What will the new King bring to Britain?

70 years after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain has changed almost beyond recognition. Or has it?

The Monarchy, the Parliament and the office of Prime Minister persist. Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary democracy are still mutually connected. We remain a nation where there is a place for Christianity in public life. We continue to have a State Church in England as well as an environment of tolerance for those of all faiths and none. 

The Coronation of King Charles III is a focal point for all the above. As a religious ceremony, it is perhaps the highest national expression of the Anglican faith of the Established Church of England. It is also a public instrument of the State as the Monarch is the Head of State for the United Kingdom.

The challenge for King Charles is to maintain these essential elements of the British Constitution while adapting to contemporary society. Will he successfully do so in the light of unrelenting activism?

In the very recent past the Christian view of marriage has been rejected by our society, largely due to pressure from highly vocal self-interest groups and biases in our Media, Education and Politics. Superficial arguments of equality were never fully debated or stress tested in any considered way.

The very definition of male and female which, up to very recently, was soundly rooted in biological science has now largely given way to the subjective feelings of individuals and groups. All opposing views are disregarded, shunned or cancelled.
Activism is also being brought to bear on the Institution of the Monarchy. It is understandable that the Institution is again being visibly questioned. The Coronation provides Republicans a platform for their right to dissent. The Monarchy is least supported by the younger generation. This too, is not a surprise given the political agendas now being pursued by the educators of our young people.

King Charles’ Christian convictions have been made public. His own faith is deeply rooted in the Church of England of which he is now the Head. His desire to ensure Britain remains tolerant and welcoming of those from other faiths is also, to a large extent understandable. However, if this is done from the point of view of Religious Pluralism, it should be less welcome to thinking people from most, if not all, faiths. Our tolerance should not be based on the idea that all religions are basically the same or that they all lead to the same God. The god of pluralism is neither the God of the Bible nor that of most religions in the world.

As Christians, we pray to the heavenly King of Kings and ask for wisdom, strength and perseverance for our new earthly King. We also pray for compassion, humility and willingness to surrender to the Book presented to him at the Coronation with the words: “…the most valuable thing this world affords.”

’Till death us do part

God’s covenant love means he is totally committed to his people. As with any agreement there are promises made, conditions to fulfil and consequences if these are not met.

‘Covenant’ is a slightly old-fashioned word, but is still widely used today.  It’s another word for a contract, a legal agreement. For example, two parties agree to supply and pay for certain goods and services. The contract lists the specific benefits and responsibilities for each person included in its terms and conditions.

Marriage, is also a covenant, a formal, public and binding agreement. In biblical terms, marriage is linked to procreation and therefore can only be made between those inherently capable of having children, that is, a biological man and a biological woman (with the presumption that both will fully identify with their biological sex). Circumstances such as age, infertility or other conditions that preclude a heterosexual married couple from having children does not negate the basic binary nature of biological sex. The point is that Christian marriage upholds these categories which inherently include the capacity to be fruitful and multiply.

In many nations, the civic definition of marriage has recently been changed to include people of the same sex. The principal reason given for this change is to provide equality under the (secular) law for LGBTQi+ people. Christian believers consider marriage to be a sacred bond as revealed in the Bible. Wider society does not share this perspective, however, secular marriage remains legally binding.

The sanctity of biblical marriage is held in extremely high esteem. This is due to the parallels between God’s relationship with his people and the marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage is a picture (some would argue a sacramental picture) of the gender specific relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. Our relationship with God is also defined in gender specific terms, a male Groom who is Christ and a female Bride incorporating all God’s covenant people.

Earthly marriage is ’till death us do part, whereas God’s covenant with his people endures after death when the divine-human relationship will be consummated. 

The terms of this covenant are clear. God takes the initiative and confers his covenant love upon us, pledging himself in divine faithfulness. Believing loyalty is our response to God’s covenant love as we, in turn, pledge to remain faithful to him. He loves us eternally and remains forever faithful. But we must also be faithful to him. This conditional element really matters to God and he holds us responsible for keeping our pledge. 

So, we see that God’s covenant love is conditional. Not in absolute terms, because God will never leave or forsake us. But the degree to which we enjoy his covenant love and blessing does depend on our continued believing loyalty to him.

This is linked to God’s rewarding love which is the subject of the next and final blog in this series.

Does God accept everyone?

Judas betrayed Jesus and was rejected. Peter denied Jesus and was accepted. If God loves everyone unconditionally then why doesn’t accept everyone unconditionally?

