The Jesus the world needs more than polished livestreams

I’m not saying anything here that I haven’t already heard directly from the lips of a couple of pastors I know in the last few days.  What I’m saying here is nothing new.  Indeed, very many shepherds of God’s church will probably agree with what I’m about to say, but I’m afraid churches more generally, and some Christian leaders and worship leaders, may still be on the journey and will remain unconvinced.

I lament the idea that pastors are presently watching for how to be better presenters before the camera.  Since when did looking more professional on a livestream make you a better shepherd of people?  (What I think looking better before a camera creates, however, is more consumer Christianity, where people are encouraged to rate the sermon.)  I know there must’ve been many people tempted to gather some handy equipping in these ways, and nothing against those doing equipping, because I was one who was tempted to watch such videos.  And kudos to those who did — it’s all learning.

But I wonder if we are getting our priorities right, when we spend time on the vanities of presentation, when perhaps now is the opportunity to plug into the anxieties and griefs of people in the season.

For one observation, I have been heartily impressed with those pastors and Christian leaders who have just shown up, and been their real selves before the camera, foibles and all.

I have loved those church services done in homes, with children playing musical instruments, and mums and dads singing and leading worship, having a Jesus party.  I think we all embrace the unplugged versions of worship that remind us that worship is not about performance, but that it’s about praise.

Of the several worship sessions that we as a family have invited ourselves into, there is spiritual passion in one, truth and authenticity in another, prayers and even silence in another, a beautiful sunrise in another, and even a refreshing fumbling through of the particulars of announcement in another, and still another livestream came in from a backyard patio where a frayed garden hose was the star of the show.  What they shared was a raw humanity that takes courage and humility to parade.  I also enjoyed how these people interacted with those who joined their service: “Hey Marty, great you could join us, brother... Jamo, fab to have you join the joy, mate... Debs, thanks for coming along!” could all be heard.  Such a welcome by name is sweet to the human soul.

I personally don’t think it’s a good idea that we go super inward within the existing performance cultures of church.  I’ve heard too many horror stories of senior pastors or chairs of boards or worship leaders tearing strips off worship team members for singing off key, not ‘having the passion’, missing a transition, looking sloppy, too sexy or not sexy enough.  Church, that’s not church!

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We may well ask, “What’s God up to in this period, and how does our Lord want the church to respond?”  What are the questions lead on from that question?

Surely there are questions around the bringing of God’s kingdom in the context of COVID-19.  Surely there are also questions around, what new and innovative ways are there to BE JESUS in our communities, not least for the people we serve within our spiritual jurisdictions; let’s not feel guilty about serving those within.  Maybe now is the time to really get pastoral care right, as an impetus for what God might be doing in the next season, as we sow into the journeys that God has placed in our lives.

Could it just be that the expression of church that the world really needs hasn’t been invented yet; or better put perhaps, that that revelation hasn’t yet been acted on?

Sure, livestreams may be seen by the curious outside the gates of our churches.  This is almost certainly happening, already.  And we need to be ready for the conversations that will come.  And I do imagine the vast majority of livestreams are rawer than we’d usually expect J

One last thought about Jesus and livestreams.  The Chosen.  Perhaps as the world ‘binges Jesus’ many may be captivated to meet their Messiah.  The Chosen’s Jesus is a wonderful symbol of what our Saviour must have been like.

I wonder if the world will come looking for him.

Photo by Tye Doring on Unsplash

What do you do if COVID-19 has messed you up?

Diet all over the place.  Sleep patterns disrupted; a little insomnia thrown in.  Exercise non-existent.  Anxiety one week, depression the next, irritability the week following.  Stressed beyond compare because of the uncertainty.  Lacking patience for those who decide to flout social distancing norms.  No hugs.  Just a whole lot more sensitive than normal.  Can’t see family or visit elderly relatives.  Family stressors heightened or simply missing family.  Feeling hypervigilant in public. Avoiding the news and social media.

If you relate with any of these things, you’re in pretty average company.

The fact is COVID-19 has messed most of us up in some sort of way, and it’s probably best said, it’s affected us all in more ways any of us can count.

We may joke all we want to about wanting to move past this year, promptly onto 2021, and forget this year completely, but there is a lot of truth to it.  When we read a meme that says 2020 is a leap year that had 29 days in February, 300 days in March, and five years in April, you only have to be alive in COVID-19 and you know exactly what that humour is about.  It’s kind of necessary, isn’t it?

There’s a lot to be said for humour, especially as it helps regulate our anxiety.  And it is a sure sign that people really are struggling when they resort to humour a lot of the time.  We have all needed such an outlet.  There is no shame in admitting it.

