Why I didn't like The Bible

Before you accuse me of heresy and demand I resign my post, let me first clear up that in this post I'm not talking about the actual bible, but rather the TV adaptation that aired in Australia on Chanel 9 last night.

And before you accuse me of heresy and demanding I resign my post because I'm saying in public I didn't like something that apparently all Christians are meant to unite behind... well just hold your horses. I'm not critical of the people who made it, or even what they tried to do.  I'm not saying it won't be useful for some.  I'm not even saying I'm right.  I'm just saying I didn't like it and I want to explain why.

For me the reason I didn't like the Bible is the same reason I pretty much don't like any Christian movie that is made ever.  And that reason is that Christian movies or productions don't seem to be good at letting me take a step back and think for myself about the themes.  For example in the movie World War Z with Brad Pitt that I just saw last week many things happen.  Zombies rise up, Brad saves the world.  But the cure or the solution to the zombie apocalypse is to make people sick with deadly virus (which somehow can be cured later) because the zombies only go for healthy people.  Anyway, without saying anything directly to the camera, this movie has explored the theme of how strengths can be weakness, of how weakness can be strength.  In fact I think it gives me a window somewhat into the world of Paul in his letters to Corinthians and helps me understand that actually weakness can be strength.  That God is made strong through our weakness.  It's not a direct link, but a related theme.  And movies, and TV shows or mini-series work best when they teach not through plot but through theme.  And this is why I didn't really like The Bible.

Look it's great that constantly the characters turn to each other and say, 'we must trust God'.  But it would be better if, and this would take the brains of some far more skilled movie script writers than me, it would be better if we saw the story unfold and implicit in the theme was trust in the face of adversity.  I also found the narration clunky, normal TV doesn't do that.

My other problem is that The Bible (like the actual written version) is a story of sinful, imperfect people being used by God even though they fail, give up, and often lack trust in God.  Abraham and the Israelites in the wilderness both lack trust in God and His promises A LOT.  But the faithfulness of God to His promises remains.  Sure the people in the story have some good moments.  But I'd like to see more of the bad moments (in the TV show).

So I don't know how you would do this, but I'd be more interested in a show that figured out what some of the big themes in the scriptures were and then figured out which stories best explored those themes. Kinda like how the book of Esther never mentions God but explores themes anyway.

Did you watch it last night?  What did you think?

Read More

Brief reflection on Guy Sebastian

So the 'big' news for those of us who remember the first Australian Idol season all those years ago is that Guy Sebastian, the Planetshakers back up singer with the afro who was a virgin, is no longer an orthodox Christian.  There's lots that could be said, but I was particularly taken with this line from Sebastian quoted in the article:

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not judgmental

The reason I found this to be interesting is because throughout the article he makes several 'judgments'. He implicitly makes judgments about people who oppose gay marriage as being people who will be looked back upon in the future as crazy.  He makes judgments about when religion turns to hate and when he will disassociate himself from that.  He makes judgments about people who believe religions are not all the same, and that Jesus is the only way to God.

So my plea to Guy Sebastian and others who want to claim they are not judgmental is this.  Please stop judging me or please stop saying that you're not judgmental.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.

(Image comes from Daily Telegraph article)

Read More

Engaging with the Same Sex Marriage Debate

I read something from a a guy who was in favour of same-sex marriage but opposed to the current legislation being debated in Tasmania a while back.  He argued that all views opposed to same sex marriage where ipso-facto homophobic.  I disagreed.  I was hoping that he and I would be able to dialogue over the issue, but sadly I haven't received a response.  Below is a copy of the email I sent.  I offer it as my current thoughts on how to engage people in conversation over the issue.  What did I say well?  What could I have said better?

Hey Person X!

First of all thanks for putting your views out there for people like me to engage with.  I suppose it's difficult for two people who don't know each other to engage in debate and discussion, particularly via emails but we'll give it a shot and hopefully we can both come to an understanding of each others point of view.  I also apologise if I offend you in anyway.  I have no idea of your history, your wounds, your life story which no doubt informs the way all of us think about everything even in our best attempts to be completely rationale.

