Controversial Hot Topics
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The more that Christianity is pushed to the fringes of society the more that Christians should speak out about the major issues of today. Not always what you will hear in your church. |
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HOT TOPICS to get you thinking - scroll down
Young people ? Guns ? in the UK 2007 sees an increase in gun crime amongst UK young people. Much of it is drug and gang related. Why is this happening and does it reflect the behaviour of majority of young people today? It is true that there are sections of the community more likely to be involved in drug dealing and general crime. Some of these are the poorest communities in our major cities. There is a need amongst young people to be respected by their peers. Unfortunately, this term respect is being abused and what people really want is for other people to fear them. The true meaning of respect also can include liking what you see, a desire to emulate that which is good. Here the aim is how bad you can be to instil terror around you ? even among your friends. We can identify different groups of people and their behaviour by the types of clothes they wear and the music they like. This gives them a group ethos. A reason for being. A reason to belong. As I write this paragraph I realise I am not just thinking about young people. Whatever our age we fall into these groups. However, as older people we tend to mix with different groups through our work, shopping and social activities which can include church. Young people tend to stay in close proximity to their peer group. They tend to mix less with different generations or with different (older) groups who like different things. Therefore, the biggest influence on them is their peers. In some ways this adherence to the group, the high sense of belonging and fitting in with the correct clothes, dress and attitude is very cult like. Leaders of cults exert extreme pressure to conform and fit it. This is happening to our young people in Britain today. Since the 1950?s we have seen this manifest itself in many different ways. We had the Teddy Boys, then the mods and rockers. Eventually we then moved to punks and the new romantics. Gradually each of these fades away. Most grew up and became Joe Public. Most of the time these different youth movements only affected a relatively few people and were not a major threat to society. The police could still keep them under some control. Most still lived at home. So what has changed? Gradually there has been an erosion in society of the rule of law. We need to understand the rule of law is the common assent that the majority of people agree is the way that most should behave. In other words, the wishes of the majority dictate the law of the land. That no longer happens. Why? Because of the growth of the cult of I. I can do anything I want. I can do anything that does not affect anyone else. That is only your opinion. If we want to do this and it does not involve anyone else they it is OK. The cult of I destroys civilisation. Read the history of the ?great? civilisations. What destroyed them? It was the cult of ?I can do what I want.? For years government have taken away the rights and duties of parents to bring up children to respect and obey adults. The government has its own philosophy which often contradicts the rights and responsibilities of parents and other adults working with young people such as teachers, social workers and the police. Children are allowed to decide when to have sex ? even though the law states the age of consent is 16. Education law says a child has to attend school until the end of year 11 (age 16) or the parent can face jail. However, the government has taken away the right to make the child go to school. The child does not have to obey a parent. At sixteen a parent can make a teenage leave home and many do because they have had enough of unruly behaviour. Before you condemn these parents, remember the government has given teenagers lots of rights but consistently taken away the rights of parents. A child will often be believed over the word of a parent when dealing with professionals such as social workers and police. Government has instilled a regime of rights for children which conflict with the rights of parents. What government fails to recognise is that children are not young adults. They are children who need to be taught right and wrong. They need love and discipline and I do not necessarily mean physical discipline. Every time we give children the rights of adults to be in charge of their lives. To make their own choices without guidance. We are setting them up to fail. It is hard enough for adults with their experience to make the right decisions. How much harder is it for children whose sense of responsibility and conscience is not fully formed? To give children and young people all the same rights as adults is a form of child abuse. The role of adults, including parents, is to nurture and train young people. It is to give them standards of behaviour, help them learn the difference between good and bad. They need to understand they cannot do just anything they want otherwise they grow up into selfish adults who cannot keep a job because they do not like someone telling them what to do. They cannot sustain a relationship or marriage because they are too selfish to share, to give up, or to apologise. So back to the issue of guns of the streets. Is it the fault of their parents? Perhaps, sometimes it is the fault of those parents but not always. Society needs to take the responsibility for this happening. I do not mean the immediate society around these young people because currently the young people involved mainly come from the poorer part of society. It is the rich and middle classes who can do most to change Britain. It is the voting public who have more voice and more opportunity to change things. Look at what your MP says about education, people?s rights, and the church. Find out about their personal life. Do they live an upright life? Are they honest and trustworthy? If they have been married and divorced that will influence their view of marriage. Successive governments have berated young girls for becoming pregnant but many MPS live with a partner to whom they are not married. Some have countless affairs and partners. It is often a case of ?One rule for you and one rule for me?. The standards in society are often a reflection of those in power and authority. As mentioned above look at the life of politicians and influential people. Not only is their personal life a mess but we read about their drug taking. We read about financial scandals. We read about the obscene amounts they ?earn?. Why shouldn?t the poorer members of society want some of the same? Is there a solution? Only when the voices of reasonable men and women come to together to say enough is enough. Perhaps it is time that people stopped voting for a political party and stated to consider the life of the candidate. Why choose an immoral person just because they belong to the party you have always supported? If a political party has some policies and philosophies that you do not agree with but has previously held views that you subscribed to perhaps it is time you got involved and tried to change things. Politics has become another career option for many people. They will say anything that they think people will want to hear ? to keep their own position. Perhaps we should use that to our advantage. If enough people say the same thing to your MP eventually you may find they adopt it as their own view! There are one or two people who stick to what they believe ? and every one labels them a maverick. We need mavericks because they get us to think. We may not always agree with them but that is the key to democracy. We need to challenge, we need to think.
