Worldly ?
One of the criticisms of the changing Church today is that sometimes we go too far to be worldly. In other words we try to live up to the expectations that the world places on us rather than the ones Jesus places on us. I have no doubt that there is an element of truth in this at times, however some people who use this argument are not really arguing for a return to the basic faith of the early Church, or of the Church that Christ inspired, but to a Church which was based on the worldly values of the late 19th century.
I don’t want to go back to that Church, but I think we can learn valuable lessons from it. The most important one being that the Church built a commitment and following by touching the needs and desires of the people at that time, and that is what any Church in any age must seek to do. And today’s world, atleast in the West, is not an easy one in which to do that.
Charles Colson, the politician disgraced in the Watergate scandal, who later became a Christian, quoted the fact that one major daily newspaper in America will not print the words Jesus and Christ together, because when they are combined an editorial judgement is being made that Jesus is in fact the Christ.
Political correctness is an incredibly powerful feature of our society today, and whilst I can’t find many people who actually think it’s a particularly good thing, we all tend to adhere to large aspects of it without even thinking.
I don’t think that the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians (Ch.1) that we heard this evening had too much time for political correctness, and I’m not sure that the Church today should either. In his letter Paul is writing to the Galatians expressing his dismay that already the Church that he has founded has begun listening to false teachers – many of whom are saying that the Jewish law must still be adhered to exactly as it had been before.
And in this 1st chapter of the letter, Paul mounts a strong defence, both of his credentials and the need to look at Jesus in order to build the Church. He says there is no other gospel, he says that he is not trying to win human approval by his work, but rather the approval of God, and he lays out his credentials to teach people about that gospel.
He talks about the revelation Jesus gave him, of his dramatic conversion, and then he talks of the training that he had, of the times of prayer and solitude as he sought God’s will, and finally he talks about results, and how God blessed his work – ‘They glorified God because of me.’
What Paul is stressing is the need to focus on Jesus as we seek to build his Church and extend his kingdom. We have probably all seen and known people who work in Churches, and often do good work, who seem to be doing it more for their own glory rather than the glory of God. Sometimes they can even do this by accident – starting out with good intentions, but somehow losing focus along the way… We must focus, Paul is stressing, on God’s work alone.
Recently there’s been a lot of coverage on the news and in newspapers about the busses with the slogan supported by the Humanist Society, ‘There probably is no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ One Christian organisation, the Christian Voice decided to ask the advertising standards authority to investigate this to see if it could be deemed to be illegal, but what a waste of time that was…
I don’ t think for a moment we should be wasting time on whether things like this are illegal or even harmful, but rather rise up to the challenge, and prove this is wrong ! And we do that through our words and actions, through our prayers and through our worship – we make sure people know that there is a God, and it is for that reason we can indeed stop worrying and enjoy our lives….
Paul in his letter to the Galatians is rising up to a challenge, and that is what we, as Churches and Christian people today must do…
To challenge statements like that on the busses through law or advertising standards agencies is to basically say we have no real argument against it, so let’s just cover it up. Paul was stressing to the Galatian people that he had an argument, and that the gospel of Jesus would stand up for itself when spoken plainly and honestly. I believe we have an argument as well, and that we must be prepared to stand up for God in the midst of a secular society.
We shouldn’t be afraid of challenges, but regard them as wonderful opportunites.
Today the world is putting a lot of demands on people of faith not to speak about their faith – one great form of political correctness that has probably touched us all at some point is a reluctance to talk about our faith. If we read books of people in history, if we read novels written years ago, if we listen to political speeches from years gone by, we will regularly hear mention of God, and the need to trust in him, and the fact that we can have the confidence to rely on him.
Talking about faith is an essential part of sharing our faith, whether that talk is with Christians or with non Christians. The gradual erosion of anything that is remotely faith based in society and our failure to challenge that erosion is running the risk of making faith irrelevant.
But as we look again at the world today, we see people who need God in their lives, people who need hope, who need encouragement and strength, people who need to know they’re loved. Our faith is far from irrelevant….
As we leave here, as we move through the week, we know that we do so surrounded by the love of God, and by the fellowship of Christians here and throughout the world.
