Boundaries or Barriers?

During my working life I had the pleasure to work, then live and work in the USA. This adventure exposed me to the truism "two countries separated by a common language": It is true that our language is similar, but I found our cultures to be vastly different, to the point that sometimes I thought I might be living on a different planet. I made a couple of close friends with whom I am still in contact with today some 20 years later, but most of the people I worked with, socialised with, even had Thanksgiving Day dinner with, were only ever acquaintances. This is because the middle-class conservative culture of the mid-West meant people were friendly, welcoming and very sociable, but as you drew closer you met with a barrier; their private lives were very private and it wasn't often through the formalities of socialising that you were invited in. To their culture this was a boundary, to me it often felt like a barrier especially being in a new country where things were much more different than I had expected, and making new friends was very important.

As a church, rather than trying to draw people into the building we are working out into the community to engage with people hoping to have the opportunity to share the love and light of Jesus with them. On the Ivy Estate the community has its fair share of vulnerable people, who through their life experience are used to others in authority doing things to them 'that are good for them' and because of this may struggle to trust a church with good intentions. The culture may be quite alien to some of you, the way people choose to live their lives may shock you, but it is a rich culture, one that I come from and one that I was raised in. Houses tend to be lively with friends and especially their children coming and going, friends that support each other and often share what little they have when you have nothing. People that journey with one another through good times and bad, through illness and celebration. Yes there may be a threatening undercurrent which demands that people respect each other and causes one to be careful that one is being taken advantage of, but the culture is rich, vibrant and fertile.

I am often accused of not having boundaries as I share my life and what I have with the people of the Ivy Estate, yes there are boundaries that we have to have with children and vulnerable adults, but we have to be very careful that those boundaries do not become barriers. If we are truly going to follow the path and example of Jesus we must make sure that we are not doing ministry but living ministry, that we are not on the Ivy Estate to do things that will make people come to Jesus, but to live our lives there and to let the people of Ivy Estate live their lives amongst us so that as we 'live a life worthy of the calling we have received' we expose people to the love and light of Jesus. Jesus made himself vulnerable, even to those authorities who eventually killed him, and countless missionaries have done the same over the centuries. We too must be prepared to surrender ourselves, to make ourselves vulnerable even to the point of making the ultimate sacrifice, so that we will be accepted, trusted and welcomed in the communities in which we are ministering. It is only then that people will not see barriers, but the love and the light of Jesus who "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Radio Radio

Have you ever listened to the radio on a long journey and found yourself getting bored, irritated or disinterested by the news items that you have heard every half hour for the past few hours? Sometimes I get so irritated that I turn the radio off. 

When turning the radio off for that very reason today it got me thinking: when as a Minister we are delivering the same message time and time again how do we make sure people don't get bored, disinterested or even irritated. But more than that: when we are trying to spread the good news to our family, friends or acquaintances how do we ensure they don't turn off? And how do we do all that without changing the fundamental message of the gospel?

It's a challenge that many have failed at either by diluting the message so much that the good news is totally hidden, or being so dogmatic about it that people are just put off. How do we become contemporary with our message without making our message temporary or consumable, discarded when people think they don't need it any more like a half-eaten burger or sandwich?

I don't think there is any one answer but back to the radio analogy; the person speaking on the radio is a disembodied voice, when we speak we have the full gamut of senses to project our message. More than that; we have the shop window of the way we live our lives and how we treat others. We are not a disembodied voice but a living, breathing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our message is not some sound-bite on the radio, but the embodiment of Jesus as the word of God. So we need to examine ourself constantly with the foundation of Gods word and through the power of the Holy Spirit to ensure that our message, our own personal message of salvation, stays alive. That through Jesus death and resurrection, and our lives in Christ, bring life to others and not boredom, disinterest or irritation. 

The goose is getting fat

Throughout my life I have always had a gift for taking songs, poems and stories and changing them in the interest of my own particular silly, childish brand of humour: All things bright and beautiful sung to the Dad’s army theme is one of my favourite creations. I have also found it funny when others have done the same, such as changing the words of Christmas is Coming to:

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,

Wrap it up in tinfoil and feed it to the cat.

