When you get digging you sometimes hit a nerve

Someone recently told me about a group from the 1600s known as the Diggers/True Levellers. They were a group of Christians who sort to live out the principals of the early Church in Acts. At their heart they wanted small, agrarian communities, where humans and nature had an ecological interrelationship and, essentially, ownership and property was levelled out. They were seen as anarchistic, probably would still be seen that way today to some extent, and the establishment certainly weren't too happy. They made sure the Diggers were disrupted and squashed, and after around two years were disbanded.

The reaction doesn't really surprise me. I always have a little chuckle on the inside when people say we used to be a Christian country. My experience growing up at the tail end of Christendom, and confirmed in stories I hear such as these, is that when true Christianity is witness, when the Kingdom of God breaks through, the establishment (which by the definition of Christendom includes the Church) generally feels a bit threatened and gets pretty annoyed, lashing out.

Last night in my Transform teaching we talked about the Kingdom of God, and how it is inextricably linked to economy (look at Jesus' parables). When the Kingdom comes in, the poor are preached good news, and people are set free, and that needs to be witnessed in our economy too. As the financial crisis sees the old ways of doing things crumble, I feel we really need to ask ourselves whether the focus is on looking after people until the old model is patched up and ready to go again, or alternatively do we reimagine how things are done and start to bring about new ways of living (Jubilee anyone?). Ways that protect the poor, the widow and the orphan, rather than just are own self interest.

It may be hard for us to see how that can be done on a big scale, but then Jesus often did things more relationally and intimately, starting small and demonstrating the kingdom there, and then seeing it grow. Maybe we need to start small, helping transform our relationships and our communities, and demonstrating to people there is a better way, preaching the good news and announcing that a new king (instead of financial wealth and security) has arrived?

(Biblical 'true levellers': Acts 2:42-47)

Community spirit

Looking at one of the free papers lying around the house, the front of the Sentinel caught my eye. A nice friendly picture of lots of people outside a few houses with the caption 'Good neighbours'. A close in Worthing where people had got together, closed the road and staged a street party to 'celebrate the area's community spirit'.

Turning to the story on the inside, it was good to read about 'Big Lunch', a nationwide project to get neighbours across the country sitting down together. The pictures are great and demonstrate something that I think deep down a lot of people long for. It just so often seems so hard to get to! Something that looks so hard for us to achieve that it seems the effort isn't worth it. But from the smiles on the people's faces (well, except for the older guy at the front of the photo below!) it looks as though it is worth it.

It also reminded me of conversations I've had with my elderly next door neighbour. Being an atheist, he attached more significance to the solstices than to Christmas and Easter, and I remember that he said he'd like to see people walking through the streets on winter solstice together, and also wanted to see more street parties and people being community together. He went into hospital a few weeks ago, and at that time I was reminded of this desire he had expressed. I wondered whether, if he got better, as a few of us neighbours had been going to see him for a while before he even entered hospital, it might be good to have a BBQ or picnic, just to for him to experience what he longed for. Alas, last week he moved to St. Barnabas House, a hospice in Worthing, told he's not going to walk again. Seeing him tonight, unfortunately it seems he probably doesn't have long left at all. Having got to know him this last 18 months, it's reemphasised in my mind, that there are people nearby who are lonely, as he has been since his best friend, who he cared for at home for about a decade, died about two years ago. We don't know how long people will be around, and with him there was a sense that I got too know him too late to really make that strong a friendship.

As I said, he is an atheist, which means something at my very core is starkly different from how it is with him. And yet we seem to have such similar desires in many respects. I really want to explore what community is, to see neighbourhoods transformed and for people to grow together and to discover more of how life is supposed to be. I don't think this is just some massive coincidence, I believe it's because deep down we have an inbuilt desire to live in community, to have relationship. Whilst there is a part of us that is selfish and greedy, at our core we long to be relational. I believe that is because we are made in the likeness of God. God, although one, has been in community since before time began. The father, the son, the spirit, entwined in relationship, in a communion with each another. And so, for mankind, formed by Him in His image, that longing is there, waiting to be fulfilled. I want to experience it, to be a part of it, and I hope that I will continue to find it, in whatever shape and size, throughout this lifetime and into the next!

