Christianity is essentially an historic faith. Some world views have a mainly cyclical sense of time, but ours is linear. Thus we see a story line where the present is shaped by the past and lived in the hope of the future.
This is true for us as a church. On our anniversary we have a sense of gratitude for the past and a consciousness of how the Lord has protected, provided, blessed and used the women and men of this church since October 31st 1856. It is folly to forget our past and thus be condemned to repeat its errors.
But it is also folly to be ruled by the past. Our calling is to build on the past by faithfulness in the present as we adapt the changing circumstances in our witness to the changeless gospel. In this we always look, and always move, forwards with an eye to God’s future.
The past, present and future of the church takes its place within the broad flow of redemption’s story. For Christians, this is measured by the end-markers of the first creation and the re-creation when Jesus returns. This story is punctuated mid-point by the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
This sense of redemption’s story gives our sense of ‘when’ we are. It is our privilege to live in the last era after the reality of forgiveness and power for life through the new covenant of Christ and his Spirit. The technical term for this is that God’s kingdom has been, and is, inaugurated in Jesus.
However, the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are not the end of the story. Thus we await the kingdom’s consummation in the Lord’s return. This future hope should shape life and witness now.
We catch a glimpse of how the future invades the present in today’s passage (2 Tim 4:1-8). At one level it’s a very ‘present’ passage in which one Christian leader urges his successor to keep the work going and gives instructions as to the ‘how to’. It’s a timely and orderly handover.
However, this present is shaped by the future (vv1&8). The up-and-coming leader is to act in the light of Christ’s coming, his judgement and his kingdom. This gives a sense of urgency and importance, for our faith and witness are on an eternal horizon. On the other hand, the departing leader has the immense reassurance that it has not all been in vain - God’s crown awaits.
Let us neither ignore the past nor be ruled by it. Let us be faithful in the present but not trapped by it. Let us be conscious of God’s eternal future and work towards it.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Survivors and heroes
One axis for leadership is the scale of survivor / hero.
The survivor adapts, lives to make another contribution on another day and will tend to achieve change over a longer time frame in an incremental manner.
The hero crashes through or crashes out. This leader can be divisive and a wrecker, or can be the one who lifts a group of people into a new era and new realities in a short time frame.
Both kinds of leader are needed in their time and place.
The survivor is probably the more common style and the one that is needed in most settings at most times. This kind of leader is the salt of the earth.
The hero is more likely to be useful at a time of crisis or a time when significant change is needed quickly.
The extremes of either style can be dangerous.
A typical leader will be on a continuum between the extreme form of each type and may swap between them depending on circumstances. That being said, an individual leader will tend to display a leaning for one style of the other and hence the idea of 'preferred style'..
A wise leader will:
(a) Know their preferred style
(b) Not glorify their preferred style and denigrate the other
(c) Correct the imbalance in their preferred style
(d) Choose wisely what style and balance of styles is needed in this and that moment
(e) Be able to move between styles and be skilful in both
(f) Be true to themselves as they do all this.
The survivor adapts, lives to make another contribution on another day and will tend to achieve change over a longer time frame in an incremental manner.
The hero crashes through or crashes out. This leader can be divisive and a wrecker, or can be the one who lifts a group of people into a new era and new realities in a short time frame.
Both kinds of leader are needed in their time and place.
The survivor is probably the more common style and the one that is needed in most settings at most times. This kind of leader is the salt of the earth.
The hero is more likely to be useful at a time of crisis or a time when significant change is needed quickly.
The extremes of either style can be dangerous.
A typical leader will be on a continuum between the extreme form of each type and may swap between them depending on circumstances. That being said, an individual leader will tend to display a leaning for one style of the other and hence the idea of 'preferred style'..
A wise leader will:
(a) Know their preferred style
(b) Not glorify their preferred style and denigrate the other
(c) Correct the imbalance in their preferred style
(d) Choose wisely what style and balance of styles is needed in this and that moment
(e) Be able to move between styles and be skilful in both
(f) Be true to themselves as they do all this.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Christmas 2010
Christmas 2010
As I write this it is two months to Christmas 2010.
Christmas is usually a difficult time for me and I expect this year to be worse than usual.