Changing the lyrics from an appeal to people to give to the poor, into something that has no purpose except humour is one thing, but the first time I heard it the person changed the lyrics “the goose is” to “Simon’s.” From humour to insult.

This transformation from something real and earthy into something of no substance the purpose of which is to give people pleasure happens at Christmas on a grand scale.

Songs are sung that deify Christmas itself and not the one who deifies Christmas, that glorify the day and not the one who glorifies the day. We find Christmas carols that celebrate the true meaning of Christmas hidden amongst a plethora of secular songs: according to TimeOut magazine no carol makes the top 10 most popular Christmas songs and only one carol makes it in the top 25 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel at number 25.

If our choice of music is a reflection of how the Western world thinks then it would seem that Santa, flying reindeer, snow and Christmas trees are the true meaning of Christmas for most people. Personally I have no problem with any of these traditions and trappings, they are part of my culture and heritage and I enjoy them. If people don’t choose to believe the true story behind the fantasy of fat men in red suits and magical flying reindeer, then that’s their choice. But if we claim to believe in the one who is the story we must not allow ourselves to be sucked in completely to a secular Christmas and we must take every opportunity to profess our belief about Christmas to our family, friends and acquaintances. At a time when the entire country is focused on celebrating the event perhaps, just perhaps, they may be a little more open than usual to the true story of the birth of our Saviour.

The story hasn’t changed it has just been confused. The truth hasn’t changed it has merely been hidden. So this Christmas expose the truth and clarify the story behind the most amazing event humanity has ever witnessed.

Just before you go a new rendition of Christmas is Coming:

Christmas is coming, Santa’s getting fat,

Wrap him up in tinfoil and feed him to the cat.

Put down your sweets and presents,

On the special Christmas morn,

And take the time to celebrate

our saviour being born.

Not my best but hopefully yule get the message. 

Merry Christmas and a joyous and peaceful New Year to all my readers.

Unity in the body of Christ

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

Ephesians 4:1-6

When I was interviewed by Station Hill Baptist church back in 2013 concerning my potential appointment as Minister I mentioned that I believed my calling was all about unity. Indeed on several occasions since I have referred to this and still believe that this is what I am called to do at Station Hill Baptist Church. Ever since my appointment I have been investing some of my time building relationships with the other ministers in our town of Chippenham; meeting with three other ministers every Wednesday morning for prayer; meeting with ministers individually for a coffee and a chat; engaging with Chippenham Churches Together (CCT) and promoting the importance of this in our fellowship. I have also started a unilateral initiative of inviting other Ministers from the churches in our town to preach on a Sunday morning.

Last night (Thursday 8th October) I was asked to pray at the commencement of the CCT Annual General Meeting and I prayed for unity amongst our ministers, churches, and our community and read from Ephesians 4:1-6. I share the vision of several ministers in our town who see us all as Chippenham Church, rather than Chippenham churches and try to promote this amongst all the Christians I speak to in our town. However something struck me in the meeting last night that related to my calling concerning 'unity', a calling that I now believe is not purely about our fellowship at Station Hill Baptist Church, but about 'unity in the body of Christ' in its entirety.

Polarised doctrine

I'm currently, for my personal gratification, studying Roman's in some detail. The reason behind this is because it is a book that I have struggled to understand even when I studied it at college (although I did pass the module). With time, effort, and the help of the works of a couple of renown theologians I am beginning to get to grips with this amazing, enlightening yet deeply challenging piece of Paul's writings. After a couple of months I have reached Chapter 11, having scaled the dizzy heights of Chapters 6-10. This chapter is proving a little easier yet, in the midst of my study today, having grappled with the controversial and often divisive topic of election, I arrived at a question: Does our polarisation around a particular doctrine - a set of beliefs held and taught by the Church - prevent us from seeing the real truth that is presented within Scripture?