Let me state a few things up front.  I'm a Christian and so I have a worldview that is completely different to yours (this is a major assumption and I'm sorry if I have misread your or inferred in error here) and so my approach to life, morality, law etc. will be different.  Let me also say that I find much of the Christian rhetoric around the whole 'same-sex marriage' debate to be lacking a little.  The problem I think in the debate between Christians and others in this area of same sex marriage is that we are actually having a world-view discussion which is far bigger than should we let gay people get married.  I think Christians need to admit this more.  What I think Christians do, understandably, is attempt to argue their case on the terms of say the secular atheist and lose.  So we end up saying things like marriage is all about children and studies apparently show children need a mum and a dad etc.  However, far more compelling to my mind is painting the story that shapes all humanity.  We are God's created and special people whom God has redeemed through Jesus to live life in a new way.  In his way.  This is the best way to live, because it's the way we were created to live.  We are nervous about gay marriage because we see that our government is legalising a way of living contrary to how we should live.  The conversation we then need to have is not about same sex marriage or when the right time to have sex with your partner is or if you should have an abortion, rather it is a larger question of how you look at the world.  How you make sense of all the good and the bad things  that happen.  How you make sense of your life and its purpose etc.

Let me also say that I probably agree with you on one level.  If I adopted a secular, atheistic world view, I would agree there seems to be no rational argument against same sex marriage.  Though in my mind, following that logic through I think there should be nothing wrong with other forms of marriage either (eg. polygamy).  If it's an arrangement that consenting adults enter into (whether they be male, female, or multiple or whatever) then it should be legal.

However as I alluded to on Facebook I do take serious concern that those who disagree with you are homophobes.  I think that is simply an oversimplification.  I have worked with two homosexual men in the past.  We got along well, I love and respected them as people and think no less of them for their choices, even though I disagree with them.  But as a Christian I disagree with people's choices all the time.  I know people who've being greedy, who've lied, who've had sex before marriage.  Heck I've even done some of those things.  I don't hate myself, I don't hate those people.  The world is full of people (including every single Christian who has ever lived and who will ever live) who make wrong choices according to the Christian world-view.  But the Christian world-view is one that in a large part is built around dealing with all the wrong/bad/evil choices people have made.  As Christians we should be like God, who though he disagrees with many of our choices, choses to loves us and help us make new choices.

So do I think homosexuality is wrong?  Yes I do.  But I also think that people are more than their sexuality.  I also think that much of my own hetrosexuality is wrong and broken and in need of God's help in fixing.  My worldview tells me that every single person regardless of race, colour, religion or sexuality is a beautiful person, made in the image of God.  But my world view also tells me that every person is a broken person in need of the redemption of God.  It is far more complex than hatred of homosexuals.  Something which I would happily stand next to you and condem as would the God I believe in.

I look forward to continuing the discussion.

Read More

Getting published

Sadly this is not the announcement of my publishing and speaking deal, but rather that I wrote a letter to the editor of the Hobart Metropolitan paper The Mercury.  It was a response to this article about how we should get rid of faith from our morality debates.  They titlted my response 'Mob Rule without Jesus' which I thought was pretty cool.

Sadly The Mercury doesn't publish this part of the paper on line, so I have no way of knowing if anyone responds.

Read More

Will I be like a racist?

So it seems that the past week and weekend has been particularly prolific on the pro same-sex marriage front with marches and all sorts of things happening.

On Sunday we found out about a group of doctors who have come out and said that it's bad for families.  Predictably we're told by others that this is wrong.  Either way there is more to marriage than children so I'm unsure of why we keep making marriage about children in this debate.  The debate will be won or lost on the issues of 'equality' and 'love'.  It has nothing to do with children essentially.  I even heard Penny Wong on QandA on Monday night rightly tell Joe Hockey that making marriage about children was dumb as people have kids without marriage.

