Month: April 2008

Future

The next thousand years of Christianity

Post author By john
Post date 30 April, 2008

The Church Solutions Factbook08 has an interesting article about the next 1000 years of Christianity, contributed by the Fermi Project. One prediction is that the centre of Christianity will shift west. In its first 300 years, the centre of Christianity shifted from Jerusalem to Armenia. In the next 200 years it moved west to Greece and Rome. Over the next 500 years it moved further west into Europe. Over the next 1000 years it moved further west into North and South America. The centre of Christianity is still moving west, with the rapid growth rates in Korea (although the number of Christians in Korea started to decline last year) and China, so that by the year 2500 the world might identify Christianity as primarily an Asian thing.

Another prediction is that the varieties of Christianity will continue to increase. In 1800 there were 500 Christian denominations; by 2007 there were 40,000, and by the next century there may be as many as 260,000. Churches at the margins of Christian denominations are likely to continue to be those which grow fastest – the Mormons and the Amish are growing rapidly at the moment. The largest denomination in 1000 years’ time will almost certainly be one which does not exist today.

Another prediction is that almost all of the challenges faced by Christianity over the next 1000 years will be driven by new technologies. Another prediction is that as the influence of Islam continues to grow in Europe, Christians and Muslims may become conservative political allies in much the same way as Christians and Jews are today.

Present

A small victory for people power

Post author By john
Post date 29 April, 2008

The Chinese weapons-carrying ship bound for Zimbabwe, as mentioned in last week’s post, is apparently returning to China with its load, after dropping its Angola-bound cargo (but none of its Zimbabwe-bound cargo) in Angola. When the ship anchored in South Africa to discharge its cargo bound for Zimbabwe, the government said that it would do nothing to stop a legal transaction between two sovereign States. The people thought otherwise. Newspapers and radio shows discussed how the weapons were likely to be used by the government of Zimbabwe against its own people. Dock workers refused to handle the cargo. Demonstrators threatened to block its passage.

A judge issued an injunction preventing the cargo being transported across South Africa; Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa called on all of Africa’s coastal states to prevent the ship from entering their waters, and finally the ship seems to have been recalled by China, possibly fearing more protests in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympic Games. Concerted action by the people seems to have had a successful outcome, despite the opposition of the political authorities.

The Secretary General of the Council of South African Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi, says that the older political leaders see themselves as representatives of the liberation movements, and they fear that power is passing to trade unions and civil society. Zimbabwe’s opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change, is led by trade unions and civil society, and politicians in southern Africa are therefore reluctant to speak out about what is happening in Zimbabwe.

Past

Lessons from the Bounty

Post author By john
Post date 28 April, 2008

On this day 219 years ago, Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against Captain William Bligh on the Bounty, a ship owned by the Royal Navy. At the time the ship was near Tonga. Bligh and 18 others were crowded into the ship’s boat and set adrift, while Christian and 22 others stayed on the Bounty. Equipped only with a sextant and a pocket watch, Bligh successfully navigated the overcrowded ship’s boat on a 47-day voyage to Timor. The mutineers went to Tahiti where most landed, but Fletcher Christian and eight others, together with six Tahitian men and 11 women, set sail in the Bounty, eventually settling on Pitcairn Island and burning the ship.

A number of lessons arise from the aftermath of the Bounty mutiny. Technical ability does not in itself make someone a good leader, as was demonstrated by Bligh’s subsequent poor performance as Governor of New South Wales. Shared hatred of a despotic leader is not sufficient to create a lasting alliance, as was discovered by the mutineers, most of whom subsequently died miserable deaths until some ten years later only one of the mutineers on Pitcairn Island was still alive.

An organisation birthed in conflict and lawlessness rarely has an opportunity to flourish, as has been demonstrated by the subsequent history of Pitcairn Island. Over the past 200 years Pitcairn Island has remained a small settlement populated almost exclusively by descendants of those who arrived on the Bounty. The Island has had a long history of child sexual abuse and in 2004 a number of the men on the island were convicted of sex crimes and jailed.

