Month: October 2009

Categories
Faith

Truth or power?

truth-squeezed-outImagine the scene: It is some time in the middle of the first century AD. You live in the multicultural town of Antioch in the district of Pisidia in southern Turkey, located on a major Roman trade route. You are a merchant of Middle-Eastern descent, and each Saturday you meet with your countrymen in a synagogue in accordance with the Jewish custom. Then one day a couple of wild-eyed strangers walk into town with an interesting story.

The story of what happened next is told in Acts chapter 13. On the first week, Paul and Barnabas were invited to give the people any word of encouragement they might have, and Paul spoke at length in a passionate manner about the history of God’s people Israel, and how God had promised to send them a saviour, and how a man called Jesus had been sent to earth as that saviour, and how he had been executed, but miraculously God had raised him from the dead.

After the first week, Paul’s audience were intrigued with the story and wanted to know more, but when huge crowds gathered the following week for the sequel, the dynamics in the room had changed. The leaders could see that the newcomers were stealing their glory, so they hounded them out of town. As has so often happened in the course of human history, truth became a casualty of the quest for personal power.

Categories
Books

The Search for God and Guinness, by Stephen Mansfield

God_Guinness_coverIt is reasonably well known that one of the world’s most successful beer brands started two hundred and fifty years ago when Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in Ireland. The lesser-known story which is told by this book is the story of how numerous members of the Guinness brewing dynasty were strong Christians, and it is interesting to observe the interplay between faith and commerce, particularly in the attitudes shown towards employee assistance.

While the book is entertaining to read, it seemed to me to be essentially a sentimental apologetic for beer, addressed to a predominantly abstemious Christian audience. Guinness is good for you, the author would have us believe, whereas those other non-beer alcoholic drinks are bad for you. Prohibition in the US last century was a failure because it encouraged people to drink bad alcohol instead of good beer.

Beer seems to be making a comeback in Christian circles, particularly amongst post-modern emerging-church types who want to be manly and relevant. This would be a good book for them to give to their concerned mothers.

Disclosure: This review has been prepared as part of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program.

Categories
Poverty

Looking for easy answers

fish-and-loavesThis is the sixth in a series of posts discussing themes raised in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. In chapter 24, Stearns says, “God’s image and identity are… slandered by poverty, by injustice, by corruption, by disease and by human exploitation and suffering. And God’s name is defiled when His people willingly accept the status quo, lacking the vision to lift up God’s holiness, goodness and justice in a crumbling world.”

Stearns talks about the boy who gave five loaves and two fishes, and how Jesus made that into enough to feed five thousand. The hunger of the crowds seemed to be too big a problem, incapable of solution, but it was solved when someone stepped forward and offered all he had. If poverty, injustice, corruption, etc, are issues which are close to God’s heart, they should also be close to ours, but there are very few people lining up to offer all they have to help with the solution.

Instead, people who have tens of thousands of dollars and significant business and entrepreneurial skills, on the odd occasions when they are touched by the needs of the world’s poor, offer just five loaves and two fishes, and then turn their backs on the needs. Jesus does not intervene and change the course of history when people throw him the occasional tip; the big miracles occur when people offer him all they have. Jesus has no use for your money, but he can use your life.

Categories
Future

Our best century or our worst

achilles-heelThe best minds in the best institutions generally get it wrong when trying to predict the future, according to Ian Goldin in a talk given at the TED conference in July. Before the global financial crisis hit, the IMF and other institutions established to think about the future were unable to see the crisis coming, as were over 20,000 economists. Globalisation is getting more complex, and as change is becoming more rapid, the future is becoming even more unpredictable.

In the coming years technology will provide many fantastic new opportunities in fields such as computing, regenerative medicine, and genetics – but will these technologies be available only to the super-rich? As populations shrink in wealthier countries, those countries will be seeking migrants to fill their workforces.

There are two “Achilles’ heels” to increasing globalisation: the growing inter-country inequality, and the increasing complexity, in which what happens in one place very quickly affects everything else, giving rise to the risk of systemic shock. Risks include the collapse in biodiversity, climate change, pandemics, and financial crises. As a result of globalisation, this could be our best century ever, or it could be our worst.

Categories
Present

Famine in Kenya

famineA report by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group indicates that $385 million in food aid will be required to address food insecurity in the country over the next four months. It will be necessary to provide around 390,000 metric tonnes of food for 3.8 million people. Most parts of the country have been classified as food insecure, and a number of districts have been indicated as facing a high risk of a humanitarian emergency.

The report says, “The country has experienced another season of failed rains, leading to continued food insecurity. The situation has further been aggravated by compounding factors, including high food prices, increasing conflicts, livestock diseases, low purchasing power, and high malnutrition… The situation is not expected to improve until February 2010 contingent on favourable short rains and implementation of other measures.”