Anyway, I noticed in this group of doctors was a prominent Victorian psychiatrist Dr George.  She happens to be on the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.  She has now said she is not in favour of same-sex marriage.  This is former AMA chief Karen Phelps response:

Gay rights activist and former AMA president Kerryn Phelps said Dr George's position on the board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission should be reviewed

Essentially the argument goes, Dr George does not support same-sex marriage.  Therefore she can no longer be on the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission because same-sex marriage is a right. And this debate is about 'equality'.  Which leads me to the title of my post.  I suspect in the next few years when the same-sex marriage bill is passed if you are opposed to it will essentially be like saying, 'all black people are stupid'.  Or something like that.  That is just like (rightly so I might add) we have moved against racism so we will move against 'homophobia', which will equal not being pro-homosexuality, especially same-sex marriage.

So what to do about this?  Well on one level what we're debating at the moment is the definition of a word.  The word is marriage.  At the heart of the debate is 'equality' in the law.  I still maintain that the best way forward is for the marriage act to be completely amended and renamed the 'civil union' act.  Then at law my marriage becomes a 'civil union' with all the same rights and benefits afforded to me from my marriage.  Then if I want to say I'm married.  Then I simply go to my church and have a religious service.  So at law I am civil-unioned.  On a religious level I'm married.  This would seem to be the option that makes everyone happy.  We all get equality and marriage is not redefined.

Failing this, which I think is likely, then Christians have lost their claim to the word marriage.  Marriage will come to mean, not a God ordained way of being, but a secular legal way of being.  In this case we will need to think about a new word to use that describes what we currently call marriage.  One man and woman united together for life.  Perhaps wedded or christian marriage or something.

Read More

Is Supporting Same-Sex Marriage brave?

The whole same-sex marriage debate is an interesting case study in how one side of an argument brilliantly co-opted the debate and will eventually win.  That is, it seems obvious to me that same-sex marriage is inevitable in Australia (graphic comes from this article).

I've been fascinated how those in favour of same sex marriage how brilliantly co-opted phrases like 'marriage equality' and 'equal love'.  Phrases that quite frankly as an Australian it is hard not to agree with.  After all we're all supposedly equal in our egalitarian country!  How dare the government discriminate like this.  It is brilliant political and social campaigning and those who oppose same-sex marriage have been left looking unloving, hateful, oppressive even.  I'm not sure if there was a possibility of appearing any other way.

Another part of the campaign is that it is 'brave' to come out in support of same-sex marriage.  For example Barrack Obama is said to be brave.  On Twitter last night after Channel 10s The Project did a segment on same-sex marriage people said it was brave for people to support it.  But surely to be brave there requires some form of danger?  Surely to be brave holding your view has to threaten your safety in some way.  As far as I can tell it would actually seem more brave to voice your opposition to same-sex marriage.  For example it would have taken a lot of bravery if someone on The Project last night had spoken up to defend people who do not believe same-sex marriage is legitimate.  In the midst of their rhetoric of its time for people who don't agree with same-sex marriage to 'get into the 21st century' it would take a brave man or woman to stand up against that.  Likewise on QandA on ABC often I hear questions and comments, especially from the host, in relation to this issue that requires bravery to stand up against.  So the gay lobby have been successful at co-opting their 'equal love' mantra, thus making anyone who stands against equality morally bankrupt and totally unAustralian.  In doing so they cannot claim that it is brave to agree with this.  No it is brave to stand against this view.

On an Melbourne Anglican side note I read in an article today this quote:

Reverend Gary Bouma, from the Anglican Church in Melbourne, said the Marriage Act was discriminatory. "It's dehumanising to tell someone their love isn't right," he said.

I would be keen to know what the ArchBishop makes of Rev Gary Bouma's statement and if he thinks this to be an unorthodox position what will be done about it. I'd also love to know how the Anglican church deals with priests who stray off message.  Perhaps Rev Bouma is on message?  This is a pertinent issue for me as I continue to discern my call to Anglican ordination.

Read More

What are words?

Ok.  So here is a developing thought that I've been playing with for a while now and it has to do with the nature of words and I suppose language and the way we use and interpret the Bible.