Faith

The identity question

Post author By john
Post date 26 April, 2008

A lot hangs on the answer to the question: “Who is Jesus?” Some say that he is a fictional or mythical character who never really lived; others say that he was a historical figure, a good teacher and a wise guide for a socially responsible life. Muslims say that he was a prophet, but no more than any of the other prophets. Christians agree with Peter as he is reported in Matthew chapter 16, when he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Does it really matter who Jesus is or was? According to Christians, it does because the answer to the question of Jesus’s identity also determines our own identity. If Jesus was no more than just a man, or even worse a fictional figure, then ultimately there is nothing special about us either. If Jesus was not the “son of the living God”, then perhaps there is no God, our lives have no meaning other than what we pretend them to mean, we come from nowhere and we are destined for oblivion. Even if there is a God but Jesus was not the “son of the living God”, then God is some distant being and it seems impossible to know whether he loves us or hates us.

But if Jesus really was the “son of the living God”, then our identity is a whole lot more than a bag of bones and flesh. God showed his love for us by sending his son to die the death we deserved to die for our sins. As a result, by placing our trust in Jesus we can be transformed from being God’s enemies into being God’s friends, children of God, destined to worship and enjoy him forever.

Books

How a local church can become truly global

Post author By john
Post date 25 April, 2008

The best way for a local church to conduct missions today is to send the whole church, according to Bob Roberts in his remarkable book, Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World. Ordinary church members with skills in agriculture, water treatment, medicine, small business, law and other areas need to become involved and connect internationally. We need to go and live out the kingdom, and lives will be transformed, leading to the establishment of churches, rather than the other way round.

We also need to re-think missions trips. The current purpose of most missions trips is to make the team members feel good, not to maximise the value to the recipients. Instead of going and constructing houses, we should be using the funds as seed money for new businesses which enable employees to afford to purchase houses by monthly payments over a period of time. This creates sustainable economic improvement in the community, rather than inadvertently increasing dependence.

The author advocates a policy of “knocking on the front door”; that is, approaching the leadership of a country and offering to serve, rather than going into the country as “secret missionaries”. He writes extensively about his experience in Afghanistan, Vietnam and other countries which are typically regarded as “closed” to mission work. The book is filled with fresh and challenging ideas. I highly recommend it.

Poverty

Taxes and poverty

Post author By john
Post date 24 April, 2008

What is the tax burden like in a “poor” country? Some insight is given in a recent article by Mutuma Mathiu, managing editor of Kenya’s Sunday Nation. Around a third of the writer’s salary is payable in income tax. There is a 16% value added tax on goods and services purchased, and there are numerous other taxes, so that the total taxation burden is estimated at two-thirds of the salary. It is clear that the poverty in the country is not due to undertaxing of typical wage-earners.

Rather, the problems arise as a result of the manner in which the government spends the money it gets, and this in turn seems to be attributable to the prevailing notion of the nature and purpose of a government. The popular expectation of a person elected to government seems to be that he or she now has access to the “money”, and should now exert maximum efforts to distribute the “money” to his or her constituents – primarily self, family, and close friends and family. It may be necessary to engage in political bargaining which allows other people access to the “money” in order to secure your own stake. The idea of government for the benefit of all the people seems to be a secondary consideration.

In order to solve the recent political crisis brought about by the rigging of the recent elections, the government has expanded its cabinet, bringing in more ministers so that more people have access to the “money”, keeping everybody happy. Unfortunately however the amount of money in the pot is limited, so that the proportion of government funds spent on providng services for the whole community will have to be reduced significantly, and poverty will increase.