I’ve had a person ask me what do you do if COVID-19 has messed you up?

It’s a reasonable question to ask, particularly when there are a range of different stressors at play during this time.

The first thing we have to note is the sheer unpredictability of this time.  It just helps to understand we will feel out of control.  We will feel at the mercy of many different elements of life that are just happening to us at present.  We’ve all endured so many shock waves.

We can be mindfully gentle with ourselves, patiently accepting that we are in the grief process, and by nature it will feel chaotic, and our emotions will be hard to regulate some days.

We can extend this gentle and gracious patience to others in compassion.  The very definition of the word compassion means to ‘suffer with’, and if we are honest with ourselves and admit that these times are hard, we actually have more patience and compassion for others, because empathy has a chance for expression.

Empathy is a beautiful replacement for fear.  As soon as we feel empathy for others and ourselves, fear melts away, because the truth of our sadness is heard.  There’s no need to pretend we need to have everything together and be managing perfectly well when we aren’t.  It’s okay if this period of time is rough for us.

Whenever we feel messed up, it is always good to sit in that space and to listen to what is going on in our body, mind, and our soul.  I truly wonder if resilience in this day is simply allowing the rollercoaster its time.  And it certainly pays not to get ahead of ourselves.

Sitting in the chaos, not trying to control it, and just learning to be still of mind and heart, accepting the ups and downs without judging ourselves as stupid or weak; these are good things to do.

Photo by Georg Arthur Pflueger on Unsplash

How do I ‘sit’ with a grieving person?

It’s not just those who have lost family members who grieve.  Trauma survivors, those who have lost careers and marriages, and anyone who has had traumatic responses to an event or series of events in their life will be dealing with grief.

Many, many of these people are struggling with how to get support; the right kind and enough of it, and particularly at just the moment they need it.

We can’t just assume people will reach out when they need to, because often — too often — people don’t feel they have access to the support they need.

If you were to ask a room full of grieving people, how many of feel inadequately supported at present, there would be a significant number raise their hands that they’re doing too much of their journey alone.  This is no sleight on those who presently support them.  It’s just the nature of grieving.  It is confounding.

Remember that grieving fills a larger space in the community than we would typically find — it’s the whole gamut of loss.  Those who have Post Traumatic Stress, for just one instance, carry a baseline grief with them quite a bit of the time.  That can be re-triggered in a moment.

But it’s more important than ever to do this for those people who are closer to us, or to support them in getting their support.

The right support at the right moment can be incredibly effective for the moment.

In sitting with someone I’m assuming the old biblical principle of Romans 12:15, “rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn,” is the powerful premise of this ministry.

It is preferable whenever we are present with someone to allow ourselves to mirror their emotional space.  If they are weeping, it is okay for us to weep a little with them, and for it to be gently explained to them — if necessary — that it is nothing for them to feel guilty about, that you’re honoured to grieve the horrific sorrow with them.

It is okay for sadness to meet sorrow.  It is okay for the person who has no answers to be met with no answers, as we both sit in the mystery together.

It is okay if it is a monologue, where the person supported simply speaks, and the listener attends.  It is okay if there is the occasional hysterical laugh, because to make sense of the nonsensical sometimes requires humour, so long as it honours the grieving person.  It is okay to just sit there in silence.  And where possible, if the person being supported likes it, for there to be appropriate physical presence.

At the end of the day, it is the person who is being supported in their grief who defines what support looks like, but the best supporters wear empathy, warmth, kindness, patience and gentleness.  They are incarnate Christ, the best they can be.

The best support for grieving completely understands the limited nature of the support, that it is an ongoing journey, and not to expect much, if anything at all, apart from a slight lightening of the burden.  That’s good enough.

Even if a person who is grieving doesn’t know what kind of support they need, silence and focused attention, and just being with them is a good help and a good start.

The best helpers are usually those who have grieved a great deal themselves.

It is amazing, even miraculous to see, how powerful a ministry that is done by the Holy Spirit when we cease trying to ‘fix’ things, get out of God’s way, and just be present enough to care.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Images of godliness that pleasantly surprise and encourage us

The devil certainly has a way of shoving us one degree off course to the point where we wonder where God is, amid severe levels of discouragement.  As I will attempt to show you, however, God is never far away; indeed, as Psalm 139 would insist, we can do nothing to get rid of God’s Presence.

Here are a few images of godliness that may surprise us and will definitely encourage us:

Þ           every day or every moment we succumb to fear, then by battling our way to peace, as we imbibe the old adage, “Do not be afraid,” we are blessed — not in achieving peace but in simply endeavouring to go that way — it’s nothing about success, it’s more about the orientation of our heart.

