The stench of me

Every once in a while I encounter circumstances that, in cricket terms, feel totally unplayable.  I'm in that place now.  It's a contract deadlock which, while not totally insoluble, involves a scrap over clauses that seem to cheapen the trust and respect built up with the client over the past 5 or so years.  Call me a drama queen but it feels like I'm being treated as a criminal having to prove his innocence in a corporate court of law.  In fact I feel like Jack Bauer, the un-killable CTU agent from the TV series 24.  Jack is a noble warrior, a patriot, the original boy scout - but because of his unorthodox methods he's perennially distrusted by almost everyone from the President of the United States down...even though he's saving the world.   It's a new feeling for me and not a welcome one.  A more streetwise person might keep his perspective and stick to the basics.  That person would say:  "come on man, this is business - what do you expect?"  Me?  I'm still muddling along like a schoolboy.  A schoolboy who just feels like lashing out.

It's at times like this that I realise how utterly bankrupt I am.  What's served me this far fails to stand its ground against a new type of adversity.

What would the apostle Paul say at a time like this?  Firstly I guess he'd say "hold true to what you have already attained and walk and order your life by that" (Phil 3:16).  "You growing in truth and revelation is directly linked to you practicing the truth and revelation that you have already received"

He'd also say this - (OK, the Amplified quoting him would say):  "Cultivate and fully complete your salvation with reverence and awe and trembling.   Distrust yourself, exercise serious caution and tenderness of conscience. Watch against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ".

Whew.  That's a lot to take on board isn't it?  But it does remind me that on the whole, my well-meaning flesh has nothing good to bring to the party.  Part of this is what Hollywood's favourite prodigal Mel Gibson referred to as "hugging the cactus" - realising that on your own you are nothing. You have nothing. Certainly nothing that is going to make it's way through Heaven's Gates.

Paul was keenly aware of this.  Reflecting on his once "spotless" Jewish reputation compared to the incorruptible spirit imparted to him on the Road to Damascus he wrote to the Philippians: (3: 17ff) 

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider a loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law but that comes through faith in Christ – the righteousness than comes from God and is by faith”

"Rubbish".  "Skubalon".  The greek word used there was the one commonly used to connote human excrement.  Worthless.  Detestable.  It's like he was saying:  "When I consider the things I thought were pretty cool and commendable about me, I feel like a child who has just emptied his bowels and is holding up his potty saying “look what I’ve done God” 

Lots to think about.

The Divine Relay Part II

Have you ever walked into a film 20 or 30 minutes late?  I’m sure you have.  Have you noticed how bewildering it is, how tough it can be to try and work out what’s going on?  Who are the main protagonists?  Who are the good guys?  Who are the bad guys?  Etc. etc.  Consider the following:

 “A young girl left home, rushing as quickly as her legs would carry her.  After running for a short distance, she turned left, waving her arms wildly.  She turned sharply to the left and then dodged left again.  Approaching home, her eyes grew big as she came face to face with a man wearing a black mask”

I’m sure you’ll agree that – while there is nothing wrong with the vocabulary or grammar used – because you don’t know the context, that story is highly confusing and even a bit freaky.  Would it help you if I told you that this is a description of a young girl scoring her first home run in a kiddies softball game?  Of course it would.  For some of us, living life might be a lot like that.  We are “in the moment” but we aren’t really sure what’s going on.  For some of us, our Christian walk is like that.  We may have received salvation.  We may attend a meeting on Sunday.  But frankly, we aren’t always too sure what’s going on or why we do some of the things we do.

If we fall into those two categories, it could be because our experience of the Bible is like that too. That’s why an understanding of the Bible is absolutely vital:

• To the unbeliever and believer it contains the core/indispensable tenets of the Gospel
• To the believer in particular, it contains an understanding of his role in God’s broader plan  

However, at this point, we must concede that to the untrained eye, the Bible is a complicated read, a significant barrier when you consider that some of us don’t like reading.  Some of us may be flowing mightily in the Holy Spirit but may be puzzled by the constant encouragement to study the word of God.  Some may be uncomfortable with the perceived over-intellectualisation that comes with that study.  Indeed, I’ve spoken in recent months to people who are cautious or fearful about high-sounding words such as “Doctrine” and “Theology”.   

