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Once upon a time a man – who turned out to be so much more than that – did something amazing and entirely unique. Before he did this thing he taught things which turned the way of thinking at that time on its head. After he did his amazing act he left his friends to become the vehicle through which his action and teachings would turn the world upside down. This was deliberate on his part because he wanted something to grow beyond himself. It took them a few days but shortly after he left, his friends started to tell others about him and what he had done. They began to share what he had taught them and to put it into practice. The world – as it was then and as it is now – was not really ready for this stuff but it got it anyway and then some of it really got it.

So began a movement which caught on like a virus and leaked across borders, under radar, crossed boundaries, leapt social structures and was as divisive as it was revolutionary. It broke the rules, ignored the social constructs and it began to change the world.

As time went on the movement grew too large for it to continue as it was. So it began to evolve. Not everyone agreed

As time went on the movement grew. It grew too large for it to continue as it was. So it began to evolve a structure. It began to develop rules to ensure this structure was the most helpful to everyone. Not everyone agreed with the rules and so the movement divided and fought among itself time and again. Eventually that division caused the movement to change. It became something that “we” owned – not that we were simply part of. It became something in and of itself that we sought to keep going. We had meetings, conferences and discussion after discussion about how it was to survive, what form it would take if it did and who would be included. We turned helpful reminders into ritual, guidance notes into canon and agreements into tantamount law.

Suddenly the movement had movement and life of its own. It still fragmented and divided the core structure always survived in all the fragments. There were wise people at the top, they made the decisions. There were even wiser people just below them – they advised on how to make those decisions and helped people to implement them and there was everyone else below who carried out those decisions and had to live with them. There were defined routes for promotion from the ranks and this was good because it enabled all various parts of the movement to continue and develop and grow.

Some people thought all the various parts did was develop and grow in the shape they already had. To those people this was not growth but expansion

Except that some people thought all that did was allow the various parts to develop and grow in the shape they already had. To those people this was not growth but expansion. So they tried – as many had before – to change the movement so it could grow and not just expand. The problem was the only model they had to do this in was the existing one and a large part of their efforts – like many before – ended up being absorbed into the core part of the movement and while eventually this did cause the movement to change, it still resembled how it looked for many centuries. On the face of this some called for radical change. Drastic measures which would – they felt – cause the movement to rediscover its radical, rule-breaking roots. But there were people in the movement who felt this was too much too soon. This was old ground for the movement and so it did what it had always done – divided, split and continued. Some parts of it argued with each other over which part really represented the movement but in general a lot of people carried on as before and so did the movement.

During all this time, the man that started the whole thing would take hold of one of the people in the movement and open their eyes to something which needed doing

During all this time, the man that started the whole thing would take hold of one of the people in the movement and open their eyes to something which needed doing. That person – often discouraged by others in the movement – would suddenly find themselves driven to do something to do the thing which needed doing. Sometimes others in the movement caught sight of this and joined in. Sometimes this action became an organised part of the movement and was absorbed into the structure and rules. Sometimes this took a long time. In all cases though the thing being done was “seen” by one person or maybe two or three and it was they who started doing it before any official name was assigned or rules were created.

And so the work was continuing all the time

And so the work which was started by the man at the beginning, continued by his friends and spread with the movement was continuing all the time. Amid all the division, discussion, theories in the movement. Despite any attempt to own and brand the work, it refused to be defined, to be described or to be marketed. One by one, person to person, conversation to conversation, meal to meal, hand to hand the man who started it all saw his work spread – just as he had always intended. No matter how many missions were created, no matter how many studies were made, no matter how many attempts were made to nail it down, the work – like life itself – broke out and then we started to see that – all along – it was the work not the movement which changed lives. It was the work, not the movement which broke the rules. It was the work, not the movement which changed the world. And it wasn’t the wise people at the top who did the work nor the wiser people in the middle. It wasn’t even the rest of the people. It was all of the people who did it. There was no special requirement, no training course, no length of service or special status to achieve before a person could do this work. All they needed was to see it, to hear it and to do it. Some of the work was easier to do within the movement’s structure and some of it wasn’t but little of it actually needed the movement for it to happen. In fact it was the other way around.

Nice story – so what?

In case I’ve messed up with my analogy. The man at the start is Jesus and the movement is what we call the Church.

