Man, Movement, Machine, Monument

Preacher and writer Dr Vance Havner once said that most religious movements begin with a man, then the movement becomes a machine, and finally it turns into a monument.

It’s sadly a very true statement. Thinking of my own background in the Methodist denomination, John Wesley in the 18th century was a whirlwind of a man, a great organiser who set in train the mighty movement known as Methodism. Marshalled into Conference, districts, circuits, preaching places, classes, bands, its following soared. There was even talk of the country being on the verge of going Methodist.

Then the pioneer movement somehow became solidified into one of the big denominations of the 19th century. It gave birth to a multitude of organisations and programmes. Everything meshed together and ticked over like a well-oiled mechanism. It had become a machine.

As the 20th century wore on, the sense grew that Methodism could no longer meet the needs and fire the imaginations of the people. Its movers and shakers began to hark back to the past. Places where Wesley did this or that were turned into stops on a heritage trail. A musical – “Ride! Ride!” – was written to celebrate the memory of the great man’s prodigious evangelistic travels. The machine was slowly but surely turning into a monument.

I moved into independency in 1998 and am hopeful that Evangelical independency remains a dynamic movement. Churches co-operating, but each standing free under God – that has ongoing appeal to me as a good way of doing and being church. But the same danger lurks.

It may be hard to identify the point where movement turns into machine and then monument. Yet it should be clear to those with discernment. When a church’s programme simply perpetuates itself year after year without question, or fond memories of the glorious past loom larger than hopes for the future, watch out.

A church may need to take a critical magnifying glass to much of what it has become, which is a painful process. Yet if the ideal of the movement is recovered, if Jesus Christ becomes real for people again, if people are once again helped and blessed, it is worth while.

John the Revelation-writer had to warn even the great church at Ephesus, “Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:4-5 NIV).

Getting into the community

Oddly, despite episodes in hospital and other distractions, I have become more involved in my local community here in the Leigh area than anywhere else I have lived.

It has long been my aim to contribute to my local community. There is great value in meeting people outside of church circles and interacting with them.

This is distinct from the duty Christians feel to introduce outsiders to Christ. True, we would not wish to deny to others the great benefits the Lord Jesus Christ has given to us. If only those others knew it, it is a matter of eternal life and death for them. I frequently accuse myself of not guiding more people into conversation about their spiritual state. My excuse is that it is counter-productive to foist such discussions on people uninvited. When the Bible says, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2), that means be ready whether it is convenient to you or not – not the other person! We are not to harass people. But that can be an easy get-out, and there are all too many times when I could have shared the gospel without offence or inconvenience and didn’t.

But whether I get to talk to non-churchgoers about their souls or not, it seems good for a pastor to be an active citizen in his community. This was near impossible when I was minister of multiple churches scattered around different communities. I shared myself around seven churches in Cornwall, where I began my ministry, and as many as eleven in Banbury, with a hospital chaplaincy on top. But towards the end of my time in Aylesbury (only six churches there!) I became impressed with the work of the local CRUSE branch which offered counselling support to those locally who were bereaved. When I moved into independency in 1998, with only church to look after, I contacted a bereavement support organisation local to the Kidderminster area and became a volunteer worker with them. In Worcester I trained to do budget coaching for those who had financial problems.

In my current neck of the woods, things have taken a different turn again. I have joined up with my local Lowton East Neighbourhood Development Forum (www.lendf.co.uk) which meets monthly to discuss matters of concern to local residents. It has been an education and a joy. I’ve met lots more people through it, received their support in time of illness and hopefully given a little back. This must never be allowed to encroach on my duties at church, but it adds depth to my connection with the place where I live.

Some churches have little or no interaction with their local community. Others have been so bound up with it for many generations past that they have almost lost their distinctive Christian character. Our task is to be in the world, but in such a way that the world wants to ask, “What makes you so special?”

Shouting something about forgiveness

As I look back on our church's week of outreach early last month, I feel it was well worth doing. Simply viewed from our standpoint, it was a blessing to have something to aim for during those rather empty summer weeks when most of the church's regular midweek activities come to a standstill. It was also encouraging to see how many from the church got actively involved. Not everybody could come along, of course; some could do no more than support us with their prayers. But many used their gifts of hospitality as we opened the church for different events, and a surprising number even willingly engaged in the scary activity of meeting the great unchurched public in the centre of town.

