Scribbling Theology:

Tag: church

• Thoughts on the Mission of the Church

  Posted at 9:19 am by scribblingtheology, on August 18, 2022

  

  Whenever somebody asks, “what is the church’s mission?” they’re asking, “how is the local church supposed to act in the world, and why?” It isn’t hard to imagine then that there are so many ways to answer this question because there are so many local churches. In my particular tradition (Queensland Baptist), the church usually functions:

  1. As a place for people to come and listen to a sermon for twenty minutes.

  2. For people to come and sing to and about God.

  3. To catch up with coffee and tea afterwards while eating expired biscuits.

  Community engagement varies depending on the church and its theology. Some churches have huge community buildings with swimming pools, cafes, gyms, and sports centres. These churches typically have very little formal “evangelism” with those who come and go in their building, instead relying on relationships and ongoing conversations to perhaps one day influence them towards Jesus and the Kingdom. Other churches (usually smaller) have formal evangelism. They hit the streets, give out Gospel tracts, and awkwardly tell people they’re going to hell. Then there are those churches you hear about only in far-flung corners of the Australian underbelly. The kind that is ruthlessly preaching Jesus and baptising every chance they get and passionately serving their community’s needs.

  Recently, as social justice issues such as racism, gender inequality, and climate change have been turned up to eleven, churches, at least in my context, have struggled to engage meaningfully in the question “how is the local church supposed to act in the world, and why?” Some have defaulted to a more insulated view of the church. These people believe that the local church is only supposed to preach, pray, and encourage its members to live out their faith and engage with the community in their own time. In frustration with the first kind of church, other churches passionately leap at every chance they get to engage with social justice issues. They plant trees, feed the hungry, and advocate for human rights. However, this sometimes comes at the expense of telling people about the Kingdom itself. Finally, some people have opted out of the social justice conversation altogether. Instead, they focus on living out a private faith, and you wouldn’t even know that they follow Jesus unless you asked.

  As I sit and ponder the entire issue, I can’t help but feel empathy for both sides of the problem. On the one hand, preaching (2 Timothy 2:15), worship (Ephesians 5:19), and the traditional activities that make up our regular Sunday morning services are vital. In fact, it is a passion of mine to recover a fresh sense of the Scriptures, Christ-centered preaching, and sound theology in our local churches. However, traditionally, Christianity has been at the forefront of many social justice problems. In the past, they’ve been among the first to serve those in need in extremely practical ways. Why can’t we have the best of both worlds? It seems to me that good biblical, theological preaching would lead a church to want to care for creation (Genesis 1:26-28), feed the hungry, stand up for injustice, and protect the most vulnerable among (Isaiah 1:17; Micah 6:8) us as we proclaim the Good News (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15).

  For me, the Gospel starts in Genesis 1 and ends in Revelation 22. When we talk to people about the Gospel and share Jesus, we try to distil the most essential information so that whoever is listening can walk away with enough to help them follow Him. However, unless the entire biblical narrative informs our understanding of our distilled version of the Gospel, the way we do church will always come out looking a little twisted. I believe that our churches are supposed to look like mini Edens where life and goodness flow. When people enter the doors, they should sense that God walks and dwells with His people (Exodus 29:45; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). Not just because there’s good preaching and worship, but because in the mini garden, humanity’s needs are being met, where we’re all one in Christ Jesus (Genesis 1:26; Galatians 3:28), where sickness and the corruption of this world are being tended to, there is no hunger, no thirst (James 5:14; Revelation 21:4), and creation is in harmony with those who are supposed to steward it (Genesis 2; Revelation 21-22).

  Posted in Scribbles | 0 Comments | Tagged Christianity, church, Jesus, Mission, Socialjustice, Theology

• Short Reflections on Christian Politics

  Posted at 1:43 pm by Camaron G. W. Smith, on May 21, 2022

  

  Voting as a Christian is hard. Why? Because (as I’ve argued in a previous post) how you engage in politics is a part of your worship. This means four things. First, it means that who you vote for is an expression of your faith, your place in, and your vision of God’s Kingdom. Second, who you vote for expresses your love towards your neighbour and the world around you. Third, who you vote for expresses your love towards God. Fourth, not only does voting impact the world around you, but it also forms and transforms you inwardly. For some Christians, this makes voting easy (whoever is pro-life, right?). For me, it complicates it. Gone are the days when I could pick a single issue and vote with it in mind. Gone are the days when I could make fun of politics (though I still do that) and not care about who influences our nation. Voting matters because, as James K. A. Smith says:

  The call to follow Christ, the call to desire his kingdom, does not simplify our lives by segregating us in some “pure” space; to the contrary, the call to bear Christ’s image complicates our lives because it comes to us in the midst of our environments without releasing us from them.

  – James K. A. Smith in Awaiting the King

  As my faith and theology mature, voting becomes increasingly tricky. If voting profoundly impacts the world around me (including myself), then my vote can’t be taken lightly. Add to that the lack of reasonable candidates to vote for is the perfect recipe for a Lamentations part II. No matter who I vote for, I compromise on something. Do I care for the unborn? Of course. Outstanding, but voting for a party with anti-abortion policies means I have to compromise on climate change policies (and the lives climate change affects around the world) and vice versa. There’s always a trade-off, and I hate that this is the reality in which we live. Trying to love one group of neighbours means I have to neglect the other groups. I understand why some people avoid politics altogether (not a luxury we have in Australia). So what do we do? Do we abstain from voting (illegal in most cases in our country)? Do I donkey vote (that feels like a waste of a vote)? Do I vote for independents and hope for the best (does that ever make a difference)? What is the appropriate Christian response here? There’s no clear answer, to be honest. However, there are perhaps a few things to consider before giving up on the system altogether. Nationwide change, where God’s kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-13), begins within the Christian, then in the church, and then extends into the world.

