Opting Out of the Christian Faith

People coming to faith in Christ, people walking away from their faith, people out-growing the version of church or Christianity they grew up with, people exploring, people opting out; none of these things are new or novel. What perhaps is, in our contemporary Christian context, is the publicized advent of these events. Especially when one considers the obsession (at least in some quarters) for a glamorous and alluring type of Christianity modeled cat-walk style in mega-churches. One that celebritizes singers, songwriters, and preachers, who themselves then curate social-media profiles followed by thousands (and hundreds of thousands). When folk such as this step away from their faith it becomes a press-release statement, as much a stage-based moment as their Christian ministry has been.

In recent weeks we’ve had a couple of these publicized announcements followed by the inevitable reactions one would expect in the world of social-media and in the world of consumer-Christianity publishing. I know none of these folks personally and have no desire to judge them or pass comment on their particular journeys. With all sincerity I wish them Godspeed as well as God’s grace and peace. I have my own beliefs that it is in God that we (them included) live and move and have our being, and that the declaration of the Hebrew psalmist in Psalm 139:7-12 (see below) is as true for them as for anyone else; where can I flee from Your presence?

I do, however, want to highlight a couple of reasons one of these folks offered for calling time on the Christian faith and make some brief comments. Part of their Instagram post read…

“How many preachers fall? Many. No one talks about it. How many miracles happen? Not many. No one talks about it. Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it. How can God be love yet send four billion people to a place [hell], all ‘coz they don’t believe? No one talks about it. I am not in anymore. I want genuine truth. Not the ‘I just believe it’ kind of truth.”

No one talks about it. Really? He’s mis-read the situation, surely? What bubble of the Christian world does he live in? Everyone is talking about these things! Aren’t they? Actually, not everyone is talking about these things. In certain contemporary church contexts ‘deeper’ issues of theology are rarely talked about. A clear statement of faith is produced that defines the boarders and discussion is dismissed.

I can well imagine this Christian minster feeling the need for robust conversations (very robust conversations) to be had in relation to each of these topics – over coffee, in church staff meetings, and in Sunday morning sermons – but finding that they are never addressed. They’re not glamorous topics that build organisation momentum or inspire people to greatness, so they are put to the side. As well, they are complicated topics and for many Senior Pastors (especially CEO types) fall in the ‘too hard’ basket. But for many people these are big issues that pastors in every context must address. Calling people to ‘just believe it’ isn’t enough.

In his book ‘A Churchless Faith,’ pastor and writer Alan Jamieson, points out that people who leave the Church have, on average, been congregants for sixteen years with 94 percent having been leaders. These people are not slackers who leave because they have been offended; rather they leave because of meta grumbles – deep rooted questions about the foundations of faith itself which are not being addressed.

Obviously, this is problematic. Left unaddressed, or worse when they are suppressed (which happens all too often), these issues become destabilizing. At best folk perceive the Church to have taken them as far in their faith journey as she can and opt out of a localized Christian community. Alternatively, they opt out of faith altogether.

Pastors (and everyone else), questions, doubts, suspicions and uncertainty are part-and-parcel of authentic Christianity. In fact, it is almost inevitable that there will come a season where these things serve as the primary catalyst for spiritual growth in one’s journey of following Jesus. What’s unfortunate is that the modern church doesn’t always make space for people to doubt or to question or to be suspicious. Organisational church growth tends to require unwavering commitment to the vision, the values, the mission and the culture of ‘the house.’ This tends to mean cultivating an environment of momentum, alignment, excitement and anticipation; an ‘atmosphere of faith.’ The demand therefore tends to be for uniformity and conformity. This becomes a pretty challenging context in which to ask big questions about faith, the nature of the church, Christian spirituality and what it means to follow Jesus. Questions and doubts can be wrongly interpreted as a “lack of faith,” “a bad attitude,” “divisive,” or even a clear indicator that someone is “backsliding.” This is problematic on so many levels. No topic should be off-limits, and space needs to be made to address the theological issues that are being wrestled with in our contemporary context. (You can read more on this here). 

Pastors (and everyone else), if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to thinking through some of these topics – have a look at these links. On miracles, this or this. On hell, this, or this, or this. On suffering this. On the Bible this, or this, or this. 

Finally, I think it is worth pointing out that what inevitably becomes a kind of minor Christian celebrity status for gifted singers, songwriters and preachers who are privileged (or perhaps inappropriately burdened) by the bright lights and big crowds of the main stage needs to be carefully managed. And by carefully managed I don’t mean stage managed by an artist development liaison officer; I’m talking about robust pastoral care. Most young singers, songwriters, and preachers promoted to the main stage are aware that they are their based on their gifts, talents and abilities rather than character, ministry experience and faithfulness to a long obedience in the same direction. Pastoral care is required in order to ensure their holistic development. But more is required than the character development championed by the adage ‘gifting will get you there, but character will keep you there.’

Character development is good, but more is required than gifts and character. Vocational Christian ministry needs to be appreciated as a professional vocation as it historically was (along with medicine and law). Too often though, professional contemporary church ministry parallels professional sport, a paid profession where skill and natural attributes bring you into the role. Instead (without discounting skill and natural attributes) it should be appreciated as a profession where professional training brings you into the role – theological training, professional ethics, a body or required knowledge etc. This won’t fix everything, but it should give rise to vocational Christian ministers more than capable of navigating issues such as those highlighted by this recent Christian minister opting out. Instead he’d be able to help others navigate these topics.

