Ten ways to backslide without anyone noticing (Warning: contains irony)

1.       On no account stop attending church as this will give the game away immediately.

2.       Always be seen with a well-thumbed, extensively underlined and annotated Bible in church but do not read this during the week – or, if you really must continue to do so, make sure you study it in an academic way only so that you can talk impressively about theology and quote the original Greek. On no account apply what you read to yourself (but feel free to apply it to others).

3.       Be known for your dutiful attendance at all the meetings that your church puts on but do not concern yourself with having any heart desire to meet with God or to see others affected by the Word of God. With your extensive theological knowledge you will be ideally placed to critique the preacher’s sermons or contributions to house-group discussions. You should of course share your observations with fellow members afterwards. They will be impressed at your knowledge and erudition, and go away telling others what a wonderful Christian you are.

4.       Always be among the first to pray at the prayer meeting. Pray eloquently and biblically, which will make everyone around you think what a solid Christian you are, but desist from praying on your own at home or doing any real business with the Lord in the secret place.

5.       Keep up to date with what is going on in the Christian world and make sure you have an opinion on all the latest movements. Make sure you are always ready to give your viewpoint on such matters and show how widely read you are. People are all too ready to confuse knowledgeability with true spiritual life.

6.       Make sure you are first in the queue to speak to visiting ministers; talk with great apparent concern about spiritual issues. Get yourself known by well-known speakers and church leaders, but don’t waste your time talking to those tiresome, needy nobodies in your congregation or engaging with unsaved visitors. All those prominent Christians will be impressed by what they hear and, as they don’t belong to your church, won’t have any suspicion of the truth of the situation. They will spread word of what a super, gifted Christian you are around the churches. Once you have such a reputation it can be difficult to shake off and will give you a really great cover for backsliding unobserved.

7.       If you are one of those fortunate people with one of the more prominent gifts like preaching, leading activities or playing a musical instrument, or are a bit of an intellectual, you will have a head start. People who have been a Christian for many years and/or come from a well-known Christian home also have a big advantage.

8.       Be sure to have an extensive collection of Christian books, most of which you haven’t bothered to read, and put the weightiest ones on display in the most prominent place. You will know what the ‘kosher’ publishers and writers are in your particular tradition; be sure to be particularly well-stocked with those so that people are impressed with your orthodoxy.

9.       Make sure that almost all your friends are Christians; this may sound strange but in order to maintain your reputation, a wide Christian acquaintance is necessary. This also minimises the necessity of sharing your faith with unbelieving friends. You should keep away from those sorts of friends who are liable to ask prying questions about your walk with the Lord, or want to be prayer or Bible study partners, as these might discover the truth of your situation.

10.   You should of course avoid any activities which might expose you to challenge regarding your current state of spiritual health, involve any genuine service of others or might involve you having to share your faith but there are many other activities you could participate in instead such as ‘advising’ the leaders of the spiritual health of others, encouraging ‘discussion’ of controversial topics in the church or generally airing your opinions in a public way, which all fit well with your objective and will quite possibly carry others along with you. 

Postscript: the author has learnt the hard way of the ‘effectiveness’ of these strategies. She hopes this little piece will be a wake-up call to other long-standing and perhaps well-known Christians who are in danger of sliding unobserved away from the Lord.

‘You have a reputation of being alive but are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die. Revelation 3:1-2

Oscar Pistorius - a tragedy on many levels

The unfolding case of the death of Reeva Steenkamp is proving a tragedy on so many levels. As much as I sympathise first and foremost with the family of Reeva Steenkamp who are knowing terrible suffering through no fault of their own, I find I also feel very grieved for the man at the centre of it all, Oscar Pistorius. It's not that I am saying he is innocent, for it seems that at the very least he has led a ungodly and reckless lifestyle whilst at worst it may yet transpire that he did kill his girlfriend in a fit of anger. But it’s just that the case seems to highlight so vividly the devastating, miserable consequences of sin.  

The most obviously tragedy, clearly, is for Reeva Steenkamp and her parents. Death is always unnatural but a child dying before their parents is particularly evil - and violent death especially so. Then there is also the tragedy that is South Africa  - a society awash with firearms, where everyone lives in fear of violent crime. For that reason, it is difficult for people in the relative safety of Britain to judge the actions of Oscar Pistorius when we have no experience of living in that climate of fear.

