Just another kid?

My grandchild is due to be born tomorrow*.

I have three children and this is my fourth grandchild. Just another kid! No way! I have a sense of awe at the new life that the birth represents. Today, my son and his wife are a childless couple. Tomorrow they will have their firstborn to hold in their arms.

Of course, the first thing we want to know is the child’s gender. But then the bigger wonders: what will this baby grow to be like? What abilities will develop? What study and career path will shape its adulthood? How will this baby contribute to the family line as it grows, possible pairs off and reproduces?

It is an awesome event. Two adults come lovingly together as one flesh and a new life results.

In Christian view this event has an extra awesomeness, for the Bible speaks of all human life bearing God’s image (which is why it is not our call to wilfully destroy it. Gen 1:26-27; 9:6).  Irrespective of how beautiful, clever, helpful etc this new child is, the child has the highest worth because it bears God’s image. This child is a prince or princess of his kingdom and over his creation. And that is before it is able to do anything or actually does anything.

Compare that with the view of prominent atheist and ethicist Peter Singer: “Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons”; therefore, “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.” Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 122–23.

I’m thankful that my grandchild is born into a world that God rules and not Peter Singer. His criteria of human identity and worth seems rooted to what the (non)person can or cannot do. On that logic, its not just all newborns who need to watch lest he comes calling, but any person who has disability or the weaknesses of old age. This grim reaper’s calling card will be cast broadly.

Compare again with the Bible’s view that God watched over my unborn grandchild from conception: You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. … My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them (Ps 139:13-16).

Through his intricate paths of genetics and DNA God has set my grandchild’s nature. To me these mechanisms are mysteries before which I bow. Were I to understand the biological complexities behind my mysteries I expect I would the more in awesome wonder. The biology tells me how these happen. The Bible gives the back-story that shapes their meaning.

My grandchild is not a ‘thing’ waiting Singer’s inspection and certificate of humanity. Its worth does not depend on its capacities. And that is why I will love and treasure this child and would give my life for it. And it is why God loves and treasures this child and why the Son of God gave his life so it could be redeemed and live in fellowship with its maker.

The child is not just a ‘thing’ or just another kid.

* Update 2 March: I'm pleased to report that Xavier Alexander Burke arrived as expected and is much loved.

Review: One to one Bible reading

David Helm, One to one Bible reading – a simple guide for every Christian, (Matthias Media, 2011). Pp1-103 including resource guides and sheets for copying.  Available through Matthia Media: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/catalogsearch/result/?q=one+to+one+bible+reading

Jesus got personal with me through reading the Bible. My dad (a pastor) gave me a Bible one Christmas. I thought ‘what a joke, another one of dad’s religious kicks’. However I was bored (sweating out a mindless factory job in between the HSC and uni) and lonely (my girlfriend had dumped me because I was not a Christian*). So I read it right through over a few months. It wasn’t long after that before my faith was first hand instead of second hand.

And I kept reading the Bible. Uni studies were pushed aside for late night sessions reading through the Bible at depth and making my own notes on book after book. And as the years passed it’s been a regular habit to let no day pass without reading some part of Scripture.

My story encourages me that one of the best things we can do with non-Christians is to get them reading the Bible. Of course, the same applies to Christians at any level of maturity. Reading the Bible puts us in touch with God and moves us along the path to Christ-likeness and usefulness to God. All this makes sense if we recall what the Bible says about itself. This book claims to be all God-inspired and like a sharp sword that cuts through everything and is useful to make people wise for salvation and to help them be fully ready for all that God has in mind (Heb 4:12; 2 Tim 3:15-16).

Great! But not everyone is going to pick up and Bible and start reading and keep reading. This is especially unlikely for a non-Christian. How can we encourage and help people read the Bible?

This book is a simple ‘how to’ on one to one Bible reading with non-Christians or fellow believers. Part 1 (seven chapters) deals with some helpful start-up issues of how to set up a one to one Bible reading relationship and what it can look like.  This is useful material and some people will find it enough to get them moving. Part 11 gets down to technicalities with quite specific advice on just how to approach and use the Bible one-on one.

