Doing an ordinary thing

Tomorrow I'll be doing an ordinary thing. It's not a big thing, just a simple thing. Tomorrow I'll give someone the help they need to get a job done. It will cost me some time, it will cost me some effort. I'll have to make conversation with someone I don't know that well, but I hope I'll know a little better by the end of our trip.

I could spend my day doing extraordinary things. I could do some big things. I could, but I won't because often I find God in the small things.

I'd love to do some big things. I'd love to tell you stories of how God has used me to influence this person and that person. I'd love to tell you all about the people who have come to faith because of the amazing ministry I have, but I won't. I can't. Mine is not a ministry like that.

Mine is a ministry of small things. I don't minimise what I do, after all I'm in the business of doing things that have eternal significance. There are people wandering around this small green/blue planet who are living lives closer to God, not because of me, but because of something God spoke into their lives through me.

This is not a delusion of grandeur, it's what I do, it's what God does through me, and I like being used by God. It's just I'm a minster of small things, and I don't despise the day of small things because maybe a big day is coming. And if it's not, then I'd be wasting my time waiting around for it and I'd be missing out on such a lot of opportunities to do something significant for the kingdom when I do a small thing in a small way at a small cost.

So here's to the small things.Here's to my little road trip tomorrow.

You never know, I might be reporting something big because of it!

One small step

A little while ago I wrote about our aims and objectives at church. This last Sunday we began to explore them together as a congregation. Rather than just give everyone the answers, we decided that it would be a good idea to try something a little more interactive. So I presented the first of our big themes "The Journey".

Briefly I went through the background and then some basic principles of what I believe is a Biblical approach to walking with people on their spiritual journey. After that we invited the congregation to divide into small groups and answer three questions. These were:

1. Who is on your heart at this time? This could be someone for whom they have been praying for a long time, or maybe someone with whom they have recently made a connection.

2. What groups of people are on your heart at this time? This could be "the elderly" or "the homeless".

Neither of these proved too hard for anyone. We had a big board at the front with a line on it to represent the spiritual journey and we wrote the names of folk down on post-its and stuck them on the board along the line. Not very scientific, but it served to illustrate the point that every person can be in a different place on their spiritual journey and that means that we will need to do something different for them to help them along the way towards Jesus Christ.

The third question stumped almost everyone.

3. What should we do differently to help these people take another step on their spiritual journey?

Over at withreach.com there's an interesting quote from a survey done about church credibility in the community. I'll simply quote the thing in full (if you want to go to the webpage it's here):

• A large religious publisher asked on a nationwide survey what churches ought to do more of in order to be credible and true to purpose. Among respondents who are active in a church, the predominant answers focused on sharing Christ (and on worship). The predominant answer from non-church attenders:
  
  Do more for the poor and the hungry
  
  We often validate ourselves by outreach, by the Great Commission. The people we want to reach validate us by the Great Commandment.
  
  But it’s slightly more subtle than that.
  
  The subtly has to do with the very concept of outreach. Outreach categorizes people as “in” or “out,” and targets the ones who are out. We tend to be very skilled at this. We name committees and annual campaigns “outreach,” we have “outreach” training, buy “outreach” programs. But few people like to be targeted.
  
  What people do respond to, is when we seek to come alongside, connect with them naturally and at a meaningful level, develop community with them, listen for their heart’s dream as well as their hurts and needs, discern what God may already have begun within them, and journey with them toward God and toward God’s dreams for them and for us.
  
  As to the matter of doing more for the poor and hungry, people in contemporary America – think of your neighbors – are far more likely to respond to being asked to help, than to be the “target” of our charity. “Withreach” applies to the Great Commandment as well.

I was quite surprised by how stumped we were when it came to thinking differently. Eventually a few things emerged, but it was a real challenge.

Perhaps the nuts and bolts of the answer lies in the coming alongside and the listening.

I'm looking forward to next week when we talk about building great Christian community. Let the revolution begin!!

Just a thought

Been away at Spring Harvest. Quite enjoyed ourselves too.