*Psalm 139:7-12. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Epistemic Bubbles and Echo Chambers

Yesterday I read, “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” a joint statement signed by both Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. I found it bold, honest, and hopeful – certainly attributes necessary in our world today. It is the product of inter-faith dialogue between one of Christianity’s senior leaders and one of Islam’s senior leaders and is well worth having a look at. Reading the document, I also found myself reflecting on what sometimes feels like a very fragmented Christianity. 

Someone I was talking to recently mentioned that Rotary International is the largest organisation in the world providing and financing humanitarian services around the globe. I commented, “surely the Christian Church provides more humanitarian services than Rotary?” His response; “Perhaps, but the Church isn’t one organisation.” Touché. Jesus declares that it will be by our love for one another that the world will know the Church to be Christ’s disciples, but the Church often feels very divided.

In our Western context (and elsewhere), for better or worse, we’ve a plethora of options in relation to the local church we choose to attend. Seven or eight Great Traditions have evolved over the centuries and a multiplicity of denominations and non-denominational branches exist within each. Even within denominations there is a wide-range of local church expressions with different churches celebrating different cultural values and methodologies of church. Too often, as folk already thoroughly discipled as consumers, our choice to fellowship in a particular church community can subliminally (though irreverently) feel like a consumer choice that is quickly followed by a form of confirmation bias or post-purchase rationalization. This form of rationalization is the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to the choice we have made for option A (our church), while simultaneously amplifying the negative attributes of option B that we didn’t opt for (the church down the road). There is no need for us to do that. More, when I do that (or you do that), it has the potential to be a form of anti-Christ. It has the potential to go against the way of being in the world that Jesus calls us into. We need to be careful here.
   

Unchecked, post-purchase rationalization within ‘church world’, especially among pastors and leaders can lead to the development of epistemic bubbles and echo chambers, (something I covered over a few pages in my final doctorate project, which if you like, you can read below and find references for). Epistemic bubbles come about when informational networks form but omit certain voices from the conversation. In my doctorate project, which is contextualized to Pentecostalism, the examples I offer in relation to epistemic bubbles focus on the way in which Pentecostalism has tended towards a relational tribalism that, historically, has omitted conversation partners such as the theological academy, the ever evolving historical and theological perspectives of Church history over the centuries, and current and varied ecumenical points of view. More specifically, as Pentecostalism has evolved as a ‘contemporary’ methodology and expression of church, there tends to be a singular set of voices guiding conversations pertinent to faith and practice – that of the various mega-church pastors who lead relational networks and speak at each other’s conferences, seminars, retreats and events. The conversation is thus very one-dimensional with perspectives, practices and opinions continually recycled and re-enforced rather than challenged to adapt and evolve as might be necessary.
   

More insidious than epistemic bubbles, echo chambers are formed when, in addition to relevant voices being disregarded, potential conversation partners are actively discredited. Whereas an epistemic bubble merely omits contrary views, an echo chamber brings its members to actively distrust outside voices. One shouldn’t be naïve in thinking this is not a reality within church contexts or the Christian community more generally. There are many possible scenarios, you’ll be familiar with some no-doubt; Protestants who are anti-Catholic, ‘small’ church folk who are against mega-churches, pastors with no formal theological training pre-supposing that those with theological training should be viewed with suspicion, charismatics who see deeper teaching as cerebral nonsense, exegetical preachers who see Pentecostalism as hocus-pocus. And each of these could be reversed. More damaging than epistemic bubbles, echo chambers have the potential to become cult-like, with members isolated from outside voices that are labelled as malignant and untrustworthy, with the framework of trust being narrowed to exclusively insider voices.

When this shift to a narrow set of voices occurs, the Church ceases to function as a genuine sub-community (an expression of the Kingdom of God) within the wider society. Rather than existing as a community of peculiar discourse with practices of memory, hope, and pain that keep healthy human life available in the face of all the ‘virtual reality’ now on offer in dominant culture, local churches runs the risk of becoming a separated sphere of existence with their own dominant culture, set of beliefs and behaviours that members must submit to in order to belong. The church thus becomes its own empire rather than a subversion of empire and a prophetic sub-community of alternative consciousness.

All of this being a long-winded preamble from which to note; to the extent that the Church and the Christian community fails to cultivate unity within her own diversity – putting aside such artificial dualisms as faith versus reason, science versus Scripture, intellect verses heart, spiritual verses material, Catholic verse Protestant, contemporary versus traditional, worship versus Word, my local church versus the other church down the road, and a thousand and one other such possibilities – it will also fail to be known by its love for one another. Further, if love for one another is problematic, you can be sure that love of neighbour will be difficult and love of enemy neigh on impossible. Though hoping to exist as a catalyst of healing and a broker of peace in the world, the Church – inappropriately divided rather than beautifully diverse – will likely perpetuate as much brokenness as what it does restoration.

Colossians 3:12-17
¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

_______________________________

Below is a ‘cut & paste’ from my final doctorate paper, a couple of pages on epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. It may not make total sense disconnected from the rest of the project, but at the same time, might be of interest.

