A Challenge for the New Pope (and for us)

After the announcement of the Pope Francis, the ABC was interviewing veteran 'Vatican watcher' Father Thomas Reece, and asked about the "challenges for him (the pope) that he faces immediately".

Well of course the biggest challenge that the Pope and the Church faces is how to make the Gospel message attractive and understandable to people in the 21st Century.

I don't think we can continue to just quote theologians from the 13th Century and think that people in the 21st Century understand what we're saying. Pope Benedict actually put it quite well. He said that Christianity should not be presented as a series of "Nos", you know, like a nagging parent, "No, you can't do that, no," but should be presented as a "Yes", a yes to Jesus Christ, a yes to his gospel of love, a yes to compassion for the poor and to work together for justice.

This is an attractive message and I think often our churchiness gets in the way of this message of Jesus.

I particularly agree with the last bit. It's part of the reason i call this blog Sycamore-fig - after the tree Zaccheus had to climb when people got in the way of him seeing Jesus.

Blue Like Jazz - The Movie

(UPDATE: Blue Like Jazz is now available for churches to screen.)
Based on the best-selling book, Blue Like Jazz opens in selected Australian cinemas next weekend. I caught an advance screening, and thoroughly recommend it - with 2 exceptions.

1. If you're under 13, it's probably not for you yet. It's rated PG-13 for a reason. (M in Australia)

2. This is not your standard Christian movie. If you're looking for a basic plot of 'person has (G-rated) sinful life, person is evangelised, person's life becomes a bed of roses' - this is not that movie.

However, if you like a movie that's both edgy and realistic, do check this out.

It's the story of Donald, the Texas Baptist-boy who faces a whole new world when he enters college and has to figure out what life and faith are all about. What does he really believe - and what's just the baggage of the 'sub-culture' he came from?

Donald meets some diverse characters and makes a mistake or two along the way - but it's a compelling journey. The trailer is interesting, but the synopsis gave me a better idea of what the movie is about.


It's the kind of movie that a non-Christian can see, but if you choose to see it with your church group, there's a bible study and various discussions guides to help you reflect on the deeper aspects of the movie.

As an added bonus, the website has a $5 coupon - for a discount on the cinema price.

PS. This is the movie that almost didn't get made. For reasons like those i mentioned at the beginning, traditional Christian movie companies turned their back on it. The only reason it became a movie was because thousands of fans of the book chipped in to get the movie made.

Holy Tweets

Unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people

-Pope Benedict

The Pope practices what he preaches. He made this comment as he launched his own smartphone app. Describing online communication as "increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society", he is also on twitter in several languanges - one account alone has 1.5 million followers.

Ten Christian Cliches

When Christian Piatt wrote his list of 10 cliches Christians should avoid, he obviously underestimated our tendency to fall back on these trite sayings.

He quickly had to add 10 more cliches and 9 final cliches. Each cliche comes with a quick explanation of why it is often precisely the wrong thing to say. They're a good read - especially if you've had some of them said to you.

There are ones that distort God (and aren't in the bible)

"Everything happens for a reason."
"The Bible clearly says..."
"The Lord never gives someone more than they can handle"

Ones that are insensitive

"Will all our visitors please stand" (in church)
"God needed another angel" (after someone has died)

and ones we use to sound judgemental

"Are you saved?"
"___ is an abomination"

Fortunately, he also provides a list of 10 antidotes, which mostly involving being less conceited, more loving and less like a Jesus-salesman.

Top 5 of 2012

As we ring in the new year, here are your most viewed items of 2012 here on the Sycamore-Fig.

5. The dodginess of soft music and candles theology - that infers Jesus' main task is to buy us flowers and take us out on a date, and how that might be slightly weird for men to hear.

4. The filter bubble. How Google hides stuff from us and thereby alters our perception of reality. And how church probably does the same.

3. Pagan Christianity. The book which details the non-Christian origins of our church practices - which probably explains why they often contradict Jesus.

2. Reverse Jesus. One example of how we do the opposite of Jesus - and a test to see if you remember what Jesus said.

1. Jesus > Religion. The title is about the differences between Jesus and Religion - and how in each case Jesus is much greater. Perhaps we should be talking Jesus more than talking church. (People are OK with Jesus)

Hopefully 2013 is a year of being less churchy and more Jesus-like.

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.