While away, I read this verse in Luke's Gospel:

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
(Luke 15:1 NLT)

Now I know this is not true of my ministry, and I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing it's not true of many other ministries either.

This is not a criticism, it's just an observation. I mean, wouldn't it be really great if people who needed Jesus actually came to listen to us talk about him? But they don't. Perhaps we just don't have the same draw that Jesus had. Perhaps they don't think we want them to come into our nice tidy world, a world where they fear judgement rather than expect acceptance.

Perhaps.

Finishing well

Last Sunday I finished off the series on The Sermon on the Mount that we've been doing at church. We reviewed what we'd been learning about character, influence, righteousness, disciplined discipleship, and relationships. The final part of course is all about the wise and foolish builders.
It strikes me that one of the reasons Jesus finishes with this illustration is that the gospel is all about choice. It's your choice whether to follow Jesus or not. So he says make a wise choice. But secondly, I think he is also making the point that you need to make a wise choice of foundation precisely because the storms of life will come. You will have days when the rain pours down and floods rise up against you. And on that day, you need to know you're on a sure foundation.
This got me thinking, and I asked myself a question and I asked the congregation the same question too. Why is it that too many Christians appear to start strong and finish weak? Why do they, do we start well and finish poorly?
I have an unwritten goal for my Christian life and that is to make my last day my most effective day for the sake of the kingdom. I want to finish well. I haven't defined what finishing well might look like, perhaps I don't need to. Perhaps that's best left to God who will, one day, welcome me into heaven. If I do need to define it, it won't be defined in terms of numbers or how well-known or influential I've become on some grand scale. I just know that finishing poorly is not on my agenda. I want to finish well, I want to finish strongly.
A few years ago my Dad passed away, and a couple of years before that my Mum died. Both of them were around 80 years of age. By my calculation that leaves me around 30 years if I reach the same age. Maybe I'll live longer, maybe not, only God knows that one. But 30 years is a long time to wait if it's going to be a poor finish. So I'm thinking 30 years is long enough for me to make a real contribution to the kingdom.
So, in the words of Isaiah, a favourite among the prophets, "Here I am Lord, send me."And maybe, my epitaph will be, "He finished well!" Or maybe not.

Burying my head in the sand

According to a raft of emails I've received over the last week or so, this is exactly what I'm doing if I don't protest about a planned mosque to built in time for the 2012 Olympics in London. According to the email Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, plans to use taxpayers money to build this mosque and we should, as good Christians, protest at this.

Now I don't know what Mr Livingstone's actual plans are, and I have to say that I would be a little concerned if the plan was to use so-called "tax-payer money" for the whole project. But another part of me is really concerned at the way we're being drawn into protesting about these kind of things. I'm just wondering if it's the right approach.

I went to see the film Amazing Grace the other day. I was deeply moved by it. I'm still not sure if it really did justice to the issues and the story, but it was okay. Here was a man, Wilberforce, who was moved by God and encouraged by others to protest at the highest levels of government. For years his protests led nowhere, but eventually the transatlantic slave trade was ended.

Through Wilberforce's Bill, the world was changed and he went on to be involved in many other examples of social change in the UK. This is Christian "protesting" at it's best.

If you are going to sign, or have already signed, the petition about the mosque then let me ask you what you're doing about modern slavery or issues of social justice. Are you as vocal about these issues as you are concerned about a religious building? I know for some this building project is another step along the road towards the eventual suppression of all things Christian. I know many people fear the rise of philosophies and religious movements that might one day remove our rights and erode our Christian heritage. But maybe the best way to preserve our heritage is to focus on the issues that move God's heart. Remember the words of Amos the prophet:

He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with the Lord your God. (Amos 6:8)

Taking it on the chin

One of the key leadership skills that I don't hear many people talk about is how to handle criticism. It's bound to come your way from time to time, and how you deal with it is key to moving forward. So here are some of my random rules for dealing with criticism.

1. It hurts. Criticism always hurts. Recognising that it hurts helps me to process it more objectively. I think that's because I know it's okay to hurt but it's not okay to lash out and strike back or to dwell on it or let it fester.

