Future Australian Leaders

Okay so this is probably a lot of sour grapes because neither of my daughters got to be School Captain. Oh reader, you will have to judge...

I'm really disturbed by the process of choosing Captains in Primary Schools here in Sydney. If our local primary school is typical of the public school system then it is basically a popularity contest.

Candidates promote themselves through a poster and a speech (apparently all candidates are uniquely qualified, caring, brilliant at public speaking etc.) and then the pupils decide via a straight ballot paper. I understand the teachers have a little influence but do we really appreciate children from (let's say) year 3 downwards to be able to make sensible choices over a poster and a speech?

It gets particularly frustrating when one person is elected who is famous throughout the school for their (note the non-gender specific language) bad behaviour in class. But they are well popular with the kids. Leadership is about being well known it has nothing to do with good character.

And then we wonder why our political system is in a mess?

I think this has a lot to do with confusion over consensus and consent, between popularity and leadership, and listening and representation.

Leaders who are appointed through a straight popularity contest will:

1. Seek consensus rather consent all the time. Consensus is an ideal but people disagree most of the time about most things. Frequently consent to move ahead is what is required.
2. regularly do what is popular rather than what is needed. It is built into the way we think about appointing leaders right from primary school.
3. get confused about what representation means. Good leadership listens to all those who are represented. That does not mean that the leader has to present all possible views of those represented though.

What say ye?

(Although it has been so long since I posted anything maybe you've all gone to sleep!)

[PS Coincidently I've just noticed an article in the SMH complaining about awarding Dave Warner the man of the match instead of Kiwi Doug Bracewell - apparently it was decided by a vote from Australian viewers!?]

Yay, Holiday

I'm off to the UK for most of September.

Yay!

Under Valued Gifts (9)

9. The Gift of Giving

Did you know that the NT describes the ability of Christians to give money to their local church and to mission as itself a ‘gift’? In 2 Corinthians 8 verse 7 Paul talks about giving in the same way he speaks about other spiritual gifts:

“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace [or gift] of giving.“

Therefore our financial giving to the church is as important as other gifts such as preaching, singing, or teaching kids about Jesus.

Most of us realise that our giving is part of our Christian faith but I think some of us have confused generosity with spontaneity. In other words, I think to myself, ‘I have the freedom to give generously to whatever needs come across my path.’

However, this is a common fallacy. Research has shown that, while disciplined givers often view their giving as modest and spontaneous givers as generous, regular givers are by far the most generous. Why do you think Street Chuggers (that is Charity Muggers who accost you with their clipboards) are so desperate to get you to sign up for monthly direct debits? They do this because they know full well that even if you only give $15 a month it will still add up to much more than a ‘generous’ donation of $100 once every few years.

Have a read of 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 - I’m preparing a Bible Study on it for BS groups. You will see that Christian giving is a gift, and it is meant to be done sacrificially, willingly and regularly.

• Have you read 2 Corinthians 8 & 9?
• How do you decide how much to give and how often?
• Have you reviewed your giving to PBC?

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9: 7)

Hillsong

Okay, so it has taken nearly 4 years but since Hillsong is just a couple of suburbs away I thought I'd go and check out an evening service.

It was the 7pm 'Sunday Night Live' service.

Here are my initial impressions. I'm still in shock (from sensory overload) and so this is not supposed to be a carefully considered review but merely a collection of random thoughts and impressions:

• the professional production of the service was AMAZING - Lady Gaga and U2 would be chuffed if they could produce a show this good.
• there wasn't a hint of the prosperity gospel.
• it wasn't very pentecostal - e.g. no speaking in tongues.
• it seems (from the last two points) they have worked hard on removing things that would seem alien to your average Sydneysider.
• they weren't ashamed to ask for money though - the offering was preceded by a reading from Deuteronomy and the (very helpful) explanation that if we develop the habit of surrendering our finances to the Lordship of Christ then this will help us surrender in other areas too.
• did I say that it was all very well done? Sometimes churches are said to be like a concert, this wasn't like a concert - it was a performance. Dark lighting for the audience, smoke machines, flashing lights, live video feed of the band (song words were tiny - right at the bottom of the screen). I've been to loads of gigs and plays. As I say this was not like a performance, it was one. To be fair to Hillsong I think that is the intention. Sunday Night Live is meant to be an evangelistic shop window which is easily accessible to the modern consumer.
• The talk took multimedia to a whole new level. The theme was 'going in and going out' and the stage had props consisting of doors - the preacher would speak for a while and then walk through a door only to appear (seemlessly) in a video clip on the screen. These clips seemed to have been filmed (at great expense) during the week just for the service. When I say great expense I mean it. The last clip was of the speaker doing a parachute jump and speaking into the camera as he did it. My guess is that this one service was 'worth' at least $10k of production.
• The speaker was also very polished. He hardly had any notes and yet quoted scriptures throughout. The talk was peppered with bible verses. It was very inspirational. Although I have to say that it was very lacking in content. At no point throughout the talk or the service (apart from giving our tithe, I suppose) was any specific example given to explain what things like repentance or 'letting God into our transitions' might look like. I realise that everyone's life is different and we mustn't do the Holy Spirit's job for him but it is easy to go away from a service like that fired up about obedience in life without having a clue what it will mean. Likewise I noticed a lot of the songs were about wholehearted obedience - great words but I cringe when making promises with my lips that I have no idea if I can keep.
• At the end there was a time for response. After a general response to the talk there was an evangelistic appeal. Generally speaking I thought it was great. He explained the gospel simply and then expected people to respond. That was when it started to get manipulative. After asking us all to close our eyes we were asked to raise our hands if we want to trust in Christ. After a while (with the traditional keyboard key in the background) he pushed a bit harder and then started saying 'thanks' for all those who had raised their hands but I couldn't see any! (I was very disobedient and kept my eyes open.) It is possible there were a couple behind me but I could see about 3/4 of the congregation and I couldn't see any. While understandable (people are more likely to stick up their hand if they think they are not alone) it is highly manipulative.

