Sex and the Pope

There's a really interesting article by Peter Hitchens here about people's response to the Pope's visit. It's well worth a read - here's the section that struck me most...

The special condemnation reserved for the Romish church also suggests, absurdly, that such horrors never took place, or were covered up by, liberal secular institutions. They did, and have been. Yet this is never advanced as an argument against the secular liberal state (and it would be a bad argument, if it were).

The sex scandal is not, as it happens, the real reason for the anger directed against the Bishop of Rome. If it were, then the undoubted case against the Roman Catholic hierarchy could be made without all the puce-faced exaggerations, straightforward lies and total lack of proportion which infect it. It is overblown precisely because it is not the true issue, but a pretext.

This is what it is really about: the sons and daughters of the sexual revolution, the inheritors of 1968, are actively infuriated by anyone who dares to suggest that their behaviour in their personal lives might be, or might ever have been, selfish and absolutely wrong

The Mamertine Prison

We virtually stumbled across this when we were in Rome. We weren't looking for it; it doesn't get a big billing in the guide books. Yet it was one of the most moving places we visited. No cost to get in, but there was a box for donations.

I've done some reading on it since.

When we visited, there were two rooms. The first, was at modern basement level, which was Roman street level. Below that was another room, which could be reached by a staircase. In that room was a hole in the floor with a well in, a small altar, and a large iron door.

There was also a hole in the floor of the upper room with a grating over it. This hole became a skylight in the lower room.

However, in Roman times, the stairs did not exist. In Roman times, the lower room was a notorious prison cell, accessed only via the hole in the ceiling. It was famously damp - the spring made sure of that, and it was often flooded. The iron door was put in by the Romans. It apparently leads to a passage to the main Roman sewer, and allowed for the disposal of dead bodies.

It was in this cell that high-security prisoners were kept prior to execution. Christian tradition says that both Peter and Paul were kept there for a while before their executions under Nero.

The altar has an inverted cross on, because traditions records that Peter was crucified upside down because he said he was unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was exempt from crucifixion, so was beheaded.

It is quite possible that this cell is the very place where Paul wrote this:

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:6-8, NIV

Piper, the Prosperity Gospel, suffering and evangelism

Well, John Piper really really really doesn't like the prosperity "gospel"...

Shocking stuff. But it reopened the bit of my mind that had been mulling on the context of 1 Peter 3:15-16 for a while.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience
1 Peter 3:15-16, NIV

They're so often trotted out as the standard verses for evangelism, and so often we ask why evangelism in the West is so much harder than evangelism elsewhere, and we completely ignore the context of those verses.

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
1 Peter 3:14-18, NIV

The opportunities for real evangelism that are talked about in 1 Peter 3 are the opportunities that come from the way that we suffer for doing what is right. And by and large, the church in the West is not willing to suffer for doing what is right. And so we don't get the people asking us for the reason for the hope that we have in the same way. And so evangelism is so much harder.

I've only led two people who weren't already Christians to Christ. In one case, someone close to me was regularly attempting suicide. In the other, my gran had just died. Evangelism works through suffering.

(more stuff on why the Prosperity Gospel is wrong here)

Revelation and Persecution

One of the (many) things I get depressed about from time to time is how stupid some Christians get in interpreting Revelation. Mind you, I probably would if I hadn't had some good teaching on it. But as a book it was clearly written to churches who were being persecuted, and it's great (in a way) to see that in the context of persecution, it's much more obvious what it means.

[American Pastor]: What book of the Bible is most precious to you?

[Chinese Pastor]: Well, probably the book of Revelation because...

[AP]: Because your suffering makes you long for the end of the world, and you are strengthened by the vision of how it will end, with Christ's victory?

[CP]: That too, but we don't just take Revelation to be a description of the way the world will end; we see it also as a description of the way the world is now.

[AP]: I'm not understanding you. Surely Revelation is a book that tells us how the world will end.