But we must be careful here.  I believe that these objections may be some of the main reasons why many modern day Christians are focusing less and less on the “Big Story” of the Bible and instead cherry picking at the “small stories” which are part of it.  There’s nothing really wrong about this but it is a little bit like settling for a picture of your favourite movie character when you could own the entire movie that tells his story.

A few thoughts on why we need Doctrine and why we need the Big Idea

Firstly we must be clear - doctrine is not God – it is not even an experience of God.  So what is it?  In short, doctrine is a bit like a map that shows how we may go deeper into God.  The Christian church has historically placed a very high premium on good doctrine because it has been generated and verified by the study and experience of generations of respected Christians who themselves have had profound experiences of God.  Now that we have access to their thinking, we are able to stand upon their shoulders and in so doing deepen our own experiences of God

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton

When it comes to studying the Bible, what these so-called “doctrines” or “maps” do is they help us enter the story with the proper context and bearings.  They are like the astronomer who comes alongside as we are gazing helplessly up at the Milky Way and who helps us identify the shapes, patterns, constellations etc.  Without acknowledging the importance of doctrine, reading the Bible is a lot like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box. 

The purpose of today is to get a snapshot of that “Big Picture”.  I'll do this in 3 parts

• What sort of Book the bible?
• The story in a nutshell
• The story’s key highlights

What sort of book is the Bible? 

The Bible is not so much a book as it is a library of books.  Not only does it contain many books, it contains many kinds (genres) of books – history books, law books, songs, proverbs, poetry anthologies as well as collections of letters which impart a variety of instructions to different individuals and groups of people.  Students of history show us that the writing of it took place over more than a thousand years (circa 1500 BC to Circa 100 A.D.) by many people on at least three different continents.  These people were shepherds, kings, prophets, warriors, doctors, tax collectors, fishermen not to mention religious leaders

If you are not yet a Christian, you may be wondering why we believers hold the Bible sacred.  Very simply, we believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God - quickened, as it were, by the Holy Spirit to the human agents in space and time who wrote it.  Writer Liam Goligher says this:

“When we say we believe in the authority of scripture we are making more than simply a theological affirmation.  We are affirming that we recognize that it has authority over us both as individuals and communities.  It has the ultimate authority over what we believe and over how we behave, it governs our convictions and our conduct.  The scriptures are the necessary control and corrective of all human thought about God”

The Story in a nutshell

Have you ever noticed how we humans like to complicate things?  It seems to be human nature. Complexity is rife in business and at times it’s rife in the church.  A couple of years ago a management consultant by the name of Marcus Buckingham wrote a book entitled “The one thing you need to know” – in it he says that: 

At the heart of all complex issues there is a single controlling insight that everyone needs to know.  Lose sight of this one thing and all your best efforts at managing, leading or individual leadership will be diminished.  But keep mindful of the one thing, understand all its ramifications, orient your decisions around it and you will act with far greater power and effectiveness.

So what is the one “Big Thing” about the Bible?  In a nutshell the Bible is about God’s love affair with humanity, his sorrow at man’s sins and his rescue plan to restore man back to right relationship with him.  Seriously:  it’s that simple.  No matter which of the 66 books you are reading, you can be absolutely certain that it will be contributing to this story in some way.

Let me unpack this a little further:  Why did God create the world?  

Many respected theologians agree that the main reason was to see a reflection of his Glory somewhere other than in heaven.  The prime vehicle of this Glory – other than earth itself – was to be man and woman.  These beings and their descendants were to be the image bearers – the baton carriers – of his glory and splendour throughout the ages.

However, something went very wrong with these image bearers – a single act of defiance in the haunting beauty of Eden sent violent shockwaves throughout all of History contaminating the glorious purpose that God had in mind for man.   In response to this, God initiated a rescue plan – to restore man to right relationship with him so that one day – “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would one day cover the Earth as the water covers the seas”

So that is the plot.  That’s the tension in the story.  It’s the one thing you need to know as you set out to understand the Bible.  Based on this “one Big Thing”, there are 3 notable things the Bible does