  1. It starts with the Christian. What I mean by this is before you hit the voting booths and you loudly proclaim who you’re voting for, a Christian must learn to live out the values and ideas wisely that they are voting for in the first place. Do you care for the environment and climate change? Then start taking practical steps to reduce your own carbon footprint. Eat a more plant-based diet, and consider changing your lightbulbs to LED. Plant some trees. Do you care about the unborn? Love and educate parents who are considering it and might not know the impact of their choices. Invest in organisations that will incentivise mothers to give up children for adoption rather than aborting, or better yet, help to find ways of addressing why they’re aborting at all in the first place. Finally, no matter the issue, serving in that area only goes so far. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will cause changed hearts that lead to the right praxis. You can plant all the trees in the world and feed all the hungry people you can, but real change happens at a heart level that forms communities of people who want to represent Jesus. This is the local church.
  2. It moves to church. There are Christians worldwide from different traditions and walks of life who vote and are passionate about various issues. Each one believes they are doing what they think is best to express how they understand the kingdom of God coming to earth. This is called the universal Church. However, God doesn’t leave us to do the work by ourselves. Through His Spirit, God forms visible communities of believers to work out how to do the Christian life together. While members of a local church might differ on politics, what binds them together is the Gospel that saved them and their allegiance to King Jesus – the person every Christian has cast their first vote for. I have argued elsewhere, and I’ll repeat it – the local church is supposed to be a little slice of heaven on earth. The local church is a community of political tyranny made up of different people from different ethnicities, genders, ideas, and such that submit to the one true King. Local churches challenge, spur, encourage and sharpen one another to live out the Gospel and extend the Kingdom of God into the world around us. The pulpit isn’t supposed to be hijacked to peddle anyone’s political agenda. However, the Gospel of King Jesus is intrinsically political as we urge one another to be a part of His Kingdom in all that we do.
  3. Now, if you must vote, vote. This, I realise, has left us with no real answers on how to vote faithfully. What I’m getting at here is that voting is actually the last thing we do on a list of many meaningful steps of authentic transformation. As we make real changes around us and form Gospel centred communities of people who ultimately see Jesus as the only real solution to anything, voting will be carried along with the ebb and flow of whatever impact we have as we witness to the ends of the earth (or to the darkest corners of our local areas).

  Whatever you do during this election, just remember to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

  Posted in Scribbles | 0 Comments | Tagged Christian, church, Jesus, Politics, voting

• My Reflections On Vaccines

  Posted at 7:42 pm by scribblingtheology, on December 6, 2021

  

  Wuhan, China 2019 – the first reported case of Covid-19 emerged, the first seed of a global crisis that would, in the coming years, kill over 5 million people. At the time, I didn’t give much thought to it. I had heard of epidemics and killer viruses before. None of the worst ones had ever reached Western shores in my lifetime, why would they now? It wasn’t long, however, before Australia was thrown into restrictions and lockdowns; people hoarded toilet paper, and thousands lost their jobs as only businesses deemed “essential” could stay open. All in all, Australia has had it pretty good. We’ve only had around 200 thousand cases in total and less than 2 thousand related deaths. Compare that to the U.S. and other countries and Australia has suffered very little. Nevertheless, as the virus took life after life, we all scrambled for a vaccine. One study suggests that in an unprecedented move, over 92 billion U.S. dollars (worldwide) have been poured into vaccine-related products and research since the start of the pandemic. As a result, vaccines were fast-tracked and mass-produced, allowing for an estimated 42.7% of the world to be already fully vaccinated against the original strains of the virus. Australia, in particular, has been pushing three major vaccines; AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. As of now, 86.7% of Australia’s population between the ages of 16 and 80 is fully vaxxed. This is a little snap-shot of where we’re at as a nation.

  I’m not a doctor and I’m not an expert in vaccines and pandemics. I’ve just finished my degree in ministry/theology and that’s where my first love lay, so my reflections will be mostly theological in nature. Until now, I have been hesitant to blog about my own thoughts on the issue of vaccines, but here we are. I look forward to the fire and pitchforks.

  1. Vaccines are not a Gospel issue (or anywhere even close). The Gospel (Good News) is about how God and humanity can be reconciled to God in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1). It isn’t about public health, potential government agendas, and global depopulation. Mandates are an important issue for us to work through as citizens of Australia and even as the Church. However, your status in the Kingdom is not dependant upon the reception or rejection of the vaccine – it is dependant solely on the grace of God and the atoning work of Jesus. This leads me to my next point…
  2. Vaccines are not the mark of the beast. Getting the vaccine won’t identify you on judgement day as a child of Satan or whatever. The book of Revelation is highly figurative, rife with Old Testament imagery that would have made sense to its contemporary audience. Vaccines were not even in the mind of the author (the Apostle John) as he wrote it (they weren’t invented yet). Please go to a Bible college or seminary. Read a good book or three, attend a rational local church where the pastor loves the Bible. In fact, let me give you some good places to start when reading up on Revelation and the mark; just click here, here, here and here.
  3. Vaccine mandates are not akin to the Holocaust or Nazi Germany. That this needs to be explained is mind-blowing, but here we are. I’m no history buff, but it seems to me that Nazi Germany became a thing, that Jews and other races were thrown into camps and gassed because of racism and xenophobia, not because Hitler and The Third Reich were genuinely concerned by a pandemic that was wiping out the global population. Restricting unvaxxed people doesn’t seem like segregation, at least not in the traditional sense. If I were in government and health professionals were telling me that Covid-19 was killing people around the world, I’m not entirely sure I’d be making different decisions. Believe me when I say I am extremely uncomfortable with some of the mandates and how it affects people’s lives. I know many people who won’t get the vaccine (a choice I honour) who won’t be able to see loved one’s who are sick or even be able to catch up with me for a coffee come mid-December. I’m not sitting here smugly believing I’m superior for getting the vaccine (though I do believe it is, perhaps, the wiser choice to make), I am burdened for my brothers and sisters in the Church and in Australia who have a particularly hard road ahead of them.
  4. Mandates need to be heavily scrutinised and reformed. Over the last few days and weeks, I have seen mass protests where thousands, even hundreds of thousands, all over the nation and globe have been protesting against the unvaxxed mandates. It warms my heart. I believe in the people’s right to protest peacefully. I don’t believe the government has always handled this entire situation well. The people deserve vulnerability from their leaders, clear communication, and a say in how this is all handled.
  5. How beautiful are the feet of those that bring the Good News (Isaiah 52:7). As the Church we should be heavily praying for our leaders, preaching the Gospel, and planting churches so that God revives the hearts and minds of our nation before we protest and lobby. Before we try to preserve our earthly kingdoms, we need to be about the work of bringing God’s Kingdom to earth through the work that God has prepared for us in advance.