2. Don't make snap responses. I remember a good friend of mine saying that once you're in ministry, you're in the firing line. The best thing, he said, was not to respond by justifying yourself. That just produces an argument. In fact make your first response a thank you for the other person's courage to be honest and their care for you in bringing the matter to your attention. You'll be surprised at how often that calms the storm.

3. Reflect. Often, no matter how poorly handled and presented, there is a seed of truth in the criticism. The things I most often get criticised about usually reflect an area of my character, ministry or life that needs addressing. Not necessarily in the way the purveyor of the criticism thinks, but in some way. Sometimes they are so wide of the mark, that there is no basis for the criticism. If, after reflecting, I feel that way, I try and check out my conclusions with someone I trust. Rule 4 kicks in.

4. Always have someone who can help you process the big stuff. Actually processing the little stuff can need help too, because unprocessed or processed badly just makes it big stuff sooner or later.

5. Discern the voice behind the criticism. My friend Andy White blogged about working alone and the issues surrounding the inner voice of doom. Discerning the root of the voice of criticism is vital to healthy processing. When criticism comes it often arouses feelings of low self-worth after you've finished being angry. (If you're only ever angry about criticism see rule 3!) The inner voice begins to tell you that you have no value, that you're not cut out for leadership, that God can't possible use you etc. etc. It's simply not true. I'm doing what I do because God has called me and gifted me to do it. I just don't do it the way some people want it done. Sometimes that's my fault because I get things wrong, I focus on the wrong thing and I'm not too hot on organising myself. But if I'm anybody's failure then I'm God's failure and I know he still loves me even.

6. Be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up, there are plenty of people out there in the wider world who would gladly do that for you, and they'd probably do a better job anyway.

7. If the first 6 rules haven't worked, go buy yourself a cup of your favourite coffee, or in my case fruit smoothie, and put the criticism to one side until you're in better shape to deal with it all.

Now, where are my car keys....

Take an ordinary walk

Back in 1991 I attended what I believe was the first Willow Creek conference in the UK. It was in Birmingham, and I remember driving from my then home in Newark in Nottinghamshire each morning at 6:00am to be there.

That conference radically affected my view of church. For many years I’d wondered about the relationship between the “unchurched” and the church. Like many events, and books, and conversations since then, that conference opened up a whole new vocabulary for my thinking.
Since then I’ve wandered through the worlds of Ordinary Attempts, emerging church, organic church, servant evangelism and a few others along the way. All the time I’ve been trying to synthesise how I feel about the church, about mission and most importantly how God feels about it.

I’m still trying. But what I’m beginning to find is that there is a thread running through many current ideas and approaches to outreach. I’m hoping one day to find a way of connecting the dots and seeing a bigger picture emerge. At church we’re getting clearer about our vision and the kind of church God is calling us to become.

Recently I got hold of a new resource from Willow Creek called Just walk across the room. It must be two or three years since I first heard Bill Hybels talk about this approach to evangelism. One of our small groups is about to engage with the four-week programme and I’m looking forward to being a part of that group.

In a nutshell the course is all about how to take simple steps that point people to faith. For me, it sits comfortably alongside everything I’ve been learning about serving others, doing OA’s and simply trying to connect people who are far from God with the God who loves them.
A quote from the book helps explain where it all begins to connect up:

If we share the dream to become radically loving, outwardly focused, grace-giving people, then we ought to be the first ones to expand our hearts and invite folk to come into the kingdom.
Just walk across the room, p66

I’m desperate to become more effective in inviting others to join this journey of faith. And I believe passionately that it was never meant to be as hard as we’ve made it over the centuries since Jesus began his world-changing movement.

Later in the book, Bill Hybels talks about the incident in the gospels when Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. He talks about how the Pharisees were looking for something to hang an accusation on and how they might even of found the guy with the withered hand and invited him to the synagogue to see what would happen He finishes by speculating about the conversation Jesus and the healed man might have had.