Here’s why:
1. Christmas is a time of heavier work load in pastoral ministry, yet much of it seems very light and without effect.
2. It’s usually a time of family separation for me rather than family reunion.
3. My mother died on December 13 and my father on December 30. It’s thus a season of lingering grief.
4. This years Christmas carols are the funeral songs for my ministry and time in Singapore which ends soon after.
All that being said, it is the season to remember that the word became flesh and that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners such as I. That gives a quiet and deep significance which fights against the difficulties.
As I write this it is two months to Christmas 2010.
Christmas is usually a difficult time for me and I expect this year to be worse than usual.
Here’s why:
1. Christmas is a time of heavier work load in pastoral ministry, yet much of it seems very light and without effect.
2. It’s usually a time of family separation for me rather than family reunion.
3. My mother died on December 13 and my father on December 30. It’s thus a season of lingering grief.
4. This years Christmas carols are the funeral songs for my ministry and time in Singapore which ends soon after.
All that being said, it is the season to remember that the word became flesh and that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners such as I. That gives a quiet and deep significance which fights against the difficulties.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The over-planned church
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great for churches to plan their activities and then to work to plan and review against it. And, I also think that many churches can do with better planning.
Of course, its important that our planning dovetails with God’s revealed will for his church, otherwise our plans are just hebel – a passing puff of noxious wind.
But that’s not the issue here.
I’ve seen churches that are over-planned. What I mean is that there’s a very detailed plan of ministry activities in which every calendar block is filled for 12 months or so ahead. If this plan is treated as prescriptive rather than descriptive or indicative problems can come ...
… there’s no room for new activities to be added or existing ones changed as circumstances change and as the Lord leads differently;
… meeting the plan becomes the criteria for success or failure in evaluation. That takes the focus off doing effective and appropriate ministry.
So let’s indeed plan but not become the over-planned church. There’s a balance somewhere in between the chaos of the unplanned church and the rigidity of the over-planned counterpart.
Of course, its important that our planning dovetails with God’s revealed will for his church, otherwise our plans are just hebel – a passing puff of noxious wind.
But that’s not the issue here.
I’ve seen churches that are over-planned. What I mean is that there’s a very detailed plan of ministry activities in which every calendar block is filled for 12 months or so ahead. If this plan is treated as prescriptive rather than descriptive or indicative problems can come ...
… there’s no room for new activities to be added or existing ones changed as circumstances change and as the Lord leads differently;
… meeting the plan becomes the criteria for success or failure in evaluation. That takes the focus off doing effective and appropriate ministry.
So let’s indeed plan but not become the over-planned church. There’s a balance somewhere in between the chaos of the unplanned church and the rigidity of the over-planned counterpart.
When love is not enough
I recently attended a community group meeting where someone declared that ‘love is all we need’. This is an admirable sentiment. However, is a simple call for love sufficient?
‘Love’ is one of those words that means everything and therefore means nothing. ‘Love’ is a word that needs definition. What or who do we love? Why do we love? How do we love?
2 Timothy talks about people who loved much. Trouble was, they switched the tags. They loved what they should not have loved and did not love that which they should. Their false loves were as follows:
• Egotism, or love of self (2 Tim 3:2a). This is the ultimate idolatry – worshipping the image of God (Gen 1:26-27) instead of God whose image we are.
• Materialism, or love of money (2 Tim 3:3b). Money is essential for life and we should not despise it. But, love of money – well that is a root of all kinds of evil that can take us from God, for mammon is a demanding deity (1 Tim 6:10; Matt 6:24).
• Hedonism, or love of pleasure (2 Tim 3:4b). This is a slightly tricky issue. As John Piper says, there is nothing wrong with loving pleasure when it is pleasure in God. Hence his term ‘Christian hedonism’. The problem is that these people did not love God (2 Tim 3:4b) and thus their love of pleasure was in apposition to love of God. We can guess that their pleasure was in wordly delights, not heavenly.
To cap it off, these people did not love God, the ‘good’ or other people (2 Tim 3:2-4). Instead they were proud, abusive, ungrateful, unforgiving, slanderers, brutal and such like. It is an ugly picture and shows the terrible outcomes when our loves are inverted.
These are not only ancient errors, for these three false loves and their consequences are evident all around us today.
Of course, we know the loves that God does call us to. It is a whole-person, whole-of life love of the Lord coupled with a generous love of neighbour, stranger and enemy (eg Matt 22:37-40; 25:40; 5:43-47). This is true love.
Let us hate the evil that God hates and love the good that God loves.
‘Love’ is one of those words that means everything and therefore means nothing. ‘Love’ is a word that needs definition. What or who do we love? Why do we love? How do we love?