So are young people good or bad. I believe they are both but need nurturing and training to develop into responsible, selfless adults. They need good teachers who give them a sense of purpose. They need parents to give them love and develop their personal conscience.
They need churches to remember the role they have in society. We are to be SALT to the world and that includes activities for young people. Has your church given up trying to work with young people? Then you are to blame for what is happening in society. Jesus said, ?Go in to all the world? and that means amongst young people? What is your response?
Crisis of Faith ? a good thing? In today?s Mail on Sunday (UK) 11/2/07 there is a full page article about Jonathan Edwards giving up presenting Songs of Praise (BBC TV Sundays) due to a crisis of faith. Dotchurch had to make a decision ? do we keep the references to Edwards being a Christian on the site? After much thought we have decided to leave the references as they are true and an accurate reflection on his beliefs at that time in his life. Another question we asked is does a crisis of faith change anything? In deed, we want to ask the question, ?Is a crisis of faith a good thing for a person who has been a Christian for a number of years?? Let me explain my reasoning. Many people go through a mid life crisis where they challenge everything about themselves. They question, ?Who am I??, ?What is my role in this world??, ?I am not happy with life??, ?I am not happy in my marriage?, ?I am a failure as a parent? and so many more negative, questioning thoughts. A mid life crisis seems to be a part of modern life that we need to face and come through. Why should it be different for a Christian? I could argue that a crisis of faith is a good thing for a Christian. Before you switch off and condemn me, please continue to read this Hot Topic article. If you have been a Christian for a long time how do you know that you still believe? Is it by going to church every Sunday? Is it by holding a position of authority and trust in your church? Is it because you are known as a Christian in your family or at work? People often are Christian because of following two routes to belief. They grew up going to church. At first it was parents who took them (or sent them) each Sunday. At some point that faith and belief became very real for them and they could truly call themselves Christians. They accepted Jesus as their Saviour. As the old saying goes, ?God has no grandchildren; there are only children of God.? Other people have a Damascus Road experience similar to the tremendous changes when St. Paul was converted. These people, and I count myself as one, had no previous belief and then they came face to face with the true Good News of Jesus Christ. St Paul turned around from persecuting believes to being one of them. Over the last 2000 years millions of people have followed this path of turning around and leaving their past behind them when they come to a belief in Jesus. Christians are not immune to the pressures and concerns of the 21st century. I believe it is a normal part of life to question. I question other parts of my life such as my relationship with my spouse (in modern terms partner), I question my role as a parent, I question in my job otherwise I would not be good at my job. Why should I not question my faith? It is often said that you have to work at a marriage. You have to consider the other person. You have to ask if they are still happy. You have look for ways to make things better. Why should it be any different when thinking about our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? The Bible frequently talks about the Father Child relationship. The Lord?s Prayer teaches us to pray Our Father. This relationship needs to be worked at and reassessed. Sometimes something will bring us up short and we will question what we believe. In deed, we will even ask the question, ?Do I still believe?. Let me say that an honourable person who is going through this crisis of faith and asking these questions will not feel comfortable living a lie and may have to give up doing some things which are perceived as being Christian. For some it will mean stop going to church because for them it will be a lie or even a farce. For others in the public eye it will mean giving up presenting a TV program as Edwards has done. I believe it is a good thing he has done and will probably represent many months of struggle to come to this decision. Please pray for him during this time. If we recognise that challenging our personal belief is a good thing how do we come through this. Do not cut yourself off from Christian friends. This is probably the biggest danger. Find the people you can trust. These may be the people you have known the longest. Stay away from the bigots. There are people in the Christian church who cannot accept that you can question what you believe. These are the true fundamentalists and it doesn?t matter if they call themselves Christian, Muslims or anything else. They have nothing to offer you. If there are one off Christian meetings, concerts, etc try attending these. They will not insist on regular commitment which you do not want to give but will give you a chance to be in a place to hear the gospel again. In a marriage counselling session the participants will be asked to remember why they fell in love with their partner. You can do the same as you remember why you became a Christian. Why did it feel important to believe? Ask yourself WHAT CHANGED? Are you disillusioned with God and Jesus? Alternatively, are you disillusioned with the Church? Churches are not perfect and the best wayside pulpit sign I have seen is THIS CHURCH IS FULL OF SINNERS. A church which starts thinking of itself as perfect and writes impossible rules to follow creates a crisis of faith in many people. A church can never be perfect as it should always be attracting people who are not believers. When I have talked to people who say they have given up believing in God the reasons they give is often: The people in the church are very critical. I cannot live to the standard and