s parents were founding members.

This is a very readable and enjoyable book and can be obtained by contacting Mr Henk Boer at 54 Riversdale Road, Yarra Junction, 3797 or on 59671113 or 0408 396 093.

New research suggests that running more programs is not the answer to growing congregations and forming disciples, writes Ken Morgan, who is responsible for co-ordinating the implementation of Archbishop Freier’s vision for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.

 “Say ‘no’ to almost everything,” is curious advice to offer church leaders. Yet that’s exactly what researchers Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger recommend. Surveying over 400 churches, they found that churches experiencing significant and sustained growth tended to have fewer activities, and those activities were organised into a simple process that helped people become mature disciples.

By contrast, plateaued and declining churches were more likely to run lots and lots of isolated activities that function like spiritual ‘blind alleys’ – they corral people and don’t help them to grow in maturity.

Rainer and Geiger’s research goes counter to the advice church growth writers were offering back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Church Leaders of that era often encouraged churches to have as many points of entry as possible. Growing churches, they observed, ran programs to serve as many kinds of people as possible. “The more ‘doors’ you have, the more people come in!” ran the mantra.

A decade or two later we have a lot of people who became very tired maintaining all those ‘doors’. We’re realising that the ‘more is better’ doctrine is unsustainable. We can run lots of activities for lots of different people for a while, but we risk running activities while failing to form meaningful relationships. Without relationships, people drift away as quickly as they came. People seem to be looking for a place to belong.

It takes more people to form community around an activity than it does to merely run the activity – often twice as many. The implication may be that the way forward for plateaued or declining churches is to re-think some of the current activities that don’t produce fruit.

Reflecting on the remarkable growth of North Point Community Church, in Georgia, USA, Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones describe their relentless commitment to simplicity and focus. That means every activity has a specific group it’s designed to serve, and a specific outcome it’s designed to achieve. No two activities serve the same function for the same group. For example, the North Point team made a conscious choice not to run an adult Sunday school, because it served the same purpose as cell groups.

While relationships are vital, activities that are solely focused on ‘fellowship’ generally don’t contribute to growing disciples or growing congregations either – mainly because they simply reinforce long-standing relationships at their long-standing level. New people find it hard to break into entrenched social patterns. And those on the inside are less likely to grow because they remain comfortable and unchallenged.

Conversely, new people often find a place to belong when they find a role that makes a meaningful contribution. Genuine, life-transforming fellowship usually occurs as a by-product while we’re trying to accomplish something that goes beyond our own needs and preferences. Activities should serve a purpose beyond ourselves.

So where does that leave us? Instead of creating havoc by summarily closing half our ministries, I encourage you to read Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s Simple Church, and Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Stanley, Joiner and Jones. For information on workshops see www.bishopperryinstitute.org.au/training

This article originally appeared in The Melbourne Anglican, March 2013. Re-posted with permission.

http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/NewsAndViews/TMA/Pages/TMA-archives-2013.aspx

From the mouth of a donkey

It is a commonly referenced story, where God speaks to his prophet through a donkey. Truth be told what God said, who that prophet was and why He used a donkey is not as easily remembered as the headline that a donkey spoke.

Alain de Botton is not really a donkey, nor do I want to build aspersions as to his character. However, he is a writer who we would probably not normally read or celebrate. He is a staunch atheist, renown for statements like, “Let us bluntly state that of course no religions are true in any God-given sense”. His book, Religion for Atheists attempts to articulate a pathway beyond “laying bare the idiocy of believers”. That said, and with trepidation that some may want to burn me at the stake, I believe this book provides some fascinating insights that the church would do well to embrace. If nothing else, it articulates from one of our ardent critics, many things that the church has done and continues to do well.

De Botton identifies, that even though he fully rejects all religions (though the material has a distinct focus on Judeao/Christian religion), some aspects of their practice are “useful, interesting and consoling” and even to propose that these aspects be imported into the secular realm. [This is fascinating given the sometimes harsh criticism of Christianity for importing pagan festivals into the church’s practice!]

