My Christian Brothers

I grew up with a little brother. I think he's wonderful and I love him very much. I feel very lucky to have him.

These days I've also got lots of other brothers. They're my Christian brothers and I love them too. I know that relationships between men and women can be complicated and fraught, so that makes me all the more grateful for these guys.

Let me describe what these relationships are like. I don't usually end up having close friendships with my Christian brothers unless they're single or I know their wives. But either way, it's still caring and respectful. Chrsitian brothers of mine have told me I look lovely today, fixed my bike, insisted they drive me home when it's dark, chatted with me, asked me to pray for them, reassured me when I've got a bad mark. Stuff like that. The other day we had a seminar at college about how to care for people addicted to porn. We were asked to talk to the person next to us about how we like people to respond when we tell them something we're going through. Sitting next to me was a Christian brother I'd not met before. We acknowledged that it was a bit wierd to talk about such personal stuff when we didn't know each other, but then we just talked about it and it was fine. We respected and trusted each other.

You know, a lot of the time when I walk down the street or in town or wherever I can tell that men are checking me out. I don't like it - it feels kind of predatory and sleazy and a bit scary. But I never get that feeling around Christian men. I feel respected, and honoured I guess.

I love my Christian brothers. I think it's especially nice to have them around when you're single. They help me not to feel unlikeable or unattractive or unworthy. They help me feel valued and honoured and cared for. I have so much respect and affection for these guys.

I thank Jesus for breaking down the walls that divide men and women, and for enabling us to relate in healthy, respectful, affirming and pure ways.

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar . . .

We should only use the word "Australian" when we intend to refer to everyone who lives here, including newer migrants, who have equal right to the title, and Aboriginal Australians, who have more. We have other words to indicate a person's race or country of origin - Chinese, Asian, African, Latin American (latino?) . . . and Anglo. Fellow Anglos, let's avoid implying that we are the only Australians.

My Driving Forces: Approval, Understanding and Love

I crave understanding, approval (actually acclaim) and love. Perhaps the biggest sin I fall into is to seek these things from people before God. This leads me to think too highly or too little of myself; to sometimes feel elated and proud, and sometimes crushed and unconfident. I'm trying to learn to find all this in God. Every day I battle to be humble and satisfied in him.

This is pretty crazy and only goes to show how stupid and sinful I am, because I have a God who is far above me in every way, who gave me my every talent and who is abundantly satisfying. He knit me together in my Mum's womb and created every facet of my personality. He is pleased to say "well done" when I have done well. He defined love by sending his Son to die for me. So, with his help, I trust I'll get better at these things day by day.

My Driving Forces: Denial and Honesty

Life didn't used to make sense. When something was hard or when I screwed up, I didn't have any answers, so the way I dealt with stuff was to not even make the attempt. I used to stop myself thinking about anything confronting, challenging or confusing. I got very good at this, which obviously didn't solve or advance anything. So that was one problem.

The other problem was that it lead to deceit. It meant that if I was having trouble with something and needed help, I would never ask, and if I screwed up, I would never tell. What I would do is pretend it was all okay and hope that the problem would fix itself or go away. This was a dangerous road and not one I'd recommend.

So now I am deliberately, actively honest and - where appropriate - open about everything. This is how I make sure I don't slip back into my old way of dealing with stuff. I am enormously grateful that I am always sure of forgiveness and help from my Father and my brothers and sisters.

My Driving Forces: Hypocrisy and Integrity

I detest hypocrisy because I've seen its destructiveness. It says it is one, good thing and it promises you much, then it dishes out evil. It presents itself to the world and gains friendship and respect, but it was always a self-serving lie. I never want to be like that. I am, however, sort of happy to have experienced it because it drives me to integrity.

I'm convinced that there's no point believing or subscribing to or championing anything if I don't do my damnedest to live it out - when no-one (except God!) is watching; in the hard times; in the unsatisfying, unfulfilling and seemingly life-denying times; in the small things; in my thoughts and motivations. If this stuff means anything, then it has to play out in everything.

I didn't used to hold to this, but that was because I believed in small things and my belief was uncertain. But now that I believe in big, overarching, undergirding things, it is important to me to practise what I preach. If I say there is a loving, just God then I must trust him and obey him or else it's all a sham.