  A final thought. Bad theology and sin lead to disunity in the Church during a time where unity is needed more than ever. Christians can differ on taking the vaccine, but they can’t break fellowship over it. Coming to the Lord’s table is a time where we remember and demonstrate Jesus’ atoning death until His return. We must lay aside those things that so easily cause us to hate one another, and place Jesus and His mission at the centre of our lives and meetings. As of today, I am double vaxxed. I say this with a certain degree of trepidation as I lay at the foot of the King. If you decide to not get the jab, I will never stop meeting with you, worshipping with you, and loving you in our shared calling to take the Gospel out to all nations which include our own backyards. You will always be welcome in my home. I will trust that the Spirit has led you to reasonable conclusions about this issue, I simply encourage you to consider the above points.

  I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

  Ephesians 4:1-6

  Posted in Posts | 1 Comment | Tagged Christ, Christianity, church, COVID, Jesus, opinion, Spirituality, Theology, Vaccines

• Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Questioning the Faith

  Posted at 2:34 pm by scribblingtheology, on August 9, 2021

  

  This is the sixth and final part in a series on apologetics that I’ve written with my friend Doug Espie over at Bride and World. To view earlier articles in the series, click on the following links

  Part I: What is Apologetics?

  Part II: People and Apologetics
  
  Part III: Christianity and the Questions of Right and Wrong

  Part IV: Reflections on Why the Biblical Story Makes Sense

  Part V: The Historical Evidence for Christianity

  and this is Part VI on Deconstruction and Reconstruction. Enjoy!

  Deconstruction is the scary and sometimes liberating process of taking apart traditional theological ideas and seeing if they hold up under scrutiny. Reconstruction is the reformation of those ideas, and where they end up are sometimes different and sometimes the same. For me, a big de-reconstruction was around the age of Earth and debates on Genesis 1-2. When I first became a Christian, I was told by many people around me that the Earth was roughly 6000 years old. Genesis 1-2 was a proof text that God created the universe out of nothing in 6 literal days, with a literal Adam and Eve being our first two parents and that no one else existed until they had Cain and Abel. I attended seminars and was taught that evolution was one of the biggest enemies that the Church faced. We had to protect the Church and future generations from this scientific and biblically false worldview. There were nights during street evangelism where I would spend hours debating atheists, agnostics, and people with an evolutionary/Darwinian worldview believing that if I could poke holes in their arguments just enough, it’d save them from Hell. Unfortunately, in my time during those arguments, I never succeeded in converting anyone to Christianity. I went home week after week feeling deflated and frustrated that these people couldn’t see the world as I could. Eventually, I stopped debating with atheists and others from outside of the Faith. Instead, I endeavoured to learn more deeply about my own, to grow in wisdom and knowledge so that I could know more about the God I claimed to worship, myself, and the world around me.

  In 2014 I entered into the wonderful world of biblical studies. I knew right away that my experiences at bible college would profoundly affect me in ways I wouldn’t even anticipate. My academic and spiritual mentors, coupled with other influences like the Bible Project (and books I was reading and podcasts I was listening to), unravelled an entirely new world of thought and personal development that I thirsted for. It was scholars such as Tim Mackie, John Walton, Tremper Longman III, John H. Sailhamer, Walter Brueggemann, J. Richard Middleton and even classic giants like Augustine of Hippo made me realise that Genesis 1-2 wasn’t so cut and dry as I had once been taught. Some of these scholars were evolutionary creationists (or theistic evolutionists) and trusted in mainstream science. Organisations such as Biologos facilitated collaboration with these faithful biblical scholars and Christian evolutionary scientists. Needless to say, my world was turned upside-down. Slowly, reluctantly, but surely, I began to embrace that a faithful reading of Genesis 1-2 didn’t need to be at odds with anything mainstream science advocated for. All in all, I fell head over heels in love with Genesis and after much wrestling, reading and praying, I finally settled on two things. 1. Genesis 1-2 isn’t a scientific retelling of the material origins of the universe. Instead it’s a theological narrative that makes sense of the purpose and meaning of the world the author was in. 2. Eventually, and even somewhat unwittingly, I became convinced that evolution made the most sense of the scientific data.

  It’s a little strange for some; I suppose to end a series on apologetics by seemingly advocating for evolution. To be clear, I’m not. Evolution may come and go, and I’m definitely not a scientist. My point in this is that there are good deconstruction stories out there. Just because someone takes a different position on these ideas doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned the Faith. Yes, some do. Too often, we hear stories of once faithful Christians rejecting the Faith and even ferociously attacking it. These stories break my heart. My experiences with deconstruction (and I’ve had a few) have only deepened my faith and love for God. I would eventually become committed to reconstruction rather than letting the doubts and questions destroy everything I loved and held dear. Deconstruction can be a friend to the Christian, not a scary foe. During your time with serious apologetics, many questions that might challenge your faith will come your way. So here are some of my suggestions around dealing with deconstruction.

