Fred Nile And Wishful Thinking

Fred Nile has been in the media of late holding the NSW government to ransom, wanting the removal of optional ethics classes in exchange for the passage of other unrelated bills before parliament.

Nearly twenty years ago I got to see Fred preach to the choir, quite literally, as he addressed a conservative Baptist church.

Fred started by reading from Romans (Romans 13). It’s the famous passage were Paul says that the rulers and authorities have been put there by God. Fred then went on to explain that what Paul meant to say was that all people in authority or government should be Christians. He gave no reason for why Paul meant to say something completely different to what he actually said and it seemed like he just really wished that's what the text actually said.

At the time I had a strong urge to stand up and yell "are you Friggin' serious?!? The foundation for your ministry is based on what you think Paul meant to say?!?" But, I was sitting next to my new girlfriend's parents and at the time impressing them seemed more important than yelling out and getting stared at by a hundred ticked off Baptists.

None the less since Fred was famous and it's the only time I've heard a justify a ministry by basing it on something that was meant to be in the bible (but wasn't actually there). So it's something I've not forgotten.

I like to think of myself as some who diligently tries to follow Jesus and takes the bible very seriously. The problem is that I'm pretty sure Fred does too and, we have very very different ideas about what this means.

I suspect that Fred's attitudes, actions and his parties policies are not based on what Jesus said and but rather what Fred wishes he said and did. They are not based on what the bible says but on what he wishes the bible "meant to say".

Poor People Ain't Like They're Supposed To Be

According to an article in the West Australian last month (Thurs 27th) I live in the only "affordable" shire in Perth. In other words I live in the crapiest shire in Perth, the one that no one else wants to live in. Now I could get all high and mighty about how Jesus walked amongst the poor and all the Christians reading this should do the same by moving into my shire. But the honest truth is if I had the means I too would move away from the poor performing schools, crappy playgrounds, cars doing burnouts and the sounds of AC-DC and Cold Chisel blasting out of the backyard stereo at 2am in the morning.

Although all these things might be irritating my real problem is that poor people ain't what they're supposed to be. Poor people are supposed aware that they are in need, they are supposed to see how that i could help them and they are supposed to ask for or accept my help when i offer it. But they don't. there's as much chance of that happening as you (dear middle class reader) asking for mechanical help from your one bogan neigbour even though you know he completely rebuilt an engine from scratch. The problem is my neighbours and I just don't have that much in common. So it's hard to sustain a chat in the street let alone do anything practical. They don't want my help or my friendship. For now I'll have to settle for being the guy who gives away eggs, can tie a tie for, has a computer that connects to the internet and can print, photocopy documents.

Jesus Is Too Hard So I'm Trying John The Baptist Instead

Jesus once said "if you have two wah wah pedals give one to someone who has none. If you have two TVs give one away" Actually he didn't say that he said "sell what you own, and give the money to the poor" although I suspect this wasn't meant to be exclusively about outer garments. Inspired by an interview with Mark Scandrette on his new book "The Jesus Dojo" I'm trying* to divest myself of half of everything I own, John the Baptist style (Luke 3:11).

Fortunately for me a lot of the stuff I own is broken useless crap that may one day be useful for fixing something else that is broken. So this year might not be to hard, especially when I'm keeping the really good wah wah and TV and getting rid of the crappy ones. However next time I read Luke 3:11 it's going to be much tougher to get rid of half of the remaining half, the time after that even tougher and the time after that I'll be thinking why didn't I just go straight to Mark 10:21.

*For all of you thinking wow good on you please note the word "trying" and I have not yet successfully given away half of what I own.

Christians Picking And Choosing Bits Of The Bible

If someone is a Xn it's a safe bet that they pick and choose which bits of scripture to read and learn from and which to ignore, particularly from the Old Testament (OT). Look at any Xns bible and I bet that while Genesis and Exodus might be well thumbed the pages of Leviticus and Numbers will be pristine. We reinforce our theological bent by reading particular bits and leaving out others.

The question shouldn't be whether we pick and choose but how we pick and choose or what lens we read through. Selecting just a handful of parts of the bible it's easy to get a war mongering judgmental God or a peace and justice loving God. The same bible has the call to turn our ploughshares into swords and then our swords into ploughshares.

As Xns followers of Christ who take the Bible seriously (not followers of the bible who take Christ seriously) it is Jesus who frames how we read the bible. So, for that reason I'm more of a swords into ploughshares kind of guy because, I think Jesus was like that. Just because something is written in the bible it isn't necessarily a command to go and do the same. God sticking with Israel no matter what (through wars and kings) is not the same as tacit approval for everything Israel did.

I'm a big fan of the Bible and take it very seriously. But, i follow Jesus and that is what taints, filters and shapes how I read the Bible.

Bible Belts, They're In The Wrong Place

I don't know what it's like in other parts of the world but Australia our Bible belts are firmly in the middle of middle class suburbia. Middle class suburbia home of the moralists and the intellectuals, the people who can tell everyone what is right and that they are right. To my ears this echoes the teachers of the law really loudly. They were as close as you might get to a 1st century Jewish middle class - under the ruling Romans but above all their own people. We need to ask ourselves where are the prostitutes, the drunkards (addicts), the sinners, the indebted. These are the people that Jesus was hanging out with and they are from the typical church goer in Australia. I wonder if this is the gospel we tend to talk about is one of just salvation (without need for real change) and not liberation (liberation both personally and structurally).

I've Accidentally Become A Pacifist

I'm sure there was a time when I used to believe in the need for armed forces and that at times these would be the best way to resolve conflicts. As I’ve grown older I’ve grown even less conservative and now I’m a pacifist. I don't when this happened I only really thought about it the other day. It just crept up on me. As Toni Campolo puts it “I can’t think of a circumstance where Jesus would pick up a bayonet and run it through someone”. If we are called to be like Jesus then why would we live differently. Jesus with all the supernatural power of God was murdered like any garden variety insurrectionist. His passive resistance resulted in his own death and that, is the danger of deciding to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus is to walk to the cross.