feel I am a hypocrite I don?t feel God is there. How can God let so many bad things happen in this world when he is in charge? Let me say these are valid questions to ask. If we look at these reasons I see a similarity to the reasons people who have never been to church often give as reasons why they do not believe. So maybe the way we should approach a crisis of faith in our own lives or with a friend going through this should be to go start with NO BELIEF and NO PREVIOUS CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. When we start to talk to someone who doe not belief we often start by talking about Jesus? life. We look at his teachings and his life. We focus on Jesus not on the teachings of the church. Most of the churches teachings come from St. Paul and we need to get back to the teachings of Jesus as this is what first attracts people to believe. We often suggest that people read one of the Gospel accounts of Jesus? life. I first read the Gospel of Mark and got so hooked on what I read that I then read the other three gospels ? Matthew, Luke and John. At the risk of sounding heretical, I would suggest that these are the most important scriptures for anyone going through a crisis of faith and would suggest that the rest of the New Testament is banned until the person starts to belief again. The writings of Paul and the others are for instruction to believers, for the churches. They do nothing to help resolve this crisis as they only serve to remind you of all the questions and issues you have with believing. I want to finish this Hot Topic with some Scriptures which have helped me at times of questioning. Promises John 3:16 (New International Version) 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 1 John 1:9 (New International Version) New International Version (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Note ? all we have to do is believe ? we do not have to understand all the answers. Yes, it is simplistic but note I have put these two verses together because these are my hooks in times of doubt and questioning. You can look at our Statement of Belief for a concise overview of faith See also What is Christianity One person?s opinion Death is one of the most emotive topics to think about in the 21st Century. Modern society has lost many of its traditions regarding death which offered support, succour and hope. Many people do not have a faith or belief in God. This is causing problems as to what we say to the bereaved. We have no hope to offer them if we adopt a humanist philosophy of death is the end. We cannot talk about another life, a better life. Perhaps political correctness and our modern society will cause Christians to think deeply about what they say in these circumstances. Consider an old man who dies and leaves instructions that he doesn?t want to be taken into church. He wants no religious service, no hymns, no vicar. To respect his wishes the family agree to adhere to his requests. However, what about the family and people at the funeral? Is it a service, even if led by a humanist? Does it meet the needs of the family to have hope of more than just this life? How do you reconcile a hope for one member of the family (wife) to be in heaven with this belief (of the husband) that there is no heaven? It?s all very complicated and this article may raise more questions than it gives answers. I believe it is important not to thrust my personal believes on others at this time of grief. There may be a suitable and right time to share my thoughts. Otherwise, I must accept each person?s personal beliefs, as my role is to offer support in difficult times. I need to stand alongside them. Not in front of them shouting, "I am right and you need to believe the same things I do." Another point to remember is that for many people their ideas of death, heaven, hell, eternal life, etc has been formed in their childhood. Some will have gone to church and because they gave up attending in their teens their ideas and beliefs have never had a chance to develop into an adult belief and understanding. For others they never went to church and their ideas will be formed through TV, friends and part formed ideas and wishful hopes. There will be times when what they say makes you cringe and you become desperate to correct them. It?s not the time to do this. They will be weak emotionally and if you challenge them now it can turn them against you and you may never get another chance to share your faith. Some comments and beliefs you may face. So and so is watching down on me. This is similar to spiritualism and should not be encouraged. Some believe that the dead become angels. There is no foundation in this belief as the Bible states that God created the angels. So and so will be in heaven because they were a good person. Being good is not a passport to heaven. The Bible states that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory (or goodness) of God. Please remember at times of stress and high emotion the human body responds in a similar way as when dealing with physical danger. The body sends extra blood to the muscles thereby cutting supplies to the brain making it much harder to think logically. This is known as the ?flight and fight? response. When people are in this state you will not be able to reason with them or explain your faith if it contradicts their own beliefs. You need to wait for a more appropriate time. Practical tips. Make regular contact ? but keep the sessions / phone calls shortish. Check what is the best time to call. If you visit set a time that you have to leave ? this can prevent you being sucked into a situation either you cannot deal with or the person unloads so much ?stuff? you are in danger of saying the wrong thing. Also, their thoughts, feelings and emotions will be all over and it is your job to bring structure and normality to the situations. Crying ? people of both sexes do need to cry but use common sense when dealing with members of the opposite sex. Especially is you are in the same age group. Try not to be along with them. Take a pocket packet of tissues with you ? it prevents the embarrassment of