I have a confession to make. I like the John Lewis Christmas advert. I know it's a sales vehicle but it's cute, sweet, brings a tear to your eye, features a boy, his toy and his Mum and Dad, has a happy ending and has resisted the inevitable push to be politically correct and have homosexual couples or a single parent family. What's not to like? What I don't like is the way that Christians are falling over themselves to remake it. I've seen two 'christian' versions of the ad and I don't like either of them. The first is by Central Church, Edinburgh entitled "Don't get your hopes up" - well that's a turn off for starters. The video lives down to the title. In fact, Central's Christmas theme is don't get your hopes up. Someone really ought to have a word with their marketing guys. Talk about negative! I just don't feel like going to one of their services to find out what I shouldn't get my hopes up about!
The second remake is by St Thomas Norwich and features a tiger instead of a penguin. Shades of Calvin and Hobbes .... except that Hobbes gets discarded .... *sniff* (gets hanky out but not for the reason the video makers intended) ...
I think what some Christians are forgetting, in their rush to point out the inevitable disappointment of Christmas when kids don't get half of their wish list (because John Lewis has run out of penguins) and the turkey is underdone and we fall out with the in-laws over the sherry trifle, is that it's just an ad. Adults enjoy it while knowing that it's trying to sell us something and kids need to learn to do the same. And it's OK for a kid to have a cuddly toy as their best friend. Of course Jesus is the ultimate best friend who will never leave or forsake us and it's the job of parents to teach this to their children along with the real meaning of Christmas but ... give me a break! And give me some hope! There's enough sadness and disappointment in the world without adding to it with penguins who don't hit it off and tigers who get dropped and forgotten.
Merry Christmas!
Monday 15 December 2014
Thursday 24 January 2013
Yet more on separation
OK - I'm still reading Ezra. Today it was chapter 6 and, again, the subject of separation came up. In the description of the first celebration of the Passover after completion of the Temple, it says that "the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel" (vs 21, NIV). So the returning Israelites were not totally exclusive, but any others who wished to join them had to first of all separate themselves from certain things. We are not told exactly what the unclean practices were, but worship of idols would have been included and may have involved various forms of sexual immorality and possibly even child sacrifice. Exactly the sort of things which had got the Israelites expelled from the Holy Land in the first place, more than 70 years earlier.
This message - of the need for those who seek the Lord to separate themselves from the world and its ways - is largely absent in the church these days. Not much is said about how the world system in which we live is totally antithetical to living as a Christian and so has to be forsaken. Not much preaching is done on the need for repentance. It's all about God's love and grace and forgiveness to the extent that many in the church do not seem to realise that, if the world does not find them odd, something is wrong. They are going to get a shock when the real persecution starts! If you have put your faith in Christ and crossed over from death into life, you are in the world but not of the world. Sometimes that involves a physical separation but, more often, it is a mental separation from worldly ways of thinking. We still need to interact with the world around us but we do it from a different perspective and with the thought always that this is not our home. Our home is in heaven with Christ.
As Christians, we need to be careful of the company we keep, what we read, what we listen to, what we watch on TV or look at on the internet. Bad company corrupts good character. We need to measure everything against what the Bible teaches. We need to heed Philippians 4:8 and think on good things and, if possible, find godly people to associate with and emulate (Philippians 4:9). If the church we attend majors on love and forgiveness and does not preach the need for repentance and separation from the world, we need to find another church, because otherwise we will end up surrounded by people who have one foot in the church and one foot in the world and we will be corrupted by them.
"Therefore come out from them and be separate", says the Lord. (2 Cor 6:17a NIV)
This message - of the need for those who seek the Lord to separate themselves from the world and its ways - is largely absent in the church these days. Not much is said about how the world system in which we live is totally antithetical to living as a Christian and so has to be forsaken. Not much preaching is done on the need for repentance. It's all about God's love and grace and forgiveness to the extent that many in the church do not seem to realise that, if the world does not find them odd, something is wrong. They are going to get a shock when the real persecution starts! If you have put your faith in Christ and crossed over from death into life, you are in the world but not of the world. Sometimes that involves a physical separation but, more often, it is a mental separation from worldly ways of thinking. We still need to interact with the world around us but we do it from a different perspective and with the thought always that this is not our home. Our home is in heaven with Christ.
As Christians, we need to be careful of the company we keep, what we read, what we listen to, what we watch on TV or look at on the internet. Bad company corrupts good character. We need to measure everything against what the Bible teaches. We need to heed Philippians 4:8 and think on good things and, if possible, find godly people to associate with and emulate (Philippians 4:9). If the church we attend majors on love and forgiveness and does not preach the need for repentance and separation from the world, we need to find another church, because otherwise we will end up surrounded by people who have one foot in the church and one foot in the world and we will be corrupted by them.
"Therefore come out from them and be separate", says the Lord. (2 Cor 6:17a NIV)
Saturday 19 January 2013
More on separation
My Bible reading for today was Ezra chapter 4. In it, the returned exiles, who are rebuilding the Temple of the LORD, receive an offer of help from some of the local inhabitants, who say that they too seek the God of the Israelites and sacrifice to Him. They receive a very definite 'no' from the leaders of the exiles. Now, to a modern reader of Scripture, this seems a bit harsh. Although these people are described as 'the enemies of Judah' right at the start of the chapter, that may be from the benefit of hindsight, as they certainly went on to become enemies after their help was rejected. Not an unnatural reaction. If a similar situation were to occur nowadays, many would say that seekers who seem to worship the same God as we do and who want to get involved in our church should be welcomed, not rejected. Why make enemies of your neighbours?