_______________________________

The Fruit and Consequences of Relational Tribalism

In the early days of Pentecostalism, relational tribalism was enacted via the voluntary association of faith missions and outreach projects – breakaways from established church structures and traditions. In the current contemporary context, tribalism is evidenced in the voluntary association of various leadership networks that associate around shared cultural values, modes of worship and methodologies of church – creating further insular subsets within and across Pentecostal denominational structures. It is not uncommon for pastors and churches to prefer participation in network events run by the mega-church ministries they aspire to become like, rather than gatherings organized by the official denomination or movement to which they belong.

In terms of fruitfulness, the tendency towards relational tribalism strengthened Pentecostal conviction and focus as the movement emerged and institutionalized in the first half of the twentieth century. Where other traditions viewed Pentecostalism with suspicion, like-minded cohorts allowed Pentecostalism to develop in its own identity while hedging against contrary voices. In a sense relational tribalism allowed Pentecostalism to find its sense of identity.

It must also be acknowledged, however, that relational tribalism is a strong contributing factor to the negative consequences of each of the other defining markers discussed in this paper [you’d have to read the whole paper for this to make sense]. A greater degree of ecumenical association and engagement with the varying perspectives of other Christian traditions in matters of theology and doxology throughout Pentecostalism’s history may have tempered or mitigated these negative outcomes. Foremost among the undesirable characteristics of relational tribalism is a narrow and even insular perspective on matters of faith and praxis that can lead to both arrogance and ignorance.

Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles

In his essay Escape the Echo Chamber, philosopher C. Thi Nguyen suggests two specific ways in which communities wrap themselves within impenetrable networks of intellectual like-mindedness that are ultimately unhealthy: via epistemic bubbles and through the creation of echo chambers.[1] Nguyen defines epistemic bubbles as “informational network[s] from which relevant voices have been excluded by omission.”[2] Within Pentecostalism, relational tribalism fosters an epistemic bubble in which discussions of theology, doxology, ecclesiology, and the like, tend to exclude other relevant and wise voices. Broadly speaking, the theological simplicity inherent in Pentecostalism excludes such conversation partners as the theological academy, evolving historical perspectives of church history and varied ecumenical points of view. More specifically, within the relational networks of contemporary Pentecostalism, there tends to be a singular set of voices guiding conversations pertinent to faith and practice – that of the various mega-church pastors who lead these networks and speak at each other’s conferences, seminars, retreats and events.[3] [The conversation is therefore very one-dimensional].

More insidious than epistemic bubbles, echo chambers are formed when, in addition to relevant voices being disregarded, other conversation partners are actively discredited: “where an epistemic bubble merely omits contrary views, an echo chamber brings its members to actively distrust outsiders.”[4] In their book Echo Chamber, Kathleen Jamieson and Joseph Cappella describe an echo chamber as cult-like, with members isolated from outside voices that are labelled as malignant and untrustworthy, with the framework of trust being narrowed to exclusively insider voices.[5] While Pentecostalism has at times given rise to cult-like movements, it is not the intention of this paper to portray contemporary Pentecostalism as a cult. It should be noted however that, given the need for control embedded within pragmatic methodologies, the general lack of deeper reflection that comes with a bent toward theological simplicity and the propensity towards epistemic bubbles found in relational tribalism [again, you’d need to read the rest of this paper for that to totally make sense], Pentecostalism should be aware of the potential of echo chambers developing and the dangers inherent to such chambers. When the perspective of the mega-church pastor begins to function as the voice shaping faith and practice within contemporary Pentecostalism, it is only a matter of time before other voices begin to be disempowered and discredited to the detriment of Pentecostalism.

When this shift to a narrow set of voices occurs, the church ceases to function as a genuine sub-community (an expression of the Kingdom of God) within the wider society. Rather than existing as “a community of peculiar discourse with practices of memory, hope, and pain that keep healthy human life available in the face of all the ‘virtual reality’ now on offer in dominant culture,”[6] the church runs the risk of becoming a separated sphere of existence with its own dominant culture, set of beliefs and behaviours that members must submit to in order to belong.

In The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann likens this establishment of a dominant culture requiring submission, to Israel’s movement away from the radically alternate way of being in the world that had been established under Moses and as a return to the pre-Mosaic imperial paradigm [Egypt], as reinstated under the kings of Israel.[7] This shift began under David but is more clearly evidenced in the life of Solomon: “the entire program of Solomon now appears to have been a self-serving achievement with the sole purpose being the self-securing of the king and dynasty… a program of state-sponsored syncretism, which if course means the steady abandonment of the radicalness of the Mosaic vision.”[8]

Brueggemann refers to this embrace of syncretism as the paganization of Israel, though in the context of a discussion about contemporary Pentecostalism, the metaphor serves to describe the potential for a secularization of the church.[9] In this instance, the size, reach and affluence of a large contemporary church, the culture and routinization of the church (which congregants are expected to buy into),[10] and the manner in which senior leaders are seen as God’s elected officials, serve to create a “controlled static religion in which God and his temple have become part of the royal landscape, in which the sovereignty of God is fully subordinated to the purpose of the king.”[11] The church thus becomes its own empire rather than a subversion of empire and a prophetic sub-community of alternative consciousness.