  1. Embrace the doubt. Don’t run away from doubt or use it to fuel some crusade against any particular brand or tradition of Christianity. List down your questions, and make sure they’re logical and concise. It is essential to know what it is you’re wrestling with and deconstructing. Don’t let abstract feelings and ideas cloud what it really is you’re wanting answers to. Do you struggle with the idea that people will burn for eternity in Hell if they reject Jesus? Great! List it down. Let the question sit with you. Don’t let your emotions around the idea (many of which may be valid) lead you to dismiss anything before seriously considering it.
  2. Research! Read widely and deeply. Listen to podcasts. Go to a bible college or seminary. Books are your friends. Don’t just Google it and find a random blog on the idea by some theological hack (ironic, I know). Go to reputable sources on both sides of the debate and weigh them. Give them time to work through you. A single question might take months or years to properly work through. That’s ok.
  3. Meditate on the Word. The Scriptures are the foundation for everything. It’s how we know who God is and what the Gospel is. “Blessed is the one who… delights in the law (teachings) of Yahweh. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither…” (Psalm 1). You may have questions about the Bible, about how to interpret it, about its validity. Good! You probably wouldn’t be human if you didn’t at some point. The Bible is meant to be wrestled with throughout your whole life. So sit with it. Let your questions bounce off the Scriptures and give it time to work. God is not afraid of your questions.
  4. So pray. I’m not very good at prayer. There’s something about talking into the air that feels unnatural to me. Nevertheless, some of the sweetest times of prayer I’ve ever had have been me looking back at when I felt God wasn’t there, but in hindsight, I saw Him working even when I couldn’t at the time. Suffering, pain, and brokenness often cloud our experiences of God (I’d also say so can joy and excitement). Yet, often they are the times when God does His best work.
  5. Time. I can’t stress this enough, time is your friend here. It can be very tempting to allow your frustrations and angst to get the better of you. “Idiots! how can they not see what I see? are they blind?” Probably, but you could be too. The best advice is, to be honest with yourself, allow the questions to sit with you, and let God do His work. Treat everyone around you as though God is using them to teach you. Slowly, with grace and love, ask questions with those around you whom you can trust. Go to your pastor and let God use the church to sanctify you (that’s its job, after all). Don’t have a point to prove or an agenda but let time do its thing. Let this be a season of growing in wisdom rather than a season of growing in bitterness and rejection of the beauty of the Gospel.
  6. Friends and pastors, chill out! In my experience, the most isolating experience in the world is having those who love you, the church God has called to grow you, push you away because you’re asking a few scary questions. The absolute worst thing you can do is dismiss and reject the deconstructing person. The church should be the safest place for these things to occur, not the enemy (as it is often perceived). These doubts and questions don’t happen in just a rebellious vacuum of heresy. They’re real people with genuine reasons and stories behind these burning doubts that they’re wrestling with.
  7. Commit to reconstructing. Pushing through the doubt (that never really leaves you – that’s fine) and reconstructing will, and I promise you this, leave you with a more robust and deeper faith than you ever had. It might take some time for you to get here. That’s to be expected. I can say without a doubt that I am more Christian than I have ever been on this side of my experiences, and I thank God for every one of them.

  Apologetics is about defending the Faith and giving good reasons why we believe what we believe. One cannot defend a Faith that they haven’t genuinely wrestled with themselves. For those of us who wrestle harder then others, it’s my prayer that your deconstruction would be fruitful and Spirit led.

  A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.

  – Tim Keller

  Posted in Scribbles | 6 Comments | Tagged Christ, Christianity, church, Deconstruction, doctrine, God, Identity, Jesus, Spirituality, Theology

• Reflections on Why the Biblical Story Makes the Most Sense

  Posted at 11:16 pm by scribblingtheology, on July 7, 2021

  

  This is part IV in a series on apologetics. If you want to read the other articles click on the following links:
  
  Part I What is Apologetics?
  Part II People and Apologetics
  Part III Christianity and the Questions of Right and Wrong

  Enjoy!

  “The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity.’ The child enjoys his cold meat, otherwise dull to him, by pretending it is buffalo, just killed with his own bow and arrow. And the child is wise. The real meat comes back to him more savory for having been dipped in a story…by putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the very roads into a myth, we do not retreat from reality: we rediscover it.”

  ― C.S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature

  Life is full of myth, lore, and drama that ensnares the imagination and catches us up within the rich tapestry that makes up our human story – that makes sense of our existence. Every one of us has this deep sense of our life, meaning more than it does, from the Sun rising in the East to the birds singing in the early morning. From the kettle boiling, our stomachs rumbling, the caress of a brisk winter wind, or the smell of saltwater in the Summer. The high pitched cry of a newborn baby and the roof of your mouth burning after taking a bite from a slice of hot pepperoni pizza. The gutted feeling you get over betrayal or the stress of paying your bills on time. The weariness one feels after a long day at work or looking after the family. For some, depression, for others, worse. Finally, the contentment (or excitement) of being in the arms of a lover – these are all paragraphs in the chapters to the book that makes up our existence.

  The greatest stories ever written are told so that humanity can make sense of themselves. So that we can all slowly stitch together those chaotic, beautiful and terrifying chapters that we’ve all starred in. The world’s oldest stories, from the Enuma Elis (The Epic of Gilgamesh), The Hermopolis Egyptian creation myth, and The Eridu Genesis, to the Aboriginal dream-time stories and the Native American Creation myths, every culture and civilization has within their memory a story that defines who they are and why they’re here. For the modern West, we look to science and western philosophy to make sense of our humanity. According to evolutionary biologists, humanity (Homo sapiens) evolved from Homo heidelbergensis somewhere around 100 000 years ago. All life (a biologist might argue) evolved from the big bang event approximately 13.7 million years ago, and humanity is the latest in the evolutionary chain (that we know of). In light of this, philosophers like Fredrick Nietzsche and scientists in the neo atheist movement such as Richard Dawkins, and socio-political critics such a Christopher Hitchens might argue that life has no intrinsic meaning or value (this is called existential Nihilism). As Dawkins famously said, “the universe we observe is precisely what we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” However, for most of us, this bleak commentary on the nature of existence remains unsatisfactory. Most of us, perhaps even Dawkins himself (though he might never admit it), have a deep-seated sense of “something more.” One cannot look at oneself in the mirror of the cosmos and not have their heart leap as it longingly grasps for something greater than themselves. We want to be known, we want to be loved, but we must first know ourselves and our place.