However, the Israelite leaders were quite right. To understand the situation fully, you need to know the background of the people who came to help. They were not Israelites or descendents of Abraham but people from elsewhere who had been relocated from their conquered homelands by the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon, in line with Assyrian policies which aimed to uproot conquered peoples in order to subjugate them to Assyrian rule and assimilate them into the Assyrian empire. 2 Kings 17:24-41 describes how these people worshipped the God of Israel but also continued to worship their own gods. In other words, they were idolaters. If their help had been accepted, their idolatry would soon have infected the Israelites, who had managed to stay faithful to the God of Israel throughout the exile. A temple built with their involvement would have ostensibly been a temple to the God of Israel but would probably also have had annexes for the worship of other gods!
Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the others seem, to our modern way of thinking, to be anything but inclusive when they tell the locals "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God." They not only forfeited help they could have had but also suffered years of opposition. However, they stayed true to God and, in the end, the temple was built. It may have lacked the glory of Solomon's Temple but it was dedicated to the one true God. That was more important. They applied the principle of separation and stayed faithful to God. Would that more of our churches would do the same.
PS. And if the Israelite leaders knew at the time that these people who came offering help were enemies, they were smart enough not to be taken in by the story of them seeking the God of Israel. They didn't just take them at face value but applied biblical principles and rejected the offer. Something for churches which accept lottery money to think about!
However, the Israelite leaders were quite right. To understand the situation fully, you need to know the background of the people who came to help. They were not Israelites or descendents of Abraham but people from elsewhere who had been relocated from their conquered homelands by the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon, in line with Assyrian policies which aimed to uproot conquered peoples in order to subjugate them to Assyrian rule and assimilate them into the Assyrian empire. 2 Kings 17:24-41 describes how these people worshipped the God of Israel but also continued to worship their own gods. In other words, they were idolaters. If their help had been accepted, their idolatry would soon have infected the Israelites, who had managed to stay faithful to the God of Israel throughout the exile. A temple built with their involvement would have ostensibly been a temple to the God of Israel but would probably also have had annexes for the worship of other gods!
Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the others seem, to our modern way of thinking, to be anything but inclusive when they tell the locals "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God." They not only forfeited help they could have had but also suffered years of opposition. However, they stayed true to God and, in the end, the temple was built. It may have lacked the glory of Solomon's Temple but it was dedicated to the one true God. That was more important. They applied the principle of separation and stayed faithful to God. Would that more of our churches would do the same.
PS. And if the Israelite leaders knew at the time that these people who came offering help were enemies, they were smart enough not to be taken in by the story of them seeking the God of Israel. They didn't just take them at face value but applied biblical principles and rejected the offer. Something for churches which accept lottery money to think about!
Sunday 13 January 2013
The gospel of peace
If you have read my earlier articles, you will be aware that I do not believe that Roman Catholicism is a true Christian religion, however I would like to make it clear that I deplore the fact that over half the religiously agravated crimes in Scotland in 2011/12 were directed against Roman Catholics. (The next largest group of victims at around 30% were Protestants.) There is no excuse for being violent or abusive towards someone who holds different beliefs. This is a free country and people should be able to follow their religion without fear. They should also not be forced to conform, which seems to be the advice being given to Catholics at the moment.
The intransigent problem of sectarianism in Scotland has deep roots and is more to do with tribalism than religion. Many of those identifying themselves as either Catholic or Protestant hardly ever see the inside of a church. Unfortunately some football teams have historic associations with one side or the other, which serves to crystallise the tribalism. Some of it is also a spill-over from Northern Ireland due to decades of immigration from that province. And some people will use any excuse for a fight. Whatever the cause, violence and abuse are never acceptable.
Scotland's Shame, as it has been called, is not so much the sectarianism - it's the violence, much of it alcohol-fuelled. It's men thinking that it's OK to fight in the streets with the opposing team's supporters and then go home and beat up the wife. That's the real problem. We see it in Belfast at the moment where violence has erupted over a political/symbolic issue. The rioters there have a point but violence is not the way to address it. What is particularly sad is that it's mainly young people who are taking to the streets and attacking police. We have failed to teach them a better way. We are also failing to give them jobs, hope and a future.
Ultimately the only lasting answer to this nation's troubles and those of Northern Ireland is Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. When He returns there will be peace on earth. Until then Christians need to share the gospel of peace, which is salvation in Christ, and the truth that violence accomplishes nothing.
The intransigent problem of sectarianism in Scotland has deep roots and is more to do with tribalism than religion. Many of those identifying themselves as either Catholic or Protestant hardly ever see the inside of a church. Unfortunately some football teams have historic associations with one side or the other, which serves to crystallise the tribalism. Some of it is also a spill-over from Northern Ireland due to decades of immigration from that province. And some people will use any excuse for a fight. Whatever the cause, violence and abuse are never acceptable.
Scotland's Shame, as it has been called, is not so much the sectarianism - it's the violence, much of it alcohol-fuelled. It's men thinking that it's OK to fight in the streets with the opposing team's supporters and then go home and beat up the wife. That's the real problem. We see it in Belfast at the moment where violence has erupted over a political/symbolic issue. The rioters there have a point but violence is not the way to address it. What is particularly sad is that it's mainly young people who are taking to the streets and attacking police. We have failed to teach them a better way. We are also failing to give them jobs, hope and a future.
Ultimately the only lasting answer to this nation's troubles and those of Northern Ireland is Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. When He returns there will be peace on earth. Until then Christians need to share the gospel of peace, which is salvation in Christ, and the truth that violence accomplishes nothing.
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