When the church becomes an empire, the less desirable traits inherent in relational tribalism tend to surface and flourish: theological errancy, ignorance, deception, blind-spots, self-righteousness, over-demanding expectations within the church, defensiveness, divisiveness, and a suspicion of any other opinion of, or expression within, the Body of Christ. All-in-all this amounts to a failure to reflect Christ’s wish in John 17 that his followers would be known by their love for one another. Thus, a re-imagined Pentecostalism needs to be mindful of the paradox that the church is called to difference – to be a peculiar people – at the macro level (i.e. in relation to the empire and the systems of the world) but not to tribalism at the micro level (i.e. within the Body of Christ).

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[1] See “Essays,” on Aeon website, C. Thi Nguyen, “Escape the Echo Chamber” https://aeon.co/essays/why-its-as-hard-to-escape-an-echo-chamber-as-it-is-to-flee-a-cult (accessed July 30, 2018).

[2] Ibid.

[3] This tendency is seen in the work of contemporary Pentecostal pastor Paul de Yong, the pastor of LIFE church in Auckland, New Zealand. His latest book, God, Money and Me, includes ten endorsements of the book, its aims, perspectives, and conclusions. However, they all come from fellow mega-church pastors who are regular speakers at de Yong’s conferences (and him at theirs). There are no endorsements of support from recognized theologians or trained economists. See; Paul de Yong, God, Money and Me, (Auckland, NZ: Life Resource International, 2017), 3-6.

[4] See “Essays,” on Aeon website, C. Thi Nguyen, “Escape the Echo Chamber” https://aeon.co/essays/why-its-as-hard-to-escape-an-echo-chamber-as-it-is-to-flee-a-cult (accessed July 30, 2018).

[5] C. Thi Nguyen, “Escape the Echo Chamber,” refereeing to Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella¸ Echo Chamber; Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

[6] Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001), xvii.

[7] Ibid., 24-25.

[8] Ibid., 23.

[9] Ibid., 24.

[10] See discussion in chapter three, Pragmatic Methodologies, in relation to this.

[11] Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination, 28.

Money, That’s What I Want – Money: Part 2 of 4

Some reader/viewer discretion is advised in some of what follows. There are a few f-bombs. They are not intended to offend but rather to make a particular point. I think with great clarity. Peace. 

The best things in life are free
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

You're lovin' gives me a thrill
But you're lovin' don't pay my bills
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Money don't get everything it's true
What it don't get, I can't use
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want, wah

Well now give me money
A lot of money
Wow, yeah, I wanna be free
Oh I want money
That's what I want
That's what I want, well
Now give me money
A lot of money
Wow, yeah, you need money
Now, give me money
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Artist – The Beatles

Song – Money (That’s What I Want)
Album – With the Beatles
Year –1963

______________________

"You get up two and a half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do: you get a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible Jap-economy shit box, you put the rest into the system at three to five percent to pay your taxes and that's your base, get me? That's your fortress of f-ing solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of f-you. Somebody wants you to do something, f-you. Boss pisses you off, f-you! A wise man's life is based around f-you."

Frank – The Gambler (2014 movie)

Truthfully, something of an “f-you” attitude is buried away within most of us. For some quite deeply. For other just below the surface. Humans have forever sought to be the lords and masters of their own lives. Humanity grabbed the apple in the garden and said, “we’ll be our own gods.” We still do it today in our lust for power and control, in our desire to be "free."

 ______________________

Blessing is God’s desire for humanity – that we’d experience a flourishing, whole and right life. Part one unpacks this here. There is an economic component to blessing, but blessing goes beyond economics. It’s a quality of life, a quality of relationship with God and others, it is wholeness in oneself, non-anxious living, a sound sleep, laughter, the giving and receiving of hospitality, breaking bread, drinking wine, friendship.  

Blessing is also God’s loving initiative in creating the conditions in which this sort of life is possible, a blessed life. God’s ongoing desire and ongoing initiative in the human story is in order that humanity might come into fullness of life, wholeness of life, a blessed life.

God works within history to bring about blessing.

Sometimes though, our lives don’t feel all that blessed. Then what? In God we trust? What do we put our trust in? For many people the temptation is to “hedge-their-bets.”

It’s not only in the horse racing industry that we find people hedging their bets. Common practice in the Ancient Near East of the Old Testament and the Grecco-Roman world of the New Testament was essentially to hedge your bets, to have a little both ways. You’d have your own god or handful of gods; Asherah or Baal, or later Zeus and Apollo, and you’d worship them, you’d sacrifice to them, pray to them, burn incense in their name, carry a little image of them with you to protect you.

But, you’d also hedge your bets. If there were other powerful nations nearby, or powerful people next door, then those nations or people obviously have pretty powerful gods. You’d find out who their gods were – maybe Dagon, Tiamat, Moloch, Ra, Set, Horus, Poseidon, Jupitar or Mars – and you’d make sure you had them in your pocket too. You’d sacrifice to and honour these gods as well.

This was problematic for Jews and Christians. The decree of Yahweh, the creator of the universe, of the heavens and the earth, the God of Israel, Isaac and Jacob was that Yahweh alone was to be worshiped. You weren’t to hedge your bets with God, you were to worship him alone.