I have always disliked labels and refused to accept a label whilst others in college revelled in the labels that they wore. One particular label that polarises the debate on election - that is 'does God choose those who are to be saved' - is that of Calvinism; the belief that God chooses those to be saved and his choice is irresistible. On the opposition side we have Arminianism (not to be confused with Armenian's from Armenia - a nation, and former Soviet republic, in the mountainous Caucasus region straddling Asia and Europe) - anyone can be saved, it is a personal choice not that of God - and the debate between the two is often fierce. I have my own opinion and I am not going to debate it here, in the end it is not that important; we should rejoice in the fact that we are saved. Indeed the apostle Paul wasn't trying to polarise opinion, no he was trying to unite the Gentiles and the Jews, who had arrived at salvation through very different and often opposing histories, into a common 'church'.

Yet my interest was piqued, and if I had been trying to live up to my own label and looked at Election through polarised eyes I wouldn't have spotted the significance of Paul writing "severity toward those who have fallen" suggesting choice, which in itself may serve confusticate the Calvinists and have the Arminians jumping for joy. Which is why I asked myself the question; "Does our polarisation around a particular doctrine prevent us seeing the real truth that is presented in Scripture?" My conclusion is a resounding "Yes!"

Election is a fact of salvation that is difficult, maybe even impossible to understand; that is where faith comes in, faith in Jesus and hope in our salvation. Calvinism and Arminianism are constructs that arose out of humanity's attempts to understand this particular doctrine. Therefore, do not be misguided, polarised or worried by them, keep an open mind to God and his word because it is only when we meet Him face to face that we will truly have the opportunity to get the answers, and by then it won't matter.

The consequences of the truth

Truth does come at a price as I was reminded a little while ago when I reversed into a car in a car park. There was no one in the car and no one in the car park to witness what had happened. I examined the car and there were two insignificant scuffs on the paint. In spite of all this I decided to leave the owner a note on their windscreen and some days later I heard from them. I explained the situation and offered to pay for the damage they said they would get a quote. A few weeks later I received an email that indicated the cost of "repair" would be in the region of £1,000 and of course the owner would require a hire car for two days whilst the work was carried out and then there was the VAT. At the time of the incident I took photos of the paint scuffs and returned to them in case I was mistaken at the level of damage, I wasn't and the word T-Cut came to mind. It seems that someone might be taking advantage of by someone somewhere along the line. In the end I handed it over to my insurance to deal with.

I have replayed my actions over in my head and I know that I did the right thing, the consequences of my honesty were unimportant provided I believed I acted in truth and grace. This, as you might expect, got me thinking about Jesus who paid the ultimate consequence not just for speaking, but for being the truth. Thought history many have died standing up for the gospel of Jesus and many continue to do so. Being hit with a large bill pales into insignifance when one realises the enormity of the sacrifices people make each day in the name of the truth, in my cosy life I am so far removed from making a real sacrifice it is ridiculous that I might be upset by my own limited experience of exposure to consequences. 

Religious Freedom?

I was reading an interesting article today on the BBC News website about religious freedom in Dubai. The government there over the past 50+ years have made an effort to ensure that all the major world religions - Christian, Seikhism, Hindu - have places where their followers can meet and worship in peace. Whilst this is commendable is this really freedom? The worshipper a meet in walled compounds with no external evidence of their faith, and any attempt to prostelytize is met with arrest and deportation. For a Christian in light of the commission given by Jesus and our necessary role in the mission of God surely this is not freedom but imprisonment?

Morphine or Heroine?

We were discussing during our weekly Bible study from Galatians 6:6-10 if the analogy of 'sowing and reaping' was helpful in today's society? Particularly in inner city areas where some of the young people from deprived neighbours cannot even tell you where milk comes from; they have never seen cows and no one has ever made the connection for them.

The sowing that Paul refers to in Galatians 6:6-10 is the word of God and he is making the point that the Word of God, when sowed with ideas that are human ideas and not those of the Spirit, can reap fruit that is not of God but of the flesh. A modern analogy might be opium, when prescribed by a physician in the form of morphine and as part of treatment it can be beneficial to the person, but when bought from a drug-dealer to seek pleasure then it is terribly destructive.

Both Jesus and Paul used analogies and parables to explain scripture or some element of faith and they did it using something that was very familiar to the society at the time, so whilst their teaching might prove useful there are times when we may have to rely on a new analogy to get our point across. When responding to a question or when we are teaching on some biblical point we must be careful to use language that our listener will understand whilst not losing the point that is being made by the Word.