[CP]: And I'm telling you that it's also a description of the way the world is now. Suffering has made this clear to us in China. Clearly prosperity has hidden this from you in America. You see, we had a Caesar here in China, called Mao, and he, like the Caesar of the early church period, demanded what was not only his but God's. As in Revelation, he used a beast to coerce us (Communism) and a false prophet to beguile us (false bishops). When we resisted this idolatry with the “testimony of the Lamb”, we were slaughtered and jailed. In this way, we saw that Revelation is a description of the spiritual war that always goes on in every society, including yours.

Faith that Endures, Ronald Boyd-Macmillan (p316-7)

One of the (many) things that makes me rejoice in God is when people seem to really get it.

Faith that Endures

I'm reading a great book at the moment - Faith that Endures by Ronald Boyd-Macmillan. It's probably the best book I've read on the persecuted church. The back cover says that it sets out to answer the following questions:

What does contemporary persecution look like? What is a persecuted Christian? Where is the persecuted church? How can we best assist the persecuted church? What does the persecuted church have to teach us?

And it answers those questions pretty well. Here's a quote from near the end:

So, what is the purpose of life now, in this world of beasts, lies, death and oppression? Here again the experiences of the persecuted point us unmistakalby to a vital biblical principle: God builds his kingdom not on our achievements, but on our sacrifices. It is not the fulfilled life that God takes but the yielded life. The purpose of life is to lose it for God.

...

Only empty hearts are filled with Jesus.

Ronald Boyd-Macmillan, Faith that Endures (p318-320)

Lifestyle Persecution

On Sunday, I was having a discussion with some other Christians about what persecution looks like in the UK. In some countries it's easy to spot - taking part in a Christian act of worship is punishable with the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, for example. In Sudan, the army seem to be waging a war against tribes in the south, largely because they are Christians. In China, leaders of churches that don't agree to comply with all of the government's ideas are routinely imprisoned, in many countries families hold funeral services for relatives who become Christians because it is better to think of them dead than Christian. I could go on.

But what does it look like in the UK?

Of course, in some ways it's less significant. I've been a Christian publically for longer than I've been a Christian privately, and only rarely have I been attacked for it. I've had stones thrown at me for it a couple of times and a bit of verbal abuse, but nothing serious.

But in a way that makes it more dangerous. Because we often don't notice the persecution, we don't realise that it is persecution, so we give in to it. We deny our faith rather than face it, because we have got so inculturated with it, sometimes we even think the persecution is right.

What is this persecution?

Two words: professionalism and ostracism.

The idea of professionalism seems to be responsible for quite a bit. For example, when I was training to be a teacher, lots of Christian teachers assured me that it was unprofessional to speak to the pupils about my faith. But my faith is a part of me - it's actually a very big part of me! Following Jesus isn't meant to be about 90 minutes every Sunday - it's meant to be a life-transforming relationship. We aren't meant to compartmentalise our lives and say "this is the Christian bit". All of our lives are meant to be given to God's service.

Don't get me wrong, I think professionalism is really important. When I was teaching, I tried to do the best job I could, to help the pupils learn physics as well as possible and get the best marks they could get. But that doesn't say anything about whether or not I should share my faith with pupils. If one of my colleagues was passionate about rock music, or about the Galapagos islands or something, I'd expect their pupils to know it and I'd expect them to talk about it to their pupils as part of the relationism that good teaching is based on. Ditto with Jesus.

But all too often, Christians are scared of being thought unprofessional and chicken out. They give in to the persecution.

Ostracism - same kind of idea. We're scared of people ignoring us or taking the mick. So we go along with the crowd. Maybe we draw lines and don't get plastered or sleep with everyone we can. But we still shy away from sharing our faith, because we're scared of being ostracised.

Christians, look. If Christians in Sudan can cope with being killed by the thousand for their faith, I'm sure you can cope with people taking the mick or thinking you unprofessional or not speaking to you.

Darfur

There was an interesting opinion piece in the Telegraph this morning about Darfur. Basically, as is well known, it seems that a group of muslims is killing a group of Christians, and has killed about 180,000 so far.

Yes, I think it is in a way surprising how little the West is doing there. Yes, on one level I think it is sad. Who do I think is winning? The Christians.