Reading Respectfully

Good writers only come into their own in the hands of a good reader. But very often, writers remain insulated from their readers. They send their piece into the world, never knowing where it will end up or if it will be understood once it gets there. That has changed for those writers who've taken on blogs. The opportunity to post comments makes plain the ability of writers and readers, and problems are exposed that never used to come to light.

If you're reading a blog and you think the writer is good, remember that they have carefully chosen their words. So read slowly and before you make a comment, read their post again. Look for things like qualifying statements or places where they might've been blunt, but chose instead to use softer words.

Let me give you an example. In my last post, 'Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches,' I had a couple of explicit qualifying statements - "I have more experience with evangelicalism than pentecostalism, so please forgive me if I get it wrong" and "This is not to say that either group rejects or fails to practice any of what I have written for the other one, just that it’s not their primary emphasis". My first paragraph also served as an implicit qualifying statement. My aim was to dispel any assumptions that I was out to attack.

I also chose my words carefully. For example, the second dot point I made for evangelicals was that they desired to "know God better", and for pentecostals that they desired to "experience a closer personal relationship with God". In a way, I was saying the same thing, but I wanted to emphasise that for the evangelicals, it's about knowledge, personal knowledge, like the way you get to know a friend or your wife over time. For the pentecostals, I wanted to emphasise that it's the felt experience of a closer relationship that matters. What this will look like is less specified than it is for the evangelicals.

So what can writers do to reduce misunderstanding? Get better! Aim to explain things clearly enough for all your readers to understand. But also accept that not everyone will understand. Cut your readers some slack - reading well is perhaps as difficult a skill as writing well.

Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches

People who attend evangelical and pentecostal churches don’t always have a lot to do with each other.[1] Sometimes it because there’s disagreement and animosity; sometimes there’s disagreement and love; and sometimes it’s got nothing to do with disagreement – the circles just don’t mix. This lack of contact can lead to generalisations and stereotypes, neither of which are helpful. So I’m going to outline what I see as the primary focuses of and driving forces behind each group. I have more experience with evangelicalism than pentecostalism, so please forgive me if I get it wrong.

I'll begin speaking broadly. It seems to me that evangelicals focus more on the past and on our undeserved salvation, and pentecostals focus more on the future and on our amazing blessings. This means that evangelicals talk more about sin and forgiveness, and pentecostals more about empowerment and purpose. The evangelicals come across as pessimists and the pentecostals as optimists! Interestingly - and disturbingly - neither group focuses very much on our heavenly future.

To get more specific, I think that evangelicals desire to:

• Be good (righteous/godly/loving/servant-hearted).
  They believe they get there by depending on God for each new thing – by repenting, praying, learning from and being obedient to his Word.
• Know God better (and better comprehend his love).
  They get there by meditating on his Word, praying and being obedient.
• See lost people saved.
  They get there by depending on God, preaching, loving and serving.

And pentecostals desire to:

• Be fruitful (living out their calling, purpose and potential/being loving/being servant-hearted).
  They get there by having sincere, confident faith that God has given them the power to do this.
• Experience a closer personal relationship with God.
  They get there by worshiping and praying.
• See lost people saved.
  They get there by depending on God, preaching, loving and serving.
  

This is not to say that either group rejects or fails to practice any of what I have written for the other one, just that it’s not their primary emphasis.

So, what do you think? Have I portrayed both groups accurately? What's missing?

[1] Here I am using 'evangelical' to mean churches that are not liberal, high or pentecostal (or Catholic or Orthodox).

An Analogy, Two Allegories and Another Analogy

Spiritual analogies make me nervous. This is because they are attempts to explain the infinite with finite human experience. Don Carson comments on the judge analogy often used to explain Christ’s atoning death:-

A prisoner comes before a judge and the judge finds the prisoner guilty and sentences him to a fine of $50, 000, or three years in prison, whatever it is, and then the judge steps back from the bar, takes off his robes, goes down and writes the check for $50, 000, or alternatively goes to jail instead of the person who ought to go to jail, and this indicates substitution . . . . I’ve used that illustration to get across the notion of how Christ comes along and substitutes himself in my place . . . But you know, there’s something wrong with that illustration – it gets across the notion of substitution but there’s something wrong with it. What’s wrong with it is this – in the Western world our judges are merely administrators of a big system – so that if you commit a crime, you’re not thought to be sinning against the judge – you’re sinning against the state, or you’re sinning against the law, or you’re sinning against the people, or you’re sinning against the government – but you’re not sinning against the judge . . . . Thus the judge is not coming along as the offended party in our systems. He has always got to be the non-offended party and merely the person who is administering the bigger system . . . So in our system, in other words, if the mugger came along and mugged somebody else, then the judge pronounces sentence and then goes back down from the bench and takes the penalty himself, we would view that as profoundly unjust . . . . But with God, God is always the most offended party . . . . But that doesn’t mean he’s unjust! He’s always perfectly just – that’s his character. But he’s always the most offended party. Always. Always.[i]