This is probably nothing new, and is most likely well researched by linguists and the like so i'd appreciate anyone who can point me in a direction of something to read.  I think my thinking is somewhat shaped by my sociology degree.

So let me try and outline it, this is my first attempt so don't shoot me!  The bible uses words (in the New Testament it uses Koine Greek words).  These words don't actually mean anything in and of themselves but their context, culture, and the idea behind them give them meaning.  So when we argue about what a particular word means we are arguing about what big idea in the stream of consciousness of the day was trying to be conveyed by the uses of that word.  Often we can figure that out by the surrounding sentence or sentences or book or books.

Now, we read an English bible.  It also uses words.  It uses words that in our context and culture portray the same meaning to our stream of consciousness.  So we have words like gospel or worship or church or marriage or grace that are used in the bible to convey particular meaning.

Now, there are some who get pretty revved up about correct use of words.  So we can have big long conversations about the word 'worship' or 'gospel' or 'church'.  Or some will prefer not to sing songs that use words like 'lovely' or 'fully sick' or something to describe God because the bible doesn't use those words.  On one hand I get where they are coming from.

But I think I'm starting to think that perhaps we just need to become as good at reading our culture and interpreting it (cultural exegesis if you like) as we are at doing biblical exegesis.  Perhaps we need to be less hung up on words and more hung up on ideas.  Words change, meaning changes, contexts change.  If we are hung up on defining everything in the exact same way as a word is used in the bible (or with different words that are not explicitly used in the bible, but might fit the big idea) then perhaps we are missing something of the richness and deepness that is life with Jesus and we are missing opportunities to take the good news about life with Jesus into our contexts.

After all english words in the Bible are just someones attempt to communicate an idea from a different context (1st Century Greek speaking Paul for example).  And Paul was using greek words to communicate an idea that was in some sense beyond the words he used.

Just thinking philosophically.  I still believe in Jesus' real life and death for my sins and reading the Bible as the primary way to know about Jesus.  I'm just trying to work out how language works or something.

Read More

Disconnected connection

In the first week of March the staff here at HTD went away on a retreat to talk about our ministry and church and hear from our relatively new Senior Pastor some of his thoughts for the future.  It was an excellent weekend.  But it is not so much that weekend that I wish to talk about but rather something interesting I noticed happening when we went out for dinner.  We went out to a restaurant and on the table across from us was a couple on a date.  They were chatting away for most of the night but at one point I looked over and I saw the guy checking his Facebook while the girl was telling him a story about something going on in his life.  Now this was not a subtle, keep the phone under your table and keep pretending to listen kind of check of the phone.  No, this guy got his phone out and had it up in view for everyone to see (including his date!) and was scrolling through Facebook!  I watched as he tried to listen to what the girl was saying, but we all know that (being a guy) this is pretty much impossible. I'm constantly getting into trouble from my wife for not disconnecting from my phone so as I can connect better with her.  Here he was trying to connect with his girlfriend and as she was opening herself up and telling him a story about her life, he got out his phone and checked what others were doing on Facebook.  Crazy!

Anyway, I'm reminded of this story because I just came across a promo for a new book by Tim Challies which looks like it's talking all about this kinda of stuff.  Will probably be a good read.  Check out the video:

Read More

More on Modesty

A month or so ago I posted about a model who was going around speaking about modesty.

Then the other day I came across this post on the Worship Matters blog about addressing Modesty in church.

Whilst that post is specifically about modesty in a worship band context, the topic is a hot one for Youth Ministry as well.  As youth wear what leaders wear.  Especially the girls.  I think that's partly because of the role model thing and partly because of culture.  For example when I moved up to Melbourne from Tassie I was decked out in Polar Fleece jumpers and other sort of outdoorsy type clothing because that was the culture of our church, and Hobart.  But in Melbourne I find myself wearing jackets and more city type clothing cause that is the culture here.

So people in churches and youth ministries tend to dress similarly and it's important that we do so in a modesty way.

Read More

Model Modesty

HT to Bishop John Harrower for this article.

A model in the USA has ditched the modelling life to promote living modestly.

