Being morally right can never be politically wrong # end

As we interview members of Public and Community organisations on Cross Rhythms, we are hearing more and more of the effects of the recession.  Citizen's Advice Bureau was threatened with funding cuts regarding debt counselling (thankfully they've had a last minute reprieve on that); the Police have to lose hundreds of jobs; and community organisations such as the Soup Run and the Food Bank, which help people in crisis, are seeing an increase in the need for their services.  As I wrote last month, this is really the time for the Church to rise up and shine, for the good of our communities and Plymouth as a whole.   She certainly has in the past.

Throughout history, Christian men and women, and Christian values, have been the motivating force in some of society's best social reforms; William Wilberforce and the struggle against slavery (not to Mention Dr Martin Luther King Jr who fought racism and oppression in the USA); Florence Nightingale who laid the foundations of modern nursing; and Wilberforce's successor in social reformation, Antony Ashley Cooper, (Lord Shaftesbury), who is quoted as saying, "Creed and colour, latitude and longitude, make no difference in the essential nature of man," and  "What is morally right can never be politically wrong, and what is morally wrong can never be politically right." 

Those two statements from Lord Shaftesbury typify what is so good about the Christian foundations of our democracy and legal system in the UK:  equality in law of all people regardless of creed or colour, (and may I add, any other differences) and justice and fairness for all as well.  Yet the faith which inspired these values seems nowadays to be turned against by those who have benefited most from them.  In Shaftesbury's thinking, what we now call 'political correctness' should be deeply aligned to 'moral correctness'.  Those Christian moral values are the bedrock of the movements that have brought democratic freedom to our land for all to enjoy.  Yet, if one looks at some areas of legislation, Christianity and the expression of the Christian faith looks like it is slowly being marginalised.

I realise these sentiments may be open to misunderstanding in some quarters.  This is not a politically correct article in the way the term is used nowadays.  It is not 'correct' in our post-modern era to adhere to any absolute moral values.  Yet I have to say that it is my belief that without traditional Christian values, we lose a very important part of our social fabric, from which people of all faiths, or no faith, equally benefit.

Lord Shaftesbury believed that God had called him "to devote whatever advantages he might have bestowed … in the cause of the weak, the helpless, both man and beast, and those who had none to help them."  He had a deep Christian faith, and that motivated his life in the cause of helping others. It is so often the case, even nowadays.  The Faith Action Audit which was presented to the City Council and Faith Leaders last year proves just how much good work is being done in our own city by faith groups, on behalf of the weak, the marginalised and the needy.

I appreciate it is not just Christian men and women who help others.  We are all made in the image of God and as such we all have the ability to shine.  But as a Christian, I believe the only sustaining force for continued compassionate action in the face of difficulty and even opposition, is the love of God through a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.  That love just keeps on coming, and has been variously described as a fountain, or a river – a very apt description and one which encourages me and many others.

The Christian faith, when put into loving action, is a major force for good in our land.  It has been so for many centuries.  Christians in Plymouth are being invited to a day of prayer in June to pray for the welfare of our city, and to see those prayers turned into acts of compassion for the good of us all.  It is good to appreciate the reality all the positive action that goes on as a result of Christian faith, and to balance the often negative media-stereotypes of Christianity with that.  There's a line in the '90's movie 'The Abyss' which says 'you need to see with better eyes' – I pray that we all can in the days ahead.

Time to Pray

I believe the influence of Christianity on the British Isles (including Ireland) has been historically proven as incredibly significant to the culture and survival of our people. Since the earliest years of Celtic Christianity, including the founding of monasteries  in Iona and Lindisfarne in the 6^th and 7^th Centuries, there has been a strong Christian spirituality which has indwelled our people.

A recent BBC 2 programme on the 400^th anniversary of the King James Bible, presented by Lord Melvin Bragg, stated that it was the principles contained within the world's best seller which established the democracy and freedoms we enjoy in the Western Democracies.

These hard won freedoms and institutions are often built upon by people who then ignore why they were established in the first place, and we lose the foundational truths to our cost and detriment.  In our nation there is the beginning of a marginalisation of Christians and the values which in genuine good conscience many will not abandon.  However, when the Christian Church is pressurised, she shines the best.

As I travel the UK and talk to many Christian leaders, there is a recognition that churches are beginning to work together for the collective good of the faith. Whole cities are beginning to focus on city wide prayer movements for the sake of God intervening for the welfare of their communities.