Exodus 20:2-6

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

God alone is the source of life, the one who desires blessing and brings about blessing, the one who leads you out of slavery and into fullness of life – a blessed life. God alone is sovereign in the universe.

The New Testament puts it like this…

Acts 17:24-28

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

It is God alone who sustains the world, who holds things together, who makes life, well - the miracle that life is.

We’re too used to life though. It is too everyday ordinary. We forget that this life, in and of itself, is a miracle; a gift from God. There is nothing ordinary about it.

With life a gift from God, our trust in life, is to be in God alone. We’re not to hedge our bets.

This isn’t always easy. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is continually being rebuked for hedging their bets, for worshiping multiple gods, for making sure they had them all on their side. The bible doesn’t call what Israel is doing “hedging one’s bets” though. The bible refers to Israel’s unfaithfulness as adultery, as fornication, as playing the harlot. Pretty strong language!

In our modern context, not many of us are tempted to cry out to Baal or Jupitar when things around us are a little stormy. Not many of us call on Asherah or Apollo to aid us in our attempts to live the good life. We don’t try to hedge our bets by currying favour with Horus.  

We have a tendency to put our trust in other things, we hedge our bets in other ways. The sweat of our brow, hard work, self-reliance, knuckling down. Our own ability to sort our own life out. Or at the other end of the scale, Lotto, a big win, a quick fix, an rich inheritance coming from Nigeria. We hope we’ll get lucky. Perhaps our trust is in education, science, human evolution, the good will and social conscience of society.

Most commonly, our trust is in money.

Our trust is in our assets, our wealth, our possessions. We trust these things (in case God lets us down) to be the source of the good life, of blessing, of security, of happiness, of contentment, of well being. Our path to freedom. 

Ultimately though, money becomes its own false god. We end up worshiping money, putting our trust in money, and looking to money as the source of true life. We’re still faithful Christians of course, we’re just hedging out bets. That’s wisdom isn’t it? No. The bible calls it playing the harlot.  

Have a look at these passages, try and duck them if you can.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

James 4:13-16

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 

Hebrew 13:5-6

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

The Lord is your helper. Not money. 

Mostly our issue in regard to the love of money isn’t that we love rolls of cash or huge vaults of gold coins to dive into and swim around in like Scrooge McDuck dies in Duck Tails.

The issue is to do with power and control. Money represents power and control in our world.

If you have money you have options, you have choices, you are empowered, you can look after yourself, you don’t have to rely on anyone, you have freedom, no one can tell you what to do, when to do it, or how to do it. You are self-sufficient! You are in charge! The more money you have the more power and control you have.

There is a scene in the 2014 movie The Gambler that highlights this perfectly. Mark Wahlberg plays Jim Bennet, and English Professor and high-stakes gambler. John Goodman plays Frank, a kind of underworld, gambling kingpin. It is full of f-bombs (so viewer discretion is advised if you chose to watch the clip). Jim has got himself into trouble despite once having been $2.5 million up. Frank can’t believe that Jim - when he was up – didn’t use that money to put him in an “f-you!” place of financial security for the rest of his life. A position where he could live as lord and king of his own life – at the beck and call of no-one. 

Jim: I've been up two and a half million dollars.
Frank: What you got on you?
Jim: Nothing.
Frank: What you put away?
Jim: Nothing.
Frank: You get up two and a half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do: you get a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible Jap-economy shit box, you put the rest into the system at three to five percent to pay your taxes and that's your base, get me? That's your fortress of f-ing solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of f-you. Somebody wants you to do something, f-you. Boss pisses you off, f-you! Own your house. Have a couple bucks in the bank. Don't drink. That's all I have to say to anybody on any social level. Did your grandfather take risks?
Jim: Yes.
Frank: I guarantee he did it from a position of f-you. A wise man's life is based around f-you. The United States of America is based on f-you. You're a king? You have an army? Greatest navy in the history of the world? F-you!

Now, you might not like the language, it might not be something you’d say, or an attitude that you’d like to admit exists beneath the surface in your life. Maybe you prefer the softer imagery seen in movies where the character wins lotto, walks into the office, tells everyone what he/she really thinks of them and then walks out with a smile on his/her face, (see James McAvoy as Wesley in the 2008 movie Wanted). It’s the same thing though.

And our world craves the idea of finding oneself in such a position. 

Truthfully, something of an “f-you” attituded is buried away within most of us. For some quite deeply. For other just below the surface.

Humans have forever sought to be the lords and masters of their own lives. Humanity grabbed the apple in the garden and said, “we’ll be our own gods.” We still do it today in our lust for power and control, in our desire to be free.

And, more often than not, money is seen as the means by which one will find freedom.

This isn’t the freedom Christ calls us into though.

Following Christ, living the life of a disciple, it isn’t a life of power and control. To follow Christ is to explicitly acknowledge that we are not the lords, kings or masters of our own lives. It is to secede all of our lives and everything in our lives to Christ. We’re not called to be a false god sovereign over our own life.

Take these passages scattered throughout the New Testament…

Your life is not your own, it has been bought with a price.
It is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.
Take up your cross and follow Jesus.
Present your bodies as living sacrifices.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
For the sake of those with a weaker conscience, don’t always engage in the freedom you have. 