Men Only

Why is it always so difficult to reach out to men? I am not just talking about reaching men with the gospel of Jesus Christ but reaching out to men in the general sense. My own particular efforts have failed to make any progress in the past few years, beginning with the Men’s Group at Seymour House where there was a constant reluctance on the part of the male residents to engage with the groups we ran, even when it was about football, gambling or the war!

I am experiencing the same reluctance on the Ivy Estate with our Men Only drop-in, we are yet to see one person attend this group, I know it is early days but I have seen the pattern so often before. If we then take a look at church; most of those coming to Christ seem to be women; most of those heavily involved in the activities of the church are women as well.

Perhaps it is because many of the men in church are trying to hold-down difficult and demanding jobs that are at times all consuming? Unfortunately this is something that doesn’t just affect men this days, women are also falling foul of a society that values the worker more than the parent. The government investing more and more in free pre-school places so that women can return to work soon after the birth of their children.

But returning to men again, this presents us will a real challenge as it is essential that we engage. If they are difficult to reach then they are the ones we need to reach! So we are not going to give up, we are going to persevere through prayer and innovation so that eventually we will reach men, not just on the Charter Estate, but in society as a whole.

“make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter 1:5-8

Missio Dei

You may have noticed that the title for this months Shout is Missio Dei, which as our editor Adrian explained with the use of Wikipedia, is a Latin Christian theological term meaning ’Mission of God’ or ’Sending of God.’ (Wikipedia being reasonable accurate for once!)

In his book The Mission of God (a brilliant yet not easy read I assure you) Christopher Wright elucidates in mind-boggling detail what the Mission of God is all about. The fact that the Bible, the whole Bible, not only provides a basis for mission, but that the entire Bible is generate by, and is all about God’s mission.

In order to understand the Bible, we need an interpretative perspective that is in tune with this theme. We need to see the ‘big picture’ of God’s mission and how all part of Scripture fit into its grand narrative.

God’s mission is to redeem his whole creation from all that sin and evil have inflicted upon it, and the mission of God’s people must reflect the breadth and of God’s righteous and saving love for all he has made.

My question to you is this: what is part do you play in God’s mission?

Apolitical? Not really!

It would be wrong to say that I am 'apolitical', that I don’t have a political view neither do I engage in politics, I do, and I have shared this perhaps too vocally and publically over the past month as I react to what I see and hear from our politicians. I will not add comment to that debate but I have been asked by many what do I see as an alternative to our current system. I do have ideas, but I am not going to share them with you either; they will be faulty because I am human. So my political view and how I choose to engage is this, and it stems in a large part from what I understand from the Bible; Our government is in place and its authority is given by God (Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1), so I will be subject to this authority in obedience to God until such time as it contradicts the authority of God’s Word. Because of this I will pray for our leaders, each and every one of them that they may hear and respond to the voice of God, and that they will lead this country well and in doing so they will ‘do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly’ preferably with our God. I choose this over voting - although perhaps if there were a ‘none of the above’ on the ballot papers I might actually vote – and it is a very simple way to engage in politics: obedience and prayer. You can criticize this as idealistic or naive if you like, that is your prerogative, but it is my choice. I share that here so that you might understand that whilst I do not vote, I do engage. My challenge to you brother or sister in Christ is that however you choose to engage, whoever you choose to vote for, whoever comes to power, that you pray regularly for our leaders that they too may follow the path that you have chosen and by doing so be obedient to the ultimate authority, God.    

Little Children

"Let little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Sounds really loving and sweet those words of Jesus but he wasn't being patronising or sweet with these words, no, Jesus was speaking of the fact that children can have a direct relationship with Him and not through an intermediary. As parents, Sunday school workers, aunties, uncles or Christians in general it is important that we remind ourselves that our job is to point the way to Jesus, to highlight Him and to magnify Him in the lives of children, anything other than that and we are in danger of hindering them. After all they are heirs to Gods Kingdom too. In our morning service yesterday we saw the result of giving our children the space to express their relationship with God, we witnessed God speaking to them and their prophetic response. 