A couple of Christian allegories on YouTube at the moment I find a little troubling. One has a girl ostensibly a Christian who is seduced by the devil and the world, but who eventually seeks Christ and is saved by him. My problem with it is that all the time she is caught up in other things, Jesus is stage right, anxiously and ineffectually pacing around. This is not the Jesus I read of in the Bible who, in judgment, gives people over to their sin (Romans 1:18-25) and who in his perfect timing unhesitatingly redeems them (Ephesians 1:11).*

Another allegory bothers me for similar reasons. In this a father has to make a split-second decision whether to save his beloved son, or, by killing his son, save a trainload of people. It bothers me for three reasons. Firstly, we learn from the Bible that humanity is not merely a group of people distant from God. Rather, he have done him wrong and are in fact his enemies (Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 5:7-10). Secondly, Jesus went willingly to his death (Matthew 26:28-29; John 18:11; Mark 10:45). And finally, as in the previous example, God appears to be caught out, here being forced to make a quick, panicky decision. This is not the God who from all eternity purposed to send his Son to his death to save mankind (Acts 2:22-23; Ephesians 1:4-6; Galatians 4:4-5; John 3:16-17 etc). And yet, in their very great defence, I must recognise that Jesus himself used analogy and allegory, and trust that audiences will not take every particular seriously.

There is another analogy that bothers me more. It’s used by Timothy Keller in his wonderful apologetic book, The Reason for God, to explain the need for the cross. In it, he makes divine forgiveness comparable to human forgiveness. He observes that as humans we find forgiveness very difficult. He states that it is in the painful work of forgiveness that we “bear the cost” or “absorb the debt” of our enemy’s sin in their place.[ii] So too with Jesus, he says. I think this analogy is unhelpful and dangerous. It reduces the exercise of God’s justice to a psychological process. This is not how the Bible speaks of God’s justice. It speaks of a just punishment being meted out on Jesus in our place (Isaiah 53:5-12; Romans 3:25-26). The punishment was not somehow bound up in the forgiveness. The punishment was first carried out to perfect completion – so that anyone who relies on Jesus might then be forgiven (Hebrews 9:14, 26; 10:10; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 10:43). Any other conception renders God a little less just, and so a little less perfect, and so it all falls down.

[i] D.A. Carson speaking at ‘A Day With Dr Don’, session 1, http://theresurgence.com/a-day-with-dr-don-session-1-video accessed 11/4/09

[ii] T. Keller, The Reason for God (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2008) 192.

*On reflection though, our God is a personal God who is far from unfeeling. Perhaps this allegory is in fact a good representation of part of his character . . .

"When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.

But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.

I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.

"Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them
because they refuse to repent?

Swords will flash in their cities,
will destroy the bars of their gates
and put an end to their plans.

My people are determined to turn from me.
Even if they call to the Most High,
he will by no means exalt them.

"How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.

I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.

They will follow the LORD;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.

They will come trembling
like birds from Egypt,
like doves from Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes,"
declares the LORD.

Hosea 11:1-11

The Tough Road That Leads to Thankfulness and Joy

We come to Jesus messy people out of a messy world, knowing what people are like. How then can we ever understand our holy God? For me, I found it difficult to trust that God was working for my best. I knew this must be true yet I couldn’t understand it. So, I just pressed on living in obedience to my heavenly Father.

As the days have gone by, I’ve been through some hard stuff and I have learned His mettle. He is always there. He always sustains me. He is always sufficient for me. He is always refining me. He never denies me. It took a while, but I trust Him now.

Money and Stuff: Postscript

I have spoken previously about my struggles with money and about the things I was trying to learn (money isn't everything; be content with enough; be generous with your surplus; don't be greedy). Well I thought it was about time to report back. Praise God this is not a big problem for me anymore! He has taught me well and, no doubt, people have been praying for me (thank you).