Bradford and Leeds week - erm... Newark

OK, so it's not exactly Bradford and Leeds (in fact it's over an hour and a half away on the train), but it's in 'the North' (as it is so helpfully signposted on motorways) so I thought I'd take the chance to go and have a look. The Salvation Army in Newark is led by more relatives, Uncle Tim and Auntie Jo (Justice), and they have been there about six years now (I think). In that time they've seen the corps grow, and they have a real focus on the things that are important. Jo herself said that they've tried to ensure that the focus is always on the Word and on God rather than anything periphery, which can often be the case in the Salvation Army, just as in any other church.

Tim showed me around the centre of town first of all, close to where their current hall is located. A rural market town, I was impressed by the town square, surrounded by trendy coffee bars and independent sandwich shops, with the market stalls in action and the spire of the Anglican church towering over. Apparently lots of civil war stuff happened here too, but that was before my time...

Currently, whilst their hall is the base for weekday things, their Sunday meetings happen round the corner in a local school hall. They also have a charity shop in an estate a little way out on an apparently-deserted parade of shops, but it brings in a healthy stream of income so someone must be going there!

I came down because Tim had asked me about what I was doing next year and whether I had any plans. Having spoken to Jo about my ideas and dreams at Christmas time they must have wondered whether I wanted to come to Newark to help put some of those things into practice and to learn about working in a church and its surrounding community. There were so many positive things that they spoke about and the hopes and ambitions they had were really enthusing and inspiring.

They should soon be taking over a community centre (pictured above) in an estate outside the centre. which would provide another base, and could accommodate kids clubs, a luncheon club, youth work and many other activities. This would be particularly useful, not only to expand their influence on the communities in Newark, but also because they have recently sold their hall and are planning on building a new one. Moving out to a new bit of land on the outskirts in a place called Balderton, plans are in place for a brand new steel structure building with meeting hall and plenty of facilities for day-to-day activities.

Finally, I was struck by their outlined plans for the next four years, under the banner of 'Going for Gold' (tying into the 2012 theme). I won't type the whole thing up, but their key aims were to be praying, welcoming, saving, nurturing, participating and Kingdom-focused.

It was great to pray with them when I left. I don't know exactly where I'm going these next few months and years and neither do they. We can make our best plans, we need them and there's nothing wrong with them, but if they are not God's plans then they are worthless and will be fruitless. So it is my prayer that both myself and them will seek God and do his will. God bless them in all the work they are doing for Him.

*****

As you can probably tell, I've taken to putting pictures in my blog posts, which hopefully makes them a bit more exciting. So I thought I'd try and find a picture of the hall, or where the new one would be built, but having spent ages looking all I could come up with is a screenshot of Google Maps. Enjoy...

Bradford and Leeds week - Holme Christian Community

Following on from my trip to CAP, I went along to Holme Christian Community (HCC), which is just down the road from where I'm staying and from the Salvation Army. HCC has an impressively varied programme of activities, with something for pretty much anyone in the community. In addition to their City Lights ministry, there's a cafe, a play centre, 'The Edge' youth club, a handyman service, training, an over-55s 'youth club', a financial advice centre, a management consultancy and an employment agency, and then you've got the church services and all that comes with that.

I was able to have a look around and get some ideas for what I could do if I moved to the area. HCC is particularly appealing because of the variety of the things they do. My annoyance with most churches is that they only really cater for under-18s and over-60s, with perhaps something for middle-aged women if you're lucky. But HCC is trying to impact everyone in their community, and that's a really great thing. It's great to see the difference they are making and to imagine the lives that have been and are being changed by God's power at work in them.