  Herein lies the power of the biblical story (i.e. the Gospel – the Good News). The unfolding drama of the biblical story compellingly peels back the lays of the human existence and uniquely relates them to God, to one another, and the world in a way no other story does. Why is this story significant? Because of the way we live, relate to one another, and the world around us, the way we relate to God profoundly depends on how we comprehend, perceive and understand all of these things; otherwise, Nihilism may be true. Let us then explore this narrative so that we may judge for ourselves how this story makes sense of our existence.

  • God gives meaning and purpose to all that exists and orders it out of a chaotic state (Genesis 1:1-25)
  • Humanity is endowed with God’s image (Genesis 1:26), and they’re tasked to multiply and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:27-28)
  • This image that God gives humanity is two things. It is 1. an ontological reality (a part of their nature) in which every human somehow shares in, participates, and retains something of God (separate but related to His likeness). 2. It is a task or vocation that God bestows upon humanity to live out this ontological reality. That task is to multiply, subdue the earth, and guard and keep the Garden (Genesis 2:15), the dwelling place of God.
  • Humanity fails at walking in God’s image. Instead of guarding the Garden, Adam and Eve allowed the serpent to enter God’s dwelling place and corrupt it. Adam and Eve, therefore, chose for themselves wisdom apart from God and decided to rule themselves apart from God’s love and wisdom (Genesis 3).
  • God takes Adam and Eve and removes them from His dwelling place, stopping them from eating from the Tree of Life. Humanity has now chosen spiritual death and disunity with God, and as a result, they are disconnected from one another and the creation around them.
  • However, God doesn’t let the world fall into chaos. He promises that through the line of Eve, humanity will be saved by crushing the serpents head even at the risk of the seed’s own life (Genesis 3:15).

  In just the first three chapters of the Bible, we have a densely rich narrative that paints humanities reality. We were created and chosen by God for good things. For unity, for love, peace and joy. Yet we went our own way. From Genesis 3:15 onwards, the entire Bible is story after story of God rescuing the world through chosen individuals and people groups, eventually culminating in the person and work of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). In the final pages of the Bible, the Apostle John tells of a world where through Jesus the Messiah, there will be no sickness or death. There will be no separation from God, life, each other, and the world around us (Revelation 24).

  At the end of the day, it is up to the individual to decide which stories they want to believe in, and which they don’t. The Bible is a big book, and it isn’t something that’s supposed to be read and understood in a day, week, or even a year. It’s complex, gritty, raw, alien, but all too familiar at the same time. I believe, if we wrestle with every page and let the Scriptures speak for themselves, this metanarrative we call the Bible makes the most sense of who we are (image bearers made to be in relationship with God, one another, and the created world), where we are (in an unjust fallen world that we all contribute to), and where we’re going (new creation free from the tyranny of sin and death). My invitation to you is to consider its message carefully, reflect, and ask yourself this critical question “does this make sense of our story?” Whether you realise it or not, you’re a character in its unfolding drama.

  How will your chapter end?

  Posted in Scribbles | 4 Comments | Tagged apologetics, Christianity, church, doctrine, God, Jesus, opinion, Spirituality, Story, Theology

• People and Apologetics

  Posted at 4:31 pm by scribblingtheology, on May 19, 2021

  

  I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

  C. S. Lewis

  This is part II in a series on apologetics. If you want to read part I on “What is Apologetics?” click here. Enjoy!

  Over the years, my relationship with apologetics has taken many turns. There was a time where you would find me arguing with university students until 3 or 4 in the morning about evolution vs creation or ethics at Gloria Jeans. I used to think if I could just come up with a really concise argument that was rational, it’d convince the world, and I’d be the next Billy Graham or whatever. Even though there is a lot of value in logic, facts, and arguments, I began to realise that even the most eloquent of arguments alone would never win over the hearts and minds of those who reject Jesus and His Gospel. Ironically, the more I studied at Bible college, the more Christianity became something more than an intellectual assent to a list of doctrines and beliefs. It wasn’t just “God is true because …”; instead, it became a “life, humanity, and the world makes sense because of God.” By Christianity, I saw and made sense (and am still making sense) of everything I see and experience. I started to move away from wanting to just win someone over to my way of thinking to seeing a real person. I wanted people to experience God and the world around them in the way they were always meant to. My focus shifted from a win-lose mentality to a sort of invitation-love-unity mentality. It is my conviction that when we engage in apologetics with other faiths and worldviews (even among people in our own Faith), we make enemies of them far too quickly because we forget some essential truths about those people.