So, overall, a mixture of emotions. Not quite what I expected. I'm still reflecting on it. The dominant issue is the level of the production. I can't quite work out if they are being 'all things to all men to win some...' in great evangelistic zeal to reach Sydney for Christ - or being like the Corinthians in losing their trust in the gospel as the power of God to change lives.

Evangelism made less difficult

Early Christians couldn't stop talking about Jesus. We find it hard to start. Why is this?

After the current section of Isaiah we are going to do something thinking about evangelism.

I'm really keen for comments on why we find it so hard to share our faith in our culture. Also suggestions of key topics worth considering related to this issue.

I can't promise anything that will make evangelism easy, but it would be good to help make it easier.

Under Valued gifts (8)

8. The gift of welcome

Tim Keller has written that there are only two kinds of churches:

1. One kind says to its community: ‘You can come to us, learn our language, learn our interests, become like us and meet our needs.’

2. The other kind says to its community: ‘We will come to you, learn your language, learn your interests, join in your life and try to meet your needs.’

A welcoming attitude is something that has to be constantly relearnt. Only the gospel can reorientate our vision - away from the inward, selfish desire to mix with people like ourselves and towards the selfless desire to love the wider community around us. Ministries like the Op Shop, Flo Harris Lodge and School Scripture help us to keep this focus. When it comes to the love of Christ it should be just as much ‘show and tell’ as ‘come and hear’. What practical things can we do to join in the life of the community around us?

However, that attitude will only translate into action ‘out there’ if it starts ‘in here’. This attitude of welcome should pervade all our meetings too - on Sunday, Bible study groups, Playtime ... etc.

Why not evaluate any PBC activity you are involved with from this perspective of welcome:

• is there a language newcomers are expected to learn?

• do our songs only appeal to one particular interest group?

• is it obvious what to do and how to get involved?

• do we take the initiative in welcoming new people?

• are we addressing the needs of the wider community or just the needs of those who come already?

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:...” (Philippians 2: 4-5)

Under valued gifts (7)

7. The gift of prayer

“All I could do was pray.” How often have we heard that as an expression of helplessness. All I could do? All?

During my life I have met several old people who had a profound ministry of prayer. They all seemed to be women, but I haven’t yet worked out the significance of that. These people had reached a stage in life where they were no longer physically able to do much to serve the church. So they did what they could - they prayed. Some of them were apologetic, as if their contribution to the work of the Lord was rather pathetic.

Far from it. The Lord had used their frailty to teach them a lesson that we all need to learn - that without him we can achieve nothing. Only the branch that remains in the vine will bear fruit.

Our human nature has a strong bias towards self-reliance. Even good things like studying the bible, evangelism, serving the poor can quickly become about us - what we are doing to bring about Christ’s kingdom. However, the gospel of grace is supposed to cut through all of that.

While it is true that even prayer can become yet another thing that we do to show off to God, it is probably the hardest arena in which to trust in ourselves. Just as men hate asking for directions (because it means admitting that: 1. They are lost. 2. They need help) so the very act of prayer is admitting that we cannot solve our own problems but only God can.

Christians who really understand the gospel are people who pray. They pray all the time. About everything. No event and no decision is faced without asking for God’s help. Their utter dependence on him has a direct correlation with their prayer life. It has been said that if you want to know how popular the preacher is count how many people turn up on a Sunday; but if you want to know how popular Jesus is then count how many are at the prayer meeting.

Prayer is, I think, the most undervalued ministry in churches today.

• read the bible - learn from the heroes of our faith and how they prayed.
• pray - on your own, in pairs, in threes, as a church. Anywhere.

“Pray continually.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 17)