2 Timothy talks about people who loved much. Trouble was, they switched the tags. They loved what they should not have loved and did not love that which they should. Their false loves were as follows:
• Egotism, or love of self (2 Tim 3:2a). This is the ultimate idolatry – worshipping the image of God (Gen 1:26-27) instead of God whose image we are.
• Materialism, or love of money (2 Tim 3:3b). Money is essential for life and we should not despise it. But, love of money – well that is a root of all kinds of evil that can take us from God, for mammon is a demanding deity (1 Tim 6:10; Matt 6:24).
• Hedonism, or love of pleasure (2 Tim 3:4b). This is a slightly tricky issue. As John Piper says, there is nothing wrong with loving pleasure when it is pleasure in God. Hence his term ‘Christian hedonism’. The problem is that these people did not love God (2 Tim 3:4b) and thus their love of pleasure was in apposition to love of God. We can guess that their pleasure was in wordly delights, not heavenly.
To cap it off, these people did not love God, the ‘good’ or other people (2 Tim 3:2-4). Instead they were proud, abusive, ungrateful, unforgiving, slanderers, brutal and such like. It is an ugly picture and shows the terrible outcomes when our loves are inverted.
These are not only ancient errors, for these three false loves and their consequences are evident all around us today.
Of course, we know the loves that God does call us to. It is a whole-person, whole-of life love of the Lord coupled with a generous love of neighbour, stranger and enemy (eg Matt 22:37-40; 25:40; 5:43-47). This is true love.
Let us hate the evil that God hates and love the good that God loves.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Toxic Sludge
Have you seen pictures of the October 4 sludge spillage near Ajkar in Hungary? The spillage is indeed colourful but it is also highly toxic. Eight people have perished, the river Marcal is ‘dead’, an area equivalent to 5% of Singapore’s land mass is covered by red muck and the Danube is being polluted. The blame game and cleanup will doubtless continue for some time.
Hungary’s toxic sludge is highly visible and presents a largely technical challenge. But what of the spiritual toxic sludge that pollutes the life of a church, chokes its streams of living waters and slowly poisons its people?
Today’s Bible passage (2 Tim 2:14-24) identifies several aspects to this sludge:
• Foolish and ignorant arguments that turn into quarrels (vv14&23)
• Irreverent babble that spreads like ungodly gangrene (v16)
• False teaching on important matters such as the resurrection (vv17-18).
It is interesting to note how careless and unwise words feature in this list. As James notes, the small tongue can have powerful effects for good or ill (Jas 3:5). Let’s all ask ourselves if our tongue is toxic, producing whispered gossip and such like instead of words that build others up.
Such spiritual sludge requires decisive action to minimise its polluting effect. On a personal level we do well to flee besetting passions (such as those of youth), avoid the silly quarrels and cleanse ourselves so we are fit for God’s use and depart from evil (vv22,14,16,19,21,23). The positive side of all this is work to present ourselves as approved workers who pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace and such like with a pure heart (vv15,22).
Church leaders have particular responsibilities when it comes to spiritual sludge. Thus Timothy is to charge his congregation to avoid silly quarrels (v14). All leaders are to act with kindness and gentleness in the hope that the polluters will come to their senses (vv24-26).
Pollutants like the sludge spill and India’s Bhopal gas disaster tend to come without clear warning. Likewise in the church. Church pollutants may quietly accumulate until they burst into action and it is too late for preventative measures.
Now is the time for a clean-up. Let’s all ask ourselves whether we contribute to a pollutant-free church life or distract from it. What can we do to maximise the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and love in our own life? How can we promote these virtues in others?
Hungary’s toxic sludge is highly visible and presents a largely technical challenge. But what of the spiritual toxic sludge that pollutes the life of a church, chokes its streams of living waters and slowly poisons its people?
Today’s Bible passage (2 Tim 2:14-24) identifies several aspects to this sludge:
• Foolish and ignorant arguments that turn into quarrels (vv14&23)
• Irreverent babble that spreads like ungodly gangrene (v16)
• False teaching on important matters such as the resurrection (vv17-18).
It is interesting to note how careless and unwise words feature in this list. As James notes, the small tongue can have powerful effects for good or ill (Jas 3:5). Let’s all ask ourselves if our tongue is toxic, producing whispered gossip and such like instead of words that build others up.
