Can a Christian grow all on their own? (Yet another lesson from the Pandemic)

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Richard Wurmbrand 

Now largely forgotten, Richard Wumbrand was imprisoned by the Communists for 14 years. 

“All the biblical descriptions of hell and the pains of Dante’s inferno are nothing compared with the tortures in communist prisons” he wrote in Tortured for Christ.  So terrible were some, “my heart would fail if I should tell them again.”

Three of those years were spent in solitary confinement. How did he survive, especially in those years of isolation? Well he was, of course, never alone, and to play his own part in the preservation of his mind he set himself to writing and then memorising hundreds of sermons, of which he was able to remember over 300 when he came out. You can read them for yourself in Sermons in Solitary Confinement. 

Some of those sermons are frankly strange. That strangeness is sometimes because his walk with God was closer than the reader's: we the spiritually poorer  are the truly strange ones. But at other times the eccentricity can only be attributed to his lack of human companionship. 

Every human being needs other human beings. 

Adam enjoyed the unclouded vision of God and yet of him it was said "it is not good for the man to be alone." Humans need humans and without others we grow strange at the least and crackers at the most. Many fellow prisoners around Wurmbrand lost their minds.

The question arises - "If Richard Wurmbrand could survive and perhaps even grow as a Christian on his own, surely, so can I."

To which we reply, "God is able to keep and grow his people in situations of extremity but that grace does not extend to Christians who have the opportunity to meet with other Christians but refuse to do so."

Christians cannot grow on their own. Full stop.

And here is why.

#1 God has created us to be in human relationships

That Genesis 2 statement about Adam is startling and foundational. Startling because Adam had God in his life: Who more could he need? And since Adam was sinless he experienced God in full measure. No sin clouded Adam's vision of his Creator.

"It is not good for the man to be on his own" is therefore foundational. Although initially addressed in the context of marriage, it could easily be extracted and allowed to float away from Genesis chapter 2 on its own as a fundamental and  principle for all human beings - you cannot make it on your own, fullstop. You were designed to be in relationship with other human beings. 

Of course!

We were made (Genesis 1) in the image of a social God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, dwelling eternally in loving relationship and love. Made like God we too are intrinsically social.

#2  Jesus gathered together Twelve

So when Jesus started the first church, he set the pattern, and gathered 12 men to be with him. He knew he needed their support (yes, sure, 'fine support at many crucial moments' you say) and they needed him, and they needed each other too.

The idea behind that first church of Thirteen was community. The most perfect Man who has ever lived needed other people around him. Listen to Mark 3:14:

"Jesus appointed Twelve - designating them apostles - that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach..."

The first reason he appointed Twelve was "to be with him" and then, oh yes, and by the way, also to preach and so on. 

If the Perfect Man needed others, so do we.

#3 The Body-Image of the Church reveals the way we grow

The most persistent image in the New Testament of the church is of a human body. Jesus is the mind and each believer in the local church is a body part - a hand or a foot or an eye or an ear.

And in one of Paul's last letters, and in his most developed Holy Spirit meditation on this anatomical analogy he makes it clear that spiritual growth occurs only by connection to the body:

"..speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4)

We grow, as connected to the body (which in turn is connected to the Head), we all do our different roles as interconnected parts.

For myself, I am convinced that God had in mind the interdependency of the church before all time, and then designed the body to be a reflection of the church.

So that every Christian has a walking talking illustration of the church when they look in the mirror every day and as they walk down the street.

There is no such thing as a thumb which can either survive or grow on its own. There is no such thing as an arm or ear or foot that can make it without being connected to the rest of the body.

In exactly the same way there is no such thing as a Christian who can grow or survive on their own. 

The only fingers or eyeballs or hands that we find all on their own are... dead ones. The very thought is ghoulish.

#4  Spiritual Growth is becoming more like the Person Jesus

Spiritual growth is not primarily defined by an increase of knowledge, it is defined by our whole characters becoming more Christ like. And that just aint possible in a bedroom or a library. It is only as we relate to other believers in all the mess that that can be, that we learn about ourselves and become more patient, forgiving, loving, etc. 

If spiritual growth was determined by attaining a certain grade on an exam paper then we could swat up in the privacy of our own universes. But it is not.

But, why can't I be directly connected to the Head?