Where possible, in street outreach, you get people to talk. Some might think that all the talking is meant to be done by Christians who have something to tell everybody else. We know all the answers, you might think, and nobody else can tell us anything. But in fact it is a rare privilege to stand and listen to what others outside the church are saying and thinking.

One one occasion, as we stood out on the street in Leigh trying to engage people in conversation, a lady passed by who shouted something about forgiveness. We may never know what prompted her to do that. Within a few seconds she had passed by, and the contact was gone. It led me to think about an incident that happened some years ago which showed how little people understand about forgiveness.

It was a sordid situation where a man at a church I was minister of at the time began an affair with a woman from a neighbouring church. His wife tried desperately to keep the marriage together. She found it unhelpful that some of us, however lovingly, called a spade a spade. What the man was doing was wrong - it was no good saying anything different. But the wife's constant and reproachful demand to us was, "You must forgive - you must forgive".

For many, forgiveness is cheap, a thing to be handed out like sweets from a slot machine. Regardless of the offence against God and against people, they reckon we should excuse it, shrug our shoulders and carry on.

When Jesus Christ on the cross cried "Father, forgive", God was pouring into that act of forgiveness not only His feelings, but His very flesh and blood. For Him, every human sin is not just "one of those things", but a slap in the face, a whip on the back, a nail through the wrist.

The Sunday after the outreach, I tried to show that God's forgiveness calls forth one of the great exclamation marks in the Bible. In Romans 5:7-9 the apostle Paul exclaims, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"

May there be many more times in the future when as a church we listen carefully to those outside and treasure their stories. May God then give us openings to explain to them the cost and the benefit of God's forgiving love.

One way in, one way out

It seems that nowadays they deliberately design buildings to have just one way in and out. The days when homes sported both a front and a rear entrance are passing into history. Whether it is a single property or blocks of properties, the fashion seems to be one way in, one way out. It reminds me of the Lord Jesus Christ and His description of Himself in John’s gospel chapter 10, as the genuine Shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the appropriate gate. The entrance and the exit are carefully guarded and the gatekeeper makes sure that only authorised staff have access to the sheep. The “thief and … robber” who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” gives himself away by climbing over a barrier somewhere else and sneaking in.

The news is full of the dark and dishonest dealings of those who try to worm their way into our trust but then take advantage of us. Often this concerns money, but there are spiritual counterfeits too. They offer us ways of looking at life which seem believable but lead only to destruction. The Saviour aims to protect us from those who steal and kill and destroy. We should welcome Him and thank Him for looking after our well-being, because it will benefit us for ever.

We need to be on guard for our own safety. We need at the same time to keep others safe by showing them the one and only way to God that will work for them. As I write this, we are less than a fortnight away from a big week of outreach that our church is running in the town of Leigh. We seek to meet as many of the public as we can, by doing street work in the centre of Leigh and putting on various family events at church. It is certain that during the week we will encounter many people who simply do not know the way - do not know how to walk the world in spiritual safety. It is our privilege to show them that there is a means by which they can be kept safe: putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. We can show them the benefit: like sheep who feel secure in a sheepfold, they can safely find pasture to nourish themselves spiritually. Those who are constantly exposed and unsafe are spiritually starved. They do not have the time and the leisure to discover the proper food sources and make the best use of them. So I thank God for just one way in and one way out - one way to be safe, one way to be secure, one way to flourish. I trust and pray that many in these days will find that way, to their own joy and to God’s praise and glory.

Out walking

The day I can go out for a short walk is the day I know I am starting to recover from illness. It is a good feeling, first of all, to progress from being confined to a hospital bed to taking a few lumbering steps, perhaps attached to tubes. Of course there are those who cannot manage even that. You trust there are compensations for them in other ways: appetising food, loving care and attention, the sense that they are still valued members of the community, perhaps the comfort of Christian ministry by the bedside.

But God has blessed and provided me with healing and I have progressed from those first few steps to gradual strengthening, discharge from hospital and the point where I can take the fresh air and walk outside a bit further each day. It may not be much of a walk the way some people see it. I am not one of these fitness fanatics who routinely step out for five miles each day before breakfast. But to know I’ve walked at least some distance is the measure of whether I have been truly alive this day.

