Then I remember, death comes before the rolling away of the stone
It was a throwaway line in a talk by a speaker whose name I have now forgotten: “We feel more moral, more right, more cheaply than ever before.” It was a comment on the shrill nature of much public discourse, and how easily we feel moral because we have expressed a noble sentiment, though expressing it has cost us nothing. Although not necessarily the intention of the speaker, it set me thinking about spiritual and moral formation, and how we learn and grow in life. And then I stumbled upon this magnificent conclusion to Mary Oliver’s poem At Black River “Then I...
Read MoreWhen Leaders Fall…
To be clear, this post isn’t a reaction to some new scandal and I’m not making any veiled references to some unsavoury incident soon to shock and dismay the Christian community. It is true that there have been so many moral failures that we should be disturbed – but even if you immediately attach a name to what I am about to write, I am not thinking about any one person – just a disturbing trend that impacts us all, no matter which flavour of the Christian faith you adhere to. Come to think of it, it’s not simply Christians who are impacted, for when we talk...
Read MoreMoody Weeks, Volatile Weeks…
I don’t know if you are a “steady as she goes” kind of person, or one who is a little more stormy. By and large I fall into the calm category, but this week I have been reminded that even calm people have volatile periods – precisely because I have had one! Interesting how things go wonderfully to plan – until they don’t. Yup, it’s been that kind of week. Goodness, there was even the death of the Queen. Her passing leaves a void that is unlikely to be filled. In short, it’s hard to see how things could have been worse. Pleasingly several of my...
Read MoreConsumers or Christians…
It has become common to talk about consumer Christianity. You see it everywhere. The new family at the church makes it clear that they want to test things out first – after all it may or may not be a good fit for the family, and there are lots of needs to take into account. Is the youth group friendly enough, the children’s ministry sufficiently accomodating, the preaching inspiring enough, and the music to everyone’s taste? If each box gets a bold tick, they might attend… well, attend on those weekends they are not away at their holiday cottage. New churches trying to decide if...
Read MoreFollowing Jesus or the Pharisees? A 10 Point Check
In Christian circles it is usually considered a significant insult to suggest that someone is a Pharisee. Knowing the hard time these religious leaders gave to Jesus, and the harsh words he said about them in Matthew 23 – well, who would want to be a Pharisee? Yet if the essence of being a Pharisee is being legalistic and harshly zealous about faith, quick to dismiss others as beyond the pale and even quicker to declare oneself righteous, many would suggest that there are more than a fair few Christians who fall into this category. Now obviously they couldn’t mean either you or me, but...
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