This blog series looks at the love of God and asks, “Is it unconditional or conditional?” So far we have seen two aspects of God’s love which are entirely unconditional: God’s providential care for his creation and his unlimited offer of salvation to all those far from him.

Now we look at his conditional love – the love he gives to those who turn to him in repentance and faith. This is his saving love. You need to receive this love in order to experience it. God freely offers his salvation to everyone, but only those who receive it can experience it.

This idea comes from the second part of the most famous verse in the Bible. Notice the emphasis I have added to the text:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life! (John 3:16).

I’ve heard many people object to this condition:

You mean that God loves me but will throw me into hell if I don’t love him back? He demands that I bow down to him and worship him or else he will reject me forever? That’s not love, that’s megalomania!

Christians who struggle to explain the conditionality of God’s saving love often become universalists. They believe that love will win in the end, or at least their version of love. No one will be lost. All will be saved.

I understand why people would want to believe that. But the problem is that this kind of thinking ignores the condition Jesus himself set for receiving eternal life. Sadly, some people do reject Christ’s saving love and they will perish. But everyone who does sincerely turn to him will receive eternal life.

The difference between those who receive eternal life and those who perish is simple. People in the first group accept Christ’s offer of salvation by trusting him and depending on his sacrificial death on the cross. Those from the other group do not trust Christ. They stay as they are, trusting in themselves, their own good works, or their own philosophy of life.

The problem with the weak view of God’s love is that it ignores his holy and righteous character. He loves in a completely holy and righteous way. That’ why Jesus had to die for our sins. It was the only way God’s loving justice could be satisfied. Sin which breaks relationship with God must be removed, first by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins, and second by receiving the benefits of his death for our lives personally. We abandon our rebellious lifestyle and embrace his saving love.

But why isn’t everyone automatically saved? Didn’t Jesus die for all humanity and atone for the sins of all? The answer is that Jesus died for all, but his death is only effective for those who believe. You need to transfer your trust from yourself to Christ. You must stop trusting your own opinions, your own good deeds and your good ideas. You need to put your trust in what Jesus alone has accomplished for you.

If you are travelling from London to Edinburgh by rail, you actually have to get on the train in order to arrive at your destination. The same is true of Christ, you need to commit to him if you want to go where he alone can take you.

Don’t forget love is relational. You cannot love in isolation. Just as in human relationships, there is always another person involved. If you love someone dearly and they reject you in favour of someone else, the loving thing to do is to let them go. No matter how much it hurts you, you respect the choice they have made. If you don’t, you are robbing them of their right to choose. Jesus’ love for you means he will always respect your choice to accept his love or to reject it.

Why was Judas rejected and Peter accepted? Both were wrong in how they treated Jesus. Judas never accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation. He never wanted that kind of relationship with Christ. Peter did. He denied that he knew Jesus on the night he was arrested, just as Jesus had predicted. But immediately, he knew that he had sinned against the deep connection he had with the Lord. This led him to repent and come back to the place of simple trust and obedience.

The Sinner’s Prayer:

‘Father God, thank you for sending Jesus to be my Saviour. I put my trust in his death on the cross for me, and I thank you that you raised him from the dead so that I can get to know him personally.  I now turn from my sin and receive your love and forgiveness. Thank you for making me a child of God.’

Let somebody know if you have just prayed the prayer above sincerely and from the heart. Share the good news!

You’re invited!

God’s invitational love is totally unconditional. It is the most inclusive love that has ever existed. He offers his love to people of all races, generations, beliefs, social standing, sexual orientation, or any other distinguishing factor.

Your child has been missing for 8 months. And still you look for him at the gate, every moment of every day. With each knock at the door, each buzz on your phone, your heart stops. Is that news? Has he been found?

Your friends, your neighbours, your family, even the police, warn you to expect the worst. Still you wait. Still you hope. You long for your son with an unbearable longing.

Love, pure love and, when it comes down to it, heart-sickening love is never more intense than when the one you love is missing from you. Maybe never again to be with you. What parents go through in such situations is unimaginable.

Take that pain and multiply it by a gazillion. Maybe then you might touch the surface of the unfathomably profound longing God has for you.

He has been called ‘the Hound of Heaven’ whose passionate pursuit of you is incessant. The ‘Furious Longing’ deeply desiring you, like the waves of a raging storm relentlessly beating against the rock of your resistance.

Stronger than the love of the most ardent lover. Purer than the love of the most devoted parent. More zealous than the most passionate paramour.