There are too many discussions about whether the church will survive, how it will survive and how it can best do this is an ever changing world. In my experience all the ones I have seen discuss the wrong thing. All of them discus the survival of the movement – or their particular part of it. Few seem to consider the history of the work as done by individuals not a movement. Whenever something new is used to do the work of God, it is always turns out best when it is done by individuals. We don’t need Christian TV channels, we need TV makers who happen to be Christian, we need Christians who relate their faith to what they see on TV. We don’t need Church social media plans, we need individual Christians using social media and living out their faith-lives in that context. The work of God, began by Jesus and empowered by the Spirit will continue it as it always has done: one person at a time. The denominations, the individual congregations, the structures can all continue. the discussions, the flat out arguments and the division can continue. Historically these are less important to the continuing work of God than the chat you have to the person in the bus queue or the concern you show for a colleague, or the helping hand you give to a person who thinks everyone has forgotten them. We need to stop thinking about how this piece of work could revolutionise the Church and/or the world and think about how best it can change the world of the person in front of us and next to us.

So here’s the problem: As long as we confuse the work and the church as the same thing, we will always fall into the trap of assuming the work can only come from and through the movement

So here’s the problem: As long as we confuse the work and the church as the same thing, we will always fall into the trap of assuming the work can only come from and through the movement. When the opposite is true however, it’s risky. It means we have to stop waiting for someone else to tell us what to door how to do it and instead learn from their experiences while remembering those are not our experiences. It means we have to rethink our culture of thinking each type of work can only be done by those who are a) experts in it and b) usually paid to do it. There’s a place and scriptural principle for the movement to pay wages so somebody can dedicate a larger percentage of their focus to God’s work but it doesn’t mean the rest of us are off the hook. It also makes it easier to stop segmenting our lives into “spiritual” and “non-spiritual” because there’s no such division. Our faith becomes a liquid surrounding, encompassing and running through all our life not just a set of actions we do at set points in it. It doesn’t mean we have to be super-spiritual people who mention Jesus in every conversation. It doesn’t mean we have to walk around showing the world how to live by not actually living at all. It means we should allow God to open our eyes in any situation. It means we should allow our hearts to be driven by what he shows us. It means that instead of allowing ourselves to feel guilty about not having some ability or skill we should realise that the abilities God has used to further his work the most are listening, caring, asking and doing. All of this can and should be done within the context of fellowship within the Church but none of it requires the Church for it to happen. The Church will survive, it always has. The work will continue, it always has but lets move away from this unspoken fear that the latter can only happen when the former begets it.

In a month’s time many will celebrate what is sometimes called the birth of the Church. I will join them but I will remember that Pentecost wasn’t the birth of the movement, it was the start of the work. Which is far more important.

Have a look at this great clip from Sesame Street (spot the Groucho Marx reference).

My name is Ryan. I am evangelical. It’s been many years since I tried to convert someone

A short while ago I was told I am very evangelical. This was not a reference to a political or theological stance (as the word Evangelical – note the capitalisation – appears to mean these days) but to the fact that when I find something I like or I think is good I won’t shut up about it. In this particular case they were referring to the way I enthused about my new ‘phone and other gadgets but as I thought about it I realised it’s something I do as a matter of course. When I discover something I think is good I tell others (as anyone who follows me on twitter will probably testify to). Movies,’phones, software, services, cable ties: I’ve noticed I have a habit of recommending to others the things I find good, useful or just plain fab.

I’ve noticed this trait in others too. Sometime ago I was at a party. One of the people there has Scottish heritage – specifically the west of Scotland. They are also a lover of Whisky. I don’t mean they drink too much I mean they are a connoisseur but not in a look-down-the-end-of-their-nose-at-you way. They not only knew how types of Whisky tasted or should best be poured and sipped but they knew about why that was. They explained why a certain kind of Whisky got its flavour from the water and preparation methods. They also managed to do this without being an anorak about it too. I think I have some lessons to learn there.

So what does this have to do with the video above?

I’ve noticed that too many “outreach” and mission projects I’ve seen in the church appear to take the approach Grover (he’s the non-frog) does in the video. He has something to sell and he is determined to sell it to Kermit regardless of whether it is suitable. It gets to the point where, rather than admit defeat, he changes Kermit to fit what he is selling. How many times have we done this is the church? How many times have we expected people to change before we let them have what we are selling? And we wonder why it proves unsuccessful or doesn’t last.