But isn't it possible to be connected to Jesus directly and miss out all this messy relationship people stuff?  Can't I be a thumb sewed directly to the Skull? No, that's not how biology or ecclesiology works. We are connected to the Head through our connection to the body. You can't miss out the church.

But what if I read my Bible all day long and pray all night long all alone in my bedroom? Won't I get close to God all on me tod?

No, not at all. Since that is not God's method of growth into Christlikeness it's not possible. You may grow in knowledge but you deceive only yourself if you think you are becoming more Christlike. Paul had to pop the bubble of someone who thought they were getting close to God through knowledge alone, "He has lost connection with the head." (Colossians 2:19) Ouch! 

We grow together

The only way we grow in Christ is in close and accountable community with other brothers and sisters.

When we're in those relationships we grow, we stabilise and we are protected from the prowling seek-out-the-lone-ones lion.

When we try to make it on our own, we end up strange and weird and unbalanced and supremely, unlike Jesus.

Richard Wurmbrand (again)

When RW came out of solitary confinement, he spent time in the West preaching. He spent some time in London with an English pastor who years later brought to mind the days he spent with RW. RW was a strange man, he recalled. Strange because he had spent years all on his own.

True Christlikeness is impossible to attain on our own. It's only achieved in the sometimes messy relationships we experience in the glorious church of Jesus Christ. 

There our foolish imbalances are moderated and our weaknesses and foibles both born and exposed by our brothers and sisters.

Too many Christians, post-pandemic, have opted for isolation. But that way lies only spiritual stagnation and the real possibility of backsliding.

10 Lessons from the Pandemic for Churches

 Photo by CDC on Unsplash

 It's simply too soon to Know

The official US Government report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks exonerated the  major security agents for failing to alert the Government beforehand: this sort of attack was terra nova on the terrorist front. That report also exonerated the   immediate, well-meaning but wrong, responses of the Government. 

Do you remember how President Bush grounded all aircraft? Understandable but unecessary. 

In the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event it is too soon to make judgements. Time must pass. The dust must settle. The fog of war must clear.

It is in that light that I submit the following ten observations from the pandemic - in the full knowledge that they may prove to be off-the-mark in the years to come. The first and the tenth are the most significant.

#1  We have learnt that invisible (but invaluable) bonds are formed merely by in-person meeting

God has designed the social world such that bonds are formed between people who meet and talk in the flesh, in person. The mere fact that they meet body-to-body forms these invisible bonds.

These bonds include the bond of love - we naturally ask how the other is; the bond of simple encouragement - here is another human being just like me; and the bond of accountability - here's a fellow 'mirror' who 'judges' me and through whom my life is assessed.

No digital form of communcation compares to in-person. Not Zoom, nor Email, nor Text nor phone call. None of these come close to the physical or bodily presence of another.

This is how God has wired the social world and this is how the Son of God revealed his presence with us. Not as an almost-human theophany nor as a holy hologram, but in the flesh, God incarnate.

When Christians meet, those bonds take on a new dimension because of the witness of the Holy Spirit who lives within each one of us and binds us together 'with cords that cannot be broken.'

The Holy Spirit, however, does not over-ride the already-created social world, but redeems and sanctifies it. 

When Christians meet these invisible - almost mystical - bonds are maintained and grow. And when we cease to meet in person those bonds are easily weakend, and even broken.

#2  We have learnt that our natural weaknesses are made worse by human isolation

Since a natural accountability takes place merely by the event of meeting up with our brothers and sisters in person, when we cease to do so, our own weaknesses can easily be accentuated. 

Someone with a faulty bias for one particular doctrine is kept in check by the community of God's people: simply by the bonds of community. The moment they cease meeting with those people, their biases grow until inevitably they move up the scale from tertiary to secondary to primary importance rendering that person unable to meet any longer with any group that doesn't now hold their now elevated but in reality quaternary (of the fourth importance) doctrines.

#3  We have learnt that there is no substitute for personal pastoral visits 

Jesus did all his 'pastoral' work in person. Whether teaching his disicples or restoring Peter, all the Chief Shepherd's work was done in bodily presence. There is something very powerful about bodily presence, something more powerful than a phone call or an email or a text - or even a zoom call. 

Writing is always second fiddle to the personal: "I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with pen and ink. Instead, I hope to see you soon and speak with you face to face." (3 John 13-14)

#4  We have learnt the great value of the Small Group

If only we paid more attention to the Gospels and the discipleship style of Jesus. Many churches pay more attention to Paul's 13 doctrinal letters than to the 4 Gospels. At the core of his ministry Jesus called together twelve men - a small number - to be with one another. Sure they learnt from him most of all, but they also learnt by being in community with each other: think of how many weaknesses were exposed in communion with one another!