Jerusalem, O Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks.
I died for you with my arms outstretched. Can you not feel my love reaching out to you?
Child of my love, I long for you with intense longing.
Can you not see it’s me your heart truly longs for?
Sons of Adam, where are you? Daughters of Eve, what has happened to you?
Come back home!
I’ve made everything ready for you.

God loves you more than any lover, more than a mother, a father or a brother, and more than your closest friend. But he is not dependent on you. There is no weakness in him and nothing lacking in him. He loves you because he loves you, not because he needs to. And he will never force his love on you.

Sin breaks relationship with God. But he has gone to infinite pains to open the way back. The most famous verse in the Bible says,
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life! (John 3:16).

Jesus’ death was not merely an example to follow, or a martyrdom to marvel at. Much more than a personal statement, it was the ultimate expression of unconditional love.
However, a holy God, no matter how much he longs for humanity, cannot deny his own righteousness. To bring us back to him, a price had to be paid that would satisfy both his justice and his love.

At the cross, Jesus stood in our place and died the death we deserved to die. He willingly took our punishment and, as God in the flesh, there was no third party involved. Just God and us.

Christ died for sinners and he invites us all to turn to him and receive his love. Today, he is earnestly reaching out to you through his invitational love. How do you respond?

Most common caricatures of God present him either as a mean old man in the sky with a long beard or a benign and indulgent Santa who never says “No”. It seems as if we can’t make up our mind which image suits us best.

Which picture best portrays the character of God?

At times, it suits us to think of God as mean and repressive as a way of rejecting his holy standards. We prefer to do as we please, rather than be accountable. That’s why we make God out to be an oppressive kill joy. Other times, we like the idea of a fluffy Santa Clause who lets us do as we want. After all he’s just there to indulge us, isn’t he?

Put another way, we are comfortable with the idea of a loving God, providing he doesn’t interfere in our lives and only comes out of oblivion in order to rescue us from something unpleasant or to make life work the way we want. When it doesn’t happen that way? Well then, he must just be that mean old man.

The saddest thing about these caricatures of the Divine is that both trivialize the enormity of God himself and malign his true character. He is the all loving, giving and forgiving God. But he is also the all holy, truthful and righteous One.

How do these biblical descriptions of God help us approach and experience him. One way is to examine the true nature of God’s love – is it conditional or unconditional? Does he love us by accepting everything we do, the celestial equivalence of woke inclusion? Or is his love transformational? Does his love, freely offered, require some response from us which, in turn, leads us to know him and experience him and his love in ever-expanding, deepening and liberating ways?

I suggest that there are at least 5 ways God’s love is presented in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures.

1. The creation and providential love of God
2. The invitational love of God
3. The saving love of God
4. The covenantal love of God
5. The rewarding love of God

Beginning with the first, creation and providence, I want to show that there are some aspects of God’s love which are entirely unconditional. God’s love is bestowed on us without any pre or subsequent conditions. But there are other aspects of love that do require certain responses in order to be manifested or experienced in our lives.

The first verse of the Bible declares that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This was the beginning of a creation process that the book of Genesis goes on to describe. The description is not that of a scientific text book. It expresses theological truth and describes a real event, a real action on the part of God. Christians see the creation as a loving, caring act with an almost infinite attention to detail. We see human beings as “fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)”. That’s why we value all human life. We have been created with the loving care and attention of God himself. This was an act of sheer unconditional love.

Having created us, God does not abandon us. He cares for and provides for all creation, even in it’s present broken and painful state. He shines his sun indiscriminately upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike. This also, is an expression of his pure and unconditional love.

You can genuinely look at yourself in the mirror and say, “God loves me. He loves me deeply and fully.”

This love has clearly granted us freedom, the freedom to respond to him or reject him. He offers us purpose and meaning. He invites us into relationship with himself, the one who is Love, Life and Ultimate Reality. Turning away from this love so unconditionally granted carries its own consequences of course. Turn from love you breed hate, turn from life and you get death, turn from reality and you invite chaos. Is this not the history of the world? 

But in all this, God’s unconditional love remains constant to us all. That is good news. What you choose to do with that love is another matter. But don’t blame God when the planet is damaged, the hungry go unfed, or misery sets in. There is enough food and technology to produce more than enough to go around the world several times over. Man’s inhumanity to man is the result of the rejection of God’s love, not the fault or failure of God’s love. And in the face of it all, he still loves us. We look at this in the next blog, where we examine God’s invitational love that extends to every corner of this hurting world.