The most helpful thing has been to remind myself to be content with enough. It's hard to argue against! I still have times when I desire gorgeous fashion or quality homewares, but I guess I can also see through that all now. I mean I know that having that stuff does not make you happy. If I have enough and I have eternal blessings, then I am in a better position than they. Not that I'm better than or superior to them - just that I am very fortunate. And it's not like you can't express yourself aesthetically or dress creatively when you don't have loads of money - you still can, just not as much, but that's okay 'cos aesthetic isn't everything either. I've even become pretty content with not being able to buy CDs - I mean music's not my passion in life anyway, and you know, I have quite a few CDs already, and there's always the radio. Keeping up with the latest music isn't my birthright. It's a Western privilege and it's okay that it's one I don't currently have access to.

As well as being content with what we presently have, I also said that we had no need to worry about the future because God has promised to give us enough. That has been my experience time and time again. In my case, he uses ordinary means - people's generosity, the government's stimulus package, things on sale.

And now it looks like he's given me a great job! For this year and last I've been trying off and on to find a better paying job, because I think I should support myself while I'm studying - just like everyone else does. No one's been very keen to employ someone in a (semi) professional position for only one day a week . . . until now! I think I might have found a wonderful job teaching English and writing to primary and high school students in a private tutoring company. The boss seems very kind and I like his philosophy and method. And it pays $30/hour instead of $18/hour at my (wonderful) kitchen job. I'll find out next week if he needs me, but it's looking good at the moment. I'm so enormously relieved and thankful.

In heaven I will ski

I can't imagine heaven. My small mind struggles to comprehend anything good that is not in this world, or anything better than this world. So here's my childlike conception of heaven - it will be something like this, but infinitely better.

In heaven I will ski and dance and swim and write amazing poetry and marvel at beauty and teach people (though maybe not, for there each person will have full access to God, seeing him face to face) . I will do all this as praise to my Brother and Lord, with a glad and peaceful heart, together with all my brothers and sisters. God will be my beloved and loving Flatmate, Husband and King. Nothing will be sullied by fear or mistrust or anxiety or pain or crying or death. For they are part of the old order of things, and in heaven all will be made new.


Heaven will be a physical place, better than but not wholly unlike this world (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; Luke 22:18; John 14:2-3; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 19:9, 21:1-7 & 10-11 & 21-26, 22:1-2). So how about you try to imagine it too. Think of what would make a perfect world for you here - then make it better - then eclipse it all by God's presence (Psalm 16:11, 27:4, 73:25-26; Jude 1:24; Revelation 4:8, 21:3-4 & 23, 22:3-4).

Trust

Christians trust God and his Word – even when our experience from time to time seems to belie those truths. And postmodern non-Christians trust experience – even when a multiplicity of experiences point to different, contradictory truths.

Experience tends to be the more fickle master, but knowing this will not shake a postmodern’s trust. And we all live our daily lives putting our trust in truths (we don’t jump off buildings, we give our pasta time to cook, we don’t expect our lover to always please us), but knowing this will not shatter a postmodern’s trust.

Indeed arguments of any sort don't persuade people to shift their trust. What's needed is for them to see Christians living under the one, true God and to be witness to the goodness and coherence of that life.

Thanks to Christos for getting me thinking along this path.

We Are All Part of the Body

My new Tassie pastor, Dan Shepheard, preached on The Body recently. I think that if a church, if my church, can understand this rightly, then it will result in a godly attitude amongst the sending church (Crossroads), the missionary (me) and the receiving church (?, somewhere in Latin America).

You need to listen to

• his first talk
• his second talk

I think that understanding the body helps bridge the natural distance we feel when people are physically far away. And I think that understanding the body helps correct false ideas about missionaries' roles and person (eg that they're doing something more worthy than everyone else or that they're more spiritual than everyone else). And I think that understanding the body empowers everyone to wholeheartedly and joyfully support everyone else, whatever their role.

O God Beyond All Praising1

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay;
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we'II triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise.

---

Words: Michael Perry (1942-1996);
© by Jubilate Hymns, Ltd. (admin. by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188).

1 I think it might be naughty to reproduce this without approval, but I was thinking that because it's not actually being sung, it might be okay. Anyway I'm obviously not troubled enough to either find out or to refrain - but please do let me know if you think I shouldn't and I'll remove the post.