When we established a Cross Rhythms radio station in Plymouth, we already had experience of a city wide prayer meeting in Stoke on Trent which started at the same time we got our radio licence there. Great favour was shown to an organisation called Saltbox run by Lloyd Cooke and Robert Mountford, which 'connects the dots' of all the volunteer work done in that city by faith groups.

We invited Lloyd down to Plymouth when we launched Cross Rhythms here, and he shared the vision of the 'Faith Audit' which Saltbox had carried out.  They documented the massive infrastructure of social welfare provision made by faith groups, especially the Christian church.

Following Lloyd's presentation, we established an organisation called Plymouth Saltbox, in collaboration with Chris Clewer of Churches Together in Plymouth.  In 2009/10, we carried out a Faith Action Audit (FAA) in Plymouth.

The University of Plymouth Social and Public Policy Research Group was commissioned to carry out the Audit.  The results were encouraging, showing over 450,000 volunteer hours worth at least £2.7 million being poured into the city every year by faith based groups.

The report said this is 'a massive underestimate of the level of work being done by faith based groups, as only 35% responded and we used the Minimum Wage as our benchmark'. It showed that the majority of those hours are made up by the Christian faith, plus contributions from Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and others.

Plymouth Saltbox is now working hard to build on the FAA, so that those volunteer services can be best used for the good of the people of Plymouth.

As a Christian faith-based organisation, they value the prayers of fellow believers.  There is a day of prayer in June for those who want to see the love of God practically impact Plymouth and its people.  Christians in the city are urged to look out for the publicity for this event, come along on the day, and ask their ministers to support it.

Christians believe that prayer is the place where we receive empowerment from God to live lives, individually and collectively, that bring God's quality of abundant life to those around us in our communities.  A recent news item said that Plymouth was likely to be the worst affected city in England in terms of per capita job losses in the Public Sector.  Now is the time for Christians to rise up in their faith, and a city-wide prayer movement, married to practical demonstrations of the love of God, would surely be a great way to see Heaven's values overturn the world's problems.

Big Society #end

The Faith Action Audit that took place in Plymouth last year showed hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours are pouring into the city from faith groups, Christian and others.  It came just as the PM was really starting to promote the Big Society agenda.

 

Generally speaking, it seems that most people are at least open to the Big Society idea.  One thing that we can all see, is that it's going to take a certain amount of sacrificed time and effort from many of us to make it work in the tough days ahead.

 

The generation before mine knows about adverse circumstances changing their lives dramatically, leading to extreme hardship and difficulty.  That generation that lived through WW2.  They didn't ask for it, they didn't want it, but they had to deal with it.

 

We can learn a lot from them.  Galvanised by an inner resolve, they rose above those circumstances, sacrificing so much so that we, the generations that follow them, can enjoy so much freedom.

 

We could say of all of them, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."  Winston Churchill was talking about the airmen who fought the Battle of Britain, but as one generation to another we can be thankful to them all.

 

If we say the 'blitz spirit', we mean that part of us, as individuals or communities or even a nation, that can lay down our own agendas, and seek to do our best for the good of our fellow men and women, under hardship.  From a Christian perspective, that is the essence of love.  "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend," said Jesus.

 

This attitude, a belief in something being more important than our own welfare, is essential, especially if we have to make sense of the values of the Big Society idea.  Let's hope and pray that we can all develop that kind of loving, gutsy character in the days ahead.

 

The latest discussions in the media about Big Society, come at a time when it is also reported that up to 20% of 16-24 year olds are unemployed.  That's the highest figure since 1992, and it is a sad fact, which we have to deal with compassionately.

 

My heart goes out to those young people who are stuck without a job in these hard times.  But also, I have a concern about the culture that we have allowed to develop since the last World War. We are increasingly concerned about our rights, and less about our responsibilities.  It is typified in the compensation culture. It erodes good character, courage and selflessness, and it promotes individualism and selfishness.

 

I am concerned for the younger generation – how will they cope with the hardships ahead, when they will increasingly have to give up some of those things they have been brought up to believe in as their rights?

 

The problem is in no way restricted to young people – it's an ancient problem, possibly the most ancient problem of all.  'I want things my way and that's my right' is the kind of thinking that got us all into trouble in the first place, as demonstrated by many individuals in the Bible who had to make right choices for life.