what to do with a soggy hanky. Sometimes there are no words ? just sitting may be that is all you need to do. Touching ? a useful ?touch? often used by nurses is to face each other and take each of their hands on yours. You are then in a position to stroke the back of their hand in a slow, gentle manner. This is very calming. It?s a good as putting your arm around them for two reasons ? it gives face to face contact; it strengthens your words and provides physical comfort without putting you in a compromising position which could be misinterpreted. My personal Beliefs ? I may never choose to say these to the bereaved but I am including them here for completeness. I believe in a life after death ? there is more than just this physical body. I believe in a soul ? that which makes me me! I believe in heaven and hell. I do not believe in heaven ?up there? and hell ?down there? I do understand the difficulty we have always had trying to explain the concept of heaven. An artist trying to represent heaven in a two dimensional medium may well choose to put heaven above hell in a painting. I believe heaven is a place close to God the father. That makes a place far away from God a place of hell. My biggest concern is how to I get close to God and not end up in a final place separated from God ? which I choose to call hell. The Bible tells me that I need to put my trust in what Jesus did when he became a human being. He took on himself all the things I have done which separate me from God and prevent me from being in his presence. The Bible also tells me to accept Jesus as my Saviour and I will be cleaned from all I have done wrong and will be made acceptable to God. For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish (be destroyed) but will have everlasting life (with God) Gospel of John Chapter 3 verse 16 The Fundamentalist Atheist (abbrev .FA) Once it was enough to say you were an atheist when you didn?t believe in God. Some who were not sure would call themselves agnostics. In the 21st C this seems to have changed with some atheists having the same fervour and belief systems that they abhor in anyone who believes in a god. They do not discriminate in their attacks between Christians, Muslims or other believers. As this is a Christian site we will focus on what they say about Christians and Christianity. That attack fundamental Christianity as having a fixed belief system. A belief in something which cannot be proven. They do not acknowledge that faith exists but say that people are being duped. How different are the fundamental atheists? They fervently believe that God does not exist, even though they cannot prove it. So in effect we have two sides arguing about the existence or non-existence of God. Neither side can win this argument as the whole point of God being God is that human beings are too infinitesimal to be able to recognise or prove Good through our existing science. Will we ever be able to prove the existence of God is something for a future discussion ? but I doubt if we will ever resolve this dispute. The FA attacks Christians who want to share what they believe and ?convert? people to their faith or belief system. FAs are now ?converting? people to their viewpoint. Why is this different from what Christians do? Do they have the same arrogance that they accuse Christians of: a belief that they are right? If you doubt that this is true then read some of Richard Dawkins? work such as The God Delusion. Borrow it from the library or read on line as every book sold increases Dawkin?s bank balance and influence. Over the years Christianity has often been attacked by individuals, organisations and even politicians. The Communists challenged belief through force until communist/soviet system was discredited. Political Correctness has recently made many attacks in the name of equality and humanity. Politicians say one thing and then behave in a manner opposite to their claim to belief and agree with church teachings. Some of the biggest attacks recently have been from politicians who profess to be Christians. Now we have the fundamental atheist coming to the front, as they no longer can hide behind these ideologies of political correctness or communism. As a Christian we all need an understanding of Scripture above everything else but we also need to understand what people are saying about Christianity. We need to be able to bring forth a reasoned, educated debate based on facts and knowledge rather than blind faith. If the accusation is that Christianity is from a time past when simple people believed in a God to supply everything then we need to have some answers to people who have no better answer than to say God does not exist. Science does not back them up, as science does not prove the existence or non-existence of God. Over the centuries the Church has accepted the common understanding of the world that prevailed at the time. There was nothing wrong with this. Indeed there is nothing wrong with being a scientist who believes in God today and many scientists and doctors do believe. Our understanding of the world will continue to change as our understanding increases. They say that the sum of our knowledge is doubling every seven years. So be prepared to revise and revisit our understanding of the world. One many people believed the world was flat, that you could come to the edge of the world. That belief changed as we gained more knowledge and we no longer have a problem accepting the world is round and that it circles around the sun. Does a new understanding of the world around me challenge my belief in God? Absolutely not but it does encourage me to attempt to be open minded and wise in determining that which I scripture is essential to God?s nature, purpose and being and that which was coloured by man?s understanding of his time and culture. Don?t fall into the trap of the fundamental atheist who can only belief what he can see and will attack everything, which he cannot see. I wonder how a FA goes about describing love?
Coming soon. The war in Iraq Is the church still relevant in the 21stC?
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