  1. All of humanity is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). This means a lot of different things to a lot of various scholars. I’ve written a bit about it here. However, here is a quick summary to make my point. For humanity to be made in the image of God means that they are to be a unified people that reflect God’s character to the created order by loving God, one another, and the world around them. Here’s the thing, this command was given to humanity in general, not just the Church. So every Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jew, New Ager, Atheist, Satanist, Witch, Wizard, Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker have all been endowed with this “image” and are called to live it out. The only difference is that this is now only achievable in Christ as it is He who enables us by the Spirit to live out this calling. Nevertheless, the Genesis 1-3 story leads me to have a deep spiritual connection to everyone I talk to that stops me from having a win-lose mentality and instead makes me see them as human despite how flawed and sinful they are may be.
  2. The Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) is about Yahweh (God) pursuing some of the most messed up people to ever exist. Israel’s story was full of the most bloodthirsty, faithless, abusive (sexually, physically, spiritually see Gen 16:1–16; 21:8–21), wicked (Is 13-23), idolatrous (Ex 32; Jer 2), murderous people (2 Sam 11-12). Yet, God still called them out to be His people, to represent Him and to be a kingdom of priests (or image bearers) to bring about His redemptive plan (Ex 19:6; Is 61:6). Don’t get me wrong, God hates sin (Ps 5:4-5), and I don’t think God ever intended sin to be a regular part of the human experience. However, on this side of the Fall (Gen 3), there is something very “human” about sin, brokenness and failure. It’s in that chaotic mess that God pursued Israel, and in turn, all of humanity in the person of Christ. What a picture of you, and what a picture of me. This is a constant reminder that God pursues me even as I fail, sin, and fall, and so to does He pursue every other person. God isn’t just trying to win over the person you’re talking about evolution with; he wants to transform them. Israel already knew God existed, right? God had already freed them from slavery, and even after He gave them the promised land, they continued to rebel. God wanted to transform and renew (Jer 31:31; Ezek 36:26), not just convince them of a set of doctrines and laws.
  3. Obviously, Israel didn’t always do a good job of being that royal priestly image-bearing kingdom of people God wanted them to be. Transformation was yet to come. This is where Jesus comes in. Read the Gospels. God comes in the likeness of human flesh (Lk 2:1-20; Rom 8:3), He travels around and preaches the Good News of the Kingdom of God (Matt 3:2, 4:17, 5-7), He performs miracles (John 2:1-11, 4:46-54, 5:1-15, 6:5-14, 6:16-24), and teaches people about Himself (Lk 4:21). Jesus gives up His life to be a ransom for many (Mk 10:45), He was raised from the dead (Mk 16), and before He ascends, He tells His disciples there’s more. He wants to transform, renew, and empower His people to be what Adam, Eve, and Israel couldn’t be. So He sends His Spirit to dwell among those who have trusted in Jesus (John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7; Acts 1-2). Jesus wants to bring everyone into an empowered family of people who image God and love one another. He doesn’t just want to convince them that He is real.

  For me, this passage wraps up the vision Jesus has in the Gospels quite well:

  
  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (see also 2 Cor 5:17).

  Revelation 21:1-6

  
  Let’s circle back for a moment. A person is sitting across the table from you, and internally you are seething because they won’t accept that the earth is 6000 years old (“exasperated sigh”), or that ethics is static, or that Jesus died for their sin. As you try to stoically sip your triple-shot mocha with a pump of caramel, try to remember that there is more at stake here than trying to win an argument. These are real, fallen, broken, complex sinning, loving, crazy, logically irrational people that God loves. Loving your neighbour or your “enemy” is as important as getting across your point. As I have theologically demonstrated in this article, reflecting on the person’s substance will help remind you that they are a human to love, not just an argument to win.

  Posted in Scribbles | 5 Comments | Tagged apologetics, bible, Christianity, church, doctrine, Jesus, Spiritual

• Thoughts on the Sacraments

  Posted at 1:58 pm by scribblingtheology, on April 9, 2021

  

  Hey guys. I’ve written elsewhere on church here and here and this is sorta in that same vein with a focus on the sacraments. Enjoy 🙂

  Church. It is vitally essential for the life of a Christian. A church is a place where people from all tribes, tongues, and nations can come together to worship their King Jesus as one body; one family unified to one another in Christ. Churches look different all over the world from place to place, from context to context. However, there should be fundamental biblical principles that guide every church in how it looks. Why? Because Jesus is the head of the Church, and it’s up to him, not us, in how it is ultimately governed, in how it runs. Where do we turn to then to discover what a biblically healthy church is? Well, of course, the Bible. 

  As good Christians, we believe that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Notice the implications of this passage. Scripture (the Bible) is:

  1. “God-breathed.” This means the Bible comes from God Himself and therefore carries a certain weight of authority that no other text does. 
  2. “Useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the person of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” This means that the authoritative scriptures have everything we need in them to live the Christian life. Or in other words, if you want to know how to build a healthy church, read the Bible (especially the New Testament). 

  Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always as simple as picking up the Bible and knowing exactly what God wants for the church. The Bible is by no means an exhaustive treatise on building a church, but the New Testament does give the standard for one. Here are some of those principles now: 

  1. The Word. God speaks in different ways (through nature, people, and other sources). However, the most straightforward and most authoritative way God has spoken is through the Scriptures. Therefore, coupled with the idea of 2 Timothy 3, it makes complete sense then to have faithful teaching as the centrepiece of church.
  2. The Sacraments.

