Nothing Personal Part 2

So just to remind you we’re in a brief four part excursion from the main series on fasting. Connections will be made later on. What triggered this off was a sequence of thoughts and events on Tuesday that compelled me to write this series on nothing special. In the last entry I shared my journey from being a religious bigot completely close-minded to the ways of Christ outside my own tradition to one with a more considered approach to different expressions of Christian faith. Although I had reservations about the YMCA’s Christian ethos, I’ve got over it to be able to work where I am and forge decent relationships with others who have helped me develop that more considered position.

Now as I continue please bear in mind the disclaimer put to this whole series in the last post. Go on remind yourself of it, before you get upset and want to haul ass … metaphorically. Done it? Good. There, can’t say I didn’t warn you.

One of the most precious experiences to me in my time at the YMCA is knocking about with my counterpart in the Burton-on-Trent YMCA, Peter Orton. When I first met him I thought he was a freak. Now having got to know him a little better and spending some quality time with him on all manner of things I have come to the conclusion that indeed he is a freak. This is cool with me, though, because I can relate with a freak. I can relate with someone who doesn’t neatly fit in the categories and classifications that we have for people.

His rejection and alienation from even mainstream Christianity has made him an endearing and intriguing figure to me. As I’ve got to know him I’ve loved him all the more for his ability to come at things from leftfield and challenge the status quo.

I do not agree with his theology completely and some of it has left me baffled and confused as to who he thinks Jesus is. Sometimes I’ve thought he’s quite clearly barmy and holds views that could not be compatible with the Christian faith made clear in scripture. For all that there is enough of a shared passion to see Jesus made known to people who don’t know and get an aesthetic culture obsessed with looks and ethics to go beyond and engage with the spiritual.

At this, Pete is a past-master and is so much better than other Christians I know who can talk the right doctrine but have no track record with the actual mission aspect of this gospel to reach those who do not yet know with the good news. Pete’s reputation in his community as an ‘angel of the streets’ would be quite something if it came from the safe nominal Christians, but is all the more remarkable as the title comes from Muslims who have seen him action showing compassion to those in need of it.

Pete is for real – he’s an open, honest, fumbling, bumbling, flawed, inspiring, intelligent, considerate follower of Jesus Christ. My relationship with him sums up a lot of my newer approach to engaging with believers whose version of following Christ differs from mine. I have a choice – embrace where I can and befriend, or write off and distance myself from associating from such … freaks. The latter option is the easiest and to be fair in some cases it is the best policy because sometimes the freaks are actually more interested in being freakish than in bringing Christ to people’s attentions. That’s when the doctrinal divergences play a bigger part in things because it’s not just a disagreement among brothers it’s a disagreement about Christ Himself where the outcome is of no great concern to one of us (i.e. the outfreakishly freaky freak).

In the meantime with the humility to acknowledge that I am not omniscient and with the unity of the Spirit at stake I don’t batter my brother in the Christ with our area of difference. Where we can fellowship, we fellowship and where that no longer remains possible we part amicably. I’m not sure if I would have had the personal capacity to love Pete five years ago as much as I love him now, but I’m glad I can as he has helped shaped my love for Christ and widen my appreciation for all things to do with Christian spirituality.

Now the context developed in these two parts are important in considering the nature of the theme on nothing personal. The deal at the heart of Christian mission is not getting people doing good things or saying good words or appearing in the right gear. It’s about being reconnected with the Creator of all mankind and living life from that connection so that good speaking, acting, thinking and relating is sourced out of a complete devotion and solid connection to God through Christ by faith. That affects things on a holistic basis from the inside out. The alternative to that is what we’ll explore in the next entry – don’t miss it, I implore you.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Nothing Personal Part 1

Now you’re probably thinking that I’ve gone off the boil on the whole fasting topic with the lack of new material on the issue. That thought is wrong. I am keener than ever before to continue on the topic. There’s a whole backlog of stuff waiting to come tumbling out on the issue as it regards to seeing wider than we do and what happens when the level of intensity increases in approaching the subject. All of that just waiting to burst forth and indeed some of it may have burst forth today if it weren’t for a significant occurrence today that sparked a range of thoughts and triggered the need for today’s blog entry.