Joy at Christmas

Getting old really does change your view of Christmas. Gone are the days of going to bed in anticipation of the stocking, of the presents, of Christmas lunch and of seeing loads of family. The magic of the stocking has gone, no-one seems to give you presents once you get to 21, family members have spouses and other places to be, plus because your sister goes to Florida with her boyfriend and his family you end up having your Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and eating Chinese for lunch on Christmas day. Things just aren't quite the same.

I now have a deeper appreciation of the meaning of Christmas (thanks in part to Dan Golding's epic text message), but even that isn't too special as it's more of a year-round thing for me. TV lost it's appeal long ago, lack of practice means my sister's guitar is joyless, and there's only so many sweets I can eat when I'm not even hungry. For the first time this break revision was actually pretty appealing. It's not that it's been a bad day by any means, it's just, well, different. I remember leaving my cousin's house last year - with the massive family in a massive house with a massive TV and a massive quantity of food - and the lyrics 'There Must Be More Than This' came into my head. And I couldn't really think of a better way to put it to be honest.

But it's in this mediocrity that I've seen how other people have faced their Christmases. I heard from one friend who received nothing, said that their dad was going to take the presents they gave him to a charity shop, and had the first meeting with their mother in many many months cancelled at the last minute. I read a blog entry about a guy I used to know really well, who when I left London was recovering from alcoholism, but now is a complete mess. Another guy I knew from London, whom I saw only last week in his nice new apartment, was in immense physical pain as we spoke on the phone today, him sitting alone in his apartment and telling me not to ask the obvious festive question as the answer would be that he wasn't. Finally I think too of the guy from my Church who I had lunch with the other day, whose wife has extremely severe cancer, meaning they face the pain of great uncertainty of what is going on, where it will will lead and what it will be like.

And it makes me realise, I take so much for granted.

"May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

The title of this entry is a passage that has really spoken to me ever since I read how it is the one prayer that Jesus prayed that has yet to be answered.

I have at the same time been made aware of an intriguing situation in the Middle East, whereby six different denominations share the same building, The Holy Sepulchre, traditionally recognised as the place of Christ's crucifixion (no idea how true this is). A great story so far, but not when you consider that the reason I have heard about them is the continual rows and bickering amongst them. Most recently police had to separate Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks who were arguing about the Greeks' monk being placed in the shrine during an Armenian holy week.

Is this the face of Christianity to the world? People obsessed with ritual, about what goes here and who goes there, when and where they do things, even to the extent that the second-greatest commandment - to love others as themselves - goes straight out the window. Looking at the scenes, and what caused them, I doubt the first commandment to love the Lord their God is number one on their priority list either.

The passage this entry's title comes from is paraphrased by 'The Message' as:
The same glory you gave me [Christ], I gave them [those that follow Christ after his death], so they'll be as unified and together as we are — I in them and you [God the Father] in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me.

Any sensible person would look at the rows of these people and think "these Christians can't even agree with themselves - do I want to be a part of this arrogant, selfish religion?". How can you say to a non-believer that God loves them if your actions don't demonstrate this. Tellingly, and actually rather amusingly (if I didn't laugh I'd cry), the key to that building is owned by two Muslim families.

But it's easy to point the finger. I've heard so many Christians keen to stress their particular theology, to stick to their 'untouchables', placing their distinctiveness over the Church's unity. Often I want to do things my way, and if someone wants to do something their way they can do it, but not with my support.

If this Church, God's Church, the bride of Christ, is to be effective in communicating the love God has for the unsaved in this world, it must be united, trusting in the truth and love of Jesus Christ.

After all Jesus only has one bride. He is not a polygamist.

What are they searching for and what's the answer they need?

I've just found one of the lab applications on Google called Google Trends. On it you can search terms to see how their popularity has changed over time and in different cities.

Having a look at 'God' there appears to be an upward trend in news articles. Also interesting is which countries have the greatest number of searches. The US up there at number 2 isn't a surprise, neither too is Australia at 3, given, amongst over things, the popularity of Christian music in the general charts. More surprising is number 4, India, and even more so the fact the number 1 is the Philippines.