 

Times of difficulty are also times of opportunity.  We have an opportunity to dig a little deeper and find gold in ourselves and each other that we didn't know was there.  We can find hidden reserves of good character, of love, of compassion and courage in times of hardship.

 

To refer back to those saddening youth unemployment figures, how on earth are we to encourage these young people that their lives matter, they have purpose and a hope for a future?

 

As a Christian, I believe the answer can be found in a relationship with God, through his Son Jesus Christ, who created every one of us deliberately and for good reason, and who is the One who can give us a sense of identity, self-worth and destiny far above anything the world has to offer.

 

The essence of the Christian faith says that when we stop striving to  make our own lives work in our own way, and ask God how He would want us to live, we will, wonderfully, find that life is working a whole lot better.

 

…little foxes …like offence … spoil the vineyard …(Song of Solomon; 2vs15)

 

Forgiveness is a subject that is common in our churches, and it can help any of us who have taken offence at another person's actions, particularly someone in a position of authority, such as a manager or teacher, or maybe even a parent.

 

I appreciate that even using the word 'authority' presses some buttons in people's thinking.  Through misuse and the wrong application of its meaning, it has become misunderstood.

 

A position of authority in another person's life is a caring responsibility that carries with it the duty of sometimes having to give advice and enforcing boundaries for the good of the individual and their community.  Parents desire happiness for their children, but they won't let the child decide what's best if they see them doing harmful things.

 

In our churches, there may be people who have taken offence at the leadership.  Usually it's because they believe that the leadership has hurt them, misunderstood them or in some way grieved them.  Often the reaction when folks take offence, is that they break the relationship.  They may also start to spread gossip about the person who they believe has hurt them, or lash out with their anger at that person, often out of all proportion to the offence.

 

Conversely, those in authority have an obligation to treat people tenderly.  If you have given grounds for offence, you need to be honest about it, out of respect for those in your care.  It is important to speak with honesty borne out of good character and integrity, because as someone once said 'a good argument is often spoiled by a bad quarrel.'

 

Biblically, (I'm talking here of church), it's just as big a problem to take offence as it is to cause it.  Don't mishear me here.  Being the victim of a truly abusive authority is not what we're talking about.  That requires a lot of healing and reconciliation.

 

What I'm talking about are those times when we have taken umbrage because we don't like the way we've been spoken to, or because we disagree with the direction taken by those responsible for the welfare of our community.

 

The Good Book itself has some pretty direct things to say about all this.  Jesus tells the story of the man forgiven a huge debt by his master, (Matthew 18).  This same man then  demands repayment from one of his own small debtors, and refuses to show him the same mercy he received himself.  When his master hears about this unmerciful man, he turns him over to the jailers til he repays all of his own debt.   The message is clear – we've all been forgiven hugely, if we have received that forgiveness from Jesus.  We should likewise forgive the minor offences done to us.

 

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.  Upon his release he was a major force in the movement to rebuild his nation through reconciliation and negotiation. South Africa became a democratic country, with Mandela its first democratically elected president, without the blood-bath that so many predicted.  This is a testament to the power of forgiveness over the futility of revenge.  (I'd recommend the movie 'Invictus' if you'd like to find out more.)

 

Offended people can cause disruption to the wellbeing of any community, including the church.  How we deal with our hurts and grievances is important if we're to live together successfully.

 

May I encourage you, if you're offended with anybody in authority in your life, to consider that you almost certainly don't have the full picture of what they're responsible for.  Please don't take yourself out of whatever community you're committed to, just because you are offended.  There are countless relationships that have been shipwrecked over relatively small issues.  There's a better way, the way of forgiveness and humility, as the basis for discussing things and finding a way to work things out for the good of all concerned.

 

One of the main themes of the Art of Living programme on Cross Rhythms 96.3FM is to talk to church leaders and discuss these very issues.  Please check out the advert in the Plymouth Shopper for the dates and times of those broadcasts.

Who is Jesus # end

 

This month I want to repeat an article that appeared in the Shopper in January last year, which received good feedback and which I believe is well worth repeating as it focuses us, at the start of the year, on the Person who has been described as the 'Centrepiece of the human race...'

 

The focus of some of us at Christmas, even in our post-modern age, was Jesus Christ.  But for the majority of people in Plymouth, there is probably still a very real and understandable question that is not often asked – just who really is Jesus?