Pure Love

The need for love is embedded deep in the psychology of the human soul. We all long to find unconditional love and acceptance. But we also sense it’s complicated. 

Narcissists and Empaths

Narcissists have extremely low self-esteem, convinced they are unlovable. Love will not come from others, so they have to find a way of giving it to themselves. Their whole life, their emotional survival in this world, depends on the only belief that works for them. They convince themselves that they are amazing. Then they impose this view of themselves on others, and woe betide you if you destroy their illusion.

Empaths also have low self-esteem, but believe that if they are good, nice understanding and always pleasing to others, people will give them the love they crave. Empaths rarely confront others or speak up for themselves for fear of rejection. Deep down, they are fearful and often resentful that their approach does not fill the emptiness within.

Neither of these options come close to unconditional love.  Most of us tend towards narcissism or empathy. Taken too far, both these tendencies call for help from an experienced counsellor. Both relational categories are different expressions of the fear that lies in the core of our being – the fear that we are unlovable or deeply incompetent. They focus on performance and projection of self in the hope of attaining and maintaining what ends up as a mere illusion of love.

Agape describes love freely offered and can only be freely received.

The Bible uses a particular word for the love of God. ‘Agape’ is the kind of love which depends entirely on the giver. It bestows love on another who could never be deserving of it. This is why we often call God’s love ‘unconditional’. It is also why people do not immediately embrace it. First, you have to admit that you are entirely undeserving of the love God gives you. The Bible word for this is ‘grace’.

The situation becomes even more confused when you examine beliefs about love both in contemporary culture and in some parts of the Christian community.

Cultural Confusion

The message, “God loves you” is open to misinterpretation. What does it mean in popular culture?

“If God loves me, he will give me what I want, he will never judge me, he will not demand anything from me, but will make my life work for me, the way I want it to. He certainly will not condemn me because I refuse to love him.”

Expressive individuality is the new cultural norm. My freedom to be myself, to follow my own feelings and desires, even if it means I disregard Bible teaching about what is right and wrong.

Christian Confusion

Some Christians focus on the unconditional love of God. He makes few real demands, certainly not radical demands. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this‘ cheap grace’. But grace is not cheap. It’s absolutely free! Free to us, but it cost God everything. It’s this grace that changes us from the inside out.

Others emphasise the conditionality of God’s love. God will love you if you do the right thing. Only then will he accept you. Brennan Manning, speaks of the shallowness of this point of view. In his book “The Furious Longing of God”, he talks about the life he once lived. He was always among the poor and performed many impressive works of charity. But far from accepting this as praiseworthy, he explains that it was all about trying to earn God’s love. Then, he discovered the free grace of God. And that really changed him. He saw that God does not want good works as a means of gaining his love. Good works are the consequence of a love received not the cause of that love.

How can we resolve this confusion? Is God’s love conditional or unconditional? Perhaps God’s love is both conditional and unconditional, depending on what aspect of his love we are talking about. 

Correcting a Pastoral Model in the Contemporary Church

Walk with Teams

I knew “the buck stops here”, with me. But I had wonderfully gifted people around me to sound out my ideas, check my leadings from the Lord, and make up for my deficiencies in ministry and wisdom, as together, we looked for an agreed witness of the Spirit in our deliberations.

In this series, I have been presenting the case against pastors seeing themselves in a “sole leadership” position. Not only is this a sub apostolic practice, it isolates pastors under a burden of responsibility no-one is equipped to bear.

In New Testament times, the terms ‘pastor’, ‘elder’ and ‘overseer’ all referred to the same calling. ‘Pastor’ describes function, ‘elder’, qualification and ‘overseer’, role. Local churches were led by teams of acknowledged pastors/elders/overseers.

Fivefold ministry

Within this overall leadership category, the 5 ministry gifts of Ephesians 4:11 function: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Each of these specialise in different kinds of ministry. They are the gifts of Christ distributed to his body, the Church. He had them all and we need them all.  If any of these ministries operated translocally, they had no governing authority independent of the local eldership or leadership team. Translocal governorship does not appear to exist in the New Testament church.

Apostolic teams had a translocal role in establishing new churches and appointing elders, but their on-going role was not perceived as translocal eldership. For a while, Paul continued to oversee the churches he planted, but it seems he was not an on-going part of the local church governing body. That was the responsibility of the local eldership team, the pastors and overseers.

In the local church, there is always a plurality of eldership, but this does not rule out a ‘first among equals’ or a ‘presiding elder’, such as appears to be the case in the Jerusalem church, where James seems to have that role (Acts 15).

