As has been aid before though, we cannot ‘cherry-pick’ verses and passages and form them into doctrine on their own. The Bible needs to be read in terms of its meta-narrative, not in terms of systematic theology ie. taking themes from different passages throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Rowland Croucher makes the point that, of all the Christian creeds we have, none of them talk about love. None. They all talk about what we believe, but apparently we don’t believe in love and living that out. John Smith also pointed out many years ago that the Gospels state once that we need to be born again, but those same Gospels have Jesus saying no less than 87 times, “follow me”. Ours is an activist Gospel.

Now please don’t get me wrong. I believe in belief. I think it is highly important that we believe correctly about who Jesus is, for this informs our actions. But the evangelical church has placed too much emphasis on creeds and right belief instead of right action. And too often we have created a dualism – separating belief from action. Jesus would never have countenanced such a thing. For him there was no dualism. Relationship with God was living it out. After all, that’s what James says – faith without action is dead (James 2:26).

The Christian church (and that includes me) has for too long focused on being right rather than being loving. As I have done a bit lately, I’ll leave the last word to Richard Rohr:

Where has this obsession with believing correct dogmas and doctrines gotten us? Presently, the Roman church, and fundamentalists of all stripes, are right back into it. It creates great dramas on both sides. Maybe that is why God is humbling us at this time.  The obsession with being right and having the whole truth has not served the Gospel well at all, nor has it kept us humble and honest. 

If you go to the four Gospels and read what Jesus actually taught, you will see that He talks much more about the “How” (practices which we ourselves must do) rather than the “What” (which just allow us to argue and try to be verbally right).

From Emerging Christianity: the conference recordings

Another thought also struck me as I saw a plane flying over head and as I noticed the dome of the earth reaching down to the horizon on the deep blue yonder. I was struck with the thought again that as I look at the world I cannot help but be moved to sense that we are here for a purpose. The very fact that this world is teeming with life, the fact that we have clean air to breathe and that we have minds that can work out how to build machines that can fly through that air, makes me realise that all that we see around us could not possibly have arisen by chance. Because that’s what the alternative is if there is no God. Even Richard Dawkins, that staunchest of atheists, when once asked if this is all there is, remarked emphatically, “what more could you want?! This is beautiful!”

Dawkins is right. We do indeed live in a beautiful world. Sometimes it takes a moment of reflection like I was able to have on that cliff face to realise that, and wonder at the magnitude of life, the vastness of creation, and the beauty of all that we see around us. This is no accident. We are here for a purpose. Thank You Lord for reminding me of that again through the wonders of what You have made.

I have no power to live life the way I want to live it, and so I submit to Christ in full surrender. But the more I realise that this is the way to life, the more I find myself resisting. For me, it is a matter of trust; trust that God really is good and that the life God wants for me is not too good to be true. Just like Peter who, when Jesus had just demonstrated the outrageous grace of God, could only say ”go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8), I don’t believe I deserve the grace that God gives. And truth be told I don’t deserve it. No one does. But give it he does, and when I accept it, I enter into that life that is truly life, where I am free from having to perform, free from having to strive, where I am free.

Paul said “when I am weak then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). True Christianity never aligns itself with power. It always aligns itself with weakness, with failure, and with powerlessness. Richard Rohr, as usual, sums it up brilliantly:

When Christianity aligns itself with power (and the mindset of power) there’s simply very little room for the darkness of faith; that spacious place where God is actually able to form us. 

So when we speak of paradox, I’m trying to open up that space where you can “fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), because YOU are not in control. That is always the space of powerlessness, vulnerability, and letting go. Faith happens in that wonderful place, and hardly ever when we have all the power and can hold no paradoxes. Thus you see why faith will invariably be a minority and suspect position.

Surrender, faith, and paradox. The combination that gives the life that transforms our hearts, and then transforms the world.