Sadly, immodestly is all around us.  Sometimes it’s hard for guys to be in church.  Sometimes it’s hard for girls to be in church.  I think dressing modestly is a great way of saying I care more about my brother or sister than I do about feeling good or looking hot or whatever.

Perhaps I will name and shame some of my top immodest fashion trends of late that seem to have been embraced by the Christian world.  Maybe they’d be better kept to myself!

See the full article here

Read More

A closed open mind

Here's a thought-provoking post from my former senior pastor Dave Rietveld on having a so called 'open mind'.

Read More

The Connected World

Well, you may have heard it, you may have experienced it... We are living in a world that is more and more connected.

Someone has graphed how Facebook connects us.  It's very cool.  Obviously geography still plays a major role in our connectedness.  Just look how bright the USA and Europe are.  But I was struck by the number of lines that go round the world.

Check out the article in TIME here.

Read More

Cultural insight

Some interesting cultural insight from my brother down in Tassie about fashion.

It goes something like this... It's cool to shop at op-shops (second hand clothing outlets often run by people like the Salvation Army) and say you're not mainstream... But it's less cool to actually wear what you buy and thus everyone is still mainstream.

My point: Follow Jesus if you don't want to fit in or be mainstream!

Read More

Burning Koran

Luke gives a helpful round up of some good responses to this crazy crazy situation

Read More

Criticing the 'Jesus is my boyfriend' critic

If you hang around evangelicals for long enough you will start to here things like, 'Hillsong songs are all Jesus is my boyfriend type songs'.  This critic seems to apply to any song where if you replaced the word Jesus or God you could perhaps imagine singing part or all of the song to your boyfriend/girlfriend.  For example a song might say, I love Jesus or You (clearly implying God) are my everything.

I would now like to make a radical suggestion.  At least a suggestion that is radical to my mind.  What if this so called 'Jesus is my boyfriend' critic doesn't actually reveal a shallowness in the songs lyrics but an idol in the heart of the person criticizing.  Our society is filled with false ideas about how one person (your boyfriend or girlfriend) can fulfill all your wants and desires, can make you eternally happy, will love you no matter what etc.  That's what pop culture sings about all the time (mind you actually mostly these days pop music sings not about relationship but random sex so the critic may also reveal a lack of cultural awareness?).  The critique, I can imagine singing this song to my boyfriend, might actually just mean you have bought a lie.

Jesus is the only person who can fulfill all our hopes and dreams.  Jesus is the only person who can really love us no matter what we do unconditionally forever.  It seems entirely appropriate then to replace the idol of our boyfriend/girlfriend relationships with Jesus who loved us and who we love.  That we should make Jesus the object and centre of our love, affection and desire not our boyfriend or girlfriend.  Your boyfriend is going to fail you.  Jesus will never fail you.

Read More

The Poor, Homeless, My new books and a video

A week or two ago I posted some of my  reflections on going to the Men's Shelter run by the Salvation army called the Anchorage.   There were a number of comments including some recommended reading.

Just the other day two new books arrived in the mail from the Book Depository for me.

Sider - Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and Vanier - From Brokenness to Community.


I was also watching this video (see below) about homelessness in America.  It reminded me about when I was at Uni studying subjects like Social Policy and in particular some of the stuff I learnt about homelessness there.  You are said to be in housing stress (you can read some Australian specific stuff here) if you're paying more than 30% of your income to cover the basic costs of providing a house for yourselves (i.e. just the rent or morgate repayments).  If you're paying over 50% you're said to be in significant housing stress.  It's easy to see that it's not hard to get into housing stress!  For example to take out a small loan that would buy you a one bedroom home about 2hrs drive from Melbourne of 200000 with an interest rate of about 8% you need to repay 1500 a month.  To buy anything close to the city or in the Doncaster area you would need a lot more!  Which means of course, you have to earn lots to afford a home.  It's easy to imagine things could spiral out of control, like the loss of a job causing you to lose your house and become homeless.  And perhaps it's sometimes easy to understand why some of the people in our church aren't as generous as we think they ought be.