Þ           how God speaks powerfully when gently admonishing us in the flesh — 99 sins we commit, but by God’s grace, 100 times we repent.  See how even as we sin, God speaks, and God’s grace abounds, as we repent.  How wonderful the revelation of God, especially as it speaks into the darkness to bring us to new frames of light.  What a gift it is to hear from God in our wrong!

Þ           even as we can commit a sin, flesh warring with Spirit within us, as the Spirit gets through by his Presence, there, right there, is holy revelation, the likes of which the devil hates, because it brings us to the precipice of conviction, which leads to confession and then repentance — the forgiveness of sins.

Þ           in seeing our sinful nature shriek under the enemy’s testing, to the point where our flesh folds under the devil’s tyranny, it’s the grace of God within that that is so much more powerful, supremely indeed.  God, no less, convinces us we are worthy of saving, and that even on this occasion, we are forgiven; but, note the contrition of heart that presupposes this.  Those who know they’re wrong are more easily forgiven.

Þ           only God could turn our enmity towards another person or their enmity toward us into an opportunity to GROW our relationship — but only when both of us are putting God first and owning our individual parts.  All God needs is two cooperative participants, both prepared to repent, which is simply to turn from their own way back to God’s, and God is glorified in the reconciliation.

Þ           even as we slip up again, taking back our forgiveness of a person or situation, feeling hurt and betrayed once again, we have not sinned if we diligently wrestle with the orientation of our heart.  If only we own the bitterness that takes us in the wrong direction, which is not about fixing it, just simply owning it, we have attained yet again the standard of godliness that God seeks.  If they have done nothing to warrant forgiveness and yet we’ve forgiven them, they alone have an account to settle with God.

Þ           It isn’t perfection that sets us apart to godliness — it not our sin that holds us apart. On the contrary it is because of a sin, in spite of it, in fact, that God calls us holy and set apart.  All that is required on our behalf is acknowledgement.  Once we have acknowledged our sin, God’s Spirit leads us toward the path of light — conviction, confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, in that kind of order.

Many people do not wish to commit to Jesus until they can be a little more “Christian,” or a bit more deserving of God’s forgiveness.  But Christian faith is the other way around.  Christian faith is not about being better at all, but it is a way of acknowledging how far we fall every day.  Christian faith is the way back to relationship through honesty by faith.

Far from being condemned at all, God has made a way through Christ that we are forgiven despite the sins we commit, if only we can be honest and admit our wrongs.

Being a godly person is nothing about being perfect; it is much more about acknowledging and accepting we are imperfect and have been forgiven by a perfect God.

Photo by Luiza Braun on Unsplash

The reality of God’s promises for your life and their fulfilment

Churches are closed everywhere as you know, and I hadn’t been to our church since before Easter, but by the nudge of the Holy Spirit, I found myself there yesterday.  I barely remembered my security code it had been that long since I had opened up.

I set about doing what I had arrived for, and in setting up for that, I just happened to be fumbling through a bunch of discarded books on the floor.  I felt led to look through the titles.  It was at this point the one book in particular took my eye.  I pulled it out and began to thumb through it.  I literally haven’t been able to put it down since.

It appears God had me at the church for an entirely different purpose to what I thought!

It isn’t a famous book and it hasn’t been written by a famous author, but it is God’s message for me today.  And I’m sure you’ll relate with this topic that I will discuss now.

Think about the analogy of pregnancy.  A pregnant woman has not had her baby yet, but she knows her baby will come.  Our hopes are just the same.

For some strange reason our hopes don’t seem real until they’re realised, but the ironic thing with that is that hope is only relevant before the realisation.  Once a hope is realised it is no longer a hope.  Too many of us give up on the dreams of our hearts, because we lose touch with hope that they can be realised.

Perhaps deeper down inside us, are prophecies buried so deep that long ago we lost touch with the promise.  But in all reality, God has laid up these promises in our hearts long ago.

These are not the kinds of promises you find linked to Bible verses, though there are promises from scripture also.

These are the kinds of promises that God made to US, alone, perhaps very early in our lives, or maybe even only 10 years ago, but they are unique promises for our life, nonetheless.  And we know that God keeps his promises, always. Our problem is we lack faith.

Like the pregnant woman, if the promise remains pregnant inside us, and we do our bit to support the promise, God will see it through without any shadow of a doubt, just as the baby is eventually born.  We just need to believe.

And, guess what.  Belief makes not only the process of promise fulfilment likelier to happen, it also makes the journey more joyful and peaceful.  And, who’s not up for more peace and joy?