• Whatever one may think of Maxine McKew’s comments being sour grapes and said in the bitterness of the moment, they were profoundly accurate. Labor has shot itself in the foot. To have the most popular Prime Minister in the country’s history to possibly losing Government within 4 months is unheard of.
• This election is uncannily similar to the 1999 Victorian state election in which 3 independents eventually decided the fate of the state and changed the Government. This time we also have 3 independents who will most likely determine what direction the country heads in over the next 3 years.
• Having said the above, whoever is in Government for the next 3 years, some things will not change, namely the response to climate change. The response of both the major parties to this issue has been nothing short of lamentable. This is one of the reasons forr the huge swing to the Greens right across the country.
• The Green vote highlights how much we need a change of voting system for the House of Representatives. As some Greens were saying last night, if we had proportional representation, the Greens would now have 17 Lower House seats. Instead they have 1, having polled more than 11% of the vote across the country.
• The Greens need to be very careful about which major party they support if indeed they find themselves in that position. If the Coalition ends up winning more seats than Labor and the Coalition needs the support of the Greens to form a Government, then the Greens may feel morally bound to support the Coalition, as they would have secured the highest number of seats. However, by doing that, they may be seen to have sold out for the chance at power. We all know what happened to the Australian Democrats when that happened. The Liberal Democrats in the UK have also been accused of the same. On the other hand, if the Greens support Labor in such a situation, they may be accused of not supporting the will of the people who would have given the Coalition more seats.
• One of the 3 independents mentioned above, Rob Oakeshott, made an important point tonight on the 7.30 Report when he said that decisions over who should govern should be made in the interests of the nation, not in the interests of the party. Tony Abbott can hardly claim that because the Coalition won more primary votes than Labor, the people wanted them more. Julia Gillard has equally climaed that the two-party-preferred vote shows that more people put Labor ahead of the Coalition. Such arguing will get us nowhere and is not in the best interests of the country. Australia has been known for having stable Government and that has to be one of the priorities in deciding who will govern us.

Anyway, they’re my thoughts for the moment. I’d be interested to hear what others think. We have a long week or two ahead of us.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to approach this, because politics of course is a very sensitive issue; it brings out both the best and worst of us. It can cause normally rational people to be irrational, and so I’m aware that I need to be very careful about what I say. That’s why I want to bring across some points as to how I want to approach this topic and how I think a Christian ought to think when deciding their vote.

Firstly, I come at this topic first and foremost as a follower of Jesus and not to endorse any political party. These thoughts do come out of a deep concern for biblical faith and as a follower of Jesus who asks for God’s will to be done in his life every day. I can’t be so arrogant as to claim to know who Jesus would vote for, but I do believe there are particular biblical principles to keep in mind when deciding which way to cast our vote next week.

Secondly, we are amazingly privileged in this country. We are a peaceful democracy where we have the freedom to vote for who we wish. Dave Andrews recently related how he was speaking to someone who I think was from Pakistan, and they couldn’t believe that we could place our vote and there could be a change of Government without any talk of corruption, that the losing party would hand over power without any resistance and that it would all happen peacefully. He couldn’t believe it. Yet this is what we take for granted.

Thirdly, Christianity is not a set of values. When talking about an election and how we should vote, it obviously does relate to a set of values and which party we think will live that out. But ultimately, Christianity is not about that; it is about God transforming the creation, not just societies but the human heart as well.

Fourthly, Christians of all persuasions are politically active, and Christians have a right to vote according to how their faith informs their vote. And there are Christians in all political parties, which just shows the different ways in which our faith is expressed, and what God has called different people to.