Now as I sat to write, this evening, I had an onrush of words to the head and wrote those out. To give you a bit of insight into some of my writing processes I write a Word document almost every day called CD Notes. This will have on some of my things to do for the day and a scripture of encouragement. It will then note ideas, thoughts, reflections, web- stuff and other stuff that I get over the day. More often than not this will be the first place that I write the nucleus and sometimes the entirety of what will be the post for this blog. From here I’ll detach the text for the blog and put it in a separate Word document. Then I’ll look at the text and make any alterations, additions and amendments as necessary. Recently such was the extended nature of the notes I was making on the subject of fasting that it formed the basics of the series that you’ve been enjoying. This actually gives me something to look forward to when I write the blog for the day because I have the day’s reflections and the basis for what the entry is meant to be developing the thought. It’s not unusual that I’ll have a paragraph on the basis and the direction of the day’s thoughts will take a life of its own.

So as indicated I was of the mind today to continue with the series on fasting and have had the material building up in the notes from the days since the last post ready and waiting to publish. Yet today was different because of a number of strands of thought conspiring to trigger off what was meant to be a one off post. Yet after the initial writing on the CD Notes document as I transferred it to a document on its own it became quite clear that one posting on this subject would be insufficient. So the plan is that I’ll provide a brief detour from the current series with a four-parter on the topic Nothing Personal. I’ll endeavour to be disciplined – the two parts should be sorted with no need for further expansion. There maybe some connecting points between this and the ongoing series which I’ll make when we resume the series in the very near future.

I need to put this disclaimer on this article more than any other I’ve written and posted. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the denomination to which I belong, the local fellowship of which I’m a part or indeed the family of which I am the head. Also the views expressed in this blog may offend people of a particular philosophical or political disposition. Depending on who reads it will determine the level to which people agree or disagree with my perspective stated here. I can state clearly that I have not written this post deliberately to offend. It is not a provocative blog for the sake of it at all. I have endeavoured to make the entry as considered and careful as possible, but I have also sought to say what I’m saying without varnish or covering up the truth of how I feel on the issue. As well as that the views also come from my understanding of being a follower of Christ at this time. I am open to further teaching from scripture and illumination from the Spirit. Words printed here are not to be taken as my stance forever, amen. They are relatively subject to change. Yet I do feel very strongly about the issue in question.

OK with that in mind, as ever context is important to frame the topic for ‘brief’ perusal. My beliefs and faith has been stretched considerably in the three years that I’ve worked for the YMCA. As groundbreaking as the eye-opening time at university, my time at the YMCA has challenged, informed and recalibrated a lot of areas of my understanding of walking with Christ. I acknowledge the limited and rather close-minded approach I had to Christianity before university and it was still pretty evident when I started at the YMCA, but you cannot survive working for the YMCA unless you’re prepared to have your beliefs challenged.

One of the reasons for that is because the YMCA is an ecumenical organisation, that is although there are some YMCA’s that are strongly affiliated to a denomination because of locality and influence the organisation ethos is not to subscribe to one particular stream of Christian expression in the hope of being broad enough to embrace all as it fits the mission of the organisation. Now, such a stance actually swings the organisation in one way rather than another when it comes to the aforementioned streams of Christian expression. That is to say it is prone to be part of the liberal, open-ended, quasi-emergent end of the Christian spectrum. This is because such a part of the brotherhood is easier going about different forms of Christianity and as with most liberal expressions the only reluctance is with forms that are not inclusive and too heavily prescriptive.

This is somewhat of a caricature of the YMCA’s Christian position, but is not too far from the truth where people like Malcolm Duncan, Brian McClaren and Rob Bell would be more than welcome. Dudes from the conservative evangelical end of the market would not be given the rule of the ranch because of their perceived compressing and depressing version of following Christ.

