Militant Atheists

I cannot say that I am an avid reader of the Daily Telegraph. In fact I would sit at a very different end of the political spectrum but I came across an article on the internet which I found interesting by Charles Moore who wrote in that newspaper, “Militant atheists: too clever for their own good”, He makes the observation that being clever appears to be high on the agenda of their creed. The main protagonists he cites are Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (now deceased) and Professor A.C. Grayling who looks every part the philosopher complete with long sweeping hair and the pin-stripe suit used until recently to say ”Tory”. Despite their high I.Q. , and who would decry the value of intelligence, they seem to be acquiring one of the very attributes, they despise of Christians, namely intolerance and arrogance. Matthew Parris, who also writes for the same paper and is highly, articulate and effective at making his point has joined the fray. He wants faith and reason to part forever and for people to “chose your side”. I would not call myself irrational but neither would I say that reason is all that matters? If I said this I would be closing the door to the possibility of miracles. I cannot place God in a test tube and hold him up as exhibit “A”; God cannot be restricted. This is a crass way of investigating all the evidence. Surely the writer of the Telegraph article is right that they are really missing the point. The early church believers were not all that well educated but the impact they made was mighty-they were the ones who were ready to serve the community and lived lives of high moral value. Yes there are, today, Christians who say daft things and sometimes we worry too much about gaining power and prestige; we worry that the church is no longer holding the same sway as in previous generations. We are too quick to look for the glory of having the rich and famous and the powerful in our ranks but then so too are the non-believers. Nor is hypocrisy is not restricted to Christians; I dare to suggest that some who call themselves “atheist” do so because of their family upbringing and not because they have given the matter more than logical and reasoned thought, if even that. Life would be dull indeed if we were all like Mr Spock. The resurrection is not only the most historically provable claim of Christianity but it is the very bedrock of the faith which suggests that death on a cross, at the hands of men, is not only not the end but that the road travelled by God was not about the power of the world nor the power of the intellectual elite but a new hope for all men and women who occupy both the lecture theatre and the workshop, the rich and the power, and include all ethnic groups. I , for one, will not be rejected just because I am not one of the clever people.

