We don’t need to be dead anymore!
That’s a reality I wish I could scream from every roof top and scrawl on every pavement. I wish I could whisper it into your ear and write it in your diary.
We don’t need to be dead anymore.
The words of C. S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity
Christians have long disputed wether what leads the Christian hone is good action, or faith in Christ [...] it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.
There’s a thread on the Ooze asking for ways of understanding the atonement without involving Penal Substitution. I wrote a lengthy enough reply to qualify as a blog post so I have copied it here.
Here are a few ways besides Penal Substitution that you can look at the cross (I think it should be pointed out here that these perspectives are meant to highlight the power of the cross, not subtract from it). These are all very brief explanations.
I wonder a lot about the power of names. In particular, I wonder about their effects on groups of people and whether a name creates a better sense of identity and commitment, or if instead they create a sense of exclusion where people can be describes as inside or outside the group.
To explain why I wonder about this let me explain my current situation. My local faith community has no name. This is in a large part due the the fact that we have no formal programs and no formal leaders (we do have leaders but not in the traditional sense). The only way you can define my church is through its participants.
My church is just a big group of people from the surrounding suburbs (some of whom are part of local congregations, some are not). We frequently arrange church-like activities but these things are transitive. Tonight I am catching up with a few guys for some food and a spiritual discussion. We often do this on Mondays, but we don’t always, and in a months time we might not at all. Sometimes we arrange to meet up for prayer. Sometimes we just hang out, and might end up discussing the bible.
About Me has become Who am I? So If you are interested in me saying things about myself check it out…
The words of the The International Reconciliation Coalition:
The path to reconciliation begins with individual acts of confession. Paradoxically, the greatest wounds in human history, the greatest injustices, have not happened through the acts of some individual perpetrator; rather through the institutions, systems, philosophies, cultures, religions and governments of humankind. Because of this, we, as individuals, are tempted to absolve ourselves of all individual responsibility. However, unless somebody chooses to identify themselves with corporate entities, such as the nation of our citizenship, or the subculture of our ancestors, the act of honest confession will never take place. This leaves us in a world of injury and offense in which no corporate sin is ever acknowledged, reconciliation never begins and old hatreds deepen.
There is one thing in my religion that is hard to believe…
It’s easy to believe that the teachings of Jesus lead to a better life. It’s easy to see how enemy love and abandoning greed can lead to a utopia. It’s not always obvious at first but even a short time spent pondering the sermon of the mount can see its advantages. Few people dispute the brilliance of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
It’s also easy to believe that Jesus’ way of life in unachievable for us. Sure, there are “nice” people. But genuine sacrifice in the pursuit of loving our enemies is simply beyond our reach. A lot of people underestimate just how high a standard the golden rule is. Even with the awesome work people do (like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation) they still fall far short of the standard Jesus set for us.
This is another quote from my journal that was written several years ago. It is very interesting to read these thoughts as we are going through a transitional phase in the local faith community at the moment.
I thought a better way to express simple church principals (than I had used before). It is:
None of these principals are expressed in legacy churches.
It’s been two nights now since the storms that hit Brisbane. The whole city has been declared a natural disaster area and the army has been bought in to help with the clean up. Tens of thousands of homes are still without power and some residents are being asked to boil their water. Miraculously the death toll remains at 1.
What’s really amazing about this mess is the way the city has pulled together. This morning I was listening to the radio whilst the announcer asked for as many people as possible to help. Some people rang up offering to house whole families in their homes, others were willing to donate trucks full of pies or offer their services as a crane driver. Literally thousands of volunteers are descending upon the worst hit suburbs to offer whatever help they can.
Many neighbours are meeting each other for the first time as the sound of chainsaws fills the suburbs. When I left for work this morning people were out in the rain continuing to clean up the debris that litters the road. This storm (and the threat of more coming) has given the community a common talking point, and a common goal.
I don’t know why it takes something terrible to create something beautiful, but my faith in humanity has been greatly improved. On Sunday, when were were trying to make our way home, and cars where taking turns to drive on the only remaining lane around one section of flooding, one of my passengers remarked on how beautiful it was that we were all sharing and that perhaps we should pray for disaster more often.
All that being said, I think I am ready for the rain to stop now…
Last night Brisbane was hit by its biggest storm in over a decade. This morning, as I travel on the train (which is delayed due to a derailment) the scale and strength of the storm is evident as suburb after suburb is filled with fallen trees and wrecked houses. My local petrol station is closed off with police tape. Last night I drove through this storm for 4 hours.
This weekend three mates and myself climbed Mt Barney, the third highest mountain in Queensland. it was an incredible trip with an amazing view. Just as we were leaving yesterday afternoon the storm struck us (whilst we were still driving on dirt roads in my Mazda 626). Mt Barney is over 230 km from home and little did we know at the time that the entire way was havoc.