Fifthly, it is vitally important for Christians to be involved in the political process in one way or another. God loves this world and we are called to love what God loves and seek the betterment of the world around us. In fact the word ‘politics’ in its Greek root means of and for citizens – for the people. So political involvement in some form or other is a godly way of living out your faith. For some that might mean writing letters to your MP, while for others it might mean joining a political party or even running for office. Some people say that the best way to effect real policy change is to join a political party while others would say that to be part of a lobby group has the best effect at change. Personally I believe that prophetic political engagement is one that has access to those in power but is able to remain neutral and speak God’s Word without compromise and without endorsing a particular party overall. Some can do that from the inside, such as the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament who was high up in the Government of his day. So God uses people in all sorts of ways.

Sixthly, I don’t agree that the pulpit should ever be used to promote any particular political party, either subtly or overtly. What matters is that, whoever you vote for, that we vote according to Christian principles and that we vote as a follower of Jesus. The pulpit is not a place to endorse a particular political party.

Seventh, I think it’s important to expose ideas which claim to be Christian but which clearly are not. Of course there are different interpretations of what is Christian and what is not, but some things are clear. In some cases I believe it is right to name names. Paul did so in 2 Timothy, and Jesus did so as well. However as I have not met the Christian leaders who I believe have made some dangerous statements in this election campaign, I will not name them here. You can look them up for yourselves. I do believe though that when people make public statements they need to be open to public scrutiny. We should never attack them personally though; we should only attack their policies with a reasoned argument that is biblically based. I believe in these people’s sincerity as people who love God, but I also believe that it is possible to be sincerely wrong. I am also open to the possibility that I am sincerely wrong. So whatever I say about this topic in this sermon, don’t just blindly accept it. Acts 17 says that “the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” So rather than just accepting what I say, go back to your Bibles and check it out for yourself.

Eighth, I believe that any reading of the Bible simply has to be done in context, and therefore the issues that Christians claim the Bible has a clear statement on need to be looked at in the context in which they were written and in the context of the overall message of the Bible. It has been said, rightly I believe, that we often read the Bible too devotionally ie. we take little passages or verses and don’t read them in the light of the overall message of what God is saying to us through His Word.

Along those lines one of this country’s more prominent Christian leaders, in a recent newsletter, effectively said that you cannot be a Christian and not vote Liberal. Here’s what he said, and I quote – “If you still say “I will vote Labor” that is your choice. That’s the freedom we enjoy in a democracy, but I must say you definitely cannot be a Christian who has a proper relationship with Jesus if you vote this way.” And many of us here will no doubt think the opposite.

I was also at a wedding on election day 2007 where the MC said he hoped the Liberals would win. I thought that was inappropriate at that time, just as I think it would be inappropriate for someone to get up in the pulpit and say you should vote for a particular party if you are a real Christian. There will be people in churches all over this country with a diverse range of opinions.

One guide as to how a Christian should vote that you may have come across recently is the Australian Christian Values checklist. This checklist shows a large number of issues and where the parties stand on each of them. Each party then receives a tick or a cross depending on whether or not they support these ‘Christian values. This list however simply does not represent the full spectrum of Christian values. There is literally nothing on refugees and asylum seekers, nor anything whatsoever about caring for the poor. Thank goodness for that. Here I have been all these years working on these issues thinking they were Christian(!). It seems I can take a rest for a while.

The language that is used to endorse the Australian Christian Values checklist is deliberately aimed at supporting particular parties and denigrating others. Terms like ‘the abortion holocaust’ clearly imply a particular voting position. Now please don’t misunderstand me on this. I am not saying that abortion is not an important issue. Just like issues of poverty are often ignored by those on the right, issues like abortion are equally ignored by those on the left). But you will notice that in the advice given on the website that endorses this checklist, there is not one word about the holocaust of 24,000 children dying of poverty every day around the world. As Jim Wallis from Sojourners has said, why is it that for some Christians, saving the lives of children in the womb is paramount, but as soon as they come out of the womb we don’t care about them anymore? The same could of course be said the other way too.