A wise educationalist once wrote that "Children are like arrows we fire into the future, the most we can hope for is that our aim is true." As a church family we have a responsibility for all the children that God has blessed us with, not just those that we can claim a biological connection with. A responsibility to magnify Jesus, to encourage their relationship with Him and helping them when they lose their way, yet always remembering  that sometimes they may do the same for us.

Dirty Feet

I have never been a big fan of foot washing; I wash my own feet of course but it's when people follow the example of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples when I get a little uncomfortable. I never knew why I felt like this until I heard our two sermons this Sunday on John 13:1-17, the sermons were on service and both mentioned the signifance of the guest of honour, the master, Jesus doing what the least honourable person, probably a servant, would have done. So when we foot wash following Jesus's example are we in danger of putting ourselves in the place of the guest of honour, the master? Are we elevating our own position in order that we may demonstrate our own humility? Is this an act of service or self-righteous service? Whilst I guess most people have the right motive in mind when we do this it does make me think and conclude with the answer; if we want to demonstrate humility in service let's not do something symbolic, let's do something that actually serves others.

Not all will die!

If you are some sort of Bible scholar, or theologian you will read Matthew 16:28 and think 'yes, of course.' But if you are just an average Joe like me you will read those same words of Jesus and think 'what an earth is he going on about?' However we all know that when we spend time with God and his Word he occasionally reveals something to us. This happened to me this morning whilst I was meditating on Romans 6 again (good spiritual discipline that!) and thinking about death 'we will all die in these bodies' I thought, but then the words of Matthew 16:28 came to me when Jesus said some will not experience death before he returns. Then these words finally made sense to me; we will not all die, some will be here to greet Him on His glorious return, but we shall all live! I still have several questions about Matthew 16:28, but I think I am lot happier now that I believe God had revealed some if the wisdom behind Jesus' words.

Getting it wrong?

I have been reading the text of Roman's 6:1-14 for some days now in preparation for the Easter Sunday service. I don't normally prepare this far in advance, but I find Roman's a difficult book to study so wanted to make sure I was really getting to grips with the text. It is tough reading, it makes me feel uncomfortable when reading it because of the fact that like most people I find it difficult not to sin, it is part of my daily struggle with life and "the flesh" and Paul's opening statement “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” although not meant in that way feels like an accusation with the text launching into what seemingly is a condemnation: I should be dead to sin, when I die I no longer have any senses: touch, smell, taste and sight will all be alien to my dead body. That being the case, on first reading it seems that it is the same when we die to sin; we will not be able to sense sin and therefore not able to sin. Oh boy, what a downer, I can sense sin, I struggle with sin, I cannot help but sin; I judge others, I don’t respect my parents, I covet what my neighbour has, etc. etc. etc. Am I sure I am saved? Am I sure that I have been reborn to righteousness? Reading some of the biblical commentators I might be left feeling like this. A majority of Christians might be left feeling like this and the rest are so self-righteous that they will be like it without realising it!

However, I have recently progressed from just reading the text to studying it with the help of John Stott’s commentary on Romans and he makes three points that has allowed me to breathe again: (1) Jesus on the cross ‘died to sin once for all’ he was aware of sin, didn’t fall into sin, but wasn’t and isn’t after his death unaware of our sin. (2) Paul writes to believers that we are no to let sin ‘reign’ in our bodies and that we must not obey sins ‘evil desires’ so even in our sanctified nature we are still able to sense sin and even to sin. (3) Not being aware of sin, not being able to sin is incompatible with the Christian experience; we are all tempted and sometimes we fall into sin. If we deny this we are denying the truth of the evidence of our own lives.

So what does it mean to die to sin, well for that I will leave you with the explanation of Robert Haldane that John Stott suggests is the best way to look at it. It doesn’t entirely explain it for me but does give a different insight into ‘death to sin’, Stott explains that “Paul is referring not to a death to the power of sin, but to a death to its guilt, that is to our justification.” For me the danger is that if we are dead to its guilt, then are we not inviting ourselves to continue to sin?

Answers on a postcard, I think I need to study this a bit more…..

Sharing the news!