Community has eroded in our society and De Botton recognises that it is a part of human nature to require community, and yet to behave in ways that break community at times too. The Jewish Day of Atonement is proposed as a model that “a secular world could adopt its own version” not just annually, but as it is such a great thing to build community it should be done four times a year. Secular society holds education as a supreme virtue. Yet a primary difference is seen in that while secular education seeks to impart knowledge, Christian education seeks to evoke change (the essential difference between a lecture and a sermon). Further, the church recognises that learning is not something done for a few youthful years but is a continual lifelong process. The church’s use of Art and Architecture is described as enabling us to view “tiresomely familiar yet critical ideas”, particularly around virtuous behaviour. De Botton suggest museums should become our new churches, not just displaying beautiful objects but to do so in such a way as they “make us good and wise”.

Other areas that he sees as prominent are: Kindness, Tenderness, Pessimism & Perspective, Art & Architecture, Institution.

It’s not difficult to read and there are lots of pictures. There will be parts with which you will disagree strongly. There will be parts you won’t like, though still find yourself agreeing with.

For a vehement critic of religion generally, and the church particularly, the church does a whole lot of things pretty good! This work gives us good reason to be proud about much of what we do. Further, it gives us an insight into what our society may well value about the church, perhaps without fully realising it.

Review by Graham Mann, Senior Pastor at Howrah Church of Christ.

There are a number of practical attitudes and behaviours that significantly contribute to pastoral health. They include the following.

Self-differentiate

For the Kingdom’s sake, have a clear picture of who you are in Christ. Two major assignments are given to us as Christians:

1. To know God as revealed in Christ. You do this by knowing the bible and interacting with the Spirit of God as a teacher, interpreter of truth and empowering companion. Keep working on that relationship for the whole journey. Interacting as a learner of Christ (Matthew 11: 28-29), being Scripture soaked and prayer bathed is all part of this.

2. Couple this with a desire to understand who you are. This comes as you understand your personal story, giftedness, loves, dreams and strengths; along with your fears, hates, obsessions and angers, vulnerabilities and weaknesses. To foreknow is to be forewarned. It is wise to pray and walk away from that which is unhealthy, ungodly and distracting. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3).

Boundaries around marriage and family

Establishing boundaries about one’s marriage and family does not mean that you become obsessive, rather you communicate with your spouse vigorously and constantly about everything. You listen to them carefully, thoughtfully, and with love. Together you learn the way to do conflict and you stick to the rules, respectfully working through differences.

As we do this within marriage, so we are to do it within family. Preciousness about children can verge on idolatry and ought to be watched. However, our children need our priority, love, patience, modelling of life with Christ and our time. Affirmation of their value through verbal expressions of love and physical demonstrations of affection that are respectful, generous and frequent are important. Discipline that is consistent, firm and always directed toward enabling children to come back on track with family rules and thus learn how to live with each other, parents and within a large community. Talk during television shows, during drives, whenever and wherever your children open up, maximize the possibility of their doing so.

Boundaries are to be like pores in ones skin, they are to have holes so the skin can breathe. Spouses each need friends and companions of the same gender. Children need friends that are welcome in our homes. Practice person to person hospitality and hospitality in the home within the family’s financial limitations. Preserve family private times and spaces but include others in that often.

Exercise, play sport and have fun

A comparative sedentary lifestyle is to be balanced by regular exercise, regular participation in sports, so some of this needs to be team sports. Encourage your family to do the same and be with them in the midst of that. Make the most of connecting with people in community at your kids games. Date nights and dates with one’s children on a one-to-one basis are something I did not necessarily do, but I watch my children do this with great wisdom as they relate to their children.