And what about the evils of the cult of celebrity and a society that is so quick to set people up on pedestals, only to gloat over their downfall? Oscar Pistorius was rightly celebrated and applauded for his extraordinary achievements. Who did not rejoice with him when he finally ran for his nation in the main Olympics in London 2012?  It is just a tragedy that our society ‘rewards’ people with things that do them harm, whether by ruining people with more money than they can cope with, moving in celebrity circles where certain forms of temptation are rife, giving people a sense of being immune to the usual expectations of society or exposing them to the temptations of materialism. The world has a vicious way of repaying its heroes, and is subsequently unwilling to acknowledge the part they have played in someone’s downfall, placing all blame squarely on the individual.

And then there is Oscar Pistorius himself. However Reeva Steenkamp’s death came about, no-one observing Pistorius during the bail hearing or the trial itself could doubt that he is a man absolutely distraught at what happened. Whether his distress represents regret at a terrible mistake or the bitter agony of having harmed someone he loved in a fit of mindless anger remains to be seen, but he seems to be a man almost undone by remorse. I think it is that devastating sense of regret, of being unable to turn the clock back, of having ruined your own life as well as that of others and known it was your actions which were responsible – a momentary decision - that makes the pictures of Oscar Pistorius in the dock so distressing to observe.

But that is what sin does. It ruins and spoils and destroys, and causes harm to all in its path, both innocent and guilty alike. That is why, without detracting from the suffering of the family of Reeva Steenkamp’s family, it is possible to feel real grief for Oscar Pistorius even if he is guilty as charged. We are grieving at the fact that sinful acts not only harm their victims but destroy the perpetrator themselves. If it eventually does transpire that he did kill his girlfriend in a fit of anger, many of us may find we can identify with those feelings more than we perhaps care to admit, for Oscar Pistorius would certainly not be the only person in the world whose temper could flare out of control or who had done destructive things in anger that were painfully regretted afterwards. Perhaps we may even feel that it is only through the grace of God and not having the temptations around us that Pistorius had that our anger has not had such terrible consequences.

The chief perspective of the press, of course, has been on the ending of a career of such remarkable achievements and which hitherto hadbrought about so much good. Pistorius’s demise, though, would be more complex than that of people like Lance Armstrong whose past achievements have been rendered completely fake. What Oscar Pistorius did before Valentine's Day 2013, he did well – a fact which, if he did prove guilty, would only make his demise more tragic.

By far my greatest sadness, however, is not that Oscar Pistorius was someone who achieved so much in the face of such huge disadvantages but in fact that he was born with great advantages and appears to have thrown them away. For Oscar Pistorius was apparently born into a Christian, Bible-believing home. He is known as being ‘deeply religious’, praying before races, and has 1 Corinthians 9:26 ‘I do not run like a man running aimlessly’ tattooed on his back. But for all his portrayal as a religious man by the press, and for all his family background, Pistorius’ lifestyle suggests that he himself does not possess a serious biblical faith, with reports describing unbiblical relationships with women and a high octane, ambitious and materialistic lifestyle. Even the verse he has tattooed on his back has been misquoted in support of his personal ambition. For this reason above any other, the Pistorius case saddens me because it reminds me of the great spiritual peril of those who choose the ways of darkness when God has graciously blessed them with so much spiritual light.

So, things look bleak for Oscar Pistorius from a human perspective. But whether he is guilty of murder or only of neglecting the God of his youth, there is always hope of forgiveness and new life in Christ Jesus through repentance and faith. God has ways other than Olympic glory of making a life count, even on the inside of prison walls.

Time to reconsider the Sabbath?

‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.’

I have noticed a massive decline in observance of the Sabbath by evangelicals in the last 20 years. I think this is a great tragedy. I want to encourage Christians to rediscover the Sabbath and be blessed in doing so. Let’s be straight. Observing the Sabbath is not one of those peripheral topics like baptism or styles of worship where the scripture is unclear and we therefore have some latitude in how we practice it. Nor is it like the sacrificial laws which have been fulfilled in Christ. It’s right there in the Ten Commandments. Whilst the ceremonial law had a limited life-span the Ten Commandments, containing God’s blueprint for our relationship with him and with our fellow human beings, are the permanent, eternal and immutable will of God. God will remain as opposed to idolatry, adultery and murder in eternity as he did at the beginning of time, because the Ten Commandments express the very essence of God’s nature. We would surely agree that the command not to murder, for example, is absolute - so why do we not view the Sabbath in the same way?

But let’s not take on a negative view of the Sabbath because it is a commandment. The Sabbath is God’s gift to us – he instituted it for our blessing. Here are some positive reasons to observe the Sabbath:

·         By observing the Sabbath we are replicating the behaviour of God himself. The Sabbath gets right to the heart of God; it is all about creating and enjoying, about meaningful activity, about working and resting, about balance, about joy

·         God also gave it as a blessing to all who fall under our protection – our children, our employees, even our animals!