Courage

In the wake of the comments made by Mark Driscoll I am thinking about "courage" and what it really is. It's not about the amount of Testosterone is it? It's not about strength or gifts and abilities, is it? On Wikipedia "courage is,(also bravery, boldness, fearlessness, mettle, fortitude, or intrepidity) is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation." Some pastors face physical, moral and spiritual challenges which threaten to destro them and their families. Everybody involved i ministry faces challenges but each one can imagine that their challenge is greater, more intense and dangerous than all others. When Mark Driscoll challenges British pastors with the charge of cowardise I imagine he is referring to morality. I imagine he is thinking of the pastor who backs off from declaring man to be caught in the trap of sin. I can imagine that some think, because of their ministry context were there are more than average single parent families, more unemployed than the normal and where there are gangs vying for the upper hand, they have a tougher job than those who are surrounded by wealthly, confident people whose biggest decision is whether or not to go to France of the USA for the holidays. In my 25 years of ministry I have served in both rural and urban contexts and found them both to be demanding. I have always been faced with a few people who think they can bully their way through life. What really concerns me about the testosterone type of ministry is that it seems like they think bullying their way through life is what honours God. I have no doubt that the lack of male role models is really affecting the church today but that is true in our schhools also-in another life I was a school teacher. In one of my posts I was one of only three male teachers. In my second year I was the only male teacher and even had my own staff room. If I had remained a teacher I would have been a Head teacher long before now. I have no doubt that the feminisatiion of our society has begun to go too far but I do not think going in totally the other direction will be any better. When I think of difficult times when I do believe courage was needed, I think of times when a seniour member of the church leadership set himself against me. When that person tried to bully me, and everyone else for that matter, to do what he wanted. It took a certian level of courage to stand up to this man and refuse to descend with him into the way of the world by hitting him as hard as he hit me. I have spoken to colleagues whose advice at the time was to sit my elders down and tell them what I thought about their lack of backbone in refusing to stand up to the bully. The really couragous thing was to do what was right because it was right. The pulpit was an easy way to hit back but that is not a good principle. the courageous thing to do was to apologise to those who warrented an apology but not to those who were part of the problem. When I think of the courage of jesus standing before Pilate I think of the silent one, i think of the moral courage which stood his ground but did not hit back. Niorthern ireland has had leaders who certainlyn portrayed a certain kind of courgae by insulting people and makiking fun of them. They are the people who have little or no room for compromise. When the self-styled Dr Ian Paisley now considered to be a great statesman)was leader of the Democratic Unionist Party he not only oppossed any acomodation but he lambasted any sign of weakness. That meant that one unionist leader after another starting with Terrence O'Neil in 1969 right through to David Trimble were called traitors and compromises and the call was "Never, never, nevber" to any move towards change. His more statesmanlike shift has now made him into a great moral leader who broght the province back from the brink of war to democracy. It was this kind of reactionary courage that brought us to the use of bomb and bullet. I do not think it takes courage for a speaker to stand before a congregation and let them have the truth, the whole truth and nothing biut the truth-any speaker who has had experience learns how to manipuklate a congregatio9n and how to insult and cajol the people. There are many teachers who just love to hold their people above the pit of hell. Whenever I am preaching to a large crowd I am energised so it doesn't reqire any courage to speak my mind. Courage is not needed when the speaker is distanced from his audience-either by 6,000 miles or the pulpit. It is entirely another thing when standing eyeball to eyeball with those who are being addressed. There are some ministers who will taiklor their message to suit the congregation. There is not a thing, necessarily, wrong with this and today we call that contextualisatuion but when they do so out of a desire for a quiet life that is another matter. as a minister or pastor (whatever term you want to use)it is my duty to teach people what they need to learn. It is my responsibility to try to place before them the whole counsel of God-in Northern Ireland there are some who get little further than the equivalent to the "Four Spiritual laws" but there are 66 books in the Bible. Courage is when I do what God tells me, when I refuse to be set off course by what men think. It is as true that there is a cause for concern when all men speak well of you as it is to say that we should not go out of our way to insult men. When speaking to heroes the quality that coes through to obervors is their complete lack of recognition that they have shown courage. It is also true that courage comes in different expressions- - emotional courage which faces the truth - physical courage which takes no concern for self-safety - intellectual courage which accepts the truth wherever it is found - spiritual courage which follows in the steps of Christ and finds strength in the whole armour of God - moral courage which does what is right just because it is right regardless of the consequences There are decisioons I have made because I thought they were wrong but sometimes I changed my mind later on but courage was unaffected. I have refused to do some things becuase they appeared to be wrong or to send out the wrong messages. I have erefused baptism, marriage but not because I wanted to offend them and have tried to remain on good terms- "be at peace with all men", "whenever possible" Posted by Dr. Jack Drennan at 14:19 skip to main | skip to sidebar Acts29 Crumlin Road Presbyterian This is the blog of Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church. We are a group of ordinary Christians seeking to grow in Christ. You will find announcements of events and discussions on contemporary issues. Monday, 16 January 2012 Courage?? “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” -Galatians 5:16 Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Powered by BibleGateway.com 0 comments: Post a Comment Links to this post Create a Link Home Followers My Blog List Internet TV Jack Drennan Blog Archive January (2) December (1) November (2) June (1) August (2) May (2) March (1) February (4) January (2) November (3) October (2) August (1) May (1) March (3) January (1) November (1) September (1) August (1) July (4) March (1) November (2) September (5) Rev Dr. Jack Drennan Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom Presbyterian Minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the biggest denomination in Northern Ireland View my complete profile cluster world We welcome light from any quarter We encourage discussion and participation that will aid our understanding of the bible and how scriptural teaching is to be applied in our own culture Books •Listening to the heartbeat of God by Philip Newel Writing History Acts 29 is a way to describe the unwritten chapter that is being written by the contemporary church. The question I have to ask is why do we not experience the signs and wonders of those early Christian days? PreviewPreview

Cowardly Pastors

Well Mark Driscoll has created a stir again. He has been reported to have said 

“Let’s just say this: right now, name for me the one young, good Bible teacher that is known across Great Britain. You don’t have one – that’s the problem. There are a bunch of cowards who aren’t telling the truth.” 

In another place he takes a swipe at those "pastors" who wear gowns preferring to stir the pot by saying they wear dresses and preach to old women. In response and perhaps after mature reflection he qualifies what he said by claiming aggressive questions which lacked respect and quoted him out of context. There are a few issues raised in my mind-

In response I wonder exactly who Mark Driscoll thinks he is that he should be afforded great respect and make pronouncements about the UK from the safety of 6,000 miles

Then I wonder if he simply misunderstands British culture and fails to contextualise

But I also am willing to question if there is any truth in what he says even if he says it in an unacceptable way.

My first response is think this man is a poser  but then think more constructively.

On the back of this I have a few questions to pose

1.  Who is Mark Driscoll accountable to?

2. Who ordained him? (we have had a minister who was ordained by his father and founded his own denomination.

3. Is his problem with Orthodox, Catholic and Anglicans who all wear cassocks or with evangelicals, few of whom wear gowns? Do many American Baptists not wear choir gowns??

