Sun and the Wind?

I don't know if you're familiar with Aesop? He was a Greek who came up with a lot of clever little stories to illustrate real-life situations in an abstract way. One of my favourite fables of his is about the sun and the wind. The sun and the wind were always in competition with one another and were determined to prove themselves more powerful than the other. One day a man was walking along below them and the wind said to the sun, "I bet I can get that man's coat off!" "Go on then," challenged the sun, "and if you fail, I'll have a go!" The wind tried his hardest to blow the coat off the man but he just pulled it tighter around himself. Eventually the wind admitted defeat and the sun had a go. The sun shone brightly and allowed his heat to warm the man. The man got so hot that he just had to take off his coat. Who won that challenge then? The one who was cold and forceful or the one who was warm and persuasive?

So what's my point? Well have you ever been minding your own business in town and heard someone talking to the public in general? You go nearer to hear what they're saying and all you can hear are phrases like "repent or perish", "doomed to hell" and "you sinners". I can't speak for you but people like that make me feel distinctly uncomfortable and irritated and I just want to get away from them and continue what I was doing before I had the misfortune to hear them. Who are they to tell me to sort my life out? They don't even know who I am! The problem I have with these people is not their intentions as I am sure that they are (almost always) good. No, the problem I have is the message they are conveying and the way it is being said. It just reminds me so strongly of the wind in Aesop's fable. Their way of "attracting" people to the gospel is by bullying strangers. Perhaps it works every so often but I'm sure it's more counter-productive than effective.

What upsets me the most about this approach to sharing the gospel is that it does not match that of Jesus' way of communicating with the public. Far from making people feel awkward and driving people away from him whenever he opened his mouth to speak, people flocked from all over to hear what Jesus had to say. He got surrounded by strangers to such an extent that he often had to get out of their reach just to preach to them! Now who can say they've seen and heard someone like that in town?!

Yet Jesus had the same intentions and message to share as those awkward people we meet in town these days but he delivered his message in a totally different way.

Jesus had a message of love, hope, joy, forgiveness and grace. He told it like it is and his gospel (i.e. "good news") spread like wildfire. People of all times and cultures love good news and Jesus' purpose on earth was to share it. He went out of his way to be with people who were considered dirty by the rest of society and even ate in their houses! He spoke with prince or pauper and loved them all the same. Often he described heaven in terms of parties or feasts and was well acquainted with the party lifestyle himself, and was very much the most sociable member of his group... Isn't this just an illustration of his love of people, his love of God and his love of life? He was love personified! "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" he proclaims in John 10:10.

Why then do we still have people proclaiming doom and gloom to a bunch of people who are perhaps hurting enough inside as it is? Shouldn't we be looking out for one another and showing love like Jesus? "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," said Jesus in John 8:7 as an angry mob got ready to stone a terrified prostitute. The only one there who had an entirely clean conscience and therefore the right to stone her, Jesus himself, did no such thing. Now that's an example to live by.

What do Clover spread and philosopher Aristotle have in common?

...They both think that the middle ground is best! Anyone remember this advert of Clover's, proudly declaring that it has half the saturated fat of butter?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle had a similar belief known as the Golden Mean and reasoned that the midway is the desirable virtue (e.g. coruage) unlike the deficit (cowardice) or excess (recklessness).

I like to have a "middle is best" approach to most things in life too and this extends to my faith. My interpretation of the Bible is somewhere between the hard-line fundamentalism which takes the Bible so literally that it removes it from its cultural time and context, and wishy-washy liberalism which sees the Bible as just a good book which people wrote to sum up their idea of God. I believe the Bible to be divinely inspired but written by people. This gives it a unique authority which no other book can claim, but it must also be read with its original intended context and culture in mind, so no treating it as a science text book please!

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

It's not what you know...

I'm trying to find employment at the moment and part of that process involves attending group sessions designed to help you find work. At one of these sessions I was told of the different ways companies employ people. Some, I was told, have a recommendations policy meaning they find new staff through the people who already work there. So if a member of staff has a friend or family member who would also like to work there, they can get in through the back door, so to speak.

I feel at a distinct disadvantage because of this because I am not related to anyone who can get me a job where they work. But it is one example showing the truth of the statement, "It's not what you know; it's who you know." 

In some ways, being a Christian is much the same, although that doesn't mean you have to know Christians to be one yourself! No, there's only one person you have to know to be a Christian, and he wants you to know him: Jesus Christ. It really is that simple.

Anyone who believes that Jesus was a real person - and acknowledges his authority as the Son of God - is saved. This is the Good News and there are no catches. You don't have to achieve anything before you accept Jesus' offer of eternal life, nor do you have to be of a certain background. No, God loves us all equally and sent His own Son to be our friend and Saviour. He loves you already, and would be overjoyed if His love was returned. The entire message of Jesus is based solely on love - love for God and love for one another, even love for ourselves!

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' " ~ Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

It is therefore very sad when other things cloud this simple message, or distort it entirely so that the message of love is ignored. Christians and non-Christians alike sometimes feel that this simple message is either too easy, too good to be true or just plain unfair. Shouldn't we be rewarded because of our efforts, not because we know someone who will get us out of trouble? Well, truth be told, our efforts will never be good enough, not even by human standards, and definitely not by God's. Yet He still loves us more than we could ever know, despite our obvious and frequent failings. Trying to earn your forgiveness or way into heaven makes for a very self-dependent culture where some will forever be aiming for perfection (and failing) and others will wonder what's the point in even trying. So the only way we can get right with God is to accept that we're not perfect and admit that we need his saving grace. And grace is something that God is willing to deal out abundantly.

GRACE: God's goodness lavished upon us when we don't deserve it.

MERCY: God withholding punishment when we do deserve it.

So why then do people like to add to the message, insisting you need to do x, y and z before you stand a chance of going to heaven? Don't overcomplicate a simple message, especially an important one! I feel Jesus best expresses his purpose in John's gospel, chapter 3, verse 16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~John 3:16 (NIV)