(HT to the Rethinking Youth Ministry guys for this video)

Read More

Internet Porn Stats

Really interesting bunch of stats on porn on the internet over at Youth Ministry Geek

Check it out

Read More

Wisdom from Google

From Google's CEO:

"If you have something you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place"

That's the exact same advice I give teenagers in our youth group who look a bit tipsy or drunk in Facebook photos.

Aside from that I agree with Steve, that there's something kinda scary about the video where this quote comes from:

Read More

Good website = Good church?

The other day over lunch at Ridley I said that if I was church shopping or trying to form an opinion about a church without actually being a part of it I would base it entirely on the website.  If the website was cool, I would think the church was cool.  If I could make a better website in Microsoft Front Page (does anyone even use that anymore?) then I would probably not rate the church at all.  If the church had no website, then I would think they have no idea what life in the 21st Century is all about.

Check out this quote which nicely backs up my opinion:

When we started the church we invested in a designer to develop our stationary and website. Communicate Jesus mentions this often but a good website will drive bodies to your church! Think about it  this way – if you spend $1000 on a website (for example, with Clover Sites) and you pick up one member who gives $20 a week, you pay for that investment in one year…oh and they get eternal life and get to go to heaven.

Not only is it important, but it might even pay off, in the future and in the here and now.

See the full article here

Note: I say all of this with the realisation that this blog, the HTD Youth Ministry and HTD church at large could easily be accused of having only average websites when compared with the polish of others.

Read More

The Anchorage

At HTD we have a ministry called Impact, which promotes our engagement in social justice.  It’s a great ministry and one of the things that it has got our church involved in is a Salvation Army men's shelter called The Anchorage.

On Monday night, Ellisa and I went along.  About once a month (I think) our church goes along to The Anchorage with some nice food and puts on a bit of a supper for the men who live there.  We hang out with them for a couple of hours playing poker, or watching tv, or just chatting while they eat.  It was a very eye opening experience.

I was struck by a few things.  Firstly the men in this shelter are not ‘normal’.  That is, it wasn’t a bunch of guys who had just had a bit of a bad run, it was a bunch of guys who mostly had mental issues from a past history of drug use and abuse.  Most of them had no idea of what reality was, and many of them would change their stories as they were telling them.  The idea that such a person should just toughen up and go get a job, as those on the Right of politics may say, just does not meet the reality of these people.  They are unemployable, they have ended up in the Men’s shelter for a reason.  But then again if it is the Right who propose simplistic go get a job solutions the Left’s typical solutions of education and money would do little as well I think.  No amount of money or education is going to help these men.

I think that this could be part of the reason that our society can’t deal with people like these men of The Anchorage.  Our great gods of progress and success are money and education and the self.  We either spend lots of money to fix our problems or we educate people to fix our problems.  Problem is in some cases people are uneducatable and unable to use money well and they are incapable of caring for themselves.  If all the guys in the Anchorage were made Millionaires tomorrow then I suggest they might actually be worse off than they already are.

So what do we do?  How do we deal with people like this?  When Jesus was on earth he said that there will always be poor people (Mat 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8).  In Deuteronomy 15:11 it says something similar and tells us what to do about it, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land.”  I think as Christians then our aim is not to ‘Make Poverty History’, but rather it’s to be generous and open-handed towards the poor and needy in our world.  We are to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8), but I don’t think we need to put our hope in ending world poverty.

Having said that, there will be a time when no one is poor.  When no one has to suffer the effects of drug abuse and where everyone will love justice, kindness and walk humbly in the presences of the living God.  That time will come after judgement day when Jesus judges this world and recreates a new heaven and new earth.  There will be no crying or shame or poverty here.  Our hope is in Jesus’ return and our love for him compels us to care for the poor now; to alleviate their situations somewhat but not to hope in it’s eradication on this earth.  If you’re moved by poverty then you ought to pray that God would give you boldness to share his good news to everyone you encounter and pray hard that Jesus would return soon!  That’s what I’m gonna start doing.

Read More