  •  The Lord’s Supper: the sacraments have had various use throughout church history and have all been interpreted differently. Yet, one thing in common remains; among nearly every major Christian tradition, these two sacraments have been observed regularly in one way or another. Why? Because it’s thoroughly biblical. Every Gospel mentions Jesus having Passover (the Lord’s Supper) with his disciples (Mt. 26:17–30, Mk. 14:12–26, Lk. 22:7–39 and Jn. 13:1–17:26). The early church carried on this tradition (Acts 2: 42, 46; 20:7), where they did it regularly in remembrance of Jesus (1 Cor 11:24-25). The Lord Supper took on three principal dimensions. 1. The remembrance of Jesus’ death and resurrection (the new covenant) and the churches unity to Christ. 2. the unity believers had with one another. 3. The covenant’s performance or drama. As the local church takes up the elements (the bread and wine), they are acting out the establishment of the new covenant as the Spirit draws them closer into the presence of Christ and one another.  
  • Baptism: The occurrences of baptism in the Bible are numerous. First, we see Baptism in the New Testament performed by John the Baptist (Matt 3) and subsequently, Jesus being baptised (Matt 3:13-17). As He was being baptised, Jesus said, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Whatever this means, it at least proposes that baptism is extremely important, so much so that Jesus expected us to baptise people as part of the great commission (Matt 28:19). The early church took up this sacrament as it was an integral part of their life and ministry (Acts 2:38). It was an important part of the salvation process (Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized”) and was accomplished via confession and prayer “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). Like the Lord’s Supper, Baptism took on three principles dimensions. 1. The symbolism of a new believers passage from death in the world to life in Christ (Rom 6:1-11). 2. The unity they now had with Christ (Gal 3:27). 3. the unity they had with other believers (1 Cor 12) hence the need for it before one becomes a member of a local church in some traditions (i.e. reformed traditions). As a local church baptises a new believer into the faith, they are publicly declaring their identification and unity to Christ and that new believer as the Spirit works through the drama of passing from death to life. What about Spirit baptism? Both baptisms are taught in the Bible and typically are inseparable (Jhn 3:5). No one denies that Spirit baptism is a thing, but to be baptised by the Spirit without water would have been an unthought of practice in the early church and vice versa. 

  As I’ve explained, these sacraments are essential to any church for three main reasons. 1. The Bible and, in turn, God expects a church to practice them (this in itself should be reason enough). 2. They’re transformative in that the Spirit works through the practice of them to sanctify the participant in a similar way that He works through the Word. 3. They supplement good preaching and demonstrate the Good News to new believers and people we invite to church. 

  Finally, all this presupposes the assembly of a local church which consists of members (1 Cor 12:21-26), elders and deacons (1 Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1), and discipline (Matt 18:13-17). 

  With all these elements in place, a local church can image God and fulfil the great commission. Without them, a local church will become deficient and simply unbiblical. We should never trade a biblical principle for a pragmatic one, no matter how much it seems to work. If something is working, it might be cause for us to re-evaluate our theology, but never to compromise on it. God’s standards are there for a reason, and it’s our job to simply obey even if droves of people aren’t coming through the doors. 

  Posted in Scribbling Scripture | 0 Comments | Tagged Baptism, Christ, Christianity, church, communion, Jesus, Theology

• Church

  Posted at 11:25 am by scribblingtheology, on February 12, 2021

  

  “Friend, what are you looking for in a church? Good music? A happening atmosphere? A traditional order of service? How about: a group of pardoned rebels . . . whom God wants to use to display his glory . . . before all the heavenly host . . . because they tell the truth about him . . . and look increasingly just like him – holy, loving, united?”

  ― Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church

  What is the Church? 

  Systematically, there are two theological categories one should have in their mind when they think of the word “church.” There is the Church universal (historically this has been labelled catholic – Latin for universal – Church; not the Roman kind), and the church local.

  The Universal Church 

  The universal Church is invisible (meaning no one can tangibly recognise it except for God). It is made up of God’s people who the blood of the lamb has saved throughout all time (past, present, and future), from all tribes, nations and tongues (Revelation 7:9). God’s people exist among every tradition (typically despite them), in every context (such as persecution), and demographic (from rich to poor). The universal church is God’s redemptive work or kingly rule over the entire cosmic order as He seeks to renew all things. Therefore, the universal church is in a sense that mustard seed slowly sprouting throughout the course of history so that all of creation may nest in its branches (Luke 13:18-19). Therefore, I would argue that the universal Church is another way of describing God’s Kingdom. As Scot McKnight says

  “It is reasonable to say that the kingdom is the church, and the church is the kingdom – that they are the same even if they are not identical. They are the same in that it is the same people under the same King Jesus even if each term – kingdom, church – gives off slightly different suggestions”

  The Local Church 

  The local church is the God-ordained, tangible, yet imperfect expression of the universal body of Christ (God’s Kingdom). It is where both the world and the Kingdom come together as it is made up of both believers and unbelievers (Matthew 13:24-30), sheep and wolves (Matthew 7:15), God’s people and those who pay lip service to God but who’s hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8). Biblically, the local church has a polity (church government – elders, deacons, members), sacraments (the Lord’s Supper and Baptism), worship (singing and prayer) all centred around the exegetical teaching of God’s Word. The local church is ground zero (after the Cross) for God’s mission to go forth and redeem the world through the preaching of the Gospel.

  Implications

  1. If the local church is ground zero for God’s mission and the Gospel, you cannot be an effective Christian without being in a biblical local church.
  2. Looking for a good church no longer means finding out if it has a good kids clubs, men’s group, or women’s ministry. It no longer means flashy lights, feel-good messages, and social homegroups. Looking for a good church now means looking for a biblical one (a plurality of elders, deacons, membership sacraments, worship and prayer, the exegetical preaching of God’s Word, and mission). This might mean a biblical church is a bit smaller then you’re used to, a little slower, a little less flashy (they might not be). Yet it is these things that God’s Spirit works through. Without a strong biblical local church, the Christian can not hope to flourish in God’s kingdom effectively.
  3. Becoming effective in the local church leads to being effective in the world in our mission to take forth the Good News of Jesus. Learning to love the Lord and your brothers and sisters in Christ, equipped with God’s Word and Spirit will compel you to herald the Gospel to any and all who would hear.

  Final Thoughts

  In Australia, churches too quickly jump to what is pragmatic at the expense of a solid biblical foundation for their ministries. Programs are good, but only if they’re built upon these principles first. If we rely on a men’s breakfast or on a woman’s coffee day once a month to facilitate fellowship (the command to love one another), perhaps we should be questioning our ways of doing church, to begin with before we implement even more programs that often replace genuine Spirit-filled love for our fellow members. If we rely on youth groups to disciple our young people, perhaps we’re doing something wrong from the pulpit or even from our own homes. If we have to rely on our church programs to feed the poor, to look after the environment and to address other social issues, then we’ve missed the point of what it means to be an effective Christian in the world. I don’t hate programs. I’m not suggesting we get rid of them. What I am suggesting is that we recover a strong biblical foundation of church (at the expense of all else if we must), and I can almost guarantee that the Christian landscape, at least in Australia, would experience a sort of reformation that has been needed for man, many decades.