1. The Bible points to Jesus - We’ve spoken about a rescue plan.  Because Jesus is so central to that rescue plan, we must therefore accept that all scripture – regardless of how obscure it looks – regardless of which testament it appears in – tells a small piece of the Jesus story.  This is an absolutely essential insight we must internalize if we are to understand the Bible.  In the case of the Old Testament, it either foretells his coming or builds the case for why we need him.  In the case of the New Testament, it describes the legacy he left behind through his ministry and death and what we (the church) is to do with this legacy.  
2. The Bible defines our mission with Crystal clarity.  While Christ’s role in the rescue operation was to destroy the power of the Devil, the role of Christians (the Church) down through the ages – including today – is to enforce that victory, to take part in a “mopping up” operation so that the Kingdom of heaven might be seen and known on earth.  In this sense, the Bible is like a mission brief for the church, showing her what she needs to do
3. The Bible helps prepare each individual for his/her unique role in this mission.  As P.J. Smyth recently wrote on Facebook – 

“I must have a grasp of the Big Story of Salvation through the ages (so that I may understand my role in it).  Indeed, His Story must become my story”

According to John Eldredge, (author of Epic) the Bible holds the answers to 4 crucial questions:

• Who am I?

• Why am I here?

• Where will I find life?

• What does God want of me?

“Christianity in its true form tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things.  It tells us that he has set our hearts’ longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic.  It warns that the truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us.  It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives”

If you are a someone who is still trying to decide what to make of Christianity – I trust that this very brief summary will move you a little bit further towards a decision to follow Christ.  I believe the story that God is telling in scripture is by far the best and most compelling one in the marketplace of religions. I believe it satisfactorily answers questions you might have about the origin of life, the meaning of life, about morality and about destiny.  And while you may still have lingering questions I hope things are now a little clearer for you.

How does the Bible tell this story?

So we’ve looked at what sort of book the Bible is and we’ve looked at the sort of story that the Bible contains.  But more importantly – how does the Bible tell that story?  I’d like highlight 4 major parts or meta-chapters to this story.

• Part 1 - The creation of the earth and the baton handed to Adam and Eve - and fall of man – (Genesis 1 to 11). A poignant contrast of life in perfect harmony with God with life where free will is abused.  It is the start of all our problems and as such, the mother of all tragedies.

• Part 2 - God chooses and raises a NATION – first through Abraham, then out of slavery through Moses and ultimately to a powerful kingdom under David. It also looks at how this Kingdom falls out of obedience to God.  This nation - Israel - is a signpost not only to the nature of God but also to the Messiah who is yet to come.  Israel also acts as a sort of mid-wife or surrogate mother for the Messiah who is Jesus.

• Part 3 - Whereas in part 2 the baton is carried by a NATION, in part 3 it is carried by a MAN. Here we see God’s comprehensive victory over sin through Christ’s birth, ministry and death.  Jesus – the fulfillment of prophecy.  Jesus - The Son of God.  Jesus - The new Covenant.  Jesus - The one who modeled what any other believer could do in right relationship with God.  Jesus - the man who laid aside his majesty but who tapped back into it as a spirit-filled man to show that we too could have the keys to the Kingdom.  Jesus the perfect sacrifice.  Jesus - whose single act on Calvary defeated the power of sin once and for all.  Jesus – whose impact on human history has been un-paralleled.

• Part 4 - the baton changes hands once again – small movement of fanatical followers named the church.  A period of Revival and Reformation as the Church, empowered Christ’s victory over death as well as the Holy Spirit -  sets out on its mission to reflect God’s Kingdom here on earth.  Yet Part 4 is the beginning of (believe it or not) the high water mark of History because the race does not end there.   Indeed, neither does the story.  Someone once described the Bible as a story looking for an ending.  And here we must deal with a mystery.  Despite the fact that the Bible is a complete and finished document in some amazing way, the testimony and essence of scripture is still being written – maybe not for our eyes just yet – recording the final battle between good and evil which will usher in the end of the age.  This is where you come in.  With every Christian act that reflects and reinstates the Glory of God to the fallen, un-redeemed world.  Every time you carry the baton of the Redemption into your home, your art, your business, into the realms of education, politics, medicine and the legal world – the story continues.  

“As his Body we are sculpting a prophetic and sanctifying presence in the wilderness of profane history.  Every word, every prayer, every song of praise and worship, ever deed is playing a role in creating God’s Cathedral of wisdom and purpose on the yet uncreated future of the globe.  And YOU are part of that as you engage yourself intimately and personally in fulfilling the word of God.  You the church are of Godmost importance, impregnating time with eternity” - Anon