Work practices

Be proactive about good work practices. Spend mornings in the study, with the possible exception of staff meetings and scripture classes, and afternoons for meeting with people and visitation are good practices. Work at least eight hours a day. Take Sabbaths or days off for recreation and days of in lieu when required i.e. after family camps or particularly stressful periods. One day in seven or an equivalency is good practice. Do not expect volunteers to do more than time allows for them. Do not deliberately or unwittingly suggest that your role is more significant in God’s design that that of others in the congregation. Remember you are not necessarily the hardest working person in your congregation and do not go into victim mode about that.

Take holidays

What do you do for fun as a family and as an individual? Having worked out what it is, get into it or find a cheaper alternative if you must. For example, you can walk, jog, or ride a bike instead of joining a gym. Holiday regularly with your own family and include others on occasion. There is nothing like a campfire for relaxed story telling or gathering around a gas lamp and reading together as a family.

Read and listen to music

Keep up your reading of journals like ‘The Week’ or ‘Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care’. Read about preaching, theology, church history, cultural and societal trends, as well as leadership practicability. Do so using electronic material or paper books. Have mercy on your people, read and keep writing sermons out in full, using gender inclusive illustrations and language. Read good novels rather than watch TV if your time is short. Historical, well researched novels may enrich you. Travel if it is possible for you and broaden your worldview and your understanding of other cultures. Tackle language study if you have an opportunity or the slightest reason for doing so.

Watch out for ‘withdrawal symptoms’

Many Australian pastors, as opposed to US pastors, are introverts. If you are an introvert then make sure that that you get time on your own to renew your soul and energy to speak with people. Plan your use of time accordingly, but whatever you do, engage with people at depth and learn their stories, sins and see God working in them.

Be careful of high maintenance people

Know who pushes your buttons, and what about them causes this to be the case. Part of healthy self-awareness knows those people who frustrate you and what it is about them that does so.

Set up healthy patterns in life

Set these patterns while you and your family are relatively young and it will stand you in good stead. Yes, you will as a result, still be interacting with your children when they are adults, and with their children and you will realise that you can do it all over again. The second time around, with grandchildren, there is a relationship distance that makes it more relaxed and enjoyable but it will still cost.

Know your doctor

Keep in touch with your medical practitioner, for other members of your family, for yourself. Regular medical check and paying attention to healthy tendencies you have in your family or origin and within your nuclear family. Eat healthily at all times.

As a final Charge, believe Paul’s directive - Keep watch over your own yourselves and over all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own son. Your own souls, and those of the people you serve. (Acts 20: 28)

By John Reid. This article re-posted with permission from NSW & ACT Baptist Churches, Together Magazine: www.togethermagazine.com.au

Thirteen years ago two Karen families and a young pastor met in a house in a Yarraville and agreed to meet weekly for fellowship.  At the time the two families and the pastor represented about half the Karen community in Victoria. Thirteen years later the community has grown to become the Westgate Karen Baptist Church, and most weeks it barely fits into the church in Yarraville.

In April, Westgate Karen Baptist Church celebrated its thirteenth anniversary. The church is now one of ten Karen churches in Victoria and there are more ethnic Chin and Karenni churches too. The growth of these churches has been driven by Australia’s refugee program. Every year the Australian government gives humanitarian visas to one thousand refugees in Thailand. Most of those granted visas are ethnic Karen Christians.

These churches come from a different place in more ways than one. The average Karen or Karenni family has survived the destruction of a village, the conscription for forced labour by the Burmese Army or a stint of combat as a guerrilla, fleeing across a border, the death of a family member from malaria, and years in a refugee camp. It is a different kind of faith – welcome to a community that knows about prayer!

Welcome to a community that sings. Some Karen villages boast a TV, a video player and a diesel generator. But for most Karen Christian villagers, entertainment on a Saturday night is singing practise. In the villages of Burma, in refugee camps, in Thailand, in Laverton, in Werribee, in Kangaroo Flat, and in Nhill.