  My prayer for 2021 is that we will plant, grow and revitalise healthier churches so God may be glorified, and the Gospel will go forth effectively in our nation.

  Posted in Scribbles | 2 Comments | Tagged Christianity, church, Jesus, Theology

• 2020 Mix Up: My Five Favourite Blogs of the Year

  Posted at 11:14 pm by scribblingtheology, on December 29, 2020

  
  1. Social Justice Part I – Environmentalism: A Theology of Creation Care
  2. The Deep Blue Church
  3. Salvation is Liberation: Part I
  4. Living Water John 4:1-42
  5. 2020: My Year in Review

  Have a great end to your year. See you in 2021.

  Posted in Scribbles | 0 Comments | Tagged blog, Christianity, church, Jesus, Theology

• 2020: My Year in Review

  Posted at 10:20 pm by scribblingtheology, on December 28, 2020

  

  2020 has been one of the most challenging years of my entire life. First, I tackled the new year as a single person for the first time in seven years. Unemployed, with no money, and depression literally crushing me, I had no idea what 2020 would hold. I tried to study, but in the first half of the year, my mental health got the better of me, and I woefully failed. I couldn’t bring myself to find employment; there were days I couldn’t do anything but stare at my phone in an open-eyed coma silently screaming to God for something to change. COVD-19 hit us all; isolation wasn’t just a mental health issue; it was a physical necessity as Australia battled the first wave of the pandemic. Doubt started to crash upon the shores of my mind and heart. I doubted the existence of God; I questioned my place in the world, my life. Every day was a numbing haze of uncertainty and a mental void as I lived each moment almost on autopilot. Books became mush in my hands as the words fell off the pages. The Bible, church, and prayer became God walking through Garden calling out to me as I hid from them (Him) in video games and meaningless distractions. 

  There were some good times. I started therapy (which I need to go back to). I had supporting friends (they probably didn’t know half of what I was going through). The times we could meet helped me get out of my rut even if they were too fleeting. I met someone new who interestingly enough is an art psychotherapist and a Christian. God has used her to make sense of what I’m going through, and she has encouraged me to get back onto the Path (relationships are always sanctifying). Coffee still tastes good. However, I’ve gone off soy, and I’m onto oat milk now. Seriously, try it. It’s both good for the environment, and it tastes like regular milk. This year God has had me go through some vast transformations regarding my theology around the environment, and with me coming to terms with some of my racial bias’.

  Nevertheless, despite some significant change, the world still feels a little less colourful, and a little less bright. Even writing this blog is so much of a mental effort even though I love to write. …. Where am I going with this? I suppose, if nothing else, I want to write to other people who are like me. To those who know God exists yet, He never seems to speak. To those who know that miracles exist yet they seem to only happen in fairy tales. To those who know life is full of beauty and goodness, yet they’ve been without it for so long they’ve forgotten what that means. 

  I. Totally. Get. It. 

  I can’t remember the last time God ever spoke to me from the Bible or otherwise. I can’t remember when I saw something miraculous and jumped for joy. I can’t remember the last time I saw colour, or truly enjoyed the smell of saltwater in the air or the sand between my toes. I can’t remember getting that intellectual buzz from a good book or sermon or having a genuine laugh with a good friend. The love of a woman (or a man), fine wine, good food and friendship all seem like out-of-body experiences for the depressed. Unfortunately, I’m not much better than the rest of you so I can only offer some tiny pieces of advice. 

  1. See a professional therapist/ psychologist. I cannot encourage you enough. Talking to someone who doesn’t judge you, who is paid to help you and to listen is worth its weight in gold. If the first one doesn’t work, keep looking. But get help (I promise I’ll start going again as well). 
  2. Awe. You’re mentally flatlining. You’re dull and without life. You need a shock to the system. Lay on a blanket, naked, in the middle of the night, look up at the stars. Find the longest stretch of beach and walk it. Swim until you can’t breathe any longer. Go to an art museum. Eat food you usually wouldn’t. Spice up the bedroom. Experience the world God has given you in new ways, from new perspectives and meditate on it all. 
  3. Cry—a lot, and often. Real people cry (Jesus wept).
  4. Listen to good music to get the creative music flowing (I suggest lofi chill music like this. It matches the depressing mood while it slowly and gently lifts you out of it). Also, if you’re a reader but depression has killed it for you try audiobooks (Audible is excellent).
  5. Community. I know it’s hard, but keep going to church and hanging out with friends. Have your pastor or someone at your church come to drag you out of bed. Have your friends literally pick you up off the bed and chuck you in the shower if that’s what it takes. You have to stay connected. 
  6. Finally, to the others who have someone in their life that suffers from depression, be patient. Depression won’t go away overnight. If they can even do one or two of these things within a year, that’s progress. I know its frustrating. You see laziness; they see despair. You see unwillingness; they see unmeaningful. 

  I’m not some guru on life or mental health. This is all new (and old) to me. Life is hard. It does suck. It is full of pain and hardships. There are no easy silver bullets or seven steps to a better life. Anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. We do have a lot to look forward to, though. If you’re like me, then you believe that Jesus is coming back to wipe away every tear from every eye. To right every wrong. To make all things new again. I know it feels like you’re hanging on to a thread, and you’ve heard it a million times (and then some), but stay with me here as we walk after Jesus together. I can’t ever guarantee you an easy life, but I can promise a life with purpose, forgiveness and hope. That’s more than what many others find. 

  Posted in Scribbles | 1 Comment | Tagged 2020, Christianity, church, depression, Jesus, Life

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