Future

2020 Summit ideas

Post author By john
Post date 23 April, 2008

One thousand of Australia’s best and brightest minds gathered in Canberra at the weekend to discuss a range of issues relating to Australia’s future. According to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it was “a very Australian gathering”, which was “characterised by a whole lot of good humour, a whole lot of mutual respect, and a whole lot of very classical, undeniable Australian directness.” After sifting through the rhetoric, specific ideas to emerge included:

Children’s and parents’ centres, which supply integrated services (such as immunisations and child care) for children’s health and development.
Establishing a scheme to allow graduates to reduce their HECS liability in exchange for participating in communities around Australia.
Improving Australia’s understanding of Asian culture.
Establishing a federation commission to drive fundamental and sustainable federalism reforms.
Forming a health equalities commission, with a focus on indigenous health.
Creation of a national preventative health agency to promote healthier lifestyles and food choices, funded by taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and junk food.
Introducing a traffic light food labelling system, with red dots for unhealthy foods and green dots for fresh fruit and vegetables.
Creating a national development index to measure economic progress against social inclusion.
Using mid-career artists as mentors in schools and having a mandated nationwide creative literacy subject.
Creating an Australian republic.
Establishing a bill of rights.
Recognising indigenous Australians in the preamble to the Constitution.
A national co-operation commission to ensure state and federal governments work together.
Automatic enrolment to vote at the age of 18.
National harmonisation of state-based transport and agriculture rules.

Present

Vengeance is coming

What need would Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe have for a shipload of 3 million rounds of ammunition for AK47 rifles, 1500 rocket-propelled grenades, and several thousand mortar rounds? A Chinese ship loaded with this “foreign aid” was apparently on its way to Malawi a few days ago after a South African court ruled that the cargo could not be transported across South Africa to Zimbabwe. China has a policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, and presumably that non-interference includes providing military assistance to dictators who have recently been voted out of office.

Reports from inside Zimbabwe indicate that Mugabe’s cronies are setting up “command centres” as key locations for a national campaign of violence and torture in an effort to change the will of the people and see Mugabe re-elected in a run-off following the recent presidential elections, the results of which have not yet been released. Each command centre will consist of one soldier, one war veteran and three policemen. They will organise militias to torture known and suspected opposition supporters.

The local police will be controlled to keep the militias immune from arrest. These efforts will be concentrated in the rural areas where 70% of the population live. Torture tactics are expected to include stripping victims naked and dripping burning plastic on their bodies. Similar campaigns of intimidation, violence and ballot-rigging are thought to have been responsible for Mugabe’s success at the 2000 and 2002 elections.

Past

Mark Twain

Post author By john
Post date 21 April, 2008

On this day 98 years ago, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died. The author of such classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became a printer’s apprentice at the age of 12 after his father died. He subsequently became a steamboat pilot, working on the Mississippi River until the outbreak of the American Civil War. He tried his hand as a miner before securing a job as a journalist in Virginia City, Nevada, and thereafter he worked as a writer, humourist and lecturer.

Mark Twain visited Australia on a lecturing tour in 1895-6, spending Christmas 1895 in Melbourne. His Australian travels are chronicled in his book, Following the Equator. Twain’s satire made him exceptionally popular, and he was one of the most sought-after speakers of his time. Some of the witty quotes for which he was famous include:

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.

Faith

How to fall into a ditch

Post author By john
Post date 19 April, 2008

Followers of Jesus are supposed to be growing more like him: merciful, loving, gracious and forgiving. So why is it that the typical non-Christian thinks that Christians are on the whole judgemental, opinionated and obnoxious? How could we have fallen so seriously off the path created by Jesus that we have become the very people – the Pharisees – that he warned us about? In Matthew chapter 15 Jesus said about the Pharisees, “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

The Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’s followers weren’t doing the ceremonial hand-washing ritual before meals. Jesus replied: “People aren’t polluted by what goes into their mouths. They’re polluted by what comes out of their mouths.” He was saying that his followers weren’t ingesting sewerage, but the Pharisees were talking sewerage. To make sure that no-one was left in doubt about his attitude towards judgemental people, Jesus told his disciples, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled out. Leave them alone. They are blind guides for blind people. If a blind person leads a blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”

Have you been falling in ditches lately? A lot of Christians must have been, if we are so widely known for our judgementalism. The Apostle Paul said, “What business do I have in judging people who are outside the church?” Unfortunately, it seems that many Christians today think they know better than Paul.