HERE’S THE THING... you know this is a reality for you.  Nestled deep within, eternity’s call echoes—it’s how your life is supposed to have eternal significance in THIS life.

We are the only ones who will get in the way of the fulfilment of these promises.  And all we have is now, the present moment to work, and the rest of our lifetimes to diligently and faithfully pursue what God has laid up in our hearts, for us, to do.  Nobody else can do it, and if we don’t do it, maybe nobody ever will do it.

The day of delivery of that promise, when it breaks through into the fullness of manifestation, we will see what has always been a reality — as a prophecy initially and then the fulfilment — but a reality all the same.

Two imperatives remain:

1.             Will we seek to go back and to reconnect with those prophecies of promise that God gave us in the first place?  Truly, he has laid these up in every single one of our hearts, as we work out our salvation (see Ephesians 2:1-10).  Now is the time to do this work of reconnecting with the divine promises made for OUR life.

2.             Once we have reconnected with that thing or things that God had laid up for us at and in his appointed time, it is over to us to be faithful as God is faithful, to be expectant, because we know that our Lord does not fail in meeting the commitments that God has made.  We only have this one life, with its limited days.  So, will we commit to the work that God has predestined for us to do?

Oh, the title of the book is Those Who Expect Nothing Are Never Disappointed by Steve Sampson, (Renew Books: California, 2000).

Photo by Zhifei Zhou on Unsplash

Lest We Forget – never more relevant than for today

2020 Anzac Day for those in Australia and New Zealand will be commemorated in the strangest of ways, ever.  I know many who will assemble at the end of their driveways with their candles at 5:55 am on Anzac Day, April 25.

We won’t go to dawn services, nor marches, nor services held in the afternoon, where we would hear The Ode recited, Reveille and The Last Post bugled, as well as a series of distinguished recitations and speeches given.

Instead, we will hold our own private requiems, and for many it will be the oddest (and saddest) way to commemorate what has become a significant part of our Australian and New Zealand calendar.

For those who have loved ones or descendants who have served militarily — my wife and I have one grandfather each who served in World War II — Anzac Day is as solemn a day as it gets, behind only Easter if we’re Christian.  And yet, our Anzac Day, at least on mere mortal terms, is very well linked with the Easter message.

It may not be well known, but “Lest We Forget” emanates from the Christian poem, Recessional, by Rudyard Kipling, who wrote it in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.  Kipling actually wrote it as a swipe against British imperialism of the day.  I love it how this commentator put it:

“The use of the phrase for those who sacrificed their lives was drawn from a Christian poem called Recessional, by English poet Rudyard Kipling.  He wrote the poem to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897 and used the phrase to challenge the hubris, the excessive pride or over confidence of humanity in those times.  He was challenging the thinking that we had dominion over all other men and nature.  He wrote it as a prayer referring to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ and that we and whatever we create is temporary and subservient to a greater God and that we should not forget that.” (Geoff Glass)

The more we reflect on the term Lest We Forget, the more we come to recognise its biblical roots.  Upon further examination, indeed, it takes us back into the very annuls of Old Testament tradition — the Shema (pronounced with the short-e, She-mar).

It is true, that while we counsel ourselves never to forget the sacrifices made for us through our service men and women, the deeper message is we should never forget the Lord our God, as it is written in Deuteronomy 6:12 —

“... then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (ESV, bolding for emphasis)

When we reflect on the Kipling poem, Recessional, perhaps today more than ever we are called back to that late 19th century time; where there was much misplaced trust in humanity, where the Imperial thought represented the folly of confidence in the humanity of that day — solemnity in the name of God nowhere in sight.

We live in that day, today, where there is either blind confidence in nationalistic agendas or the commensurate cynicism of them — with hardly any halfway ground, and even less full subservience to God.  (And yes, I am aware that I have not mentioned the agenda of globalism.)  And, not least, leaders worldwide, at least as far as the developed east and west is concerned, very often feature hubris, excessive pride and over confidence in humanity.

We are coming to the end of the age, where the strangest feeling pervades all thought.  The enemy is an iddy-biddy virus.  There is no marauding enemy conquering the present empires.  All empires are under siege.  (We may well want to party with conspiracy theories, but we face a much bigger threat than that — there are myriad unknowns in terms of the biopolitical threat that we face presently and for the years to come.)

Could this be a time where we are all called back to remember the Lord our God?  A time when we must agree that it isn’t missiles that threaten entire civilisations, but microbes.

There is no sinister conspiracy agenda, because all sides stand to lose as God proves yet again that humanity has much less control over all creation than it thinks it has.  Could it be that God is restoring the fortunes of the divine created order?  How else would the whole earth, languishing having been pillaged, be bought to a standstill for God’s own purposes?