I opened a prayer meeting this evening (Wednesday) asking God to speak to us, to respond to our prayers. Later in that meeting I was meditating on equipping people to share the gospel and as you may know there is a plethora of books, programmes and training material that is intended to help Christian's in this task. A question swam around my head 'how do we share the gospel' and an answer was quickly forthcoming; with the gospel. The reality being that if the gospel is not only on our lips, but in our hearts and embedded deeply in who we are, our very being, then to share the gospel is a natural consequence of our existence. It seems a simple enough message, one that the early church thrived upon, perhaps it is something that the 21st century church should think about before it turns to the latest 'share the gospel quick' programme.

A stake in the ground!

I think that often when people come to Christ that they see it as putting a stake in the ground as if to say 'I have made it here!' Whilst it is a significant event becoming a Christian, we need to be careful that we don't view it as an opportunity to place a stake, rather we should see it as planting a tree. A tree that will be nurtured and grow throughout our faith journey with the hope that it will "bear fruit in season" with the hope that the fruit that we bear will be good fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. Because ultimately we are not a Christian because of a stake in the ground that marks a point in time when we acknowledged that Christ is real, no, we can call ourselves a Christian only if we have planted a tree and through nurturing by a life that acknowledges Christ, that tree, our faith, bears good fruit.

Going Native

When I was working in industry as a consultant one of things we were warned against was "going native." I would be tasked to go into an organisation to analyse the way they worked, particularly their manufacturing processes, with a view to challenging them to change to become more efficient. Short term assignments would not present a problem, but longer term assignments - those taking months or even years - could result in one becoming to empathetic with the people, becoming "one of the lads" which would make it more difficult to implement change, or more commonly, not notice where change was needed.

This week at the WEBA Ministers conference we had a speaker - Malcolm Duncan - who suggested that this can happen when we are reaching out to the community. We start with an intent to meet the needs of people and share the gospel, but end up being one of the people and forget why we were originally doing this. I must say that I believe he is correct; I have seen many amazing projects and initiatives over the past few years that began as a way to share the gospel, but ended up being a social enterprise with the message of Jesus hidden or even absent.

As a church with a clear community vision we have to ensure that we keep the gospel of Jesus in our hearts and minds, and that our continuing desire reflects the words of the Northumbria Canticle that Jesus is "in the hearts of those to whom we speak, and on the lips of those who speak unto us." That whilst we go into a community to meet their physical, social and emotional needs, we are clear that our strong hope and ultimate objective is that they will come to know the Jesus that we know. We will not keep him hidden, but through our words as well as our actions we will be proclaiming the truth of Christ.

Jesus a Punk Rocker?

When you hear the word punk rocker you probably think of a weird, colourful hairstyle, safety pins, terrible language and even more terrible music. But that superficial expression of oneself is only part of the story. Behind all the shock of the punk movement which began in the late 1970's was a movement that was inclusive, non-judgmental and supportive and for many young people like myself who were suffering oppression or worse at home and living through the power cuts, 3 day weeks poverty and deprivation of the time it was a sanctuary where we could be ourselves, express ourselves and stick two fingers up at a nation that seemed to be in self-destruct mode. 

When Jesus appeared on the scene in first-century Jerusalem Judaism had been in self-destruct mode for generations. The leaders of the nation, in many cases no more than puppets of their Roman overlords, used their position as the keepers, interpreters and enforcers of the religious law to "load people with burdens hard to bear” (Luke 11:46) whilst living an easy life for themselves in luxury and false piety. Sound familiar? Then along came Jesus: counter-cultural and anarchic! He challenged the accepted order, lived among the despised and forgotten of society, preached a way of life that was inclusive, and stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. Its no wonder that he was accused of being subversive by the Jewish authorities who preferred to have “notorious prisoner called Barabbas” (Matthew 27:16) amongst them who was “among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection” (Mark 15:7). They saw Jesus as not only a threat to the peace that they had with the Romans, something he had in common with Barabbas, but also a direct threat to them and their authority.

So Jesus was not only inclusive non-judgmental and supportive, he was also anarchic, subversive and non-conformist. Jesus a punk rocker? It's an interesting thought.