4. Where do we find grace in all of this?

5. Where is the power of the counter-culture, especially in a macho culture such as America and Northern Ireland. We have had preachers who could not be accused of wimping out on hell and damnation who had robbed congregations of people and been, at least partially responsible for the hatred and sectarianism which led us to the verge of destruction

6.  Do people living in difficult conditions where there are drugs and alcohol abuse and child molestation need to be told they are sinners? Most people in this culture know that the church condemns them but have not learnt that God loves them-that doesn't mean we neglect hell just that there is a way out

7. Do we need more celebrity preachers? No. Mark Driscoll makes plain from his blog, which I am told there is no right of reply, that people should not be blogging about Mark Driscoll because it is all about Jesus. Amen to that so why create the controversy? If he does not want to talk about himself then he should stop making stupid statements 

Is there any truth? Have I been a coward at times? I have no doubt that I have wimped out and taken the easy road because I am a weak human being who has been devastated by the reality of sin. Do I need Mark Driscoll to tell me I am a failure? No every morning I wake up knowing I have failed my Lord and that I am not the hero I would like to be. I do not need anyone else to beat me up what I do need is to have people alongside me who can help and encourage me.

What do I need? Well working in the inner city of loyalist/nationalist Belfast I need support, I need encouragement. The congregation needs money to do what we would like to do but I fear no help will come from Marrs Hill. 

It goes without saying that I did not know Gary Speed. In fact I know very little about him apart from the fact that among his different clubs he played for the enemy, Everton (actually unlike the average Liverpool supporter the blues are among my favourite teams after the reds). Despite my ignorance of the man I was shocked that such an apparently strong and balanced individual should take his life. It is just horrendous to imagine his wife finding him in the garage having hung himself and heart breaking that his two sons will grow up without their father. There is no point in asking the question”why?” yet we end up asking it anyway. His personal friends and supporters in the teams he played for and the Welsh national team are all dumbfounded as to why he did this and what he had gone through in private to drive him to the conclusion that everyone would be better off without him. Much has been made of the fact that he was strong and stable, that he had everything to live for in terms of family and success in life and that is what went against him in the end. The way of the world is to say that it is the strong-those who don’t need the support of other people, those who can stand on their own feet-who are the lucky ones. He had made enough money and had been famous and adored by so many football supporters. We have been told that the players loved him and played for him and he didn’t have an enemy and was without a bad bone in his body. The measure of his support was seen in the way his name was called out by the Liverpool supporters –as they sang “You’ll never walk alone” they did it for him. Yet the pressure on the strong individual to keep his problems to himself has to be strong and stifling-how can the strong person admit he has problems and is, in fact, weak? In the famous sermon given by Jesus he releases the strong suggesting that the weak are, in fact, really the strong ones, the poor are really the rich and the meek are to be congratulated. When God sent his son to earth he sent him as a weak human being rather than a mighty monarch. At Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the king of kings as a tiny baby. He comes in weakness not strength, he comes in humble circumstances not with pomp and circumstance. Hopefully when you are sick you go to the doctor so why would you not take the same course of action when your problems are in your head? The strong person is the one who can admit their difficulties and we all have difficulties and problems-maybe this terrible agony experienced by Gary Speed’s family and friends will serve to highlight this scourge which has cost too many lives. Too many people have died “before their time”. Even Christian ministers are guilty of the pretence of being strong and needing no help-don’t walk alone, you have been created by God to live in community so use your community as your support base and talk to those you can trust to help and listen. Christmas is about God coming in weak human flesh-Happy Christmas .

When people start to pray they find that things begin to change- in fact what happens is that they begin to change! How could we talk to God, face to face and not be changed? it would seem very natural that having a direct experience of God would prove to be transformational. But who can pray? Do we have to be doctrinally sound before we can p[ray? Does God only hear the prayer of the penitent before conversion? When I tried to get a prayer room established a brother let it be known that he could not take p[art in it because of the possible presence of Roman Catholics. This is not a surprise when it comes from an infant in Christ but when it comes from a mature Christian I begin to wonder. I understand that doctrinal soundness comes with experience but I should not expect all those who pray with me to share the same doctrine with me. is it not possible that God will do the changing within us and without? Lets face it the possibility of anyone knocking down the doors to pray are very slim, at the moment anyway. Pray is only the start. What we need in our city are little colonies of Christians of all denominations gathering to ask God to change them and change the city-praying for the various government departments, hospitals, churches, communities and individuals. While praying for the individual salvation of people we miss the point if that is where we stop-we need to pray for and work for the transformation of the city, for the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah `Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you" With this promise we will have peace in our community. That is something well worth praying for so we should be encouraging those islands of prayer.

It really seems to me that the time has come for us to take the battle to the enemy. Then time for sitting back is over, we neeed to fight with the weapons we have-the full Armour of God. At the end of Ephesians Paul tells the Christians to pray and Jesus calls the temple a House of Prayer. In our congregation we are too weak to do anything else but pray, we are too small and insignificant to do anything else. Over the next few years we will spend our time developing the congregation into a place and space for prayer. In recent days some political and community leaders have called for the walls of Belfast to be dismantled while others have said that it is still too soon for this to happen-the people living close to the walls are not ready, they still feel threatened and need the protection offered by the walls. If the church of Jesus Christ really is the gift of God to the community as St Augustine claimed it to be then we need to fight with God chose gifts and that has to include prayer-prayer for the transformation of the community-the question remains to be "how do we turn the church into a House of Prayer?