The book is simplicity plus (but not simplistic). The two suggested Bible reading methods (Swedish and COMA) are easily grasped and should be transferable to almost any new Bible reader. Many will find the chapter on eight weeks through Mark’s Gospel a great launching pad.

This book could be used in a training programme for vine workers or just picked up and used individually. Many will find that it gives them the confidence to start out on a one to one Bible ministry and to stimulate them to work out their own approach.

(David Burke was Director of Christian Education for the NSW Presbyterian Church for many years and is now a teacher at the Presbyterian Theological Centre.)

* The good news is that I got the girlfriend back after I became a Christian and we celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary this year.

Review: The Naked God

Ayers, Martin (2010) Naked God – the truth about God exposed. Matthias Media; 184p plus further reading and endnotes

Internal evidence gives a picture of this book’s author. He is young, English, male, enjoyed life at Cambridge and worked in corporate-level law. He is also someone who became a Christian believer at law school and whose life turned upside down as a result. That picture tells us about who the book will be most useful to – but, more on that later.

Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef inspires the work of apologetics and evangelism.  It aims to get back to basics on questions of Christian belief by a three-section discussion.

·       Part 1 (six chapters) strips philosophical naturalism bare and tracks the implications if we live in a closed-system universe where there is nothing outside the cosmos.

·       Part 2 (five chapters) strips Christianity back to its basics and has a good hard look at Jesus. Evidence and arguments for belief in him are considered and some common myths and supposed problems around him are considered.

·       Part 3 (four chapters) strips the reader bare by zeroing on in the key barrier to belief and giving a warm challenge and invitation to faith.

Let’s look at Part 1. Ch 2 equates atheism with naturalism and sets up for the following chapters which track how freedom, knowledge, morality and purpose are lost if God is removed from the equation. The argument here is brief, effective and challenging. When preparing this review I was also reading Religion for Atheists by Alain De Botton. De Botton is an atheist who is trying to have the religious  ‘icing’ of community, kindness, tenderness, beauty and such like but without the religious ‘cake’ on which they traditionally rest.  Ayers argues that if there is no theistic ‘cake’ you can’t have the ‘icing’ and are left with a dark and miserable world.

This is a good argument, although we can question Ayers’ simple equation of atheism with naturalism. Naturalism may be the main form of God-denial in the west, but it is not the only one and there are many alternates to Christian theism in the world at large. However, if the book is understood as an apologetic against naturalism, this problem is avoided. There is some material addressed to relativism but naturalism is the main target.

Part 11 does a great job of presenting the faith. Ayers covers the evidence for the historical Jesus and shows Jesus in the fullness of the Bible’s claims about him. He tackles several misconceptions about Jesus and especially concerned to address reductionist and selective accounts of Jesus. For example, he insists that we can’t just pick and choose among the moral teachings of Jesus. Either all he said (including his self-claims about his identity) is believed or he has nothing worthwhile to say. This is a good re-working of CS Lewis’ familiar argument about Jesus being mad, bad or God.

The final Part gently pushes readers to face the Jesus question rather than ignore it and just put the book down. Ayers presents Jesus as the only who can help humans with the otherwise unfathomable problem of guilt before God. Willing readers are carefully led through to a prayer of commitment. I really like the way this is followed by some material on getting started as a Christian: Ayers is looking for a lasting commitment to Christ, not just decisions for Christ.

Now back to the author and the reader. This is a book for people like the author. I would gladly give it to thoughtful people whose context is modern western culture. It arises from that setting and well addressed to it. It presents Jesus in a manner designed to connect well with such folk and hopefully help them to connect to God through his Son.

(David Burke has been in ministry since 1979 and teaches philosophy and world view in a theological college.)

Victims for life?

Victims for life?

A person I know suffered childhood abuse and has struggled to deal with. Even as a later-life adult he bears inner scars and the topic appears regularly in his words. He was, and remains, a victim.

Let’s think about that.

Were we all victims?

We all have times of hardship, or disabilities of heart, soul, mind or body. We have all been treated unfairly and perhaps been victims of pride and prejudice. We are all victims at the hands of others in some way and to some degree.