Now I am not comfortable with this end of Christian expression part of it is the ties to the upbringing I have and part of it is because of how destabilising I think it is with regard to the role of scripture and the mission of Christ. There’s also a reluctance to embrace something that appears to be more designed by the cultural trends of the time and shaped by the popular philosophies of the time at the cost of faithfully sticking with a gospel that in no ways seeks to be cool, trendy, in-vogue or in tune with the times.

Those reservations apart, one thing I am glad for about the YMCA is the role grace plays in negotiating those areas of disagreement around the shared ultimate value of Jesus Christ. So whereas in time past I would not only sniff and huff at some stuff that I might not necessarily agree with but outright remove myself from such heathens, now I make an effort at least to have an understanding of what’s going on. Indeed as I consider some of what they have to say I find myself nodding my head in agreement, confirming it with scripture and further broadening my understanding of this incredible God who goes beyond human comprehension and methods of definition. This process is as much down to relationships as it is exploring writings and teachings on doctrinal positions.

Again with the power of relationships and a particular example of that will be shown in the second part of this three-parter. It highlights again that this journey with Jesus is as much about people as it is about Jesus and failing either part of the relationship leaves things incomplete. Be sure to find out more in the next blog entry now.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Cheap Christianity

Although I endeavour not to dwell on certain things too long, it is a slight concern the way Christianity can come across as either an easy route to an easy life where all your wants and wishes are supplied or where God is our servant to do what we will in making the world a better place to live in. There’s this marketing of Christianity as a desirable commodity that people can buy into relatively easily ‘just believe’ as if that step is the easiest thing in the world to do. Something’s not quite right with this picture of a Way of life that was marked out by it’s Founder who endured a reputation as a suffering servant rejected by men with no place to lay His head. Something doesn’t quite make sense holding this easy marketing approach to a faith that Christ states can only be accessed through a narrow gate that only a few find.

Despite everything God is still speaking and saying some amazing things. Earlier today I was reading J.C. Ryle’s Holiness and it was touching a pertinent topic for me as I consider the issue of discipleship. Chapter five of this brilliant book looks at the cost of being holy.

Ryle explores the issue in three parts, first checking what the cost it, then why it’s important to count the cost and ending with how people can count the cost properly. Whether it’s with people starting the journey in earnest or with apparent seasoned veterans in this Christian walk, it’s good to re-evaluate whether or not we really have counted the cost of holiness, whether we calculate what it is to take on following Jesus as a serious life-consuming enterprise.

There’s a stunning quote he says at the end of the section on what the cost is, but before I get there it’s worth noting what Ryle considers to be the cost of holiness, they are – 1) Self-righteousness – we depend only on Christ for righteousness, not bible reading, church attendance, prayer, knowledge, etc. 2) Sins – must be willing to give up everything that opposes God and godliness especially those that we’ve been wrapped up in for so long. 3) Love of Ease – comfort is not part of the Christian goal in the journey; it comes with pain and so requires diligence in ‘tongue, temper and thoughts’. 4) Favour with the World – we’re got to be prepared for rejection and ridicule, pressure and persecution accused of being fanatical, extreme and foolish as that’s what the Master endured so it’s part of the deal.

Of course I’d recommend you get the book if you want to find out what more he says about counting the cost and holiness in general, it does come highly recommended. What’s really cool about the way he outlines the costs is how he states the difficulty we have with all these as they affect parts of our lives in which we’re most comfortable and used to living. Yet these are the necessities of true discipleship, this is part of what the whole taking up the cross involves.

Indeed it is the issue of the cross that brings up the priceless quote – ‘A cheap Christianity without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.’ (Ryle 1879, 2007 page 70) We just had our Lord’s Supper on Friday night and reflecting on the great price paid at Calvary and how it pleased the Lord to crush His only Son for the sins of humanity makes this whole carrying the cross issue al the more serious and leads me to want to express this even more in my life. Never mind the state of Christendom in the Western World, UK, England, Stoke-on-Trent, my church or even my home, I’m all the more concerned to know my Christianity is not on the cheap side.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
da man cd