Every recommendation in life I have followed has been from someone I knew and trusted (or at least was trusted by someone I trust). They’ve been from people who have demonstrated rather than told me the appeals of the item in question. They’ve been from people who have allowed me to ask questions, allowed for the fact that my experience may not be what theirs is and – most importantly – have been prepared to admit the item is not perfect. Okay so we have a problem here when it comes to Christianity because traditionally we believe God is perfect so how do we marry that with being honest to people when we live out our faith in front of them? Perhaps we need to remember there is a difference between God and Christianity. God may be perfect, Christianity most certainly is not. For a start the very fact that we need to clarify what we mean by “Christianity” detracts from any “one faith fits all” message. Unless we are prepared to admit that what we believe may not fit another person we will never be honest about our own faith and it could well prove to be standing on a shaky foundation.

Catch something

The old adage says “Christianity is meant to be caught, not taught”. It’s pretty much spot on but we need to remember that not everyone is in a place where they want to catch anything just now and some will equate “catching” something with a virus which ends doing nasty things to you. Yet we talk about people catching the bug and we speak of viral videos. Not everything that catches on is bad for you.

I went to Spring Harvest this year and the theme focussed on being the gospel, saying the gospel and doing the gospel – as Jesus did. The interesting thing was that – considering many call Spring Harvest an Evangelical Christian event – the message wasn’t “Get out there and start knocking on doors”, it was more “Learn about Jesus, study your source, be prepared to show that in your life – with words as well as actions”. This resonated with me – as I hope you can see from above. I’m sorry if this disappoints but I can’t remember the last time I actively tried to “convert” someone. I’m not sure I ever want to. I’d rather live out my life in a way which befits what I believe and let people “catch” the bits which help move them in closer to God (for want of a better term). Both of those are moving targets and that’s the way it should be if you ask me.

I’m at Spring Harvest this week. As you may expect I tend to find myself in the ‘create zone’. Our challenge yesterday was to consider who/what Jesus is. Lots of great ideas came out. This is what I did.

There’s a new Crimpertoon out… usual CC licence applies.

When we speak of support,
when we speak of its benefit,
when we speak of prayer,
when we speak of what it gives,
when we speak of help,
when we speak of how it’s needed,
why do we speak of a one way street?

Does the flow of love not have any eddys?
Are those who help not also helped?
Do we overlook our need to support?
Do we forget the gain of giving?
Who was it who said we have to lose to gain?

Even if it is a one way street,
Can we afford not to give, to help, to support?

Kieran Maxwell is a 13 year old from Scotland who lost the lower half of one leg to Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, in October 2010. Kieran captured hearts when he fell but picked himself up carrying the Olympic torch in July 2012. His family had been saving and fundraising for a new prosthetic limb when Euromillions winners olin and Chris Weir offered to pay for the limb.

It’s a wonderful story of humanity and kindness and I would recommend you watch this brief news item video on the BBC’s site. Unfortunately I can’t embed it.

The generosity of the Weirs is touching – particularly when so many lottery players seem to say they would do good deeds with any winnings and so few seem to do so (that’s a little anecdotal and I don’t mean to belittle any who do follow up on this). There’s one thing on the video which caught my eye and ear though.

About 1:05 into the video they interview Kieran’s mum, Nicola, who is understandably astounded by the gift. She says:

“It’s been surreal, like a dream. I keep waiting for someone to pinch us and wake us up. Things like this don’t happen to us. We do not get good luck – at all.”

At this point an off-camera voice – which I presume to be Kieran – interrupts and says “I do”.

Yes it would be better if the prosthetic wasn’t necessary but it is. Here’s the thing though – this story made the news and touches our hearts because of the generosity, humility, determination and optimism of those involved. Maybe that’s because we wish there were more occurrences of these things in the world. Then again perhaps we could let this story inspire us to make that so.

Work

I work in London. East London to be precise.

My journey into work covers about 13 miles and I do it by motorcycle.

My journey goes right past the Olympic park and as such most of it will be closed to me from mid July until the end of September. I will have to use an alternate route in along with everybody else.

Home

I live just outside the border of Greater London. Eastern Greater London to be precise.

A journey into London by tube, bus or rail would require me to pass Stratford (where the Olympicsi/Paralympics are being hosted).

Some of my local country park has been commandeered for use an a temporary Army barracks (and I’m not sure I trust LOCOG to restore it properly afterwards).

Another region near where I live has a number of small hotels who are apparently reporting they are fully booked during the Olympic/Paralympics. So we’re going to have a lot of tourists about.

In short: it’s going to be very hard for me to avoid the Olympics this summer. My travel will be affected, my local area will be affected, my life will be affected.