 

For countless millions all over the world, he is much more than a good man or a great moral teacher.  The debate about who he is has gone on for nearly twenty centuries, and probably began amongst his own close friends and family.  So, rather than add fresh fuel to the fires of theological argument, I'll let others do the talking:

 

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life—He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centrepiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life". James C. Hefley, Christian author, editor, publisher, and journalist.

 

Many people are prepared to accept Jesus as one of the greatest men that ever lived, and to align themselves with his teachings (sometimes this is easier where those teachings promote their own agenda).  However, the struggle for belief involves wrestling with the claims for divinity, which ancient writers made about him:  "He shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" according to the prophet Isaiah writing a few hundred years before Jesus' birth.

 

The Bible is really clear on the matter and leaves no room for having Jesus as a merely historical figure pointing the way to God.  He claimed divinity for himself, while assuming the full nature of humanity and serving those very human creatures he had created in loving community with his Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me," which is a fairly blunt declaration, coming as it did from a carpenter whom most thought was born illegitimate to a young Jewish girl.

 

According to renowned author and philosopher CS Lewis, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

 

So much for the Christian writers and the Bible, but please allow me just one more quotation, from a military and state leader in Europe who established a vast empire through the use of force and political machinery, in a very short time.

 

"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."  Napoleon Bonaparte

 

At the start of this year, I'd like to be very clear on our position here at Cross Rhythms – Jesus is exactly who he says he is; he is alive, and is expecting a response from us to his claims; he will not force us to make one; but we will give an account for how we think about and answer the question.  He is utterly trustworthy, completely loving, and absolutely right in every decision and judgment he makes.  He is as tender as a lamb in his merciful dealings with doubters, wrong-doers, children and the downtrodden; and as fierce as a lion in the pursuit of truth and justice and in dealing with arrogant pride, especially of the religious variety.  He is also Almighty God.

 

That, in essence, is simple Biblical truth and it has formed the bedrock of the freedoms we have enjoyed in Britain for many hundreds of years.  As Christians at Cross Rhythms, we cannot water down the presentation of what the Bible has said for thousands of years – to do so would be to erode the very foundations of freedom and allow the rising tide of sometimes well-meant humanism to drown the voices of many of the weakest people in our society, with a flood of legislation that has proven again and again to be powerless to correct the evils of our times.  We need the Way and the Truth, and we certainly need Life.  Jesus Christ offers it all, like no other ever has or could.

Christmas, family and forgiveness # end

 

What is Christmas about?  That question comes up every year, as many a jaded person complains once more about the commercialisation of Christmas, or struggles with the pressure of expectations that drive them to spend more than they can afford and commit to one party too many during the festive season.

 

Personally, I love Christmas.  I take time out, batten down the hatches and have some real quality time together with family and loved ones.

 

But it's about even more than that, especially for those with a faith.  One of the main messages we can find in the whole Christmas experience, is the one of forgiveness – God's forgiveness for all of us.  That's the hope that Jesus Christ came to offer to us as the ultimate Christmas present – that through his life, death and resurrection God the Father has forgiven all of the things we ever have or ever will do to break our relationship with Him.

 

You could say that Jesus himself is the ultimate gift, from his Father in Heaven to us all.  It amounts to the same thing – God loved us so much, that he wanted to give the very best he could with no strings attached, just because he loves us.  That's the true spirit of Christmas, and I know it's a real joy for so many people to be able to give to those they love.

 

Yet, in times of deepening recession, many folks are going to find it hard to give materially this year.  Certainly, many just won't be able to meet every expectation for iPhone's and X-Boxes.  Maybe that's a great opportunity for us to communicate, especially to our children, what the real heart of Christmas is all about.

 

Whether you consider yourself a Christian or not, it is an almost universal joy to give, in some way, to another human being.  And following God's example in Jesus Christ, we can all give something that can cost a lot, but for which we need no money.  Forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness can truly cost us dearly, as we have to lay down our desire for justice and revenge, in the face of the facts that yes, we have been hurt / injured / offended / mistreated and it was not our fault.  The other party, in natural terms, deserves to get what's coming to them.

 

But forgiveness works against all that, and offers the possibility of reconciliation in broken relationships.  It hurts to forgive, but, like giving presents, once we go through with it we can experience joy and peace.  Peace, because we are no longer ourselves trapped in the cycle of punishment and revenge, which can eat away at our souls as we continue to think negatively about those who have hurt us.