During the past 18 monhts, believers plugged into small groups have fared much better than believers who have thought they could make it on their own.

#5  We have discovered a pandemic of loneliness in our world

People who were already lonely have experienced a double isolation, and many who were not lonely before have experienced it for the first time, isolated from communties and loved ones. 

If ever there was a Gospel opportunity, here is one for today: befriend the Eleanor Rigbys of our lost world.

# 6   We have learnt that without personal connection believers either drift away or don't grow, or both

We already knew that didn't we? There is no such thing as individual, private spiritual growth, "me in my small corner and you in yours."  We grow in community with brothers and sisters. Without their admonition and encouragement we grow weird, don't grow or simply drift away. 

The old "take a coal out of the fire and it will grow cold" analogy is spot on. The Holy Spirit does not over-ride the supportive relational structures God first formed in the world of human beings at creation.

#7  We have been reminded that Satan goes after the lone sheep

Old knowledge for anyone who has watched lions hunting on the Serengeti. A zebra or wildebeest on its own is prime target for lions. 

And a Christian on their own, either deliberately or unwantedly, will find themselves in the enemy's sights. We are minded of John Wesley's rebuke to Whitfield (a brilliant evangelist who did not, however make gathering converts together a top priority, as Wesley did), I paraphrase, "To preach like an angel but not gather the converts together is to beget children for the devil."

On this one, Wesley was 100% right, Whitfield was 100% wrong.

#8  We have had to learn to do evangelism in new ways

How do we reach a frightened population stuck in the confines of their own four walls? We can place a "Bag of Hope" on their doorstep. Filled with useful things like puzzles and colouring sheets and seeds and face masks. And Gospel tracts. Then we ring the doorbell. Then take four paces back. And when the owner appears explain that this bag of hope comes from Christians with love - and it's free, just like the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

#9 We have learnt that sermons can be shorter

(At least some of the time.) It takes more effort to hone them, maybe, but our shorter attention-span folks can perhaps better learn from the shorter than the longer.

#10  We have learnt that no pandemic can hinder the work of the Gospel or the progress of the Kingdom of God!

This is by far the greatest lesson of the last 18 months. The kingdom of God has grown and flourished. Believers have grown in grace, unbelievers converted and baptised and discipled.

Nothing can hold back the glorious advance of God's kingdom. Persecution didn't. Colonialism hasn't. Wars don't. And nor do pandemics. 

Praise God.

Who knows, we may revise one or all of these observations once the fog of pandemic clears and we are able to see things a little more clearly. 

Above all, we know that the Gospel which is the power of God, will flourish until the day Jesus returns and establishes his eternal kingdom.

Do Bishops Exist? The Curious Case of Nazir-Ali

 Photo by Z I on Unsplash

All this fuss about Nazir-Ali

You may have missed the news, but an Anglican Bishop, a former Bishop of Rochester, recently defected to the Roman Catholics. Once touted as a possible archbishop, the Pakistani-born bishop, a good man, explained why he has moved over to the Catholics:

"...I am deeply saddened that the Church of England is not the church I joined. There are many individual parishes, priests, and believers who remain committed to biblical faith and values. But as an institution it seems to be losing its way.."

So far so good: many other Bible-believing Christians are of the same opinion, that the CofE is drifting away from its Scriptural moorings - fast.

So why is this reputedly-evangelical bishop moving to the Catholics? Why doesn't he join his local evangelical church up t' road?  

“...I am excited about the opportunities that joining the ordinariate will bring: to uphold human rights and help millions of suffering Christians and others round the world. The Catholic Church is a truly united global organization, which gives it strength.”

Being a low-church creature I have little idea what "joining the ordinariate" means. Except that the Catholics have created a special division to receive wayward ex-anglicans (back) into their fold.

What is a Bishop, Pray Tell?

What's lost in all the fuss is the basic question - what is a bishop? If a bishop is someone really important - like the Apostle Paul or Charles Spurgeon - then his defection may matter. 

But Nazir-Ali is only a bishop, and bishops do not actually exist in heaven's view.

There is no office in the New Testament called 'bishop.' The three words used for church leaders are all interchangeable, presbuteros (elder), poimen (pastor) and episkopos. This latter one is sometimes translated bishop, but it refers to the one and same office as the other two. 