·         The Sabbath is good for your body! It’s a time when you can set aside work without feeling guilty, switch off completely from the responsibilities and stresses of work, travelling or physical labour and be refreshed.

·         The Sabbath is good for your soul! Do you complain that you don’t have enough time to read the Bible, to pray, to study Christian books or to deepen your relationship with God? God has given you a whole day a week to do those things. If you really set your mind to using the Sabbath in that way, you will be abundantly blessed by it.

·         The Sabbath is good for families. In today’s frantic, 24 hour society there can be precious few opportunities to be together as a family. Sunday gives us chance to worship, eat and relax together. More of this in a later post.

·         The Sabbath is good for others, a time for giving hospitality – especially to lonely or needy people who may not have families of their own to be with on a Sunday. Not only will you bless them, but you may be blessed too! ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers because by so doing some have entertained angels unawares.’ Hebrews 13:2

Are we tired and stressed? Is our spiritual life lacklustre? Does our family feel like a lot of strangers living in the same house? Could it be that perhaps this is because we are neglecting God’s generous gift to us for our refreshment, spiritual growth and building up of communities and families?

Jesus Christ - the best attorney in town?

Although I don’t watch a lot of TV, I do like detective dramas. When someone is caught ‘red handed’ and the evidence is so overwhelmingly stacked against them, the police will sometimes say that the offender will need ‘the best lawyer money can buy’.  As we stand before God, we all have to confess that we are completely guilty and have no hope of getting off the charges. We have nothing to plead in mitigation. God saw everything and knows everything. And the stakes could not be higher, for the offence is of the gravest kind and the sentence is death. If ever anyone needed a crack lawyer it is us, but what human advocate could possibly get us off God’s charge against us?

But a human representative is exactly what we have, for 1 John 2:1  tells us that we have an Advocate who represents us before God - Jesus Christ himself. When we need it most, Jesus Christ is the best representative we could possibly get. But he is not a clever lawyer who will trip up God’s case against us and get us off on a technicality. Jesus knows our guilt better than we do. But he is absolutely guaranteed to succeed in his defence. How could that be? 100%  of his clients are guilty, yet 100% get off scot-free?

Well, it’s because Jesus Christ is a highly unusual kind of legal representative who pays his clients’ penalties himself. Imagine, if such a thing were possible, a barrister who got his clients off by paying the fines himself and serving their custodial sentences. But this illustration isn’t quite sufficient, because unlike such a barrister, Jesus has already paid our penalties in advance – once for all, one sacrifice for all the sin of mankind.

That is why, if we do fall into sin's trap, we can be absolutely confident of the effectiveness of our Advocate. When he stands before God to speak in our defence he presents his pierced hands as evidence that our crime has been paid for. That is a defence that no-one can argue with.

‘My dear children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. 1 John 2:1’

2 Corinthians 'wordle'

This is a 'wordle' I've created of 2 Corinthians. If you haven't come across a wordle, the size of the font represents the number of times a word is used in a piece of text. So this is a simple way of giving you an idea of some of the recurring themes in Paul's writing. It would be interesting to do a comparison one with 1 Corinthians - perhaps I will try that some time.

Speaking out

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was

no one left

To speak out for me.

Poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller

How long O Lord?

Do you need a reason to pray for the world around you? Here three news stories from recent weeks should make you weep for God to have mercy on our nation.

This week it was confirmed that the majority of children would be born out of marriage by 2016. Now the majority of children will grow up with the anxiety and uncertainty of knowing whether Mum and Dad will stay together. Even more children will go through the trauma of relationship breakdown and have to cope with the conflicts of relating to 'step' parents and siblings from other relationships. Children of unmarried parents are at 10 times the risk of suffering sexual abuse and their mothers are significantly more likely to be subject to domestic violence. They will be exposed to greater economic insecurity as marriage also provides a level of economic security to women and children not matched by co-habiting relationships. The demise of marriage is also linked to the absence of fathers from the home and the BBC recently reported on 'A million children growing up without fathers'. Surely all of this is going to have tragic consequences for the psychological and social development of the next generation.

When I read Romans 1 it almost seems that Paul must have lived in the 21st century as he describes a catalogue of things which will result when people increasingly turn their backs on God. And not being satisfied to indulge in all the forms of evil around them, Paul says that they will 'invent ways of doing evil'. In the news recently it was reported that live streaming of child sex abuse was becoming a growing threat showing that men have done just that. What depths mankind will plunge to when God withdraws his restraining hand.

How long, O LORD, how long?