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?