Money and Stuff: Don't be greedy

Don’t act as if money is everything. When you have enough, don’t be dissatisfied. Don’t cling onto your surplus (Luke 12:16-21). Don’t be so narrowminded and shortsighted. Don’t think only of yourself and only of now. You are not the most important person in the world. Humble yourself before God and he will lift you up. He is not a cruel, pennypinching God trying to deny you. Do not set your sights so short – there is an eternity of riches to look forward to. Don’t be like “an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."1

If you are greedy or envious you will become an ugly person. You will walk over other people to serve yourself. You will take your eyes off God. You will fail to care for the poor. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

If you are greedy or covertous you are playing a dangerous game. It is not possible to serve both God and money. You will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13) If you continue in this path you will not inherit the kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Of course you should be thankful if riches come your way, and you should enjoy them, for they are good. But do not let them be your master. Don’t pant and strive for them. Seek spiritual riches, long for heaven, be content with enough and be generous with what you have been given.


1 C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1965), 1-2 from J. Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 20

Money and Stuff: Be generous with your surplus

First be honest. Recognise how much of your money and possessions are sufficient for you. Call what’s left over what it is – your surplus. Then sincerely thank God for giving you enough, and for blessing you with more than enough.

Try to think of all that you have as a gift. The Giver gave it to you because he loves you and loves to look after you and bring you happiness. It’s a gift, he doesn’t want it back, it’s yours. He was pleased to give it to you. Don’t feel awkward or ashamed about having it – it’s good. Enjoy it and praise God.

But remember: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17). Indeed you must give to those in need, especially when they are a Christian brother or sister (1 Timothy 6:17-18; see also 1 Corinthians 16:2 & 2 Corinthians 8:11b-12). You are no Christian if you fail in this. But don’t give just because you must. Be glad of the opportunity to extend the generosity you yourself have been shown (2 Corinthians 8:9; 9:7). It’s not about everyone reaching the same measure of wealth. There will always be relatively rich and relatively poor people and that’s okay. Just be generous. You will know if you are being generous or just pretending to be. Give at least a little more lavishly, at least a little more than is reasonable. Be very kind.

Money and Stuff: Be content with enough

With what should we be content? With barely enough food to survive and no roof over our head? With a mansion and a yacht? With what we need, with enough?

Enough is enough; it’s adequate, sufficient. We don’t need any more. We should be content with enough (Exodus 16:18; Proverbs 30:7-9; Mathew 6:11). “[G]odliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Enough is what God has promised to give us (Luke 12:22-32). So we shouldn’t stress that we won’t have enough. Trust him who in telling us to “[k]eep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have”, assured us that “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

Yet it is true that God may have reason to let you, like his servant Paul before you, experience poverty – or wealth. Even in these situations, we should be content because we have something that eclipses our unhappy situation. We have spiritual riches, now and for all eternity. (Philippians 4:12-13) For “[w]ho shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35, 37)

Money and Stuff: Money isn't everything

A little over a week ago 189 people died in terrible bushfires in Victoria. The people that survived the fires know all too well the true value of things. On TV I watched one resident exhorting an old lady whose house had burned to the ground – “This is nothing! This can be replaced!”. Another person talked about how relationships are the "real" and "essential" things in life. Similarly, Jesus said that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

What those people have learned remains true even when life is good and our possessions are intact. Money is Good and things are Good (1 Timothy 6:17), but they’re not everything. There are better things than physical riches. Relationships and spiritual riches are better by far.

Spiritual, eternal riches are also more secure than money. Money is unreliable and passing away (Ecclesiastes 5:13-14; Mathew 6:19; 1 Timothy 6:17). Anything can happen. Eternal riches are far more worthy of trust (Mathew 6:20).

And those eternal riches will include physical blessing. God has made us to be physical and to live in a physical world. Heaven will be a beautiful, abundant, peaceful, joyous, physical place and we will have physical bodies there (Revelation 21 & 22; 1 Corinthians 15). That’s what we have to look forward to.

But now is not the time for guaranteed physical riches. Being a Christian does not mean that you will have lots of money and stuff. It means you have something far better and more lasting (Matthew 13:44).

Think back to your life before you were a Christian. Were you happy? Did you feel secure? Did life make sense? Did you carry around regrets and guilt? Were you scared about dying? Did you screw up and disappoint yourself? Then think about what peace with God has meant for your life. Is this peace worth more than a house? More than sexy clothes? More than travel? The superiority of spiritual riches is not a trite platitude. It’s actually true: spiritual riches in real life, in lived experience, are actually better. They may not be visible but they are nonetheless real. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) But Christian, all is well with your soul.

