Reverse Jesus

For pharisees "repentence precedes acceptance, with Jesus it's the other way round" says Rowland Croucher, Baptist minister and self-described ex-pharisee.

Pharisees are people who say "You conform to our view, our understanding of what the bible says, then you'll be acceptable round here". Jesus says "I accept you. Now let's work on the process of change, maybe."

Obviously doing the opposite of Jesus is not great. But sometimes it's just because we don't fully remember what Jesus was about.

When preaching, Rowland sometimes asks what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery. He says he can read people's lips "Go and sin no more" and they've forgotten that Jesus said something before that. "I do not condemn you".

[Source: Podcast]
(Rowland Croucher about 6 minutes in)

Pagan Christianity

This book looks interesting. Its description says:

Church life analysts Frank Viola and George Barna trace the origins of the modern church 'service' that most Christians take for granted, and find that very little of it has any roots in the New Testament. A provocative and eye-opening critique of 'doing church'.

Should be an interesting read. Might explain some of the church customs that directly contradict Jesus.

10 Warning Signs of a Self-Obsessed Church

It's a sad thing for a church to all about itself. I've probably talked about that a few times. The trick is to notice before it's too late. Thom Rainer lists 10 warning signs, including:

Worship wars - internal battles over music, service style, etc

Prolonged minutia meetings - about trivial items rather the stuff that matters

Facility focus - iconic status given to buildings and grounds

Inwardly focused budget - too much on member comforts - not enough going beyond the church walls

Greater concern about change than the gospel - more passion for church ritual than for the gospel of Jesus

For the full list, see The 10 Warning Signs of an Inwardly Obsessed Church

Where you stand effects what you see

Where you stand effects what you see. And I suppose when you stand in a place of comfort, the way that you see the bible, the way that you see your faith is very much through that lens. And so i guess the challenge for me has been to stand in some different places and particularly some more challenging places, and alongside some people who are facing some particular challenges and see how very much different the bible looks from those vantage points.

One day i realised that I believed all the things i was supposed to, and it made absolutely no difference to the way that i lived. I was no different to the person next to me. My wife challenged both of us "If we really believed all the things we say about God - it would actually radically change the way we live." And so I guess our challenge since then has been to bridge that gap between what we say we believe and the way that we live.

Those quotes are from Rev Simon Moyle in an interview on ABC's Sunday Nights when asked about his upbringing in 'middle class, Sunday morning comfort'.

When Jesus says that he's come to bring life, what he doesn't mean is just the white picket fence with a house in the suburbs. He's actually saying something much greater.

It's good to get this kind a challenge from time to time. Often as a church we retreat from the world and focus on ourselves. Too much of this means our faith suffers (through a narrow perspective) and our actions become less like Jesus. This is not good for us, and not good the neighbours we are called to love.

Kingdom Of God

What did Jesus mean by the "Kingdom of God" and how is it relevant today? That was the topic for discussion on the Palm Sunday episode on ABC Sunday Nights.


Suggestions included "a different way of living" and "letting God be in charge for a change". Part of the discussion was how church itself (as a rich institution) is often an obstacle to living out godly values. (Side note: I was recently sent this picture by a friend)

"What other organisation in Australia has people gathering every week in every community across the nation? Why cannot we be a very strong voice for an alternative way of living? We just seem to freak away from it."

One guest, Prof Richard Burridge, asked "To what extent does the church and its teaching follow Jesus?" and gave money and war as two examples of the church historically acting contrary to the gospel. He also lamented the current trend to refer to a "biblical" lifestyle, based on "one or two areas of sexuality" and completely missing Jesus' radical challenge to society operates.

He thinks that "far too often we're reading it (the bible) in terms of a mirror and using it to reflect back our previous prejudices." Rev Ray Cleary agreed, saying "every Christian ought to be up in arms about our treatment of asylum seekers".

Perhaps the most telling remark came right at the end. "Those who want to follow the path of the crucified, have got to look out for thorns." Often, i'm not sure we're ready for that kind of discomfort.

[Download podcast]

Soft music and candles

Occasionally, i talk about the ways in which church culture repels men. One of the main ways is by presenting faith in very romantic terms. This is dubious enough on its own, but heard through the ears of a man (given that Jesus is also male) it becomes doubly weird.

I found an example in my email. A church friend pitches a pre-Easter event like this:

We're opening the church up from 6pm-8pm, where it'll be candle-lit with soft music playing in the background. [..] an opportunity to quietly prepare our hearts [..] this is a great place to be stilling your heart before God and listening to His still small voice.

Seriously, that was in the invite. And people wonder why men are disappearing from church!

Aussies OK with Jesus

That was an article headline this Easter weekend by Perth's Sunday Times. The lead stat is that 8 in 10 people accept Jesus died on the cross. But there's more to it than that.


Why is this news? Most likely because it's a surprising stat in an environment of decreasing attendance at (or interest in) churches. The survey reported 1 in 13 people (6%) attending church regularly.

Often as church, we blame low attendance on a supposed predominantly secular society, but that view is "not accurate" according to the research. So why do only 6% attend church if 80% believe Jesus died on the cross?

"The research shows people are fine with Jesus, but they have issues with the church. They like the product but they don't like the retail outlet." - Mark McCrindle (researcher).

There are a few questions that spring to mind:

• Isn't there something wrong when church's image is so different to that of Jesus?
• Should we ask ourselves why church turns off 74 of 80 Jesus-believers?
• Will there be a time when we move beyond the 'bums on seats' mentality? (Both as a way of measuring someone's faith, and as our only way of reaching people)

What do you think? I think it's a classic example of black box theory.

