If probability taught that there was no God – would you stop worrying?

Apparently no one can bend it like Beckham, except, I guess a bendy bus with a message of false comfort sponsored by atheists: THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.

In The Independent (25th October) Howard Jacobson points out the false comfort which such an advert offers:

“As for the rest of the bendy bus message, it makes not a grain of sense. THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD STOP WORRYING? That’s a non sequitur. Why should the non-existence of a God stop us worrying? Who ever claimed it was belief in God that caused us to worry? Some of the least worried people I know are unworried precisely because they believe in a benign creator who takes individual care of them. We might think of them as deluded crackpots – we might be driven crazy ourselves by their baseless blitheness and serenity – but if not worrying is to be the measure of happiness then, like it or not, they’ve found happiness in spades. Ivan Karamazov on the other hand, is misery incarnate, unable to enjoy a moment of mental peace because he cannot see how, if God does not exist, anything can be deemed unlawful. SINCE THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD it would say on the bendy bus Ivan hires to drive around St Petersburg, START WORRYING BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED”.

For my money, though, the pursuit of happiness seems inextricably intertwined with the pursuit of God.  For sure, for some, this has ended up in craziness and a fog of despair.  But when you consider that the God of the universe came in pursuit of us – “seeking and saving the lost”, as Jesus put it – we find that “holiness and happiness” are not that far apart.

Blaise Pascal wrote:

“All men seek happiness. There are no exceptions. However different the means they may employ, they all strive towards this goal… The will never takes the least step except to that end. This is the motive of every act of every man…

“Yet for very many years no one without faith has ever reached the goal at which everyone is continually aiming. All men complain: princes, subjects, nobles, commoners, old, young, strong, weak, learned, ignorant, healthy, sick, in every country, at every time, of all ages, and all conditions.

“A test which has gone on so long, without pause or change, really ought to convince us that we are incapable of attaining the good by our own efforts. But example teaches us very little. No two examples are so exactly alike that there is not some subtle difference, and that is what makes us expect that our expectations will not be disappointed this time as they were last time. So, while the present never satisfies us, experience deceives us, and leads us on from one misfortune to another until death comes as the ultimate and eternal climax.

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.

“God alone is man’s true good, and since man abandoned him it is a strange fact that nothing in nature has been found to take his place…” (#428)

Well said!

GAFCON statement and FWS first response

First response to the GAFCON Jerusalem Communiqué

 

Fellowship of Word and Spirit welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Communiqué issued by GAFCON at the end of the Jerusalem Conference in June 2008 and the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury in July.

 

Our commitment to fellowship in God’s word and by His Spirit brings friendships and alliances within God’s Church and its leadership around the world, and we welcome the fresh opportunities that GAFCON has enabled for this to happen.

 

FWS is committed to dialogue and discussion of reformed theology, seeking to apply its whole world and life view to the modern church and culture with the aim of assisting Christians to live out the call of God in their homes, workplaces, leisure activities, and churches.  The Lambeth Conference revealed that that the majority of Bishops in the Anglican Communion continue to affirm and teach Lambeth 1.10.  Moreover, many Bishops present at Lambeth expressed their anxiety concerning the detrimental impact which the actions of the TEC and Canada (particularly the blessing of same sex unions and teaching about human sexuality which is contrary to Lambeth 1.10) have had upon Christian witness, chiefly in Africa and dominantly Muslim countries.  For these reasons, ongoing global communication and clarity over issues of human sexuality, Christology and mission are essential for the health and growth of the Church.

 

It is in a context of this fellowship around God’s word and by His Spirit that we will seek to make a full response to the GAFCON communiqué at our autumn FWS council and trustees meeting.

 

Revd Dr Simon Vibert

For FWS Trustees and Council

on being salt and light and impacting Christians

I was preaching on a very familiar passage this morning, Matthew 5:13-16, which can be difficult.  Not because it is complex, but rather because it is hard to say something that hasn’t been heard by the congregation many times before.

So this morning, preaching at St Ebbe’s Headington, I reminded the congregation of the hidden, preserving impact that Christians are supposed to make on society by being rubbed into the world as salt is rubbed into meat.  Jesus emphasis is that Christians, and Christians alone are salt and light preventing the world from decaying and shining for God.

If Christians are “the light of the world” one assumes that this is only by way of reflecting Christ as ”THE light of the world”.  If He is the Sun (Son) we are the moon.  Our job is to spotlight Jesus, search out the lost and glow for God’s glory.

So far, so familiar, I guess.  At the end of the sermon I encouraged the congregation to buzz in small groups.  My contention is that none of this is hard to understand, but like so many passages in Scripture, the challenge is to put it into practice.  From the comments I got back from people this was the significant part of the morning as the congregation buzzed with ideas over how individually and congregationally we might be rubbed into Oxford culture and shine for Jesus in this part of the world.

Upon reflection, it made me think that the combination of teaching from the front and small group buzzing, including a subsequent email around to local congregation members to take part in a community social in a couple of weeks by way of application, is a good model for teaching.  Did not Paul encourage the Corinthian congregation: … everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.  (1 Corinthians 14:3).  This kind of prophecy is surely the application of the word of God for the building up of the congregation alongside and accompanying the preaching.

And, the “you” of Colossians 3:16 is “plural” implying that the word should dwell, not just in the individual’s heart but more particularly in the corporate gathering of the congregation: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.   And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:16f.)

Of course, the preaching of the word by a prayerfully prepared preacher is essential.  But it does not go far enough if it is not accompanied by smaller groupings of Christians working out the implications of the word for their lives and communities.  The simple fact of the matter is that we need longer rubbing up against each other if we are going to be effective in also getting rubbed into the world.