I would like to welcome Tim for being willing to ask me a spiritual and challenging question. In recent years Tim has graduated and completed further studies in science and lives, works and worships in the Manchester area.
Hi Graham thank you for the opportunity to ask a question, just like Carol’s previous questions on your website. The question I would like to ask has less of a theological bent and lends itself more towards a practical question about living as a follower of Jesus in our current culture.
“Saint Paul spent a large amount of time writing to Christian communities about the challenges they faced theologically and culturally; relating all of these issues to the teachings from scripture and Jesus’ gospel”.
“If Saint Paul were to visit any of our churches today or write to the entirety of the UK church community, what aspects of their lives and faith do you think he’d be quick to highlight? It’s an annoying question I know but I have always been fascinated by this. Thank you”.
Thanks Sofia for your picture of St Paul’s Cathedral London pexels.com
Rev Graham replies: Thank you Tim for your very different question and one that will certainly be subjective in respect to a person’s view of the Bible, church tradition and how to witness to people within community. I think your question will also relate to the wider politics of today and certainly how to contend with or oppose the pressures of conformity and political correctness that is so prevalent in today’s world.
Building blocks
As I consider how to respond to your question I feel it is important to recognise certain foundation stones and building blocks that offer a sure foundation for living out a Christian faith as Saint Paul would want from us.
- Firstly: God is Creator and Sovereign over all things, times and human affairs of his world.
- Secondly: God through the Bible has given his creation certain moral codes and boundaries for all to live by as particularly found in the Decalogue – Ten Commandments.
- Thirdly: Jesus, as God’s son, lived and breathed into all human situations and knows what is good and bad for Worship, Situational Ethics, Discipleship and Service. His teaching in the Beatitudes is a further code for Godly living.
- Fourthly: The church is intended to be a light and salt in the world and should reflect God’s love, compassion and holiness that makes it distinctive from the influence of secular, pagan and humanistic living.
- Lastly: As individuals and collectively as the church we are required to be in the world but not of it. To be separate while being entwined in daily living which is not easy to do.
In regards to your question Tim, I do not think Paul’s comments would be too dissimilar to his words as found in Galatians chapter five (the verses have been paraphrased by myself).
In verse one Paul declares that Christ has made us free and therefore we should stay free from the chains of slavery to any Religious Law, Ceremonies and Ungodly Practise.
From verse five and seven we recognise that by the help of the Holy Spirit we are trusting that Christ’s death will clear our sins away and make us right with God. In faith and practise believers have been doing really well but who and what has influenced them to the extent that they are holding back in following the Lord?
From verse 13 we have been given freedom – not to do wrong, but as the summary of the whole law suggests – to love others as we love ourselves and be reminded of God’s amazing love for all his creation.
From verse 23 we should be guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit who will produce nine spiritual fruits in us and various gifts for us to use so that we will be able and empowered to live boldly the Christian faith within any contemporary community.
This compares to verses 19 – 21 that suggest that when we follow our own wrong inclinations we will produce: evil thoughts, lustful passions, idolatry, Spiritism, hatred, fighting, jealousy, anger, a spirit of complaint and criticism. We believe that we are right and everyone is wrong, we hold on to: different doctrines, envy, murder, drunkenness, debauchery, and much more.
Paul in writing a letter to the UK church today would refer to many, if not all, he has already referred to as found in his letters thousands of years ago and addressed to different cultural settings. all with a familiar aspect to today’s living!
I would like to add some other issues that I think Paul would pick up on when considering the content of his letter.
Church buildings
It seems that for many local and national congregations there is a lot of energy, time, money and effort spent n maintaining a church building. The task of sharing and witnessing to people so as to embrace faith and enter into a full life of discipleship and holy living is often lost in the process.
A church is not a physical building, however simple or grandeur. It is a group of believers in Jesus Christ who live a life of faith 24/7, as opposed to spending one hour or more together on a Sunday. Thank you Luis pexels.com
Personal identity: is it found in and from ourselves? I believe any true identity is formed upon what the Lord says to us based on his word.
Women’s Rights: are still an issue for many. Men and women are created equally and before God and each other and we should have total respect to enable each person to fulfil their aims, goals and ambitions without any human constraints.