We have a voice, and we must use that voice to proclaim as Paul did that there is no other gospel, that there is no other salvation other than in Jesus and that there is no way that we can stop that message from spreading, because it is God’s message, and though he relies on us a great deal, he is ultimately in control of that message, and when we worry about what we should say or do in certain circumstances, remember to ask God to help us and trust in him because he will deliver, and remember when people might look at us strangely or when we argue against the tide of opinion, it is God’s approval and not human approval that we must seek for every action, and it is God’s reward that we will receive. AMEN
I don’t want to go back to that Church, but I think we can learn valuable lessons from it. The most important one being that the Church built a commitment and following by touching the needs and desires of the people at that time, and that is what any Church in any age must seek to do. And today’s world, atleast in the West, is not an easy one in which to do that.
Charles Colson, the politician disgraced in the Watergate scandal, who later became a Christian, quoted the fact that one major daily newspaper in America will not print the words Jesus and Christ together, because when they are combined an editorial judgement is being made that Jesus is in fact the Christ.
Political correctness is an incredibly powerful feature of our society today, and whilst I can’t find many people who actually think it’s a particularly good thing, we all tend to adhere to large aspects of it without even thinking.
I don’t think that the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians (Ch.1) that we heard this evening had too much time for political correctness, and I’m not sure that the Church today should either. In his letter Paul is writing to the Galatians expressing his dismay that already the Church that he has founded has begun listening to false teachers – many of whom are saying that the Jewish law must still be adhered to exactly as it had been before.
And in this 1st chapter of the letter, Paul mounts a strong defence, both of his credentials and the need to look at Jesus in order to build the Church. He says there is no other gospel, he says that he is not trying to win human approval by his work, but rather the approval of God, and he lays out his credentials to teach people about that gospel.
He talks about the revelation Jesus gave him, of his dramatic conversion, and then he talks of the training that he had, of the times of prayer and solitude as he sought God’s will, and finally he talks about results, and how God blessed his work – ‘They glorified God because of me.’
What Paul is stressing is the need to focus on Jesus as we seek to build his Church and extend his kingdom. We have probably all seen and known people who work in Churches, and often do good work, who seem to be doing it more for their own glory rather than the glory of God. Sometimes they can even do this by accident – starting out with good intentions, but somehow losing focus along the way… We must focus, Paul is stressing, on God’s work alone.
Recently there’s been a lot of coverage on the news and in newspapers about the busses with the slogan supported by the Humanist Society, ‘There probably is no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ One Christian organisation, the Christian Voice decided to ask the advertising standards authority to investigate this to see if it could be deemed to be illegal, but what a waste of time that was…
I don’ t think for a moment we should be wasting time on whether things like this are illegal or even harmful, but rather rise up to the challenge, and prove this is wrong ! And we do that through our words and actions, through our prayers and through our worship – we make sure people know that there is a God, and it is for that reason we can indeed stop worrying and enjoy our lives….
Paul in his letter to the Galatians is rising up to a challenge, and that is what we, as Churches and Christian people today must do…
To challenge statements like that on the busses through law or advertising standards agencies is to basically say we have no real argument against it, so let’s just cover it up. Paul was stressing to the Galatian people that he had an argument, and that the gospel of Jesus would stand up for itself when spoken plainly and honestly. I believe we have an argument as well, and that we must be prepared to stand up for God in the midst of a secular society.
We shouldn’t be afraid of challenges, but regard them as wonderful opportunites.
Today the world is putting a lot of demands on people of faith not to speak about their faith – one great form of political correctness that has probably touched us all at some point is a reluctance to talk about our faith. If we read books of people in history, if we read novels written years ago, if we listen to political speeches from years gone by, we will regularly hear mention of God, and the need to trust in him, and the fact that we can have the confidence to rely on him.
Talking about faith is an essential part of sharing our faith, whether that talk is with Christians or with non Christians. The gradual erosion of anything that is remotely faith based in society and our failure to challenge that erosion is running the risk of making faith irrelevant.
But as we look again at the world today, we see people who need God in their lives, people who need hope, who need encouragement and strength, people who need to know they’re loved. Our faith is far from irrelevant….
As we leave here, as we move through the week, we know that we do so surrounded by the love of God, and by the fellowship of Christians here and throughout the world.
We have a voice, and we must use that voice to proclaim as Paul did that there is no other gospel, that there is no other salvation other than in Jesus and that there is no way that we can stop that message from spreading, because it is God’s message, and though he relies on us a great deal, he is ultimately in control of that message, and when we worry about what we should say or do in certain circumstances, remember to ask God to help us and trust in him because he will deliver, and remember when people might look at us strangely or when we argue against the tide of opinion, it is God’s approval and not human approval that we must seek for every action, and it is God’s reward that we will receive. AMEN
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