[Links: news article]

Turning Off Spiritual Seekers

A facebook friend of mine is looking at Buddhism. He posted some comments on facebook about the things that he liked about it - along with some short summaries of other religions (or at least their followers). He had this to say about Christians:

Christian - Do as I say or go to hell. Read this one book, it tells you everything. Pity those who don't know, try and save them.

I guess there are two questions for us.
1. Does this describe me, or my fellow Christians?
2. If not, then is this opinion an indication that we are spending too much time in those 'holy huddles' and not interacting with the rest of society?

(Also, it reminds me of some of the stuff in unChristian.)

Ash Wednesday Anyone?

In church-land we're currently in the middle of Lent. A few weeks ago a church near me had this on their sign. "Ash Wed 5.30".


How many of the drviers going past (eg the taxi driver, the guy with the ute) do you think would even know of the existence of ash wednesday? Let alone what wednesday it falls on.

"Is it this Wednesday? Or next? Or is it the one just before Good Friday?" i can imagine them wondering.

Seriously, would you invite a friend to your house by saying "Hey Tony, i'm having a party at house - it's on St Albans Day"? And expect him to figure out when on earth that is? Of course not, but that's what we do as church.

Last time i posted a quote suggesting that the church's tendency to repel outsiders is based on selfishness. I don't think that's the whole story though. Clearly there's also a lack of thought, and an element of cluelessness about the people who live outside the boundaries of churchland.
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UPDATE: The same church has done the same thing again for "Palm Sunday".

Insiders Trump Outsiders

Regular readers are familar with my Black Box Theory.

I saw the same thing being described in on the american lutheran website.

My theory is that mainline churches have ceased to be relevant to the culture because insiders trump outsiders every time. All decisions, even little ones, are made for the benefit of those inside the church. Insiders trump outsiders.

Take hymns, for example. Musical decisions aren't made considering what will attract spiritually hungry outsiders but what will please the card-carrying, bill-paying membership.

Time and time again church leaders receive heat from insiders upset about this or that because they are trying to re-create a childhood church experience or simply have a rigid idea of church. Leaders cave in to these insiders because they control the purse strings.

Insiders are inherently change-averse. People don't like change, especially those who have status in the church.

Valentine's Day - The Big Mistake

Speaking of turning off young adults, here's one that's not in the book.

Valentine's Day sermons
In an effort to be relvant, some preachers give the impression that no secular day can pass without being worked into a sermon. And what better example than Feb 14? It's got something to do with love. God's about love. Instant sermon!

On any other sunday, a preacher might talk of the 4 different Greek words for love - and distinguish romantic-love from God's "agape" love - but not this week. However, that's not the big issue. Here's what happens - at least as far as i see it...

In preacher-land, romantic love is associated with celebrating 30 years of marriage. Someone who is always there, hearing your concerns and cares about them. Someone who may anger or confuse you at times, but who you know loves you. Someone who you are getting to know better with each passing year... Put like that, it sounds a bit like God, and so the preacher goes with that metaphor - without thinking any wider.

Over in young adult land, some are dating. Some have their love repeatedly rejected. Some have broken up. Some dramatically so. Here are 3 recent examples of young adults i've met. Imagine their reaction to being told that "God's love is like that of a partner"

1. She and he were happy until she was pregnant. He started an affair with someone else. She was abandoned to raise their child alone.

2. She and he were happy. She was going through a tough time. He seemed not to care at all. Months later they broke up. He told her she wasn't godly enough.

3. He and she were happy. He trusted her. Turned out she was lying to him, seeing other people behind his back, lying to his face and playing him for a fool.

If we met any of these people, there's no way we'd be heartless enough to say "God's love is like that of a partner". It'd be way too cruel - and a very bad representation of God. But for some reason we do exactly that from the pulpit each February!

Preacher, if you're reading this, hopefully it's not too late to change your sermon.

Young adult, if you're reading this, please forgive the preacher. He/she does not mean to come across as Mr Insensitive.

The Filter Bubble

This TED video illustrates how we can (unknowingly) find ourselves in an information bubble.


Websites can tailor the information we recieve to what they think we want to see. The result is that despite living in diverse world, we get only certain types of information. I think this diagram shows it best.


As the presenter points out, this same type of filtering has always occurred in other media - by newspaper editors, tv producers etc. But here i wanted to ask where we think this might happen in church circles.

How often do we seriously listen to views from people other than church people? Do we listen to sermons by preachers other than our local pastor. Do we read the full gospels (or even full bible) or just the snippets from the lectionary? Do we talk with people who see Jesus differently from us - or do those people get bounced away by our own personal filter bubble?

Jesus > Religion

Love this great verse from Jefferson Bethke. Full lyrics can be found here, and some of my favourite pieces are below. We often get caught up doing the whole church/religion thing. I think it does us good to be reminded that we are supposed to be following Jesus.



I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars
Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor

They can't fix their problems, and so they just mask it
Not realising religion's like spraying perfume on a casket

Now I ain't judgin, I'm just saying quit putting on a fake look
Cause there's a problem - If people only know you're a Christian by your Facebook

I mean in every other aspect of life, you know that logic's unworthy
It's like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey

Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean
It's not a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken

Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the bible, and yes I believe in sin
But if Jesus came to your church would they actually let him in

See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by religious men
But the son of God never supports self righteousness not now, not then

Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention
How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums

See one's the work of God, but one's a man made invention
See one is the cure, but the other's the infection

See because religion says do, Jesus says done
Religion says slave, Jesus says son

Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see

[More of Jefferson's stuff is available through the Chisel Season website, including more thoughts on 7 differences between Jesus and Religion]

Doing Something Great

This is a good positive video to start the new year.



I've written some about this before, but i just love how the internet connects enough Christians to enable us to do great works.