Such spiritual sludge requires decisive action to minimise its polluting effect. On a personal level we do well to flee besetting passions (such as those of youth), avoid the silly quarrels and cleanse ourselves so we are fit for God’s use and depart from evil (vv22,14,16,19,21,23). The positive side of all this is work to present ourselves as approved workers who pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace and such like with a pure heart (vv15,22).
Church leaders have particular responsibilities when it comes to spiritual sludge. Thus Timothy is to charge his congregation to avoid silly quarrels (v14). All leaders are to act with kindness and gentleness in the hope that the polluters will come to their senses (vv24-26).
Pollutants like the sludge spill and India’s Bhopal gas disaster tend to come without clear warning. Likewise in the church. Church pollutants may quietly accumulate until they burst into action and it is too late for preventative measures.
Now is the time for a clean-up. Let’s all ask ourselves whether we contribute to a pollutant-free church life or distract from it. What can we do to maximise the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and love in our own life? How can we promote these virtues in others?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The Faithfulness of the Lord and His People
2 Timothy is an occasional letter designed to give encouragement amidst the discouragements of church life and leadership. The following words are amongst its many gems (2 Tim 2:13):
If we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
This is an unexpected saying. The logic of the preceding lines (possibly taken from an early hymn) leads us to expect something different. It is also a remarkable saying. Think about it. It is teaching that the faithfulness of God to himself does not depend on our response to him.
This is quite different to our normal human behaviour. We tend to have a transactional shape to qualities such as love and faithfulness. That is, if we love someone or are true to them, we look for a matching response. If they love us and are faithful, we continue in our love and faithfulness to them. However, if they do not respond with love and faithfulness we change our behaviour.
God is not transactional in his love. In his very nature he is love, faithfulness, truth, justice, mercy and such like (eg Ex 34:6-7). His faithfulness means that he is always consistent with his own character and words. This means that we can depend on God to always be God. He is not like the capricious gods of ancient mythology who could be bad-tempered one day and indulgent the next, with no warning of which was when.
This consistent faithfulness of God is an anchor for us. He is predictable and dependable and we can confidently build our lives within this frame.
God’s consistent faithfulness is also a model for us. We are not only to love because he loved us first but we are to love in the manner with which God loves (1 Jn 4:7,11,19). This means that we do not tie our love to the responses that others make to us (transactional love) but we tie our love to the character of God. That is, we don’t love because people are loveable or love us, but because God is love and we draw our identity and character from him. This is a remarkably powerful and transforming approach.
The Cross of Jesus demonstrates the faithfulness of God, irrespective of our faithlessness. Because he was faithful to himself he was just to judge sin. Because he was faithful to himself, he was merciful to himself bear the judgement penalty. We cannot presume on the faithfulness of God but we can rely on it.
May we have grace to understand and to reflect the faithfulness of God.
If we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
This is an unexpected saying. The logic of the preceding lines (possibly taken from an early hymn) leads us to expect something different. It is also a remarkable saying. Think about it. It is teaching that the faithfulness of God to himself does not depend on our response to him.
This is quite different to our normal human behaviour. We tend to have a transactional shape to qualities such as love and faithfulness. That is, if we love someone or are true to them, we look for a matching response. If they love us and are faithful, we continue in our love and faithfulness to them. However, if they do not respond with love and faithfulness we change our behaviour.
God is not transactional in his love. In his very nature he is love, faithfulness, truth, justice, mercy and such like (eg Ex 34:6-7). His faithfulness means that he is always consistent with his own character and words. This means that we can depend on God to always be God. He is not like the capricious gods of ancient mythology who could be bad-tempered one day and indulgent the next, with no warning of which was when.
This consistent faithfulness of God is an anchor for us. He is predictable and dependable and we can confidently build our lives within this frame.
God’s consistent faithfulness is also a model for us. We are not only to love because he loved us first but we are to love in the manner with which God loves (1 Jn 4:7,11,19). This means that we do not tie our love to the responses that others make to us (transactional love) but we tie our love to the character of God. That is, we don’t love because people are loveable or love us, but because God is love and we draw our identity and character from him. This is a remarkably powerful and transforming approach.
The Cross of Jesus demonstrates the faithfulness of God, irrespective of our faithlessness. Because he was faithful to himself he was just to judge sin. Because he was faithful to himself, he was merciful to himself bear the judgement penalty. We cannot presume on the faithfulness of God but we can rely on it.
May we have grace to understand and to reflect the faithfulness of God.
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