Doubts and Certainties

Whilst I would call myself evangelical, I know that I do not fit into the usual framework which surrounds this word. I say this because there is usually an assumption that, in admitting to being evangelical, one is considered a fundamentalist, which I am not. This was something that dogged my early years as a Christian. I thought it was a prerequisite to accept fundamentalism if I was to be an evangelical. It felt uncomfortable to be holding back my beliefs and doubts as a Christian.

Then I came under the influence of a minister who spoke to a group about his doubts and certainties. I was amazed that he shared so many of my doubts.

For instance, I doubted most of the nativity story. Was it really possible to measure a star's position above a town and then above a stable? Could I really accept a heavenly choir of angels out on the hillside above Bethlehem? Would shepherds really be watching their flocks out in the cold when we knew they had sheepfolds in which to keep them when the weather was cold? Did I really believe that an angel spoke to the shepherds, who then went to the manger with gifts?

If I doubted so much of the Christmas narrative, what was left? Well, I could accept the birth being in a stable behind an inn of Bethlehem. In fact, I came to believe that the innkeeper did Mary a favour in providing the cave-stable as a place where she could have privacy to give birth to her child. One thing in the Advent scriptures was left and I thought it was priceless. It was the Magnificat. It was a beautiful poem that Mary sang or spoke. It spoke of a revolutionary Messiah who would reverse the world's values. The mighty would become lower and the poor would be raised up. The rich, who were considered to be rich by God's decree for being pius people were to be sent away empty.

All of this came true. Jesus was revolutionary in the way he built on the Law but turned the values around. He showed we should befriend those who were marginalised. He taught us how to take the Gospel into the world without reliance on wealth and influence. We learned that it was to be service that would take the Gospel forward. It was a servant church that would succeed in spreading the news most effectively.

Today we find ourselves largely stuck in a church which has become exclusive and run for its own ends. We have totally lost our way. Our concern is for numbers and not the Gospel. We have forgotten that Jesus consorted with the least acceptable people and confounded the Pharisees in so doing.

Can we not see that this is how we must restart our mission in the 21st century? We are overburdened with costly buildings which do not even suit the purposes of our mission. Our life's breath is being strangled out of us and people are not hearing the Good News of Jesus. When will the penny drop?

No Fools

Back in 1996 I attended evening classes to study GCSE Archaeology. I had already read a number of books on archaeology in the Middle East relating to Biblical times. The subject fascinated me and I wanted to learn more.

The first surprise was when I discovered how much we can learn about pre history through archaeology and its linked sciences. Having visited a few passage graves around great Britain I thought there was virtually nothing to learn about the sites and those who used them. Using modern methods we can locate pollen which tells us what crops they grew. Middens have been unearthed which tell even more about food through the remains found there. Some middens on the coast demonstrated very clearly how much shellfish were eaten in such times.

Iron Age hill forts have shown much more about the community life. In streams and lakes have been found axes and other tools which have never been used. This is evidence that they were votive offerings to the gods who controlled the various elements of life. These people may not have been extremely sophisticated but they certainly knew there was a force in nature on which they depended. They realised that they relied on the regular return of sun and rain and the seasons to grow their crops. They also realised that this was the same origin of food for the animals they hunted. Many different styles of what we call sites of ceremonial significance are found to contain buried tools which have clearly been laid there as votive offerings. We can tell this because they show no signs of use and wear at all. Flints which have never been used as arrowheads, cutting or scraping tools, leave us in no doubt as to their likely purpose.

The people of that period spent a great deal of time and effort making tools and weapons. We can therefore assume that they also spent much manufacuring time to create votive offerings which they would consider important to encourage the forces of nature to provide all that was needed to grow food and feed game. They were no fools. They knew how their life was sustained and did all they could to encourage its continuation. It is a reminder that we are not the supreme beings we used to think we were.

So, you can see that since time immemorial humankind has known which side of the bread is buttered! They saw the daily track of the sun and watched the moon in orbit at night. Their response was to align their religious and ceremonial sites east-west. I wonder if this is being continued today with the same alignment of many churches. Every church seems to have an east window. It is also suggested that traditional church buildings today are built to emulate the the biblical tabernacle of old. And they say plagerism is wrong! If there is nothing new under the sun how is it possible to avoid copying the best ideas of successful designers?

Of course, in other countries the people have a great awareness of nature being behind everything they depend upon. They see lakes and rivers as spiritual places, trees as having feelings and express a horror at the rape of the soil by the large mining companies. These are people at one with their surroundings, who see a oneness in the whole of creation. We , today, can learn from our ancestors and not be so quick to destroy what nature has been creating over many centuries.

With the destruction of rain forests and the resultant changes in nature we have witnessed the full effect of wiping out square mile after square mile of forest. People have been lost in mudslides because hillsides are no longer bound together by the great trees which have been felled. Because the forests act as the earth's lungs our weather pattern is changing at a surprising rate.

Those with a great vested interest in the rape of the earth put up arguments as to why it must continue. Governments, faced with the huge cost of changing manufacturing methods, are sluggish in their response to what is happening before them. They refuse to accept responsibility for what they are doing on a grand scale. It seems that we can never look forward to a world alliance on issues like sustainability. Whilst there is a dollar to be made the work goes on. To them it is worth it because of the wealth that is generated. Yet there are those who can see a planet being eroded and a day not too far ahead when urgent tasks will include massive plans for saving the planet. It could be done today. Our ancestors in the pre history period saw the importance of retaining the source of their life. More intelligent and highly educated in 2005 we carry on as if we were blind and deaf.

Dance in Christian Worship

In the magazine, "Reform" which is the magazine of the United Reformed Church, there is a letter about dance as an element in Sunday worship. The minister commented in his sermon that he wondered why dance was not included more often in worship. A middle aged man with Downs Syndrome got up from his seat and did a dance in the aisle. He bowed to the pulpit at the end and sat down. This brought the sermon to an abrupt end. Many of the congregation clapped whilst others were annoyed at the interruption and complained later.

This man, in a very simple way, reacted to the challenge of the preacher and danced. Why shouldn't he? We Christians have too many inhibitions about our religion. Muslims are far more forthright about their beliefs and relationship with God. Our churches are poorly attended. Is it a failing that we hold back with our thoughts on our faith and sometimes apologetically say we attend church each week?

Religion is a personal matter, but this could finish off the church if we keep it to ourselves. I speak as one who hides his light under a bushel. I am not extrovert in any way. Yet I believe we in the church need to go into the community to make contact with those who can be helped by Jesus Christ. they will not usually seek us out.