… I envision Jesus saying, “… what are your plans? Juggling? Piano? What is it that you dream about doing, my friend?”
In my imagination, they chat about this man’s long-awaited passion pursuits. And possibly the man turns to Jesus and says, “Well, what are your dreams?”…
I imagine Jesus articulating his dream with words that are absolutely captivating to me:
“You know, I dream that someday, places of worship will be filled with people who lay awake at night concerned about the human beings my Father created. Who care about broken bodies and broken souls and hopeless futures and hell-bound eternities. I dream of the day when people who gather in my name are so filled with the love of the Father that they go out and spread his love and extend healthy hands to withered hands-praying, coaching, and encouraging them to live walk in the fullness of life. I dream of worship centres filled with radically loving, outwardly focused, Christ-sharing people. That’s what I dream about.”
Walk p 74

These extracts don’t do the book justice and they certainly don’t tell the whole story. But I dream about it too. Do you?

Another "Proud Dad" moment

Here's Ally talking to Kevin MaCloud, the presenter of Grand Designs about her photographs.

She was asked to submit some of her work to be used in a new Estate Agents in the town. Six of her photographs were chosen.

Apparently they were well admired.

Here's a picture of the display.

Say thank you, and see if it makes a difference

I was reading through various blogs this morning and came across two things that tweaked at my imagination. The first was a post on Tim Sanders blog about the need to make sure we compliment each other.

He comments:

The premise is simple: You cannot let your people wither away and die at work. Many of them desperately need their talents recognized by you, be they as small as they might be in your P&L view...

...When it comes to management strategies, remember, Love Is The Killer App.

It seems to me that this principle applies at church too. As a leader I make it my business to say thank you to people. I thank the members of the worship group each Sunday. I also try to thank everyone who has made a contribution that day, and I guess I ought to thank folk for just turning up and being a part of what God is doing in our midst.

This kind of connected with the next thing I read from Total Leadership on the leader and corporate worship.

Tad Thompson writes:

Now this one may sound easy for a pastor or even a lay leader. But for me, it is possible to preach and not worship corporately. See the temptation is in viewing the preaching as my job and not as worship. Ministry can become a job and not worship. In the days of Josiah, the temple was no longer the place of worship and the book of law had been lost somewhere in a dark, dusty corner. The temple was in disarray because corporate worship had been ignored.

A true leader worships God with God’s people. This is a non-negotiable. Today worship has become negotiable because it is seen as entertainment. It is not seen as a means for the protection of our very soul.

Now what struck me is that whilst not everyone will agree that worship has become entertainment, we must agree that it certainly has to compete with many other things for a person's commitment. Perhaps they get thanked for their involvement with Sunday football, but never thanked for being at worship. Perhpas people are not committment shy but feeling under valued at church.

I know it's not about us, but we live in such a self-centred world that we need to connect with people where they start and not where we want them to finish. So let's try saying thank you a little more often.

Wisdom to live by

Check out these 6 principles of wisdom form the churchrelevance.com site.

Beeson's wisdom.

My favourite:

Just keep doing the next right thing.“I don’t have to worry about everything, I just need to focus on doing the next right thing, right now, in front of me in this very minute. Then, after that decision is made, I can move on to the next right thing.”

Looking for unity

There is a well known phrase drawn from the Old Testament that goes something like this:

Where brothers (and sisters) live together in harmony, that's where God commands a blessing.

It comes from Psalm 133, but, as I far as I know, it's not a verse form the Bible although it's often quoted as such. I've searched in as many ways as i can, and as ever I have this nagging thought that I've missed something, but as I said, as far as can tell it's not a direct quote.

That's not the point though. The point is that in-fighting in the church has to stop. There is too much at stake. The world needs a better example of problem solving and difference resolution than we currently give it.

We are one, church. We share one faith, one Lord, one baptism. Now I know how hard that is to accept, but it's the truth.

I've just read a blog entry outlining a talk given by Thom Rainer, and he speaks powerfully about the choices we need to make to work towards a better unity in the church. I know he's speaking from the perspective of the SBC, but surely it goes beyond our narrow denominational boundaries too.

Here is his list of commitments. I know nothing about the first one, but everything after that is a challenge!

Though I am a fallible and sinful person, I will seek God’s power to stay true to the following:

1. I stand firm on the inerrant Word of God. I support without reservation the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

2. Though I may disagree with some on secondary and tertiary issues, I will not let those points of disagreement tear down bridges of relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ.

