We often hear that famous section from Jeremiah 29 read and it is a fantastic segment of the bible, very probably my favourite, but we rarely look at the story behind it. In Jeremiah, the Israelites have long come out of the slavery in Egypt but are now slaves inside Babylon. However, where before they were made to work to death, given no freedom, no rights, and split apart by the Egyptians, they are now in a new kind of slavery. They are allowed to own land, to keep animals and live a normal life, however they cannot rule in any way, they have no say in what happens to them. It is what Andrew Shearman calls "sophisticated slavery".
Now today we seem to live in a very free and accepting culture. We are allowed to have our churches and practise our faith as we like. But when we try and proclaim the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, people don't want it. We are told that "all faiths are true to those who believe them" that we are arrogant if we try and call the Bible true and all other religious teachings false. Or how about the phrase "there is no such thing as absolute truth. Hmm...let's consider that one for a moment. Are you telling me that it is absolutely true that there is no such thing as absolute truth? "Well, that's true for you, but it's not true for me." Well then, is it only true for you that my faith is only true to me and not to you but not true to me? (Read that sentence a few times, I promise it makes sense.) If our faith is true then it precludes the truth of all other faiths. If the Bible says there is only one God (and if you're unsure, it does), then there cannot be any other Gods. I cannot say that another faith is right. I can respect that faith and the people who follow it. But I cannot deny that my faith teaches, and that I believe, that they are wrong and being misled by the devil.
Have you ever heard someone show off by knowing the word "antidisestablishmentarianism"? Great word! But what does it mean? Well, the establishment is the church as part of the running and ruling of this country, so DISestablishmentarianism is people who are against that (a lot of people today), thus ANTI-DISestablishmentarianism is people who are against the people who are against the church being a part of the running and ruling of this country. One of the queen's titles is "Defender of the Faith", can anyone tell me that last time you heard the queen defending our faith in this country? They don't want us to have a say in how this officially "Christian" country is run. Have your churches, practise your faith, but don't push to rule, don't push to run your own country. Does that sound familiar? It is just a Babylonian, sophisticated slavery.
I have even sometimes been into church and felt uncomfortable to freely express my faith. Sometimes we feel like we have to water down our beliefs to make people feel comfortable. Is that what Jesus did? Make people feel comfortable? No. He proclaimed the truth and a lot of people didn't like it. Did he water it down to help them feel comfortable? No. He stood firm to what he believed and the way he did it. In a society that likes its diet bland, the word of God will so often have too much Red meat for them. We do not have live in this sophisticated slavery. We have to be audacious in our faith, and stand for what is right and true whether the secular society, or even some people in the church, like it or not.
And to add something to what I said in my last article I would like to make reference to something I once read in a book by Max Lucado. If you remember I was talking about the bad times we have to go through and how it is all part of God's Big plan for our and other people's lives. Take a piece of silver jewelry or cutlery that you have and have a good look at it. The surface should be smooth and perfect without rough parts or impurities. That perfection is not easy to achieve. The silversmith has to put a lot of work in to get that finish. When he works the silver, the silversmith has to get a roaring hot furnace and plunge the silver into it. As the silver heats up it becomes malleable and the smith can work it. He takes it from the fire and works it with his hammer and tools and then has to put it back into the furnace again and take it out and hammer it again. He must repeat this process many, many times to achieve the perfect finish to the jewelry you are holding. God is like that with us. He wants us to be perfect, he wants to mould us to be just like Jesus. But we are far from perfect. He must plunge us into difficult situations, that hurt and break us like the furnace, but it is only through this that we can become ready for him to change us and mould us to be like Him. So don't despair in the tough times, see them through and keep praising God, because he is preparing you to be changed and moulded to become better and closer to that perfect finish. Free of impurities. Just like Jesus.
If you want to know more:
Some suggested listening from this article is from a conference at NEDCF with Andrew Shearman, see me if you would like a copy. And some suggested reading is "Just like Jesus" by Max Lucado, available in Christian book shops and from amazon.
2 comments:
I read something similar this week in a book called "Simply Christian" by Tom Wright.
There was a powerful dictator who liked everything in his country to run smoothly through rational and worked out systems. He noticed that the water sources in the country could be erratic, Thousands of springs in the middle of town and cities. Whilst they were useful they also caused problems, occasionally flooding the town and they would often burst out somewhere new destroying the road or a building. The water was also prone to getting polluted.
The dictator decided on a rational plan, all areas of the country where there was as much as a suggestion of water would be concreted over so thick and the springs could never burst through.
The water that people needed was brought to them by a rational, but complex, system of pipes. He used the opportunity to put additives in the waster that he thought would make his people healthier and gave them the amount he decided they needed.
For many years this plan worked fine, people got used to it. Some of the problems blamed on unregulated water didn't go away, it turned out their air was just as polluted and there wasn't a lot the dictator could do about that. People praised the dictator for his forward thinking wisdom.
A generation passed, and all seemed well. Then without warning the spring water that had been bubbling below the concrete could no longer be contained and there was a sudden explosion, somewhere between an earthquake and a volcano. The water burst up through the concrete, muddy, dirty water shot into the air, destroying roads and buildings causing chaos in whole cities. Some people were really happy they could get water without relying on the regulated system. The people who controlled the water system were at a loss, everyone had plenty of water but it wasn't pure and could not be controlled.
We in the western world are the citizens of that country, the powerful dictator is the philosophy of the last couple of centuries that has turned the majority of people into materialists and the water is what we call today "spirituality", the hidden spring that bubbles up within human hearts and human societies. (Paraphrased from the beginning of chapter 2 "The Hidden Spring")
He goes on to explain a little more, a phrase he uses that sticks with me is this "From this point of view, spirituality is a private hobby, an up-market version of daydreaming for those who like that kind of thing"
As Ben pointed out is this how Jesus acted about faith, did he decide it was something private or did he go around declaring, rather loudly, the truth of God. Why should we then live under the rule of the dictator trying to contain our spirituality to the church we worship in, in regulated and rational way. Did Jesus ask whether his actions would be considered rational? Then why should be only practise our faith in a supposedly rational and orderly way?
Tom Wright goes on to say that the eruption of the suppressed water (or spirituality) has happened and that those who were trying to control it (many of them working in politics, the media and the church) are horrified.
I think, however, there is still a lot of water waiting to escape, there are still a lot of people trying to control spirituality, so that it is a private thing practised in church, something that shouldn’t break through into the media too often and some believe it should not be taught in schools. There are also Christians who feel that they have to keep their spirituality a private matter. It is a hard thing to do to even talk about your faith out side church, or groups of Christians never mind to allow the spirituality bubbling in our hearts to burst out.
Anyway this has already turned into something more like an article in itself then a comment so I shall conclude.
I agree we need to be audacious in our faith, letting the bubbling waters of faith and spirituality break through the controlled mediums in which it has been fed to us. And not letting those who are still trying to control the erupting spring, in the media, politics and the Church, do so.
Thanks, James. That is really good. Could I borrow that book possibly?
Cheers
Benj
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