In the Bible, the life you live is your walk. In Bible translations that stick close to the original there are some 200 references to “walk”. Often our walk is described as being “before God”. He never fails to observe our daily conduct. In Genesis 17:1 God introduces Himself to Abraham and commands, “Walk before me and be blameless” (ESV). A misguided person may walk the wrong way. In 1 Kings 16 a wicked king walked in the sins of a previous ruler who set a bad example. Some strong-willed people walk in the stubbornness of their hearts. The apostle Paul tackled the problem of work-shy busybodies who walked “disorderly”, 2 Thessalonians 3:11 AV. Many walk “in darkness”.

But back to our real theme: good walking before God. Again, God sees it and notes it down. There are those precious ones of God’s people for whom what counts is faith in Jesus Christ, not ritual. Romans 4 describes them as those who “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had”. You can’t go wrong if you walk by faith! Whose footsteps will you tread in today?

Previous experience

As I face a second stay in hospital, at least I have previous experience to go on.  My first ever episode of hospitalisation, back in January, was both reassuring and disturbing. I had complications following a simple biopsy. Everyone loves to feel special, but to be the one person in 100 chosen to have a particular problem is a privilege I'd rather avoid!

At the same time, I know that I shall meet with kindness and courtesy and much practical love, help and support. As a resident of a friendly locality and pastor of a caring church, you may be reasonably confident of this both in hospital and in convalescence afterwards. The period of recovery will probably be rather lengthy and I may be quite dependent on others. I don't look forward to being a burden, but I know everyone will reassure me that I'm not one. There are also things which I shall handle differently because I have been through it all before. Perhaps I shall make a better fist of it this time, even though last time didn't go too badly.

Thinking about this experience question brings to mind those job adverts which flag up that previous experience of the work is "desirable" or "essential". Of course this is the bane of many a job-seeker's life. Employers don't seem to understand that you've got to start somewhere. An applicant longs for a sympathetic employer willing to look at his or her potential rather than a proven track record. Many, though, are hard-headed business people who don't see it that way and won't give a youngster a chance. It's a hard world.

The job market is all about life, however, and life can be hard. Sometimes doing things with no previous experience can bring disastrous results with lifelong bad consequences. Yet there is great comfort for the Christian. As a wise believing lady told me one day, "God never punishes anyone for making a mistake".

Old Job, in the Bible book of that name, found himself on the end of a torrent of challenging questions from God. He had experienced heavy losses for maybe the first time in his life, and had taken it all very hard. Somehow he managed to retain his integrity through it all, and did not curse God. When confronted, he was desperately sorry that he had been so bitter: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). God praised Job up in the presence of Job's false comforters and blessed him more than he had been blessed before.

Thank God, coming to Him through the cross of Jesus is not a question of building up experience and getting it unfailingly right.

Turning round

It doubtless happens many times each day, though I had never remarked on it until this particular occasion. A car heading one way up our road came through the entrance into the church car park, turned round and left again, moving off in the opposite direction. The driver was, quite understandably, using our premises as a turning place.

We have no problem with that. There are no plans to put up "No Turning" notices. In fact this car turning round gave me pause for thought. Our church is a place where, we hope, lives will be turned round. This is what “repentance” means.

The word in the original Bible language means literally that – to turn your life around 180 degrees. (Not like the fashion photographer who told his model to turn round 360 degrees – which would mean she ended up facing the same way again!)

This radical turnaround implies that a person’s stubborn set of mind is broken down and they allow themselves to be guided into a different way. We all need to examine which way we are taking. Proverbs reminds us twice over, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (14:12 and 16:25). The most frequent advice the earliest Christians gave to those who wanted to join them was “Repent!”

Today that word “repent” is associated with glum Puritan preachers wagging a finger at those they reckoned to be sinners and warning them harshly to change their ways. Originally, though, it was a warm-hearted plea to men and women who were heedlessly heading fast in the opposite direction from God. Let them turn round and take the same route Jesus took, the way of life – through a cross to a crown. It was also a timely instruction to some who were already Christians. They had somehow lost their way and gone cold (Revelation 2:5; 2:16; 2:21; 2:22; 3:3 and 3:19).

Yes, long may our church serve as a place where lives are turned around. We trust that our week of outreach to Leigh in August (5-12) will be a time when people consider the claims of Jesus on their lives, perhaps for the first time. And may it be a place where even experienced Christians keep humbly realising they have some turning round left to do.