3. I will seek to join with those who will work together on the common causes of missions, evangelism and the health of the local church.

4. I will seek God’s will in prayer before I write or speak a word of disagreement against another brother or sister in Christ or even a non-Christian. I will seek to see the plank in my own eye before pointing out the splinter in another person’s eye. I will follow the truths of Matthew 18 when I feel that I need to confront a brother or sister in Christ.

5. I will spend more time rejoicing in the Lord (Phil 4:4).

6. I will seek God’s power to have a more gentle and Christlike spirit (Phil 4:5).

7. I will pray that the lost and the unchurched world will know me by my Christlike love.

Such is my commitment.

If God so leads, I invite you to join me in building bridges.

Aims and Objectives

We, the leadership team at Cotton End, spent the day away together to talk about various leadership issues. One of the things we've been trying to do over recent months is to get some real clarity about the vision and call that God has for us.

As part of that process we worked on some aims. There's still a lot to do, but when I and a helpful church member distilled it all down, we came up with the following.

Cotton End Baptist Church - Aims & Objectives:

Our Five core values are a deep commitment to: (1) Jesus, (2) each other, (3) The Community, (4) authentic Christian lifestyle and (5) to prayer & worship.

Our Purpose is: To love as many people as possible into a deep and growing relationship with Jesus. To support everyone on their spiritual journey so that everyone can be involved in ministry and mission. Enabling more people to follow Jesus better.

In order to fulfil this call from God, our Aims are to:

Walk with people on their journey with God (recognising that we are all on that journey).

That means:

• Being a place to ask questions about life, that is safe, without prejudice or pressure.
• Enabling all to come under Biblical Teaching and adopt increasing Biblical lifestyles (which are authentic Christian lifestyles, or Holiness).
• Giving people space and time to grow in their understanding and experience of God.
  Accepting people who wish to belong before believing.
• Helping everyone learn to worship & pray, in ways honouring our God given diversity.
• Offering support to all at every age and every stage of life and spiritual journey.
  

Build Great Christian Community (based on the Bible’s teachings)

That means:

• Building great friendships
• Spending time together
• Opening our lives to each other

Play Our Full Part in the Rest of the Community (because churches are part of it too)

That means:

Getting involved in what is already happening in The Community
Work “with” The Community and not just “for” The Community
Engaging on issues of justice, poverty and oppression
Seeking to improve education, health and social welfare.
Social responsibility and caring for our environment
Being part of the DNA of The Community

Reach Out to our Neighbours

That means:

• Being intentional about building relationships and doing mission.
• By planning (disciplined thinking) and disciplined action.
• Loving as many people as possible into relationship with Jesus. (including: through kindness, influence, generosity and genuine love, helping people and serving people.)
• Showing and telling people that God loves them and Jesus has shown it

What are you saying Lord?

And as we follow your heart
We are led to the lost
Finding there a place of praise
No matter what the cost.
So, we will stand with the weak
Give our most to the least
Serving you with all we have
Your kingdom, God, we seek.

From Life of love by David Gate 1999 Kingsway's Thankyou Music

I listened to this for the first time in a long while yesterday. Made my heart slow down and wonder about what God is saying to the the church today.

I am desperate to see the church grow into what God wants it to be. I'm passionate about seeing people reconnect with the God who so loves them that he is willing to die for them.

I'm haunted by Jesus' call to feed the hungry, heal the sick and to do for the least of these what I would do for him.

What are we to do Lord? How then shall we live?

My study partner

What's cooler than a box of crayons?

If you're a "Blogger.com" user, you will recognise the question in the title of this post. I haven't investigated, but I guess it's got something to do with customising one's blog or the like. Anyway I was trying to think about what my answer would be to the question, and here's one possibility:

• Being asked my opinion by my teenage daughter.
• Listening to my teenage daughter talk about her desire to serve God and change the world.
• Watching as she gets involved in studying the Bible for herself.
• Listening to her talk about how things could be made better in church for her peer group, in a positive way.
• Talking to her about preparing a talk for the Junior CU at her school.

