Testing God

I was in church the other day and it was an all age service where they usually do some token passage with some cheesy airy-fairy message that has nothing to do with anything. But at this particular service they were looking at 1 Kings 18 – which is a mental passage. Now it’ll be really good if you get hold of a bible and have a look at this, but because you probably won’t bother here is a brief summary.

To cut a long story short Elijah (who is supposed to be this wicked amazing prophet of the God of Israel) starts having a go at the worshipers of the god Baal, a storm god. He then sets up a little test between himself and Baal’s prophets. Each will get a bull, cut it into pieces, lay it on wood and then call upon their god’s to set fire to it. The prophets of Baal go first, and nothing much happens despite their various efforts – so Elijah pops in a couple of cheeky insults, what a nice guy… Elijah then has his turn, calls upon the God of Israel and the Lord sends his fire. In conclusion ‘the people’ fall on their faces and worship Elijah’s God, while Elijah has the prophets of Baal killed according to the Deuteronomic Law.

Now is anyone thinking what I thinking?

First off, why don’t I remember reading this insane story the first time?

Second, whats going on with doing this crazy kind of God test? I thought you shouldn’t ‘put the Lord your God to the test’ (Deut 6.16)? Would we ever do a similar kind of test today?

And thirdly – is it really necessary to have the prophets killed at the end?

My mind can barely begin to understand the gospels, never mind this. It often seems that the Hebrew Scriptures throw so much into question. What is the significance of stories such as these? Are these just stories? Are these stories with a point? Are these historical events? Has God changed, or did the law change? Does God work like this today?

How did Jesus understand these books, and what do they mean for us today?

The Church is a Whore

For those of you that know me well you’ll be aware that although I may speak highly of Jesus I don’t speak highly of the church or Christianity – which is an oxymoron for some. For sometime now I’ve been asking questions about the necessity of ‘church’, about its culture and practices, and about it’s ability to be God’s agent on earth. Why do so many of my ‘non-Christian’ friends feel uncomfortable and let down with church? Why do we rarely see the church globally, with brothers and sisters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Nigeria, etc? Where is Jesus in the church?

I often have long conversations with friends who have a love for both Jesus and the church about ‘my cynicism’s’, some encouraging, some not. But always I’m prompted to re-think and re-evaluate my reasons for detracting from ‘the church’, which is a good thing. Such a conversation prompted this post.

I’ve come to see church in 3 ways, there are probably more. There is church as building (chapels, cathedrals, ‘churches’, and as some people try and move away from tradition, houses, cafes, pubs), church as occasion (time, place, activity), and church as people (or as some might say ‘the body of Christ’).

People often tell me, and I agree with them, that church isn’t about going on Sundays, but it’s about being a community of people. They say it’s not about building and occasions, but about people. People say this all to easily. (If you’ll allow me to be cynical then I’ll tell you I often see church as a bit of a social clique for Christians, with further factions of groups within the larger. If Jesus wanted a church, which only a certain type of Christian feels comfortable in, then we’ve succeeded.) When church is about buildings and occasions then it’s only the people who walk through the doors and lift their hands that count, but I think when church is about people we have to realise that the church (people) isn’t just about those in church (building).I consider myself to be part of the church, despite not always going to church. Jesus said ‘when two or more gather in my name I am there also’, something I’m a fan of. Is our gathering so confined to certain places and times? My vision of church isn’t.

Unfortunately this has turned into a rant, which it wasn’t meant to be, in fact I wanted to say how much I cherish the church. Despite its share in the history of atrocities, it should also be credited for its good work too. The church runs deep in my own story and in many others, great stories of the churches, on going, ‘success’.

The most important message should be that nothing will never change by leaving and setting up camp elsewhere, and so it should be ones roll to help grow the good fruit, regardless of the bad (see my previous post).

I’m sure I shall always have a ‘holy dissatisfaction’ (a phrase used by someone else to describe ‘my cynicism’s’) for the church, but it should be this dissatisfaction which drives me to strive for something bigger and better, to strive for a church which really does bring good news.

As St Augustine said ‘The church is a Whore, but she’s my Mother’

 

 

 

I don’t really like Church

I don’t really like church. 

Church has let God down, painted God in a bad light.  

The saddest part for me is the realisation that the message the church is giving just isn’t quite that which Jesus gave. The church is constantly trying to repackage it’s message so that people will come to faith but really we face ourselves not with a packaging problem, but a product problem.  

The church needs to re-evaluate its message. 

I’ve talked to too many ‘free-thinking’ people who didn’t find a home in pews and listening to sermons so assumed that God wasn’t real.

They didn’t fit in at church so they assumed God didn’t fit in with their life.  

I’ve had some comments from people who find the church corrupt, judgemental, arrogant, twisted, hypocritical, and illogical and to be honest I have to agree with them. But this again is not the message of Jesus. 

Too many people don’t get on with the church so think they won’t get on with God. 

Too many people don’t like the way the church thinks so assume there is no other way to think about God. 

I’d like to challenge these points of view…