Meanwhile, aid group Action Aid has said that Kenya’s chronic food insecurity problems are unacceptable for a nation that is a major exporter of horticultural products to the rest of the world. The Kenyan government has so far failed to take the necessary steps to prepare for the now fairly predictable food crises and to invest in its agricultural industry to prevent the food deficits from re-occurring.

Categories
Past

William Temple

war-veterans“The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” So said William Temple, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 until his death on this day in 1944, 65 years ago. Born in 1881, Temple attended Rugby School and Balliol College Oxford, then became a lecturer, the headmaster of Repton School, a clergyman, the Bishop of Manchester, and then the Archbishop of York.

Temple’s term as Archbishop of Canterbury occurred during the Second World War. Christians disagree as to whether it is ever right to engage in war; Temple’s attitude was influenced by the horrendous persecution of the Jews, and like many leading Christians he believed that war against the Nazis was justified. In 1942 together with Rabbi Joseph Hertz he founded the Council of Christians and Jews to counter anti-Jewish bigotry.

Temple visited Normandy in mid-1944 during Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of western Europe which turned the tide of the War, but he died before the war ended the following year. Temple is remembered for his definition of worship: “Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose. And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.”

Categories
Faith

Get out of prison free

peter-freed-from-prisonWhat kind of a deal are you signing up for if you decide to become a Christian? There are plenty of prosperity preachers who would like to tell you how much wealthier you will be and how much more secure your lifestyle will be when you align your plans with God’s plan. Such advice does not account for how Peter found himself in a maximum security prison awaiting a public trial and probable execution, as described in Acts chapter 12.

Jesus never promised a carefree life to his followers. He never promised them material wealth, or long life, or freedom from illness. His own example was hardly promising for someone seeking the good life on easy street: Jesus’s life was brutally cut short when he was arrested, tortured and executed. According to church tradition, each of his 12 disciples also suffered persecution culminating in a brutal and untimely ending.

Everyone gets to experience suffering in this life, and this life always ends in death. Sometimes, though, God intervenes miraculously in the midst of our sufferings and difficulties, and on the occasion described in Acts 12, this happened for Peter. Peter was bound by chains to two soldiers, guarded by two guards, and locked behind an iron gate; but none of these was an insurmountable obstacle to the angel sent by God. No matter how bad your circumstances, there is always a chance that God may send you a “get out of jail free” card.

Categories
Books

Relational Intelligence

relational-intelligencePeople with high IQs are not necessarily good at relating to other people, because inter-personal relationships require a different form of intelligence. There has been much recent literature about emotional intelligence; now Steve Saccone has written a book entitled Relational Intelligence: How Leaders Can Expand Their Influence Through a New Way of Being Smart, with a matching test available on the website www.relationalintelligence.info.

According to Steve, there are six defining roles of a relational genius. The Story Collector is someone who can draw out other people’s stories. The Energy Carrier knows how to enliven the mood in a room. The Compelling Relator knows how to get people interested. The Conversational Futurist knows how to use a conversation to create change. The Likeable Hero establishes authentic connections that make people feel valued. The Disproportionate Investor invests time and resources into a few carefully chosen people.

It seems to me that the online self-assessment, while thought-provoking, suffers from a problem common to many self-assessment tests: the relationally unintelligent person is likely to rate himself too highly, and thereby achieve a higher score than he deserves, because he is unaware of his own deficiencies. Nonetheless, the book provides interesting insights and should be useful for most people who have leadership responsibilities in a church.

Categories
Poverty

A new insight on the Revelation

jesus-knockingThis is the fifth in a series of posts discussing themes raised in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Chapter 20 contains some interesting reflections on the letter to the church in Laodicea, as described in Revelation chapter 3:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich… Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me…”

We tend to read this passage as a warning against lack of spiritual fervour, but Stearns suggests that it might also be a warning against materialistic complacency. Christians who are materially wealthy but not rich in good deeds towards those who are materially poor are in God’s eyes “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”. When Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, he might be doing so in the person of the poor who need our assistance.

Categories
Future

Starvation by choice

choicesKenya is currently facing a famine, with the government saying that 10 million Kenyans – about one quarter of the population – are facing starvation. Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has famously said that there has never been a famine in a functioning democracy, yet there seem to be famines in Kenya on a quite predictable basis. Obviously Amartya Sen is of the view that Kenya is not a functioning democracy.

In a recent opinion piece in the Daily Nation, Donald Kipkorir rhetorically asks, “Which civilised country can’t feed a quarter of its people?” Two factors commonly blamed for the famine are last year’s post-election violence and the destruction of the Mau Forest, which is a key water tower for the country. Neither of these is sufficient to explain the extent of the famine or the reason why there is no adequate planning for dry seasons.

Kipkorir compares Kenya with Malawi, a much poorer country with a budget of less than 20% the size of Kenya’s. He says that Malawi produces more than enough maize to feed all of its people and all of Kenya as well, as a result of simple policies which include offering seeds and fertilisers to farmers at subsidised rates and guaranteeing minimum prices for their produce.