Maybe having a teenage daughter isn't as bad as it sometimes looks.

What a strange weekend

I sometimes wonder what a normal weekend might look like. My usual weekends include the last minute preparations for Sunday, watching Bedford Athletic play rugby (when it's a home game), trying to spend time with Anne and Ally (since learning to swim, we've tried to go once over the weekend when we get the chance), and doing all the jobs that haven't been done so far that week.
Every second weekend we're now looking to do some form of outreach event in the context of servant evangelism and this coming weekend I've got a day away with the church leadership team.
So what was strange about this last weekend? Well, for the first time as far as I can remember I was asked to go and visit someone to tell them a relative of theirs was dying. The family wanted then to hear the news in person, not via the telephone and given the distance involved, they called me and asked me to visit and share the news. It's not an easy thing to do.
There is a real sense of privilege that goes with being asked to serve a family in this way. It's unnerving too, but to be trusted with such a task far outweighs the inconvenience of having to alter your schedule to make the visit.
So I drove the 6 miles and sat down and shared the news. I made a few calls on behalf of the person receiving the news and we talked. We chatted about the person who was dying, about memories and all sorts of stuff. On Sunday I went back to share the news that death had finally come and the waiting was over.
What other role could I play that would give me such access to the ordinary lives of ordinary people who need the touch of our extraordinary God?

Gaining clarity

Over at our church blog, I post outlines of Sunday's sermons. Recently we looked at our vision, it being the beginning of the year. If there's one truth about the church and vision that I need to keep in front of me it is that people forget. If I don't regularly remind myself and the congregation what our vision is, we go off course and lose our way.

But there was something different this year. I think we're reaching a point of clarity. A point derived from 5 years of work and reflection. This is, in outline, how I presented the vision this year:

What is our vision? It’s really important that we remember at all times that we are called both to be the people of God and to do the work of mission and ministry. It’s not an “either or” it is a “both and” situation. It’s “both and” because what we do arises out of who we are, and it should always be that way around. Let’s remind ourselves then what is at the core of being Cotton End Baptist Church.

#1 A people of values

We have agreed on these five core values:

A clear commitment to Christ
Genuine, authentic Christian lifestyle
Commitment to one another
Committed to serve and to reach our community
The centrality of prayer and worship in everything we do

#2 A people on a mission

Our mission statement is: To know God and to make God known

I can’t think of a simpler way of describing the mission of the church. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was he responded with a well-known abbreviation of the Ten Commandments. Paraphrased we would probably answer that question like this: to love God wholeheartedly, to love others in the same way we want to be loved.For me, our mission statement defines our strategy.

#3 A people with a purpose

So, we have a mission and we have some values, but to what end? What’s our purpose?

Here’s a simple statement of our purpose: To love people into a deep and growing relationship with God.

Our mission, our values and our vision are all caught up in this single purpose. We are here that the world might believe in the one who came into the world and was not recognised by the world.This is why we reach out with God’s love and kindness through the car washes and the Christmas gifts. We want people to know that God loves them.

#4 A people of vision

We are a visionary people. Over the autumn we explored what it meant to be part of God’s big plan as we studied the early church in Acts. We saw how God moved his purposes forward step by step through the early church.

God has not stopped calling visionary people to take risks in his hands for the sake of the kingdom.

How would we define our vision?

Firstly, it’s not about building a big church, but a great church. A great church is one where we can believe together, belong together and build together. A great church is a church where relationships are deep not superficial, where broken lives find healing, where God is honoured and worshipped. A great church is a church that the community would miss if it were not there, a place where people come to find answers to life’s big and small questions. A great church will be a part of the DNA of the community that it serves.

Secondly, we would define our vision in terms of building a church within local communities. I’m thinking here about the opportunities in Cotton End, Shortstown and the Wixams.

#5 A people in partnership

1 Cor.12 paints a vivid picture of partnership. In the middle of his discussion about spiritual gifts, Paul presents us with this image of the church as the body of Christ. Everyone has a role to play, a gift to employ, a purpose to fulfil. We are all partners.