We are reminded through the humble term, Lest We Forget, of so very many important things, not least that there are some things we ought never to forget lest we fall into repeating them, and the message of sacrifice — which, with the years, we are destined to forget.

God uses a coronavirus to again claw back our attention:

Men and women have served and died for the cause of humanity, yet there was one who served and died to save all humanity.  The men and women who served and died in their call of duty epitomised the Christ.  There is no higher honour.  When we think of them we ought to think of Christ, and when we think of Christ we ought to think of them and the martyrs.

When we ponder the message, Lest We Forget, may we remember not only the sacrifices of the men and women he served in our stead — the many millions who died in wartime or in active service for their sovereign and/or country — but may we also remember the sacrifice of the Son of God, because it was he who brought us out of our slavery to sin, into the glorious light of the Father.

Through nothing that we had done, only through what he had done.

As we trust God, all creation is being redeemed.

Being there for each other’s faith during COVID-19 and beyond

Even though we have all run on empty in terms of our faith at times, I’m imagining that those faith-stretching times were all part of our plan for growth.  How bizarre yet somehow oddly reassuring is it that our faith doesn’t grow without a crisis?

Yet it’s easy enough to say to someone at the end of their tether, “Get through this time and you’ll find you’ve grown,” when in all reality they may frequently think about giving up and may well glare at you within themselves for saying it.

It is such a tragic paradox that the conditions that we grow in are also the same conditions that nearly sink us.

When we are in a position of forlornness, the last thing we may want to do is to reach out to someone.  Fortunately, so long as we know a person who is struggling, we can offer our prayer and practical support.

It may mean doing something for them for the present season that they simply cannot do for themselves — and that’s okay.  This is not about making them dependent on us; it’s more about being God’s hands and feet to carry them through an arduous time by God’s power.

Using an old AA idea, we might provide a person undergoing great trial the opportunity of sponsorship.  As I reflect over the my last 10 years, I know so many people for whom I’ve had the privilege of sponsoring for six or 12 months, and of course the same support has been afforded to me during those many times when I’ve had to depend on others to get even basic things done and to stay afloat faith-wise.

You may be in a position to loan someone some faith.  Alternatively, your position might be that you desperately need to borrow faith.

Here is a system for both of you:

If you have faith to loan, you:

·               don’t mind giving it free of charge, and feel blessed to do so – what you are giving is the sweetest of gifts, because, unlike normal worldly loans, there is no need for repayment – so, remember it is a gift

·               feel equipped to do so, and better, others affirm this calling in you – if you get into areas you’re not equipped for, be humble and diligent and refer them on – you can still lend your faith to them

·               are feeling mentally and spiritually well in the present season – so, so important – nobody can draw water out of a dry well – be honest about this

·               are willing to listen and pray with them and pray for them – loaning faith is not an advice-giving exercise – it is first and foremost the selfless task of being spiritually present – it is a selfless task

·               will commit to not requiring anything of the person or people you are helping – they are not there to serve you, you are serving them remember – you are a gift for this season, so don’t become a chore or a burden to them, especially at a time when they need help more than ever

·               will commit to keeping good boundaries – the burden of responsibility is initially and ultimately yours to maintain good boundaries

If you need to borrow faith, you:

·               be bold enough to ask someone you trust who you think has the above qualities – remember you have the right to cease ‘borrowing’ at any time

·               will be more than glad to open up and receive their help and care – so long as you feel safe and it’s of benefit to you to do so – (I do seriously pity the people who borrow and then are abused — it should never happen)

·               might agree to helping discern how much help you actually need – borrow copiously, of course, but not beyond the lender’s capacity – don’t become co-dependent on them

·               agree to use what you know in your heart is from God and feel free to leave the rest – feel free to discern what your mind and gut are telling you, so don’t fall into people-pleasing

·               could consider paying it forward when God breathes life into your faith again – but remember to only serve within your own capacity

The lender is not a better person than the borrower.  There is to be no gloating in the lender and no shame felt in the borrower.  Faith moves in such a way that give it a few years (or even months at present) and roles might actually be reversed.

Everyone is allowed to experience crises of faith, because everyone will.  And especially in this COVID-19 time we will find very many people whose faith will be shattered.  This is no fault of theirs, because there are so many circumstances of loss and change going on for so many people, that it is not an indicator of a lack of faith to struggle.  On the contrary, it says a lot about our faith when we can hold on despite the strong temptation to want to give up on it.

Acknowledgement for the inspiration behind this article goes to Ps. Craig Vernall.

Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash