EASTER:   HERE WE GO AGAIN

      “It belongs to them, let’s give it back...”                                           -    Midnight Oil, Beds are Burning

   Eostre, an ancient celebration of the Goddess of Spring, using a rabbit as a sign of fertility.  Sound familiar?  Should do.  The name and the rabbit are a giveaway.  Christianity borrowed it (well, took it over actually) and turned Eostre into Easter. Which leaves me wondering why Pagans haven’t complained more about us stealing their ideas.  I suspect Christians would be a little less gracious if they stole one of our icons. So maybe it’s time to give it back.  Just say, “Sorry, we shouldn’t have pinched your stuff.  You can have it back.”

   Preposterous idea?  Pointless gesture?  Maybe, maybe not.  Before explaining why, let me just say that I have been as keen as anyone about Easter celebrations.  I loved the Hot-X buns; the excuse to end Lent and drink coffee again.  The long holiday weekend, hopefully with some decent weather, and a variety of church services to remember Christ’s death and resurrection. But you’ve got to wonder if that’s the best we can do to commemorate it.

   So let's give it back because:

 -  We shouldn’t have pinched it in the first place.  There’s no record that we asked permission.  Most times they call that theft.  And just because it was a long time ago, doesn’t make it right.  And when we give it back, how about apologising.  Saying sorry is always right, so let’s get some Christian reps to meet with pagan leaders and do a handover.  That should get some decent communication happening, and that’s got to be a good thing.

  -  The medium is the message.  By mixing the core part of our faith with a pagan celebration are we not saying we’re comfortable with the mix?  How can Christianity claim to be the only way, yet be so enthusiastically accepting of compromise? If nothing else it will save Christian parents from having to come up with bizarre explanations as to what Jesus’ death has to do with bunnies and chocolate eggs.  I mean, new life symbolism?  Are we serious?

  -  Frankly I’m not sure I can handle another round of resurrection hymns, Hot-X Buns and “It’s- Friday-but-Sunday’s-coming” sermons.  Lets start again and come up with a much more creative commemoration. Totally fresh.  At another time of year.  Something unique.

  -  Giving it back will force everyone to think about it.  For a start, what will the Government do if Christians no longer want Friday and Monday off?  It will provoke some great dialogue... “do we keep the holiday?” “The Christians don’t want it anymore” “Surely we can’t have a long weekend pagan celebration?”

   We wont of course.  Give it back.  We don’t have the resolve.  We’re not sure if we should.  Like confiscated land, if you keep it long enough you think it’s yours.  We’ll worry about the kids missing out.  We’ll feel like we’re losing the battle if we give something to pagans.  We probably don't have the spirit-breathed creativity to create something new.

Which saddens me because the current Easter routine won’t capture my grandchildren’s imagination.  Well, not the real message.  That’s being overshadowed by chocolates and a holiday. 

EVERYBODY KNOWS... but no-one’s talking
“Everybody knows that the boat is leaking/ everybody knows that the captain lied/
everybody got this broken feeling/
like their father or their dog just died"  Don Henley
   I’ve spent over 60 years in the segment of Christianity known as evangelical. This cuts a wide swathe and my involvement has been in non-charismatic and charismatic, liturgical and contemporary, fundamentalist and progressive.  Over the years I’ve tasted a range of leadership roles in evangelism, worship and preaching (a counsellor I am not!)

  Reflecting on my experiences one sad reality stands out – the unwillingness of so many, including the majority of leaders, to engage in the tough questions, and face the truth.  The result is that while everybody knows what’s going on, leaders are in denial and followers are hoping it’s not true.  Jesus said the truth will set us free but most of us don’t really believe it.

 -  Everybody knows that our fixation with buildings and equipment has resulted in an inordinate waste of money while the poor are increasingly at our door.  And we know what Jesus thinks of this.

 -  Everybody knows that the Bible isn’t inerrant, if by inerrant we mean that every word was dictated by God and is perfect and true.  There’s just too many changes in translation and examples of cultural religious and political influence on the translation process.

 -  Everybody knows that the professionalization of youth ministry has disempowered families, neutered wise elderly people, and produced a shallow generation of Christians.

 -  Everybody knows that the over 50’s are leaving institutional church in their droves and that leadership refuse to discuss with them the why.

-  Everybody knows there is a leadership crisis in both church and mission. Sexual predation, bullying, insecurity, burnout, drivenness, pride, dishonesty ... are rife and taking their toll.

 -  Everybody knows that the claims made by all our evangelical events, are bogus.  The numbers just don’t add up.

 -  Everybody knows that the decades of a therapeutic approach to Gospel and ministry hasn’t produced a healthier, more balanced church.

 -  Everybody knows that our taking the moral high ground in society, on issues like sexuality, family life, justice... , in fact most issues , is bankrupt.  That even if we think we have the right to speak, most everyone else wishes we would shut up and listen for a while.

 -  Everybody knows that our worship has been hijacked by the music business, lacks substance, and is largely repetitive.

However, the greatest tragedy is that however imperfectly you love Jesus, love people, and live a life of service, if you raise any of these issues ...  everybody knows you can expect to be blasted.  Reasoned dialogue will disappear under a barrage of labelling (liberal, rebellious, disloyal, etc) that enables everybody to retreat back in to their factions, and the status quo remain.

 Everybody knows... but no-one’s talking.

“YOU DON’T SPEAK FOR ME”:

   In my last post I suggested “Christianity” had lost any definitive meaning as a label or description.  Part of the problem is the tendency for people with opinions (and I’m one of those), who communicate as though they are speaking for God or Christianity (I’m trying to avoid being one of those).  Many of these people are leaders of churches and Christian organisations who assume that their job description includes making sure the community at large know their personal and organisational position on every issue that comes down the highway.

Reality check!

-   sometimes the spokesperson doesn’t really believe what they’re saying.  They say it because it’s “expected” of someone in their position. And more often than not, not everyone in their organisation believes it. Issues get debated, votes cast, decisions made, and positions declared.  And sure, everyone who wants to stay part of the group accepts the outcome.  Doesn’t mean they agree with it. And yet when the pronouncement is made public it is usually accompanied by an air of certainty, as representative of God and the Christian community.  So let me just say that even though I too am a passionate follower of Jesus, “you don’t speak for me”.

 

*When a Christian leader declares that God made the world in 6 days, 6000 years ago – “you don’t speak for me”.

 *When some Christians got offended that Christopher Hitchens declared the last Pope should be arrested, on entry into Britain, for contributing to child abuse – “you don’t speak for me”.

 *When Christian groups declare that God will bring judgement on the nation for legislating to allow same-sex marriage – “you don’t speak for me”.

 *When you label all Muslims as part of a plot to use every means including violence to conquer the world –“you don’t speak for me”.

 *When you claim the ‘righteous’ nature of God supports tougher prison sentences, and the death penalty – “you don’t speak for me”. 

   I think I’ve made the point.  I fully endorse the right to have an opinion and to make it public.  So long as you don’t give the impression you are speaking for “Christians”.  Nor for God.  Because neither you nor I speak for God. Even when we quote Bible verses.

A MEANINGLESS LABEL?

   So it seems that two Christians - Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh - think Pope Francis is a Socialist and a Marxist.  That's because he's convinced Jesus is on the side of the poor and he doesn't believe in unfettered capitalism.

There's all sorts of irony in this:

- Pope Francis has done an incredible amount to improve the perception of Christianity throughout the world.  His openness, generosity, and humility may not have overcome entirely, some of the negativity associated with the Catholic church but it has made a significant difference.
- Palin and Lumbaugh on the other hand, have done plenty to damage the Christian reputation, if not in their own country then certainly around the world.
- And it does seem strange to label the head of one of the wealthiest institutions in the world, a socialist.

But the bigger issue for Christianity, is that Palin, Limbaugh and Pope Francis would all claim to be Christian, and yet have entirely opposing views on most everything.  This of course has become the norm in Christianity.  Orthodox Priests bless troops in the Ukraine before they shoot at fellow Christians protesting against the Government.  Christians proclaim that God hates fags, at funerals led by Christian clergy.  Celebrities on their fourth marriage claim to be Christian while other Christians criticise politicians having affairs, as immoral and poor role models.


And on it goes...

  Some would say this is a positive thing.  It shows that Christianity is a big tent that can accommodate almost everyone.  And I'm a fan of the generous, welcoming version of Christianity.  I'm more than happy for Sarah, Rush, and Frankie to enjoy the love of Jesus.  But the fact that all of these people claim to be Christian while decrying the 'other' and holding to totally conflicting views on key issues of theology and practise, has I would suggest,  made the label "Christian" meaningless.

   No surprise then that an increasing number of people trying to follow Jesus, are choosing not to identify as Christian.  Recently a colleague asked me "You're a Christian are you?"  I replied "Tell me what you think that means".  When they had finished I said "Well, no I'm not". 

This dilemma isn't going to go away.

LOSING MY FAITH

"So, have you lost your faith?"

   The question came from a close and dearly loved relative and was in response to a long coffee conversation in which I had expressed my dissatisfaction with Christianity. And it came with a fair degree of concern. I started to reply "no of course not..." which is my standard reply when I'm trying to reassure a past colleague or church buddy. Only this time I stopped, gave the question some more thought and said "well yes, actually I have lost my faith". And I went on to explain -

Here's what I've lost faith in:

  -The Christianity I grew up with that was so certain that we were right, or most right. More right than any other expression of Christianity. That looked down on Catholics, ignored the Orthodox stream, and cast doubt on the eternal destiny of liberals. I'm sorry but to maintain that stance you have to believe that your interpretation of Scripture is superior to everyone else's. That your worship is closer to the heart of God. And that your own hearts are somehow more pure. Sorry but the jury is in - the Christianity of my upbringing (evangelical) is just as flawed as everyone else and the outcome just as pathetic in its attempt to be true to the words of Jesus, as everyone else. I've lost faith in it.

  -The view that every word in the Bible was explicitly voiced by God into the minds of people who wrote it down literally without error. And that later translators were free of all bias, thoroughly equipped in language skills, and produced a book that must be obeyed without question. I'm sorry but there only needs to be one example where a translation was influenced by culture, church or politics to make that stance untenable. I've lost my faith in that view of the Bible.

  -The Holy Spirit as some sort of saloon girl 'comforter', who is always available to tickle you under the chin and give you a great smile when you've had a tough day. I'm sorry but that's easy to believe when you've grown up in a great middle-class setting of security, safety, food, education, and health care. But spend some time in a slum or war-zone for a while and watch people crying out for relief with seeming silence as the response and you have to find a different reality for the Spirit of God. I've lost faith in that happy notion of the Spirit.

  -A Jesus on the side of the status quo, who mostly wants us to learn to behave and not rock the boat. Who wants decency and order in all things. Who is opposed to radicals and socialists, suspicious of artists and the avant-garde, and will only love the prodigals when they come to their senses. I no longer have faith in that Jesus.

  -And in a church that thinks attending on a Sunday is the primary task for their leaders to focus on, and their congregation to demonstrate healthy faith. That was the clear impression in the first 55 years of my Christian journey. I've lost my faith in it.



  So, as I told my Dad, yes I have lost my faith.