Avoid or embrace

In a recent discussion with a group of church leaders, the debate ventured down the track of personal boundaries in relation to men and women working together in the church. I understand the concept of avoiding temptation altogether, and there is plenty in the bible to back up this approach; sexual sin being avoided at all cost (cutting out your eye and all that!).

In the past I would not have even questioned the superior wisdom of the general discussion. But something bothered me this time. That bothered feeling stuck with me for many days. I find now that I am not so black as white as I used to be on this or any issue.

I have many friends who are male, and have always been comfortable about this. There is a risk that a meaningful friendship with someone of the opposite sex may well at some stage throw up some confusing feelings of attraction. I may be tested. But how else will I learn to navigate the challenges with maturity and wisdom. I could avoid connection altogether but how would I learn respect, dignity and appreciation of God’s masculinity through his male creation. I will take my measure of risk to have meaningful friendships.

Which leads me to think about how many non-christian friends I have. There is a risk that they might influence me in some way (although in most cases it’s me doing the leading astray). I could surround myself with Christians preferring to only rub shoulders with those who agree with my religious choices, avoiding the temptations of the world. But then how would I be relevant in the world, how would I earn the right to share my love for Jesus Christ if I don’t first show my non-christian friends that I am trustworthy and care about them.

I have children. There is a risk that they will disappoint me, that I might disappoint them, mess up, make a mistake and hurt them in some way. There is a greater risk that they will experience heartache and pain and suffering in their lives. I have friends who have decided not to have children for this very reason. And after 18 years of marriage their resolve is just as strong. But the threat of pain should not dissuade us from living or giving life. To love and live and laugh and be in relationship with each other is the point of life.

And what about sex. There are all sorts of risks of having sex, even in marriage. But I am certainly not going to avoid the most intimate interaction of human expression.

I drink wine. There is a risk that I will that I might get drunk and do stupid things. In fact it has been known to happen. I could abstain but how would I learn moderation. Avoidance won’t teach me discipline and self-control.

I could easily isolate myself and avoid life’s experiences that challenge me, test me, tempt me, even hurt and confuse me, but what sort of life is that? Instead I choose to embrace life, embrace all and learn from all.

"What would it take, ponders Philip Yancey in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, for a church to become a place where prostitutes, tax collectors and even guilt tinged pharisees, would likely gather?" It's a cleverly worded question.

I am enjoying the 'irresistible wisdom' in Matthew Woodley's Holy Fools, as he explores the nature and ministry of Christ in relation to rugged sinners, his PC term for people who are not as 'together' as the sinners we find in church. I like the term. We are all sinners, some are just outwardly more respectable in what society expects than others.

Woodley argues that we have created our own 'ghetto', our own gated community in the walls of the church where we wait for people to come, clean themselves up before they enter and only if, once 'cleaned up', they seem to then belong in our church culture.

Many of us are not comfortable with the more rugged members of our society, but Jesus himself was someone the people liked, they enjoyed his company and felt at ease in his presence (Woodley). Thinking of the stories that made it to the bible, these 'people' were rugged sinners, society's least liked people. Jesus didn't wait for them to come to him, he went out to meet these people, changing the boundary markers of the church, often creating a scandal with the people he chose to hang out with. He met them on their turf, invited himself to dine with tax collectors and others of ill repute, inviting scorn from the religious hierarchy. He gave himself to these people, spent time with them, with his presence told them that they were worth of his time, effort and energy, and transformed them with his message of hope.

Its not an organisation, or a program or a subscription that will make a difference, it's time effort and energy on our part reaching outside the walls of the church into our rugged (and not so rugged) community that will show Jesus to the people we want to reach.

Omniscient/omnipresent God

If we know how great the love of Jesus is for us, we will never be afraid to go to Him in all our poverty, all our weakness, all our spiritual wretchedness… we will prefer to come to Him poor and helpless. We will never be ashamed of our distress. Thomas Merton

My prayer today is that of Jehosophat “Lord I am powerless against this challenge in my life. I do not know what to do and I am looking to you for help. (2 Chron 20:12 paraphrased) Jehosophat faced a massive army that outnumbered his own. He stood before the people and announced to God that he didn’t know what to do. I respect that.

As Jesus/God is omnipresent, running away from Him may mean you run right to Him. Thank God, God is everywhere. In our thoughts, our failings and misgivings, our frailties and brokenness, our triumphs and daily lives. We can ignore Him but He doesn’t go away. How can He? The omnipresent, omniscient ruler of the universe. He is in all, sees all, is all. He is everything, initiator of restoration and faith itself.

Know that I am God... and be still.

Be still and know that I am God. Ps 46:10

My natural modus operadi is the complete opposite of this. I am not still, ever. I cannot meditate, I can not rest, take a moment. Hectic, frantic, frustrated, impatient. 'Being still' is not so much a nice meditative Psalm for me but an unattainable command. I cannot do it... on my own. Over the last week or so it has become the mantra of my overactive brain. Yesterday during an unusual two hour walk on an unusually beautiful Autumn morning, I had a the joy of experiencing the stillness of my local inlet and estuary at 7am in the morning. The water was silky smooth; the light clean and clear and absent of the intensity of later in the day. Light rested on the hills. It was too early for Saturday morning traffic, so even the roads were unusually quiet.

It was peaceful and calm and serene. Everything I was not. I realised that being still could be a choice, the knowledge of God was all around me, I knew He was there in the sweep of his creative hand, gracing me with the beauty of His creation. I did not feel still, but the knowledge of Him allowed me to 'know' he was God, placing peace in my heart and and my mind. Having first the knowledge of Him allowed me to be still rather than the other way around. And I loved it.

The Point

I have been asking the wrong question for a very long time. What is my purpose? From today I am going to ask "What is God's purpose?". We focus so much on ourselves, how we feel, how our life is panning out, our self-esteem, even what our purpose is, and what we should be doing. I think I may have an an initial inkling of something that I dont quite understand but am excited to find out more. It's nothing new but I often overlook it or fail to grasp its meaning, as the words become meaningless due to familiarity. We are here for God's glory. Everything that He did and does is to restore the right alignment of that to the world. It's one of the last known words of Jesus time on earth, that God would restore His glory (Jn 17:24). Forgiveness, redemption, and all other restorative processes of God are a means to an end - to see the Glory of God. But thats quite a high-brow, out there kind of concept, my prayer today is that God shows me what that means, an inkling of his awesomeness, and gives me the wisdom to break it down into a day to day reality.

My failures, lost dreams and hopes are nothing. It's actually all about Him - and that is very liberating. Any time is a good time to realise that "... it's not about me, and when it is in some measure - about me, it is not about my being made much of by God, but God mercifully enabling me to enjoy making much of Him forever." - John Piper