These three words are interchangeably used by Holy Writ to express different aspects of the role of a church leader. Presbuteros emphasises the spiritual maturity of the man, poimen emphasises his caring pastoral side and episkopos his leading side.

In the New Testament we have elders (the spiritual leaders described by the three words above) and deacons (practical servants). 

That's it. No bishops.

The man-made office of bishop arose by the year 100AD to fill an authority gap that was caused by the death of the apostles. In the twilight zone between the apostles' deaths and the completed canon of the New Testament where could you go to know what was the truth and what was not? The creeds were one important  way of knowing what truths were most important, and the invention of a new office- the bishop - was another.

The man-made office of bishop filled an understandable authority gap for the church in this era. Bishops became leaders of groups of churches. So now you had ordinary pastors presided over by the big-shot pastors called bishops. Human ideas, human organisation, human hierarchy...

(And then, of course, once you have created one extra-biblical office, it's only a step away to create another - an overall bishop, a father bishop, a papa bishop, a pope. But that's a tale for another time.)

So Bishops don't exist

Seen through the eyes of Scripture, then, bishops just simply do not exist. They are an impostor office. The very most that can be said for a man who is called a bishop is that he is the pastor of his local church.

No-one should recognise a bishop as anything other than an ordinary pastor. No-one should bow and scrape at their feet. No-one should obey them (unless he is your local pastor). 

Set in the light of Scripture, Nazir-Ali is just an ordinary Christian bloke. He's not even a church pastor - he's just an ordinary Christian bloke like you and me.

An ordinary bloke defects to the Catholics

No need to make a fuss, then about his defection. Sure, it's as odd as can be that someone who once called himself an evangelical has moved from a protestant denomination to pre-protestant Catholics.

But let's also remember that not only does heaven not recognise bishops, heaven does not recognise human organisations or denominations. All heaven recognises are local churches, one here, one there, spread out across the world, each acccountable to their invisble Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these churches are true faithful congregations of God's people and some of them are not.

From heaven's viewpoint, then, what has Nazir-Ali done?

I have no idea what local church he used to worship in and no idea what local church he is now attending. And I have no idea if the latter is more, or less faithful, than the previous. 

All I do know is that when heaven looks down, it does not see a big-shot moving from one big spiritual grouping to another. All the angels see is one ordinary Christian who has moved from one local church (true or false) to another (true or false).

When we boil away the human traditions in this story that is all we have. 

The church needs to stop paying any attention to foolish transient man-made titles, whether Dr, Sir or Bishop and start looking at the world the way God does.

Nazir-Ali's defection really is no big deal. 

At all.

Global Warming - A priority for Christians?

Photo by Fateme Alaie on Unsplash 

The New (Global) Ethics

You would have thought from the attention being given to global warming across the media, that this issue should be the greatest priority for everyone on the planet.

Sweeping right across the globe through the internet and especially through social media, a new global ethics has emerged. No longer are faithfulness and honesty and integrity and truthfulness the moral compasses we should follow, but in their place are a small handful of new "must-have" moral imperatives.

If you are found wanting on any one of these, though you might be honest, faithful in marriage, truthful and kind, you are backward, on the wrong side of history and a moral dinosaur - or worse.

You must, for example champion gay rights. You must champion the right of anyone who wishes to attempt to change their gender. And of course you must be an eco-warrior.

To either disagree with any of these new Global Ethical Priorities or to place other priorities above them is to attract the condemnation of the world's ethical elite. 

The truth of course, is that man-made Global Ethics come and goes. Why tie yourself to a changing system which will be outdated before the century is half out?

For we who love the Lord, it would be very easy to absorb, via websmosis, the ethical pirorities of the world around us, rather than being transformed by the renewing of minds shaped by the light of Scripture. 

Christians are called to steward all of God's gifts - including the Planet

We can respond positively. Christians, convinced that God created this world which in turn reveals his glory, believe that we are called to steward all of his good gifts. 

Placed in the garden to take care of it, Adam and Eve were given the enormous privilege of both enjoying creation and caring for it (Genesis 2:15). As kings and queens over God's world (Genesis 1:28) we should care for it and expect one day a reckoning on how we looked after all the gifts God has graciously given to us -including the planet. 