The future will hold many challenges for this Karen church. Most Sundays Westgate has an English-language service in the morning and a Karen-language service in the afternoon, but one Sunday each month there is a combined, bilingual multicultural service. But this is just one step in walking the path between preserving Karen culture and integrating into a new culture, finding new ways to do mission, and making faith relevant for a younger generation growing up in Australia.

Martin West is ………………….

View National Reconciliation Week Factsheet:  2013: Reconciliation Timeline - Part 3 (1.45 MB)

In the lead up to National Reconciliation Week 2013, the Witness will bring focus to the various resources available from Reconciliation Australia, to prompt churches to engage locally in becoming communities of reconciliation. By profiling different Reconciliation Australia Fact Sheets in the Witness for the next 6 weeks, we hope Victorian Baptists will look further into available resources, and find ways local churches can be involved in taking practical steps towards reconciliation with indigenous Australians.

The BUV office is currently working on a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), and part of this will be our provision of information and connection with resources to raise awareness amongst Baptists, and to encourage each Baptist Church to undertake its own RAP.

Consider what your church can do, not just during National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June), but as an ongoing intention to live in reconciled relationship.

Questions to discuss:

1.     Do we know the name of the Aboriginal groups who were the first peoples and custodians of the land on which our church meets?

2.     Do we have a plaque of acknowledgment of this group or peoples on or near our church meeting place?

3.     Do we acknowledge this group or peoples in special services or public events we run?

4.     Should our church develop our own Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)? (see http://reconciliation.org.au/home/reconciliation-action-plans)

Has the great feast of Christmas simply become the high point in the West’s religion of greed and consumption? A reflection on greed as religion, and how our wealth can undermine our devotion to God.

In recent years a number of academics and social commentators have questioned the rampant materialism of the Western world. They argue that if people are trying to get rich in order to be happy, it isn’t working. Elizabeth Farrelly wrote that over several decades “Western happiness has declined precisely in tandem with the rise of affluence.” Similarly, Ross Gittins claims that there is actually “evidence that those who strive most for wealth tend to live with lower well-being.”

Why then do material ambitions still dominate so many of us? Affluenza, a book by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss, compares materialism to a disease. In their view the Western world is in the grip of a consumption binge that is unique in human history. We are addicted to excessive consumption. This plausible diagnosis is one that Christians have in fact made for centuries.

In the Middle Ages, theologians regarded greed not only as a deadly sin but also as a deadly disease. Greed was commonly thought to be the spiritual equivalent of dropsy, a malady that provoked an insatiable thirst for water even though the body was already filled with fluid. The more the sick person tried to satisfy their thirst, the more it was stimulated until finally death ensued. The comparison with the negative impact of greed is apt.

Other critics of greed have compared it to a religion. One newspaper article carried the title, “In greed we trust” (instead of “in God we trust”). When high profile stockbroker Rene Rivkin died one published obituary spoke of his “once-loyal entourage of supporters who worshipped their high priest at the altar of wealth.” A review of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad commented that it “isn’t just a wealth creation manual, it’s a religious tract.”

As it turns out, the comparison of greed with a religion is hardly original. The New Testament warns not infrequently of the religious power of money. Jesus charged that people either serve God or Mammon (i.e., possessions; Matthew 6:24 / Luke 16:13). The apostle Paul believed that some people’s god is their belly (Rom. 16:18 / Phil. 3:19) and he condemned greed as a form of idol worship (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5).

The Bible’s condemnation of greed as a religion

What are we to make of the comparison of greed with religion? Are the New Testament denunciations of greed in terms of idolatry just arresting hyperbole? Can such extreme rhetoric help us in the fight against greed today?

The first thing to notice is that Jesus’ and Paul’s comparisons of greed with religion were more innovative in form or expression than in content. The Old Testament paves the way for them with its strong association between wealth and apostasy. In the OT it’s not that the rich inevitably abandon God, but becoming wealthy raises the possibility. With riches comes the temptation to trust in oneself rather than God. The rich sometimes feel that they have no need of God; they have made other arrangements.