In a Christian view, we are all victims of Adam. He took one big dumb decision to defy God and life changed (Gen 3). He was tossed out of the garden of Edenic perfection, was too ashamed to meet with God, started squabbling with his wife and faced a work world that was all thorns and thistles instead of a bed of roses. Okay, Adam got what he deserved. Trouble is, we all got what he deserved. As Romans 5:12-14 puts in, we all became victims of his folly because we are all ‘in Adam’.

And so we all were victims. We were victims of Adam’s action and we were also the victims of other’s actions such as the abuse suffered by the acquaintance mentioned above.

However, must we remain victims?

For starters, we don’t have to remain victims of Adam. As Romans 5 explains, Jesus is the second Adam who undoes the work of the first. One brought curse and death. Jesus brought blessing and life. When we reconnect to God through faith in Jesus we are victims no more for the penalty and power of Adam are lifted (Rom 5:15-21). If you like, when we are ‘in Christ’ we are no longer just ‘in Adam’.

But what about our other victimhoods to the people who treated us with injustice, exploitation, abuse, bullying, pride, prejudice and such like?

There are people who seemed trapped in their victimhood and almost wear it like a badge. Their identity and life is defined by the evil done against them.

Then there are others who rise above victimhood.

Old Testament Joseph was a victim of his brother’s jealousy when they left him for dead in a well then on-sold him as a slave (Gen 37). He was also a victim of Potiphar’s wife who falsely accused him of rape (Gen 39) and a victim of Pharaoh’s cupbearer who forget his promise  (Gen 40:23). Joseph did not wallow in victimhood but accepted his circumstances as being from God and rose above it.

What was Joseph’s secret? He mentions it in a scene when the tables were turned and his brother’s fate was in his hands. The feared that their victim would seize this moment for revenge. Instead he commented on their actions in these words: you meant evil against me, but God meant for good (Gen 50:20). This is not fatalism, but rather faithism. Joseph knew God and trusted that he had worked for good even in the wicked actions that made him a victim.

Get the point? God is sovereign and moves everything to his purposes (Eph 1:11). If we are victims of some injustice etc it is because God allows it. And, just as with Joseph, God means it for good and uses it for our personal good … God works all things for the good of those who love him (Rom 8:28).

Of course, the supreme example of all this is in the death of Jesus. He was a victim of evil deeds, yet it was his path to resurrection glory and the path to our redemptive hope – the victim became the victor in a most profound way.

This does not mean that we deny the evil in the abuse etc. Nor does it excuse those who perpetrated it. Where possible, it is just that they are called to account and dealt with under due process. However, the Christian does not need to take personal vengeance, for it is the business of God to deal with those who made us their victims (Rom 12:14-21).

In the bigger picture, the Christian can see victimhood as something not only allowed in the sovereign will of God, but also, as noted above, something that God uses for our good. The Bible elsewhere speaks of the discipline which seems hard at the time but which our sovereign and good God uses to lovingly discipline, mature and train us (Heb 12:7-11).

Let’s put this together.

We are all victims of Adam and of others.

Through Christ, we can cease being Adam’s victims.

The evil perpetuated against us by others remains evil and the Christian need not deny or minimise it or pretend that it does not hurt. Nor do we need to ignore the ongoing scars in heart, soul, body and mind.

But nor does the Christian need to seek personal redress, for that is in the hands of God who sees all and who ultimately upholds righteousness in his perfect justice.

Neither does the Christian need to live as a lifelong victim of other’s wrong. Rather, by faith we understand to have been allowed by God and used for our personal good.

The Christian does not have to stay a victim. Like Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon or Esther in Persia we can accept our circumstances, (with all their evil, pain and injustice) and look to thrive with them, knowing that God is in this place. Is God any less in our victimhood than he was present on the dark afternoon when the only one who never deserved to be a victim became a victim that we might live?

The missing day

I once missed Christmas Day. I was aboard a London to NZ flight via Los Angeles and we jumped the date line around midnight. Goodbye presents! However something different happened this year – a day went missing by government fiat. In order to better align with its key trading partners, Samoa jumped the International Date Line and moved from 29 to 31 December in a digital stroke.