But…

So with all this in mind can I just say that I am pleased the Olympics/Paralympics are coming to London. I am looking forward to it. I have managed to get tickets for an Olympic event and some Paralympics ones for myself and my family but I was looking forward to the event regardless of whether I got tickets. I was celebrating when the games were awarded to London.

As I have seen the park develop I have gotten more excited. The Velodrome and Aquatic centre look magnificent and coupled with other new London buildings like the Shard (and slightly older ones like the Gherkin) I am excited for the way my home city is starting to look. I think the games coming to London are a good thing and I am glad they are coming.

Just saying.

“If only they could see the real me.
If only they knew what I was really like.
If only they could see through closed doors.
If only they saw me away from the public gaze.
Would they still be there?”

But..

What if they do see the real me?
What if the me they know is not fake?
What if the “lie” is the truth?
What if what I think is the truth is actually a lie?
Am I really that good at hiding myself?

And then..

Perhaps I am the one being fooled.
Perhaps I let the door shut out their encouraging words.
Perhaps they’re not as easily fooled as it appears.
Perhaps they have the same fears about themselves.
Maybe we all worry too much about what each other thinks.

If only we all knew how much we care about each other.
What if we stopped worrying and started showing.
Perhaps we could make the world a little brighter.

In the past couple of days I’ve seen the subject of worship come up on Twitter a bit more than usual. Initially it was a series of joke #machoWorshipSongs and this seemed to evolve into a discussion about the use of masculine/feminine/romantic language in worship songs.

In the first instance I and a few others commented to each other that the “joke” was somewhat lost as so many of the songs we use in worship have a masculine or (as one person put it) pseudo-aggressive tone to them. In the second it emerged from a comment about how men don’t like the “Jesus is my boyfriend” type songs intoa debate about the appropriateness of this language and how it’s not just men who dislike them.

What I find interesting is that both fell into the standard trap of presuming “worship” is a) collective/corporate and b) uses words and language. Yes it’s true we get as many “Worship is more than singing!” declarations as we do “The church is the people not the building” ones and to the most part both are valid statements but what these discussions reminded me of was something I preached about a few years back.

What is worship?

It’s a well known meme that wroship derives from worth-ship, that is when we worship we are giving God worth, telling him what he is worth to us. This is interesting because it makes it easy to extend worship into the rest of our lives. Sometimes I struggle to think of worship in any other context than singing, praying, making, painting, playing etc. in a collective sense. It’s easy for us to say our lives should be worship but how do we do that.

The answer – I believe – is found in the following passage:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. _{Matt 5:14-16 NIV}

When we shine, when we show our best in service to others we are giving God value in our eyes and in theirs (note v16). This is something that I find very important and it’s the inspiration behind #EntertainingAngels (formerly known as Give Up bad Coffee For Lent).

We give God worth.
We worship.

Service is worship, worship is service

Serving others is worship. Putting the needs of others before yourself is worship. Look at how that passage appears in the Message (emphasis mine):

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. _{Matt 5:14-16 The Message}

So let’s stop worrying if Church doesn’t appeal to our particular tastes and start figuring out if we leave a good taste in the mouths of those we meet. Because I have a sneaky feeling that in heaven people will spend a lot more time interacting with each other than they do standing beside each other singing.

As a side effect of this, once we also start to think of worship emerging from service it puts our roles in church in a new perspective, particularly if we are “worship” leaders.

I have noticed an increase of problem caused by these people:

These people are the ones we blame when we’re too lazy to give an appropriate name to those we accuse.
These people exhibit behaviour we deplore but that we rarely have evidence of.
These people follow whatever thought processes (if any) we wish to assign to make our point.
These people are a group of varying size but rarely do we think they really count.
These people are a convenient way for us to write real people off by lumping them together and not treating them as people.
Jesus said “Treat other people the way you want them to treat you.” Fortunately for us he didn’t specify how we should treat these people.

Too often we lump people into groups of our making so we can dismiss them out of hand and write them off. We decide what these people know, what they think, how they act and how they should be treated. At no point do we consider whether those we group together as these people actually want or – better yet – deserve to be in that group.

We owe them more than that. We owe them what we’d like them to owe us. A chance. A non-judgemental, open minded chance to be treated as an individual. Probably like you, I have had my turn at being grouped with these people and on occasion I have looked at those I am grouped with. Rarely do I find much in common with them. Other than being a human being who is being stereotyped by another human being of course.

This video is pretty well known and speaks for itself. But it’s good. Let’s stop talking about these people. Let’s talk about a person. Let’s look at them in the way Jesus did: one at a time.