Material things as a threat to devotion to God is underscored, for example, in Deuteronomy 8:12-14, which warns those entering the Promised Land not to allow their prosperity to lead them to abandon the Lord: “when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

The same lesson is reinforced in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, where newly acquired wealth is said to lead the people into apostasy: “Jeshurun [i.e., the nation Israel] grew fat… and abandoned the God who made him” (v. 15).

Comparable warnings appear across the Old and New Testaments. For example, the sage prays that God will not give him riches, lest he “may have too much… disown [God] and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’” (Prov. 30:7-9). Job explains that, “if I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security’… I would have been unfaithful to God on high” (Job 31:24-28). In Luke’s Gospel, with reference to the teaching of Jesus, the dangers riches pose to entering the Kingdom of God are evident in the parable of the rich fool (12:13-21), the encounter with the rich ruler (18:18-30) and in the calls to renounce possessions and give to the poor in order to enter the kingdom of God (14:33; 18:22).

Indeed, the concept of greed as a religion has deep roots in the Bible. What are we to make of Paul’s explicit comparisons of greed with idol worship in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5? In what ways are greed and idolatry alike? Over the centuries three answers to this question have been suggested. Whereas most twentieth-century interpreters see love as the point of similarity, the Reformer Martin Luther identified trust and the Church Father Chrysostom service. Do the greedy person and the idolater love, trust and serve their money and their idols respectively? All three are in fact correct.

The Bible underscores love, trust and service as three core responses of the believer in relation to God, and faults both the idolater and the greedy person for foolishly misdirecting these same three. Both idolaters and the greedy “set their hearts” on inappropriate objects. Both “rely on,” “trust in,” and “look to” their “treasures” for protection and blessing. Both “serve” and “submit to” things that demean rather than ennoble the worshipper.

The mammon saying in Matthew and Luke confirms this troubling teaching. Jesus warns about excessive love of wealth and a forbidden service of wealth: “No one can be a loyal servant to two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot faithfully serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24). In the following context Jesus points to the way God cares for the birds and the lilies in order to inspire trust in God’s providential care and to calm anxiety about material things that provokes us to seek them obsessively and put our trust in them: “the pagans (those who do not know God) run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them” (v. 32).

Greed is idolatry in that, like the literal worship of idols, it represents an attack on God’s exclusive rights to human love, trust and service. Material things can replace God in the human heart and set us on a course that is opposed to him, even arousing his jealousy.

The contemporary relevance of greed as idolatry

Is greed a religion today? It does seem that for many people material things hold a place in their lives that was once occupied by belief in God. The economy has achieved what might be described as a sacred status. Like God, the economy, is capable of supplying our needs without limit. Also, like God, the economy is mysterious, dangerous and intransigent, despite the best managerial efforts of its associated clergy.

If once our most vivid experiences were religious, today they involve money rituals. For example, the modern day equivalent of the city cathedral is the shopping complex. On her Up! Album, Shania Twain sings: “We’ve created us a credit card mess. We spend the money that we don’t possess. Our religion is to go and blow it all. So it’s shoppin’ every Sunday at the mall.”

As we already noted, the very things Christianity claims God expects of believers, namely love, trust and service, may well characterize our relationship with money. A glance at the palpable glee on the faces of game show contestants confirms our love of money. You can literally buy ‘securities’ and ‘futures.’ Most disturbingly, as the French ethicist Jacques Ellul put it, “We can use money, but it is really money that uses us and makes us servants by bringing us under its law and subordinating us to its aims.”

The ultimate solution to the insatiable grasping for, and obsessive hoarding of, material things that marks our age is not simply to say no to something of limited value, but to say yes to something better. Jesus’ concluding exhortation on the subject of greed in the Sermon on the Mount amounts to such a redirection of desire: “The pagans run after such things… But you instead should seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness” (Matt. 6:32-33).