Now when asked why his position did not include anything on issues of poverty and asylum seekers, one Christian leader who endorses this checklist says that the Bible is clear on some issues like abortion, and that’s why they were featured in his articles and in the Australian Christian Values checklist. Then he says that the Bible gives some leeway on other issues but there is room to move on ways to achieve things like economic justice. So is the Bible not clear on issues of wealth and poverty, and are there not different ways of dealing with the abortion issue? This is not a neutral checklist. It clearly promotes certain parties against others. Where I believe these people have it wrong is that I believe that everything we know about God we know through Jesus who loved those who were powerless and marginalised. It seems that is not the position taken by those who have put together this checklist.

Thankfully though the other side is also being reported. The ABC had an article a couple of weeks ago in which a candidate from another party who is a Christian tells her side of the story about why she is a member of that party.

So to promote issues of wealth and poverty, I think it is best to show a list of issues that the Sojourners community in the US put forward prior to a recent election over there. They released these statements before the 2004 election under the heading, ‘God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat’. While the statements released by Sojourners were intended specifically for the US election, they apply equally to our own election in Australia. And so we can say that God is not a Liberal, nor Labor, nor a Green, or tied to any other party. They are a very useful guide when we think of who to vote for on August 21. You can also find this list in an article by Tim Costello in this month’s Eternity magazine. The points listed are as follows: 

• We believe that sincere Christians can choose to vote for any party for reasons deeply rooted in their faith.
• We believe that poverty—caring for the poor and vulnerable—is a Christian issue. Do the parties’ budget and tax policies reward the rich or show compassion for poor families? Do their foreign policies include fair trade and debt cancellation for the poorest countries? (Matt 25: 35-40, Isaiah 10: 1-2)
• We believe that the environment – caring for God’s earth – is a Christian issue. Do the parties’ policies protect the creation or serve corporate interests that damage it? (Genesis 2:15, Psalm 24:1)
• We believe that war—and our call to be peacemakers—is a Christian issue. Do the parties’ policies pursue ‘wars of choice’ or respect international law and cooperation in responding to real global threats? (Matt 5:9)
• We believe that truth-telling is a Christian issue. Do the parties tell the truth in foreign and domestic policies? (John 8:32)
• We believe that human rights – respecting the image of God in every person – is a Christian issue. In our case, do the parties have a compassionate approach to asylum seekers? (Genesis 1:27)
• We believe that our response to terrorism is a Christian issue. Do the parties see evil only in our enemies but never in our own policies? (Matt 6:33, Proverbs 8:12-13)
• We believe that a consistent ethic of human life is a Christian issue. Do the parties’ positions on abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, weapons of mass destruction. HIV/AIDS – and other pandemics – and genocide around the world obey the biblical injunction to choose life? (Deut 30:19)

Barney Zwartz, the religion editor of The Age, wrote a couple of weeks ago something which is really pretty obvious but something which we don’t always consider, and that is that no party is perfect. He highlights this by saying that “whenever we get the perfect candidate, she or he has a habit of disappointing us the most.” Witness the outpouring of hope that came with the rise of Barack Obama. I remember thinking at the time, paraphrasing Monty Python, that he’s not the Messiah, he’s just the President, and he’s inevitably going to disappoint. Whoever you vote for, they are going to disappoint you.

As well as this, there are going to be policies in every party that we won’t agree with. You might vote for a particular party with your Christian conscience and someone will come up to you and ask how you could possibly be a Christian and vote for them?

One of the issues that has arisen amongst Christians in this election campaign is that of voting for someone because they are a Christian. I think that is one of the most irresponsible actions that a Christian voter can take. It shows a profound ignorance of the issues that different parties stand for. Tim Costello sometimes tells the story of the South African government during the apartheid years. They were all Bible-believing Christians. They believed all the right things but they were inherently racist and therefore an evil regime. Recently there’s been talk of Julia Gillard’s atheistic position. I agree though with Tony Abbott when he says that we should vote for a person not because they are a Christian or not, but because of their policies. Real faith is lived out, not just proclaimed.