What's hopeless is that too many Christians live life hoping to one day find themselves in an "f-you" position. This is the very antithesis of what it means to be a Christian! (I apologies for the crass terminology, but i think it makes the point with great clarity). For many, serving two masters, God and mammon is too watered down for it to really sink in though.   

Now, granted that we are to steward our lives, we’re left having to negotiate a pretty finely balanced reality. It is a fine line between faithfully stewarding that which God has graced us with and striving for power and control. Just take the following list of words – stewardship, hording, wisdom, fear, sound planning, playing the harlot, hard work, control, faithfulness, slavery, fruitfulness, trusting, false god, resource, freedom, diligence, security, comfort, power, sacrifice, worry, anxiety, trust – it is so easy to get these things mixed up. Rightly sorted one minute, but all mixed up the next. 

It’s a fine line sometimes.

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo, offered Gandalf the ring of power, offered Gandalf power and control. Gandalf replied… “Don't... tempt me Frodo! I dare not take it. Not even to keep it safe. Understand, Frodo. I would use this ring from a desire to do good... But through me, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine.”

Money is like that. “Oh this is just a resource, I’m just a steward. I’m just a channel for God, blessed to be a blessing, building my portfolio in order to do some great good in the world.” It is easy to have the best intentions, the desire to do good, but money is sneaky. Your desire is to do good but you can easily end up searching for power and control – failing to see that you are actually now powerless and being controlled.

It sets you work hours. It sets your calendar. It sets your priorities. It sets your values. It sets the yard stick by which you measure your life, your status, your success. It can easily frame your life more than you allow God to frame your life. More than anything frames your life.

So, the good life. A blessed life. A flourishing, whole and right life, it is God’s will for you but it is found in Jesus, not in your bank balance. We discover a blessed life as we follow Jesus, as we walk a long obedience in the right direction, we find ever increasing measures of wholeness. Life still happens of course, following Jesus offers no immunity card to the heartache that life offers at times – though there is always hope.

To think that following Jesus might somehow be a fast track to millionaire is hopelessly misguided. To follow Jesus is to determine that he’ll forever be Lord and King in your life.

The Bible offers no scheme through which to get rich and instead wisdom and guidance to ensure that money is removed from any position as lord in your life.

What is even more mixed up is the way in which we long to be in a position of total control in our lives and hope that the Bible, that following Jesus, that God might help us get to there. Financially or otherwise. To follow Jesus is to submit our lives to his lordship and authority of all things.

Too easily we're deceived into thinking that money will save us and free us in life. We end up chasing, and fantasizing, and organizing our lives in the pursuit of the power and control that money brings. It’s a false god and we’re playing the harlot, we’re unfaithful. God’s will is no longer framing our life. He wants you to have a blessed life but it is found in him, not in money, or anything else.  

Now the challenge in all of this is to discover what it means to live as careful and wise stewards. Money is a front-and-centre reality of life. We’re not to be careless with money, nor pretend it isn’t an important reality.

Next time. 

Face-to-Face with The Wall

(Face-to-Face with the Wall is the second part in a series of posts that started with Vibrant Spirituality and The Wall which you can read here. Part three Wrestling with God at The Wall can be read here).

Part Two:

And so, you find yourself face-to-face with “The Wall.” A place where the faith you once had “oh so” figured out now seems “oh so” terribly broken. You’re asking yourself, “what’s happening?” Well, you’re backsliding of course. Plain and simple. No I’m joking. Some might suggest that, bless their hearts, but you know that’s not what is happening. You’re not falling away. You haven’t lost your thirst. You’re thirstier than ever it’s just that what once quenched your thirst doesn’t seem to be working any more. Even more than that; your struggling to work out how it ever could have.

At the wall the rhythms, habits, practices and disciplines that have framed perhaps your whole Christian journey seem strangely obsolete. Perhaps even disingenuous. And the thought of recycling yourself back through enthusiasm, community and responsibility, well, you’re probably not sure you could handle that.

The wall is a distinct experience of disenchantment.

Simultaneously though, the wall is also a catalyst that awakens us to new possibilities. Even if at first they only seem like remote possibilities; just a rumour or echo in your heart there might be more to this whole Christian thing than you’ve ever realised. This should of course make perfect sense, after all, there is no wall in existence that doesn’t have something on the other side! The question is, “but how?” How do we find our way around, or through, or over the wall? And, what waits for us on the other side?

It is here that most people feel lost, confused, and overwhelmed. And it is here that we need the help of those wiser than us in the faith. Specifically, the help of those that have made their way through the wall at some stage or another in their journey. Because the truth is, if you haven’t experienced the wall and processed it for what it is, then very little of this will make sense. Thus leaders who’ve not themselves experienced the wall will find it both hard to understand what’s going on and to guide folk wisely who are experiencing the wall. They’ll be inclined to perceive in someone a “bad attitude,” a “lack of faith” or even “divisiveness” and the encouragement will be to get “fired up” again, sort out one’s “attitude” and recycle back into enthusiasm, community and responsibility.