Money and Stuff: Introduction

I’ve been having big struggles with money and with my attitude towards money for the past year. The situation and my decision making is all a bit complicated, so I won’t go into it. Suffice to say that, whether for noble or foolish reasons, I haven’t had quite enough money to live on - to live in (middle class) Australian culture that is. If I lived the way I do in most places in the world, I’d be considered very rich.

I’m sorry to say that, while I have some understanding of what a godly response to this situation should be, I've not reacted that way. My reaction has been one of regular moments of awful fear and stress and acute bitterness, envy, covetousness and discontentment. But I thank God that he hasn’t just left me to wallow in ugliness, but has enabled me to keep desiring to be better and to keep fighting.

One thing that has really helped me has been to look at what God has to say in some depth, thanks to the book Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions by Craig L. Blomberg (Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1999). I have learned four main things – money isn’t everything; be content with enough; be generous with your surplus and don’t be greedy. I’m going to spend one post addressing each.

I'd also really appreciate your prayers as I keep on battling with this stuff. When something is taken from you, you learn the true measure of your attachment to it. I think greed is a big problem for Christians in rich countries, but we don't always realise it. So please let me know if I can pray for you too.

On Dangerous Ground

In a recent sermon Bernard Cane spoke about the shame we sometimes feel for being Christian. He described a typical spiritual conversation:

“Oh did you see that doco on SBS on Sunday night? It was really good!”

“Well I was at church on Sunday night actually.”

“ . . .”

“ . . .”

He went on to say that “It's a bit too generous, isn't it, to call those conversations sometimes. They're more non-conversations if anything. You know, there's such a stigma attached to being a Christian or being a church goer that, well you come within a bull's roar of Christianity and the pulse on the conversation just flatlines and you're waiting for the crashcart of any other topic of conversation to come along and, you know, give a bit of life back into things.”

I’m back in Tassie for the summer after a year at a Sydney Bible college, so this is a phenomona I’m very familiar with. It’s taken me a while to feel comfortable just telling people what I do, but I still find myself reluctant to speak any further. There's an almost palpable sense of approaching something taboo, something highly offensive, indecent and discourteous. These are some things that I find helpful:

• Recognise that, while good news, the Christian message is indeed profoundly offensive. At its heart, the Christian message is that whatever your efforts and successes, you and your listener are shot through with evil and are without hope in the world, heading for an eternity in hell. Christianity says there is only one solution to this situation – to sincerely confess your sinfulness to God so that he will forgive you, and to give your life over to following Jesus Christ. This is not the sort of thing we normally chat about.

• Remember that the Christian message is good news. We have been given the words of eternal life. However stupid or foolish or rude you feel, sharing the gospel is showing someone the way to life, rich and lovely and forever. You are doing nothing wrong by talking about your faith. In fact, you are being most kind.

• Remember that however confident, intelligent, kind or well adjusted your friends are, if they don’t know and honour the Lord Jesus, then they are acting with profound foolishness and sinfulness. They need to hear about and receive God’s mercy – just like you did and anyone does.

• As you talk to your friends remember to: fear God more than you fear their opinion, to be happy and proud to be God's child, to love and respect them, and to be humble.

• Pray at the outset and in the midst of conversation. You can just ask God to “Help!”.

• Even at its best, a spiritual conversation is probably going to feel awkward and a bit unsuccessful. Don’t retreat, stay with it. Don’t get hung up on failures along the way, persist with being friendly and aim for a generally clear conversation.

• If you can, think of one thing you’re aiming for in the conversation (eg that the person you're talking to would read Matthew/Mark/Luke/John, that you might outline the gospel, that you might explain how it is that people are not 'good enough'). Let other things pass.

• If you are worried about being discourteous, ask about their experience of church or their spiritual views.

• Remember that God is pleased to work through our feeble efforts. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t say something the best way. It’s not about getting it right, it’s about faithfully serving God.

• Pray for your friend after the conversation. Think back on how it went. If you need to get back to them about something, do so. If you need to apologise for something, do so. Work out how you might answer their questions better next time. You might want to get help from people who have the gift of evangelism.

• And be sure not to just hang about waiting for an opportunity to speak. Genuinely love your friends and acquaintances; get involved in their lives, care for them. Do the humble, undignified jobs that no one rushes to do (washing the dishes, entertaining the kids). Be there for them. Rejoice in their joys and mourn in their losses. Trust that God will give you opportunities to speak along the way.