Whichever party you plan to vote for, there are certain things that Christians need to take into account. The core of this is about voting for those less fortunate than ourselves. It has been said by quite a few people over the years that the measure of a society lies in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.

In recent times the place of Christian faith in politics has gained traction in the media. Of course we all knew about the previous Prime Minister’s faith position, and how the current Prime Minister’s own position as someone who does not profess a Christian faith. And a couple of months ago we had Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott speaking to Christians across the nation in a live feed from the old Parliament House in Canberra. I think it’s great to see Christian faith getting an airing during this campaign, all sides of the story being laid out for all to see and decide on.

In the end we need to vote prayerfully and with our conscience. The final word is probably best left to the Brotherhood of St Laurence, who came out with a pearler during a past election. It simply said “vote for somebody else.” Amen.

A Christian leader in Australia recently tried to say that Jesus and his parents were not asylum seekers. He said the following (a direct quote):

“I had one critic write in recently saying Jesus and his family were asylum seekers. Sorry, but they were of course nothing of the sort, and it is quite silly to suggest they were.”

Now let me read to you the words of Matthew 2:13-15 which talks about this:

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.”

Now if that is not seeking asylum from persecution then I don’t know what is.

If you’re not sure about this issue and want to know more, my friend Eden Parris has sent this asylum seeker myth buster sheet from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. As the fake Greens ad on Gruen Nation this week said – “if you think boat people should be treated as people…”, then get stuck into your local MP and let them know that this is an issue they simply must do better on.

At a church meeting last night it just hit me how much people are really struggling out there. It made me feel so privileged that I can actually save money. There are many many people who just can’t do that. Every day for many people is just a struggle to get by.

It sems that in the last few weeks I have been hit by stories of people losing their children as the result of court decisions when these people have plenty of support around them, I know of someone else who has been in hospital recently as a result of a struggle with addiction, and another couple who both have serious health problems.

The rain certainly does fall on the good and the bad alike, as Jesus said, and there certainly are alot of people out there who are the end of their rope.

Psalm 42

My thoughts have changed over the years from when I was a young Christian in my teens. Check the article out here and let me know what you think.

Barney Zwartz wrote a balanced view of it in The Age this week where he condemns the distortion of Greens’ policies. He also points out the obvious which we don’t always see, and that is that no party is perfect. He highlights this by saying that “whenever we get the perfect candidate, she or he has a habit of disappointing us the most.” Witness the outpouring of hope that came with the rise of Barack Obama. I remember thinking at the time, paraphrasing Monty Pyton, that he’s not the Messiah, he’s just the President, and he’s inevitably going to disappoint.

Whichever party you plan to vote for, there are certain things that Christians need to take into account. The core of this is about voting for those less fortunate than ourselves. It has been said by quite a few people over the years that the measure of a society lies in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens.

One of the issues that has come out of the release of the above-mentioned video is that of voting for someone because they are a Christian. I think that is one of the most irresponsible actions that a Christian voter can take. It shows a profound ignorance of the issues that different parties stand for. Tim Costello sometimes tells the story of the South African government during the apartheid years. They were all Bible-believing Christians. They believed all the right things but they were inherently racist and therefore an evil regime. One Christian leader in Australia has shown his colours in this regard by effectively saying someone cannot be a Christian and vote Green, and seing a Labor victory as a step backwards for the nation, and then in the next breath saying that God is “far too big to be adequately represented by any one political party or position”. He can’t have it both ways.

Thankkfully the other side is also being reported. The ABC had a great article during the week in which a candidate from another party who is a Christian tells her side of the story.

It’s encouraging to see faith getting an airing, all this dirty laundry coming to the fore, and both sides of the story being laid out for all to see and decide on. In the end we need to vote prayerfully and with our conscience. The final word is probably best left to the Brotherhood of St Laurence, who came out with a pearler during a past election. It simply said “vote for somebody else.”