But a pilgrimage of re-enchantment is not one where old habits or practices are resuscitated and given a second chance. Re-enchantment is discovered in the declaration of the prophet; "Behold something new is happening! Now it springs up; don’t you see? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Here one finally accepts that streams of living water cannot be bottled, marketed and consumed as a magic elixir for life. You can’t simply register for a “Jesus-fix.” Let’s be honest about this. Well actually, it’s hard not to be honest about this at the wall. Indeed, the wall is actually an invitation to some rare moments of deep honesty. The wall is the chance to be honest about some things we’ve perhaps not been honest about in a long time. Things slow down at the wall, and when things slow down we discover space to reflect rather than simply to hustle and bustle our way through life. The wall is a place of honesty.  

Honesty in regard to God – God is more mysterious than we care to admit. Less in tune with our agendas it seems. Perhaps even more distant than we’d like to acknowledge.

Honesty in regard to church – it’s a lot more sociologically driven than we care to admit. We’d like everything to be Spirit driven, but much of what we do is because we’ve always done that. Many Sunday’s are just another Sunday, not life changing, not “one you better not miss!” You could have missed it and you would have missed out on nothing.

Honesty in regard to truth – truth is more hard to pin down than we care to admit. Not everything is black and white. Much is grey. That can be disconcerting.

Honesty in regard to others – they’re not “wrong” and we’re not “right.” Those Catholics or Baptists or Pentecostals or Small Church folk or Mega Church folk or even those Emerging Church people (heaven forbid). We’ve much we could learn from each other.

Honesty in regard to authority figures – they’re not as all powerful as we care to admit, as they care to project, as you might care to project if you are one of those figures. They’re regular, every day, ordinary people. It would be good if they could admit that too.

Honesty in regard to our spiritual practices – they’re not as life giving as we care to admit. Though they once may have been, now they seem like dead ends and heavy weights.

At the wall, when we’re brave enough to be honest, we realise we don’t have a handle on everything like we once might have thought we did. We’ve questions about God, truth, the church, leaders, others and how exactly to outwork this Christian faith thing. What we were once so certain about, we’re not so certain about anymore. And it’s not like only one or two things are up in the air. Everything seems to be up in the air.

This can be pretty daunting.
This can be pretty overwhelming.
This is why some get stuck at the wall.

To try and get back to how things were would be to sell out in regard to something you intuitively feel God is doing in your life. At the same time though, it feels like a sell out to acknowledge you’ve less figured out than you thought and that much of what you’ve known might have been broken. [This isn’t necessarily true though and hopefully I can address this down the track]. Either way, to go backwards seems impossible, to move forward seems impossible. Where would you start?

Honesty is a good start. And one needs to be honest with oneself.

We are more broken than we care to admit. We’re selfish, we like to be in control, we’re very concerned about what others think. We need to be needed. We’re insecure. We worry about tomorrow. We worry about the clothes we will wear. We worry about what food we will eat. Most of the time this is all suppressed beneath the multiple layers of excitement and enthusiasm, the dynamics of community and the weight of responsibility. At the wall we need to be honest with ourselves. About all of this.

At the wall we need to acknowledge our true self, our shadow self, and our ego or false self; the self that we project to the world around us. It’s not that we have three selves, all of this is collectively who we truly are, but these are useful ways of thinking about oneself.

True self = our “true self” is the divine image bearing core of who we are, children of God created to reflected his likeness to the world. This is the part of us that is growing in the knowledge of God and in the likeness of Christ in order to reflect the fullness of the image of God in our world. It is that within us that has been animated through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit and our ongoing journey of discipleship, healing and sanctification.

Shadow self = this is the fallen bias that we all have. It is the “fleshly” part of our nature that is weak and that requires ongoing sanctification. It’s the broken, un-discipled, dark side that we all have.

Ego / False self = this is our projected self, the way we cast ourselves to the world around us in order to be accepted, find approval, fit in and even get what we want.

Prior to the wall we’d be hard pressed to admit that we are not primarily a flourishing “true self” with a slight “shadow self” and “ego” that needs to be kept in check.  At the wall we realise this may not be true. More of our life than we realise is being lived out of the ego, out of a false sense of self than we realise. At the wall we realise that much of what we do is all about keeping up appearances rather than birthed from our “true self.”

It’s not that we are hypocritical in the sense of being white washed tombs, clean on the outside but dirty on the inside, the rebuke that Jesus had of some of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. But rather that often a lot of the doing we are up to our ears in, doing all the right things when it comes to church and prayer and leadership and whatever it might be is because basically because that’s what you have to do. Isn’t it?

That’s what you have to do to prove your faith to everyone else in your faith tribe.
That’s what you have to do to prove your faith to yourself.
That’s what you have to do to prove your faith and devotion to God.
That’s what you have to do to because, well, isn’t that what faith us?

Doing certain things. Ticking certain boxes. Taking on certain responsibilities. Jumping through certain hoops.

There is clarity and confusion in regard to all of this at the wall. Clarity in regard to how much we are living out of religious obligation and duty, out of an unhealthy commitment to the uniformity and conformity that might see us accepted as a stand out in our particular religious context. Clarity in regard to how much of our life is sociologically driven in order to fit in rather than Spirit driven and birthed from a place of delight. There is also confusion though. Confusion in regard to what it might look like to live in a true place of freedom in Christ Jesus. Would we simply be doing all the same things but from a different motive? Would we quit half the things we are doing? What would we change? What are we missing? What needs to be reformed and renewed? What needs to be discarded and deleted?