 

I want to stress it again – this can really cost us.  It was not easy for the old black lady in South Africa to forgive the policeman who oversaw the torture and death of her husband and son.  (You can hear that story on Cross Rhythms, we love to repeat it).  But she did it, and it brought a whole courtroom together in singing Amazing Grace and so overwhelmed the perpetrator that he fainted in shock.

 

And I am sure it was not easy for God to forgive me (or you?) for those things I have done which have hurt him and separated me from his presence forever.  Yet he paid the dearest price, that of his only Son, to cover the cost of my faults and to bring a lasting reconciliation of relationship with him, which I, and millions all over the world, will celebrate this Christmas.

 

I'll be enjoying this Christmas with my family, and looking forward to some wonderful reunions.  You cannot have those times when you carry unforgiveness towards another person in your heart, I think we've all experienced those 'awkward' and slightly stilted family gatherings where unforgiven offences lie just below the polite surface.  Often, Christmas is the time when they explode into the open and cause havoc – just witness the huge rise in work for divorce lawyers each January.

 

So why not follow God's example, admit you've been hurt and accept it wasn't your fault, maybe even cry little over that and get real with it.  But then try to forgive, to let the other person go from your heart and wish them well and not ill.  If you find that too hard, try asking God for some help – he knows all about the pain and the struggle and how to overcome it with compassion.  It's just about the best present you can give, and believe me, giving it is the best present you'll ever give yourself, too.

 

And for those of us with a faith, maybe we can pray for our neighbours to have a joyful and peaceful time with their families.

 

Have a truly blessed Christmas.

faith and hope in hard times # end

 

In the week that I'm writing this article, Plymouth has heard news about the future of Devonport Dockyard, which is better than many people expected.

 

The securing of a future for the Dockyard and its workforce, which many thought would be threatened with potential closure in the weeks leading up to the government's spending review, is in no small part due to the collaboration between MP's of differing political persuasions, and the local media.

 

Alison Seabeck, Gary Streeter, Vivienne Pengelly to name just three, put aside party political differences to fight for the Dockyard, and the press campaign run by the Herald gave the oxygen of publicity to the fight.

 

It is human nature to side with one or other political party, but to do so at the expense of the 'bigger picture' would lack wisdom.  When we all face a common crisis, we have to find a workable solution.

 

So, the collaboration between MP's of differing politics and also the local media was heartening, and the result for the Dockyard was heartening too.

 

The outcome was better than many people thought it would be.  That is often the way – we can tend to be quite negative about the possible future, and even explain our negativity by calling it 'realism'.  It's not really based on reality (who knows the future?), and critics of this way of thinking may call it, instead, pessimism.

 

Thankfully, those involved in speaking up for the Dockyard did not come from that point of view – if they did, they would have given up the fight long ago in the face of the difficulties that had to be overcome.

 

I don't think those who worked for the Dockyard's future were led by optimism either. Optimism can be as misleading as pessimism in that it exaggerates the current facts and likely outcomes, but instead of negativity as its basis it uses what some have called 'rose tinted spectacles'.  It can be just as unrealistic.

 

Both pessimism and optimism often fail to deliver what they predict.  However, there is a quality that enables us to look at the future without being overly discouraged.  That quality is hope.

 

Hope is a virtue which is perhaps misunderstood in today's society.  From a Christian perspective, we're told that three virtues are of the highest value – faith, hope and love, (and that the greatest of these three is love.)  And hope is much stronger than optimism.

 

The ancient definition of the word hope means 'trust' or 'reliance', and even its modern day meaning is very substantial: "desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfilment".  (Miriam Webster's online dictionary)

 

Optimism, on the other hand, is defined as "an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome", which seems to me to be a much weaker thing all together.

 

So where does hope get its strength from?  For those with a Christian faith, it is founded on the nature of the God that we believe in.  He is good, he cares for us and he is faithful and will stand with us through every kind of difficulty and trial.  Ultimately, he wants our best – even more than we do.

 

At times it's hard to see where the 'good news' has gone, when life gets tough.  That's where that ancient description of hope, being 'trust and reliance', makes real sense.  When the sun's shining and all is well with us and our loved ones, we just enjoy it.    It's in the dark times that we need hope.

 

I hope, and pray, that in the trials of life we can all find real hope, and can come to increasingly trust and rely on the goodness of God, even (or especially) in the tough times.