What do these (admitadely limited) results demonstrate? That more and more people are interested in Christianity? That more and more people want to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ? Well a similar search for the term 'Jesus' has slightly different results. There's still an increasing trend, but it's not as pronounced. Similarly whilst Philippines are still there, India has disappeared, whilst the South American nations have made an appearance. Comparing the two makes for interesting viewing too. Peru, for example, doesn't seem to care about God, but in comparison is positively intrigued by Jesus, and a similar result is observed for the South American (predominantly Catholic) nations. Most of the other nations though, whether it be the West or nations such as India, are 'searching for God' but not for 'Jesus'.

Maybe then, whilst God is increasingly on the agenda, along with spirituality more generally, people are not necessarily turning to the Christianity for answers to their questions. Whether it be the (often accurate) negative impression of Christianity presented to many (wagging fingers rather than open arms), whether it be a lack of willingness to admit someone else is right, perhaps a longing to discover something intimate rather than something of empty ritual believing in a distant, aloof God who doesn't bother to show himself, it is clear (not just from these results) that people don't see Christ as an answer to their 'spiritual' questions.

As a Christian, in this age where people are reaching out, my job is to be honest to be open, not to condemn, only to come alongside individuals and love them, pointing to my Saviour and the man, the God I believe to be their Saviour.

I've got my rights y'know!

For some reason society has decided that because we're fortunate enough to be born, we're owed some kind of debt. No-one knows exactly who owes it to us, but nevertheless, we have 'rights' and someone or something must see they are fulfilled and not infringed.

OK, I'm using hyperbole here, but essentially that's what it boils down to when you think about it, and it's been getting my back up for a while. The shift from annoyance to blogable material came this morning when I read the front page of The Times. It was with regards to David Cameron's remarks that a lot of social ills are caused be individual's decisions and actions. Or as The Times put it "David Cameron tells the fat and the poor: take responsibility". He suggests, quite sensibly, that whilst circumstance and other things beyond your control have a large bearing on your life, often personal choice has just a large an impact, if not larger (he gives an example of the decision to not exercise or to eat too much).

This fits nicely alongside the rights issue. We need to get out of this victim mentality and stop assuming that the reason we're in the mess we're is because of someone or something else, and that the solution will come, similarly, from somewhere apart from ourselves.

As I said at the head of this post, some seem to think that being born means we're owed something. I fundamentally disagree with this, but it's undeniable that every human has basic human needs. These could be listed as: clothing; shelter; food; water; heating; sanitation; education; basic health care. This should be the basis of any discussion, and so far all I have said is that they exist, I haven't said what the response should be, if any at all.

By shifting our phraseology from 'rights' to 'needs', this whole debate (including the sensible, much-welcomed discussion of 'basic human rights') becomes a lot more realistic and sensible and we can start to make real progress. It is no longer assumed that those basic requirements will be fulfilled, but there instead is a dialogue and consensus that needs to be created about what to do about these needs.

And this is the response we require: we must acknowledge that there are basic human needs, and from that we must agree, as a society, that these needs must be met for everybody everywhere in the world. This requires us as citizens to buy into some form of contract of shared responsibility to meet these needs. Of course, it may be that they are met by the individual themselves. I pay my own rent, buy my own food, pay my utility bills, etc. However, it might not be possible for some to be met by individuals themselves. I doubt whether I could have afforded my education costs, and perhaps would only have stayed for 7 or 8 years. Much more seriously, there are many in the world without access even to the most basic of needs, such as water and sanitation.

So we must agree that we'll have in place a safety net that says people will not fall below a certain level, they'll have their basic needs met, whether they're from down my road, in my country, or in the darkest recesses of the developing world. We'll rediscover the willful responsibility of paying taxes to help ensure no-one on this earth goes hungry, of giving up some time during our week to give something to those who otherwise would go without, and of taking action when we see that others need our help. We must admit that whilst I have needs of my own, others do too, and together we're deciding to ensure that they are met.

It's down to us to make this choice, only we can decide to stick up for those in need, and it's time we changed our mindset from "what can others do for me?" to "what can I do for others?".