Answers to these questions will come. In time. For the moment though, the questions themselves are an attack on our ego.  There is a greater sense of obligation at play than we might care to acknowledge. We’re experts at “keeping up appearances.” Much of our Christian practice might very well have been about projecting the right picture to others. Pharisee on the corner, who loves to pray using impressive words, big sentences. Surely not!?! And yet yes, because at the wall one senses a need to disengage in some way or another, at least for a bit to process some of what is happening, but; “what will people think?”

Some of our Christian practice is probably actually the false-self feeding straight back to the shadow self. There is a self-centred and self-serving shadow side to you that desires to be someone important, someone needed, someone successful, someone looked up to. Your shadow self can’t bear the thought of being, well, a nobody. An “average Jane” Christian. The false self is busy, busy, busy, keeping up appearances feeding the shadow self’s desire to look the part, fit in, stand out, be acceptable.

But Jesus says we’re already accepted. And it’s not based on doing.  

In Dancing with God, Irene Alexander writes; “Most of humankind is caught, to some extent, in this construct of the false self. To put it in other words, we continue with certain behaviour that serves to make us feel acceptable in the dominant paradigm. Most of us do this most of the time, but some people escape from this.”

The wall is an opportunity to escape from this. The wall is the chance for one’s true self to find resurrection life in the face of the shadow self and the false self. The wall is an opportunity to be born again, again. To find new possibilities on the other side of the wall. 

There is much more to be said… But the starting place is honesty and the abandonment of ego.

The broken are advantaged here because they find themselves at the end of themselves. They’ve no strength to do, to please, to prove, and so they throw themselves to the mercy of God. Ego is no more. They look at the rules and regulations of religion and give up. “I can’t do it; I can’t reach those standards.” They find themselves naked and not ashamed. They’re no longer hiding behind fig leaves. They’ve given up on trying to clothe things with ego. And they find a God who responds; “Come as you are…”

The mystics and monks have a head start too. These are those rare people who’ve long given up trying to master techniques of faith and instead have learnt to lose themselves in the awe, wonder, beauty and mystery of God. Their talk is never of “5 steps to supernatural breakthrough,” but rather of bread and wine and friendship and of the reality that God is “the Lord of heaven and earth and lives not in temples, and is not served by human hands, but rather gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” That God is “never far any one of us, from any that would seek him, because it is in him that we live and move and have our being.”

The mystics and the monks never ask “Am I doing OK?” It’s an irrelevant question. For them to die is Christ to gain. They’ve no ego to protect. They aren’t trying to climb to a higher plane, some next level as a Christian, they’re already lost in the wonder and beauty of the truth that God stooped down into our world! That’s grace. The simple truth is that God holds us, we don’t hold God. They’ve let go of worry and concern for the things of this world. After all Jesus says, don’t worry about tomorrow, about food and clothing. You Father knows all that you need.

Hafiz wrote this in the 14^th Century…

What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?

The saint knows 
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God.
And the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is continually 
Tripping over Joy 
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying "I surrender!"

Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.

The challenge is to accept at the wall a call to honesty, to the abandonment of ego and to pilgrimage. To see as a mystic and to live as a monk having cultivated a “monastery of the heart.” To go on a slow journey of rediscovery, a pilgrimage of re-enchantment. Here the pilgrim is not one who travels from New Zealand to Israel to be re-baptised in the Jordan river. The pilgrim is the one who is willing to journey with God, to places they may never have been before. Inner places of the shadow self, true self, false self and find healing and wholeness and personal transformation. Inner places of pride and resentment and addiction and control. The pilgrim is also one who is willing to have another look. To reconsider. To explore afresh God and church and prayer and community and what it means to be a Christian.

Do you love your faith so little that you have never battled a single fear lest your faith should not be true? Where there are no doubts, no questions, no perplexities, there can be no growth. – George MacDonald

This isn’t a pilgrimage that everyone is willing to make. Too costly, too unsettling, too messy. And of course, it isn’t a necessary journey for everyone. Not everyone hits the wall. For some people everything rolls around swimmingly in the enthusiasm, community, responsibility cycle. For many though, it’s what they have been looking for.

Dave Tomlinson in Re-Enchanting Christianity writes; “The gap between critical approaches to Christianity and the simplistic spirituality promoted in many spheres of the Christian community lies at the heart of so much of the disillusionment with Christianity today. Many long for an expression of the Christian faith that reconciles heart and head, that offers a positive, engaging spirituality which is also committed to grappling honestly with difficult and painful questions.”

The pilgrim is willing to go on a journey and consider things in a new light. They are willing to chase the Wild Goose wherever it might go, a Celtic term for the Holy Spirit. Some though, can’t stomach the thought of the Holy Spirit being pictured as a wild goose. New ways of considering things can be too much. But oh, to be born again, again.

Grace and peace and more to come. 

Part three in this series Wrestling with God at The Wall can be read here. 

PS: The thoughts above are some of my reflections on life, ministry and the journey of following Jesus. They are informed by more than just my own journey though and a tip of the hat must be given to Fowler's Stages of Faith, Hagberg and Guelich's The Critical Journey, Tomlinson's Re-Enchanting Christianity, and Alexander's Dancing with God.