The power of teams

If this analysis is to a certain extent correct, then it shows that pastors should never walk alone. They function in teams with each duly appointed leader having a helpful and distinctive contribution to make. While there are many different styles, collegiate and co-operative leadership is essential.

Throughout my time in ministry, I have always worked in teams appreciating what others bring to the table. I never saw myself in monarchical leadership and was all too aware of the dangers it brings and its tendency towards becoming authoritarian, dictatorial and severely truncated. Who, apart from Jesus, can bring the full complement of ability and wisdom to the table? We need each other.

That is why I worked hard to break down the so-called clergy-laity divide. Those who led from a full-time position in professional or occupational life were equal to those whose sphere of ministry was centred around full time work in the church. That meant, though I often felt lonely, I was never actually alone. I knew “the buck stops here”, with me. But I had wonderfully gifted people around me to sound out my ideas, check my leadings from the Lord, and make up for my deficiencies in ministry and wisdom, as together, we looked for an agreed witness of the Spirit in our deliberations.

Celebrating our differences

Maturity in life, ministry and the workplace all came together in the gift-mix of our teams. We looked beyond ourselves and drew from the spiritual wisdom of the whole church. We recognised and celebrated our different gifts and areas of expertise. We discerned the full range of Christ’s gifts among us from the apostolically-minded to the didactically-gifted, from the prophetically-motivated to the pastorally-equipped and the evangelistically-enthused.  

For too long, churches and denominations have paid mere lip service to these New Testament principles. It is time for a bold and thorough-going reformation. We must move intentionally, albeit probably gradually, establishing these uniform principles and expressing them in the myriad patterns that can emerge from them. One size does not fit all, but we must nevertheless fully embrace the principles laid down by the Apostles.

What price failure?

The first casualty is the traditional-style pastor who inevitably functions below potential. Loneliness, discouragement and burn out often set in, sometimes compensated by increasing defensiveness, insecurity and self-referential promotion. The next casualty is the life and health of the church whose truncated leadership can never build the body of Christ correctly or bring it to full maturity. Finally, the casualty is our mission which a weak and ineffectual church can never fulfill.

Walking with Sacred Companions

We were never intended to make the life pilgrimage alone. And attempting to make the spiritual journey on our own is particularly hazardous.

Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship & Direction (David G. Benner)

In this blog series, I am launching an attack on the common idea that Christian leaders are somehow expected to go it alone. A false hierarchy has emerged, partly due to a bogus clergy-laity divide. It places ‘ordained ministers’ in a separate category of constant helper possessing special powers, the one with all the answers, and not the fellow traveller on the same spiritual journey that every pilgrim of Christ undertakes. The resulting pressure is too much to bear and one that God never intended. Loneliness, isolation, depression and burnout are never far away.

One significant corrective for Pastors and leaders (and indeed every follower of Christ) is to have what David Brenner calls ‘sacred companions’. We all need one or more companions with whom we share regularly in a spirit of mutual openness and trust. God is at the centre and the sole motive is to help each other become everything that he intends us to be.

One of the hallmarks of the Spirit’s presence in our personal and communal life is submission. Not submission to some institutional or hierarchical structure. But submission to one another in the fear of Christ. The awesome longing to be like him, and the total lack of resources in ourselves to make it happen. This is why we need each other. Sacred companions connect at a level of depth with no judgment but in total confidence in the Spirit’s power to bring mutual transformation. 

But first, we must clear the way. Obstacles include fear, suspicion and self-protection. These things are real. Many church leaders close up when invited to be vulnerable. Who can you trust? I know many Christian ministers who fear losing their status or their job if they were ever to open up about their inner struggles. There are many spiritual policemen ready to prosecute a weakness or a failing. But we have few fellow soldiers who are prepared to stand with us shoulder to shoulder in the trenches to help us fight our battles.

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If you are making significant progress on the transformational journey of Christian spirituality, you have one or  more friendships that support that journey. If you do not, you are not. It is that simple.

Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship & Direction (David G. Benner)

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Despite the intense need, the reality of connected spiritual relationship runs counter to the culture of much contemporary church life. Superficiality, from the pulpit to the pew, has led to pretend community rather than the Spirit-led, cross-forged and Father-facing common unity of connected relationships. Surface-to-surface communication must be replaced by in-depth, heart-to-heart focus on genuine spiritual companionship. It must begin with the church leadership who set the tone and establish the pattern of true Christian fellowship.