What we have there is a conflict between two cultures. On one hand, militant Muslims who are happy to kill for their faith. On the other, Christians who are willing to die for theirs. What is victory in that situation? For the Christian, victory is to stay faithful and to die. Those 180,000 are following the way of their Saviour, who submitted himself even to death.

At some times in the past, Christians have got it wrong and have fought back, even occasionally fought offensively. But it is clear that in doing so, they were not following Jesus.

What happens if the war in England becomes violent? What happens if those who refuse to convert to Islam are one day lined up and killed? Then I sincerely hope and pray that I will have the courage to join those 180,000 in conquering by enduring, even to the point of death.

In the (complex and hugely symbolic) book of Revelation, there is a final battle, which is between God's people and everyone else.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog — to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves.
Revelation 20:7-9a, NIV

God's people are hopelessly overwhelmed and outnumbered. But God's people do not fight back. What happens? The description of the battle is brief:

But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Revelation 20:9b, NIV

If any physical fighting for the faith needs to be done, leave it to God. The job of Christians is to stay faithful, to suffer and if needs be, to die.

Difficult question - would I have fought in WW2? Quite possibly. I think there's a difference between fighting to defend myself against attack for being a Christian and potentially laying down my life to defend my country, my family and others from evil.

The Pope, etc

I suppose I ought to comment briefly on the Pope and his words about Islam. But pretty much everything there is to say is obvious, so I'll do it by quoting someone who said it better than I could.

The point is, if you want to undo stereotypes the best way of doing so is not to blame a person who supposedly reinforces a negative stereotype, but in reacting in a way that different than the stereotype. The stereotype of Muslims tells us that they would react to the pope's words with anger, violence and calls for blood. Sure enough, many Muslims reacted with anger, violence and calls for blood. So who is reinforcing the negative stereotype?
Tim Challies

Yes, it's a war. Yes, we as Christians are probably going to have to fight it. I hope and pray we're not going to use violence in doing it, because that would be really stupid.

This might be for some an occasion to dig out that great victory hymn from the book of Revelation.

They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Revelation 12:11, NIV

This is not talking about suicide bombers - this is talking about people winning by being willing to die (rather than to kill) for the one whom they love - Jesus. And yes, I know in context it's talking about defeating Satan, but the principle holds the same.

Free Speech

What a world we live in! Today, I came across some interesting news about events in the UK from the blog of an American Baptist minister. He seems to trust the Daily Mail, which I'm aware is sometimes regarded as somewhere between the Sport and the Star in terms of journalistic standards, so I checked, and the same story (albeit much shorter) made it onto the BBC News website. Here's Melanie Phillips' editorial in the Daily Mail, which makes interesting reading.

To summarise quickly - a Christian campaigner (same guy as protested against Jerry Springer - the Opera, thereby getting it huge publicity) got arrested for the heinous crime of handing out leaflets at a gay rally in Cardiff. The leaflets consisted mostly of verses from the King James Bible about why homosexuality was wrong.

A few things spring to mind.

First, I think what he was doing is totally the wrong way to go about the issue of homosexuality, and the British version of the "culture war". Why should we expect non-Christians to obey Christian standards of behaviour? And why should we expect them to do so when we use language that is 400 years out of date? Would that he had been handing out leaflets explaining clearly to the people there how true fulfilment and liberation can be found only in Christ!

Secondly, it is worrying for the state of the nation as a whole that he was arrested. It's a slight but significant escalation from when the police interviewed the Bishop of Chester after he said that homosexual sex was wrong. Lets think of an analagous situation - lets imagine a big Christian outdoor event in a public place. Lets imagine some gay campaigners or muslims peacefully handing out leaflets saying that Jesus isn't God, we're all hateful and we're all going to Hell. That's fine. I disagree with them, but I'd defend their right to do it. This country has a long and good tradition of free speech.

These events suggest we're moving away from that. Will Christianity become illegal in Britain in my lifetime? Probably not, but I don't think that will stop some within the police from treating it as if it is.