First we are partners with God. We are co-workers with the God who made it all, sustains it all, and will bring it all to completion. It’s his vineyard, his harvest-field, his kingdom, his call. He leads, we follow. Our question is simple: What are you doing Lord, how can I help?

Second, we are partners with each other. We have four things in common:

A shared vision
A shared set of values
A shared ministry
A shared mission

It seems to me that these 5 things are really important if we want to be clear about what we're doing, or "being" here. Perhaps the concept of partnership is less important than values, vision, mission and purpose, and maybe we'll rewrite this in the context of core convictions a la Saddleback. I don't know. What I do know is that this outline has helped me get clearer about what I'm doing in this place.

Wedges and sticks

I've just read an article in The Baptist Times which tries, reasonably successfully, to set out both sides of the protest or not protest argument. The problem is that it becomes a choice... in the blue corner we have the EA and in the red corner Faithworks.

Part of the EA argument is that this is the thin end of the wedge. What wedge is that? Is this a prophetic statement or the worried reaction of nervous Christians?

And what if it becomes costly to be a Christian? What if we might end up in prison for holding fast to our principles? It happens elsewhere in the world, why should we have such high expectations that we have some sort of right not to suffer?

I know that the main thrust of the argument is that the proposed law lacks clarity and there are fears that while it is supposed to "protect" the rights of faith groups, it is in fact far from clear how that will work in practice. But I can't help worrying about some of the interviews I've seen and heard with those who would protest.

A few years ago, when I was last on sabbatical (which reminds me that it's time I was again), I went to visit a good friend of mine who happens to be a single, male Methodist minister. As part of my visit we planned to go to Lindisfarne for a couple of nights. The only room available was a twin room. In the current climate, I wonder if the owners of a Christian guest house would turn my Methodist friend and myself away if we asked for a twin room for fear of what we might get up to?

More on SOR's

Faithworks has a valuable statement on their website here.

Here's an extract:

Following Jesus’ example

We celebrate the different contributions and views of the whole Christian church to the issue of human sexuality. We believe that our approach to the SORs and to Equality & Diversity legislation, which focuses on human dignity and unconditional service, allows for distinctive Christian views of sexuality while encouraging unconditional love and service. This is the Jesus model.

Christians are called to follow Jesus’ example, and he says remarkably little about sexuality in scripture. Rather, he treats all people he comes across with love and acceptance, and does not refuse his service to anyone, even if he does not agree with their lifestyle.

We encourage our members, and all those of Christian faith, to follow Jesus’ example and to serve all people, regardless of their lifestyle, by expressing welcome and recognising the dignity of every human being. We believe that a strong sense of Christian identity and purpose enables the Church to provide goods and services in a non-discriminatory way, without that identity being diminished.

You may also want to look at the Evangleical Alliance website to read what they have to say. Their article is found here.

Why I'm not protesting

My mind has been turning over the issues relating to the proposed Sexual Orientation Regulations. I've had the usual flurry of emails exhorting me to sign this petition or write this letter. I've been told all about the potential threat to ministry and the possibility that I might be asked to do something which, in all good conscience, would run counter to the gospel itself.

But I'm bothered.

I'm bothered because when I preach, I preach a gospel of good news and a gospel of grace. I tell the congregation week after week that God loves them and longs to build a deepening relationship with them. I might even quote the old hymn Just as I am without one plea...

And therein lies my problem.

If I can come just as I am, why can't everyone else? Why should everyone else bend to my pattern first and come to Jesus second, when I came to Jesus first and then I started to work out how to behave.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he responded with what must have been a well-known abbreviation. He said, "Love God wholeheartedly and love everyone else like you want to be loved."

I want to be respected. I want other people to treat me well. I don't want to be rejected because of what I believe, or worse still, persecuted for it.

So I don't think I can sign a petition that calls for the law to protect my right to refuse to serve someone because I don't approve of their lifestyle choices. If I did that, I wouldn't do weddings for people who live together, I wouldn't do funerals for people who didn't believe, and I wouldn't care for people I don't like.

That's not my kind of faith. I think I'll find a different path through the moral and theological challenges.