Idolatry: we may not worship wooden or stone idols but fame, selfishness, gluttony and anything that represents another god is idolatrous and should be given up.
Materialism: In the area of money, distribution of food, clothing and shelter and any form of social living should not favour the rich over the poor or any other distinction that leaves some people more favoured than others.
Welcome for Refugees: a person’s status alongside balanced communal living is a very complex and difficult issue to work through. We are called to welcome the stranger but also to maintain a peace and stability for all within community.
Earthly and Heavenly Authority: as a body of believers do we follow the governance and morals of human authorities and embrace the political fads of the day. Conversely, do we hold strongly to Biblical Ethics, Morals and Beliefs that may clash with the Moral and Ethical correctness at work in the political forces in power?
War and peace: there seems to be a lot of war in the Old Testament and a lot of Jesus’s love and compassion in the New Testament! It can be so difficult to know when to support peace and war from a balanced Biblical point of view and when to side with a just war or be a peaceful pacifist!
Marriage: Paul spoke quite a bit about relationships and marriage. For some contemporary Christians any compromise from traditional marriage guidelines seems to be very acceptable and loving. For many traditional Christians the view of marriage as a Sacrament, is one that is non-negotiable.
Good and Bad Shepherds: In Ezekiel 34 we have some instruction about the responsibilities of God’s Shepherds who care for people and lead them on behalf of the Lord. For those Christian leaders and worshippers who lead and witness in a wrong way they will be held accountable to the Lord who will not be mocked. In regards to the Good Shepherd’s the Lord will protect, provide and encourage them.
The place of Individual and Collective Prayer: It is within the place of prayer that we experience a wonderful sense of God’s personal presence. We are reassured that God is sovereign and there is nothing new under the sun.
Revival: God is in the business of restoration, revival and renewal for his church and those without faith. Kings rise and fall. Nations for or against the Lord, will rise and fall away.
Paul would remind us all, especially after what he went through and endured to his death, that we have to stand firm, be steadfast and unmoveable as the Spirit of God works in all nations, communities and individual lives each and every day.
Many aspects of the above fall within the frame work of how we Worship. They also reveal the basis of our core beliefs and how they work in the context of Situational Ethics and Morals. They will also affect what style of life we live either for ourselves or on behalf of the God we worship and believe in, that shows itself in acts of Care and Service.
So very humbly after much thought and prayer I submit a prayer and comment for our nation and beyond that in a small way may have a resonance with what Paul himself might offer up as a prayerful letter for the United Kingdom. I hope it is a reasonable reply Tim, to your very relevant question for today’s generation.
Saint Paul’s Comment and Prayer for the United Kingdom
Thanks wikipedia.com
Almighty God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit I offer up to you and on behalf of all the individuals and collective communities of the United Kingdom, a thanksgiving for the mystery of faith we can experience in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for evermore.
I give thanks for the unique history of the United Kingdom here on earth. As local communities and as a nation it has gone through many good and troubled times. There has been famine and plenty, war and peace, faith and apostasy. You have blessed the nation, even when it has sought to plunder the wealth and uniqueness of other countries’.
As I evaluate the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental health and sickness of this land I ask for mercy and grace to flow completely upon its peoples. It has been identified that there are many concerning aspects of the nation at this present time and I ask you to forgive the nation for falling away from you in a big way.
May the wind of your Holy Spirit and the encompassing Love of Father God bring healing, renewal and restoration? May all the gifts and spirits that abound within the life of the nation be good and not evil and may our daily interactions and actions with family, friends, church and community centres bring honour and glory to your name.
Thank you that you are a sovereign God and you are in control of all that seeks to bring conflict, sickness and unbelief to this nation and may we see your restraining power at work to control this nation in your own way and time.
I think and pray for the younger generation who do not know you at all, may they turn to you and know true forgiveness, joy and peace. May your church within this land be bold and strong and be encouraged to see and experience afresh, revival and renewal as in times past, so as to be strong for the days to come.
So to all the residents of the United Kingdom and beyond may the Mighty Peace, Grace and Love of God be with you all this day and for ever more. Amen
Graham
Selah: (Pause to think calmly on what has just been read) and check out A Time to Worship
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