There’s nothing new or alarming in all that. Calendars are a human construct, have changed often enough during history and at any given moment different people operate on different calendars. For example, the recently newsworthy Mayan calendar runs alongside the more general western calendar in some societies. Or again, Singapore chooses to position itself out of its natural time zone for reasons of financial markets.

In the ancient near east, calendars were commonly constructed according to the reign and deeds of a king. For example, consider the Biblical formula ‘in the 8^th year etc of the reign of King so and so’.

This is reflected in the present BC / AD division of the western calendar which divides around the incarnation of Christ. Well, not quite … for present scholarly reckoning places his birth in about 6BC. Its interesting to see present discussion about renaming this into BCE / CE and thus writing Christ ‘out’. Some Christians see this as an issue of spreading secularism to contest. Personally, I don’t think its worth the fight.

Hmm .. constructing a calendar around the deeds of a king? Now that’s worth thinking about. Put simply, it locates us in the last days in between the ascension and the return of the Lord. That gives urgency to the task of witness and encouragement to persist in following and serving Jesus. We are indeed to ‘watch and pray’ and labour and serve, for our master may return from his journey any moment.

How terrible to be ill-prepared and thus to miss the day.

Threads of lives

I first met Angie and her father Dan (not the real names) 40 years ago. Angie was about 10 years old. Her mother had recently died, leaving she and her two siblings as orphans.

Dan had belonged to the church my dad pastored about 15 years earlier and now resumed contact after a long absence. Dan started coming to my dad’s new church and also needed someone to care for the young children during his absence on business trips.

My dad referred Dan to my girlfriend who became the child carer during some uni holidays. That brought me into the scene. A year or so later I needed employment. Dan rang the boss of a firm he has worked for and so I had a job for two years while my life reshaped.

Dan soon married a woman from my dad’s church and then we all drifted in different directions for many years. After Dan became a church elder involved in wider church matters I met him more often. As a young adult, Angie sister was a friend of my wife and I and then, after a gap of decades, we became Facebook friends when she lived in the UK.

Angie’s life had ups and downs, involving tragic moments that tested and tormented she and her family. She died last Friday aged 50. I saw a Facebook message from her sister and rang Dan. Then contacted some other friends who were all part of that church and friendship network about 40 years ago. And so we will soon gather to mourn with those who mourn.

In this the threads of pain and care weave through the Kantian categories of space and time. Or rather, they are woven for it is God who brings people and circumstances in and out of our lives.

Something like this makes me wonder. Angie was a peripheral part of my life yet there are the threads of about 20 people in direct relationship and stretching over about 60 years of my family. And then I think of others whose threads are woven into the tapestry of my life and I in turn woven into that of them and others. There are the known and unknown; the long running and the short-lived; the welcome and unwelcome. The threads of my life are beyond counting and disappear into the mists of time backwards and forwards.

As Donne says: no man is an island. Each of these threads is a person made in God’s image and for whom Christ died. They are an opportunity for me to serve and be served with God’s love and truth.

And so I will keep in touch with Angie’s family through this … and resume contact with other people whose threads have resurfaced through this contact.

A tale of two Christmasses

I went to church twice over Christmas. The services were well attended, the feeling warm, the music uplifting and the messages were fresh presentations of the old old story. And then to a day of indulgence. The pleasure of family, watching the excitement of my grandsons opening presents, enjoying lovingingly prepared meals and an afternoon doze.

My brother also went to church. He is a missionary in Jos Nigeria. It was his first Christmas since his wife died on missionary service earlier this year. He probably started his day with no electricity and having to draw water from a well in his house. As he sat in church there was a bomb blast nearby: they heard it and felt a blast wave.  The service continued, rejoicing in the covenant faithfulness of God, praying for those who sought to harm them and seeking God’s peace on the city.

My brother’s Christmas gives a reminder of mortality and eternity. So much of what most us do from day to day is trivial against these horizons. Oh for grace to enjoy the trivial pursuits and enjoy life under the sun, but always for wisdom to see and live under the eternity that God puts in the heart of humanity.