Economists may recommend greed, politicians rely on it and celebrities flaunt it, but in the end like all idols money fails to deliver on its promises. If the root cause of materialism is misdirected religious impulses, then the ultimate solution is still faith in the true and living God who alone gives the security and satisfaction that each of us craves.

“With riches comes the temptation to trust in oneself rather than God. The rich sometimes feel that they have no need of God...”

“The ultimate solution to the insatiable grasping for, and obsessive hoarding of, material things that marks our age is not simply to say no to something of limited value, but to say yes to something better.”

Rev Dr Brian Rosner is the Principal of Ridley Melbourne and author of Beyond Greed and Greed as Idolatry. He spoke on the subject of greed at a recent conference on Christian ministry at The Peter Corney Training Centre, Kew. This article originally appeared in The Melbourne Anglican, December 2012.

Photo by Mompes.

Change Killers are lurking in your church - do you know what they are?  

The very fact that we’re leaders means we have to chart the course and make bold steps toward the destiny God has designed for us.

The problem is…it doesn’t always work. Change is a scary proposition for most people, and so it’s not always received with the enthusiasm we envision.

Today I’m going to clarify why change is so hard for churches, and a few things we can do to make it easier:

1. Unbridled Tradition

Tradition is great – it’s one of the things all of us look forward to in our lives. Vacation traditions, family traditions, holiday traditions. No matter what your personality you find comfort and meaning in the few things that don’t change in your life. Everybody does.

The problem with tradition in churches is when programs and practices become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end.

If the Great Commission and the Great Commandment are our marching orders and our goal is to reach & grow people, then our focus has to be on the mission. Not on the means.

Question: Are there traditions, programs, silos, or sacred cows holding your church back from impact?  

If so, are you willing to shift the emphasis to the mission and off of the means?

2. Dysfunctional Structure

Just like our physical bodies need a structure (skeleton), so our churches need structure. Structures are the people & processes you use and the way you organize them.

The best structures for creating positive change are the ones where decisions can be made quickly, trust is built through flowing communication, and authority comes with responsibility.

Whenever there’s frustration on your team it’s wise to ask whether the structure is creating problems. Fixing structural problems is one of the quickest ways to gain momentum and raise morale.

How’s your structure?

3. Unresolved Conflict

Jesus made it clear that unity in the Body of Christ is a non-negotiable. It’s intended to be the hallmark of Christianity in the world.

The truth is, teams with unresolved conflict cannot make significant progress until the problems are addressed and the conflicts are dealt with in a healthy way.

More on this in an upcoming post.

4. Lack of Faith

Years ago, Rick Warren did a study on the 100 fastest growing churches in America. He was looking for the common leadership characteristics in the leaders of these effective churches.

What he discovered is that each leader was a very unique, with the exception of one quality: Great faith.

Both the task and the challenges of church leadership are outrageous, and they require a leader who has the faith to believe that God will prevail.

What are you believing about yourself and your church?

5. Fuzzy Vision

As my mentor Nelson Searcy says, "people say no to what's confusing."

If the vision for our churches is foggy, the buy-in will be minimal.  What people are looking for in life is a purpose, a clear & burning opportunity to connect their lives with something greater and more enduring.  And when a leader clarifies a clear & compelling vision and asks people to sign on, they do.

Personally this is the most difficult part of leadership for me, but it’s also where I see the greatest payoffs for the work I put in.

A good vision answers the question, “What will it be like when we get there?”

How can you help answer this question for your team & church?

Gabe Kolstad is a multi-time Advanced Coaching Alumni with Nelson Searcy and Senior Pastor of Westside Community Church in Beaverton, Oregon.

This article posted at churchleaders.com November 2012. You can read more or contact Gabe at www.gabekolstad.com, or www.churchleaderinsights.com