So, just as we are to be good stewards of the spiritual gifts we have been given, just as we are to be good stewards of the money and possessions God has given us, so we are called to be stewards of the created (not natural) world around us.

And what a beautiful world it is!

 

Photo by Qingbao Meng on Unsplash

Knowledge brings responsibility

The only reason climate change has come to the fore as a global issue is the advance of science. Not only have scientists gathered evidence that shows the damage we are presently doing to the earth's sensitive ecosystems and climatic conditions, we now have powerful computer modelling which allows us to predict the future. 

And although all computer modelling is highly sensitive to input conditions and modelling assumptions, there is no reason to disbelieve the key predictions: that through the emission of harmful gasses into the atmosphere we are all wreaking havoc on this fragile world.

(We must remember that computer modelling of systems as complex as the whole earth's climate, past and future are fallible. The weather forecast over my house is wrong at least 50% of the time, and that is a much smaller model. There's no reason to doubt the main findings of climate change models, but never put your trust in science or scientists who are as fallible as the rest of us).

This new knowledge brings responsibility. Before Christians knew that smoking was dangerous to our bodies, "a smoke and a pint to the glory of God" could be excused. But now we know smoking damages the temple of the Holy Spirit, smoking is rightly frowned upon. 

Knowledge brings responsibility.

Fine Tuning

As an aside, no-one in the present debate seems to be taking notice of how come our present climatic conditions are so so Goldilocks (just right) like.  Hidden away in the present debate is one of the many proofs of the existence of a creator God. 

The nations of the world want to limit the average global increase to 1.5 degrees Centigrade. Think about it. The beautiful world we live in has been so finely tuned that a change of only a few degrees will upset the balance and cause catastrophic and permanent disaster. 

Our temperature scale begins at - 273 degrees C (absolute zero), runs up to 0 degrees C at which water melts, all the way to 100 degrees at which water turns into a vapour. Across that 400 degree range, just a change of a few degrees will wreak havoc!

How come this incredible fine-tuning? It looks as though a great mind has played a role in shaping the complex conditions of planet earth, does it not? 

We should be using the present crisis evangelistically, as just one more fine-tuning argument which points to the existence of a good Creator.

Do what you can

Every believer should settle in their own mind how they can and should personally play a role in reducing their negative impact on the environment. Walk more, car less, buy less, recyle more, and so on.

Each must be convinced in his or her mind without compulsion - and for sure without sermons. God forbid that churches should now become the champions of the new ethics!

But, how important is this Planet?

There is however, in a mind informed by Scripture, a very big question mark over the future of this particular planet. God has revealed to us his future plans, and they include the renewing of this present creation.

We know that God has a Planet B.

We know that this planet's days are numbered, because we and it belong to a cursed creation that is "in bondage to decay." (Romans 8:21)

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time." (Romans 8:22)

We know - for sure - that this planet is doomed.

"The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3:10)

"In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)

It is not that we don't care for our present planet, it's that we know for sure that we cannot ultimately save it. We know humanity's future does not lie here. We know God is going to recreate the whole of the cosmos including the earth, so we are looking forward to a "new heaven and a new earth", as John looks forward, "for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." (Revelation 21:1)

The reason this world is under a curse is because humanity, which in God's eyes is far more important than the earth, is under a curse because of sin. The earth's past, present and future is intimately connected to mankind's sin.

So the reason the world will be made new, is because God is planning to make his new humanity, the church, brand new. They will be given new resurrection, never-to-die-again, bodies. 

"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed..." (Romans 8:19)

Once mankind's redemption is made clear, the earth will be renewed. 

Our hope is not in this present planet - the Scriptures tell us that it is ultimately doomed. Let's do what we can, but in the end God's judgement upon a fallen world will prevail.

Our hope is in a made-new heavens and earth, where there will be no curse.

Summing it all Up

Should we care for the planet? Yes we should, for God made it and expects us to look after it. 

Should global warming become our primary ethical issue? Absolutely not. The greatest priority of the church is not to slavishly follow the contours and vagaries of here-today-gone-tomorrow global ethics but to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the invisible souls of mankind our top priority, so that men and women reconciled to God can have hope for the world to come and look forward to a new heavens and a new earth.

The Gospel remains our top priority - not Global warming. 

Our great hope is that one day King Jesus Christ is returning to planet earth in splendour and glory to bring earth's history to an end and to usher in a new heavens and a new earth. 

And all those who trust in him will enjoy this new eternal world of joy.