Tag: Christian living

I investigated some pitfalls in last week’s blog when reading the Bible. And I promised that in this week’s blog, I would share some practical ways to enjoy the Bible on your own, as well as, with other people. So, here goes.

I choose to bring a humble spirit to the Lord and his Word in my devotional life. The more I learn, the more I know that I don’t know! God “guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (Ps 25:9). Humility is at the very heart of God, revealing truth through his word. And then, trust God to speak to you from the Scriptures.

Ways to Read the Bible

I chose to read the Bible from cover to cover every year in my early Christian years. Four chapters a day is all it takes. I am grateful for this foundation as it has given me a good overview of the Scriptures and an understanding of how the various books interact with and complement each other. As I’ve matured in my faith, I’ve found that a quality over quantity approach works best.

When gold was first discovered in Victoria in 1851, nuggets were found in waterways with no digging required. However, miners had to dig a little deeper once these were all gone. After some time, shafts were built, and seams of gold were discovered and mined. The Bible is similar. As a young Christian, I found nuggets of truth daily with little effort. Over time I’ve had to dig deeper and deeper to find rich deposits of truth.

Today, I use the You Version Bible App, which has a verse of the day and thousands of reading plans. I also enjoy picking a book or letter or just a section of the Bible. For example, I might choose to read 1 & 2 Thessalonians; maybe a chapter or just a few verses a day. I lookout for a verse or a line that speaks to me. A few weeks ago, it was 1 Thess. 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” There’s a wealth of truth in those words.

Christian Meditation

Don’t be scared of meditation. It was God’s idea, and the Bible mentions it over twenty times, mainly in Psalms. The Hebrew word for meditate means to ponder by muttering. Meditation is literally talking to yourself. Last week, I spent time meditating on Psalm 121:2, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” I walked and talked with God and repeated this line emphasising different words.

My help comes from the Lord ~ it’s what I need personally.

My help comes from the Lord ~ God is coming to my aid.

My help comes from the Lord ~ It’s on its way from God now.

My help comes from the Lord ~ The support is not just from anywhere. It’s from God.

The second line of the verse provides the proof of God’s ability to help me ~ “the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” God created all things, so what is my problem in the light of such power? The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, “O Sovereign LORD! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!“

My time of walking and talking with God and muttering the scriptures was powerful, encouraging, refreshing and enjoyable.

Respond to God

Enjoying the Bible is not just about learning facts. Facts are the lowest form of truth unless applied to our lives. I find asking four simple questions of the verse or line I’m meditating on can be very helpful.

1. What is God saying to me through His Word?

2. How will I respond to God’s Word?

3. How does this cause me to love God?

4. How does this encourage me to love my neighbour?

Enjoying the Bible Together

The Bible is not just something we appreciate on our own. God’s word should be read aloud, discussed, and enjoyed with other believers either in Connect Groups or with one or two friends.

One compelling way to enjoy the Bible in a community is the ancient Christian meditation practice of Lectio Divina, or “sacred reading.” The four basic steps are straightforward to learn:

  1. Lectio (reading)—Slow, contemplative reading of a text aloud. Don’t spend much time rationally analysing the text, and do not try to work through it quickly; instead, let your mind linger on the individual words and phrases. Read the text several times. Each person is listening for a word, phrase, or sentence that speaks to them.
  2. Meditatio (meditation)—At some point during the process of Lectio, one passage/verse/sentence should speak to you more than others. Spend time repeating that, silently or aloud, letting it sink in. Write it down if that helps. Everyone can share their insights at this point.
  3. Oratio (prayer)—Use the truth that you’ve gained from meditating in forming a prayer. You can write this (crafted prayer) or say it, draw a picture, paint something, or write a poem.
  4. Contemplatio (contemplation)—If you feel yourself being enveloped by the presence of God, let go of all words and silently settle into the experience.

Remember, as a result of an encounter with God in Scripture, we are always called to action. The Bible calls this godliness ~ devotion in action!

You’ll find some more devotional resources on the Bayside Church website. I hope this blog and these resources lead you into a richer experience of enjoying the Bible and, more importantly, enjoying the God of the Bible.

I was recently asked if I thought the world would be a better place if everyone were a Christian. My immediate response was yes. But the answer did not sit well with me and, upon further reflection, I said, “actually, I’m not sure. I would hope so, but maybe it wouldn’t.” Here are the reasons I changed my mind.

Extreme Examples

The answer to the question depends on what kind of Christian you have in mind. If it is any of the following, the answer is no. No, the world would not be a better place if everyone was a Christian. Consider:

  • Christian snipers in Beirut.
  • Catholics and Protestants blew each other up in the Northern Irish Troubles.
  • The Lord’s Resistance Army that wanted to create a Ugandan state based on the Ten Commandments.
  • Plus, the Spanish Inquisition, Salem Witch Trials, and forced conversions to Christ during the Crusades.

Those “Christians” certainly did not make the world a better place.

Modern Examples

On social media, I am frequently exposed to Christians acting in anything like a Christian manner. Unkind, judgemental, accusatory, argumentative, aggressive, you name it. There is a definite lack of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23-24). I try and reason with such people but often to no avail. I wonder how they treat people in their workplaces and families.

And yet, they all say they are Christian, but there is a disconnect between their faith and actions.

Christians at War

The disconnect invariably comes from what is taught in their local church. Spiritual warfare is consistently aimed at personalities like politicians even though “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” And so, they are constantly “at war” with the world rather than “in love” with it like God is (think, John 3:16).

I know where they are coming from because that used to be me. When I became a Christian in the late 70s, we thought the antichrist and Illuminati were about to launch the Great Tribulation and a One-World Government. Communism was taking over the world, and non-Christians (and lukewarm Christians) would be left behind after the rapture. Of course, none of this happened.

It is sad to see history repeat itself and a whole new generation of conspiratorial Christians waging war on nothing! The enemy has changed, but the mindset remains the same. The world is NOT a better place by the attitudes and behaviour of these Christians.

History Repeats

The Moral majority and religious right were born out of a movement protesting against desegregation in the 1960s USA. Around this time, Christian schools opened because white Christians didn’t want to have mixed-race classes, which were perceived as unholy. The home-schooling movement followed in the 1970s.

Later, the religious right added abortion and LGBTIQA+ people as enemies to fight because this religious brand constantly needs an enemy to survive. It keeps people in fear and leverages this fear to generate commitment and cash. People will donate time and money to a cause they perceive will help win the war against … (fill in the blank of whatever the current enemy is).

Inventing an Enemy

For many years, communism was the target of the religious right’s attention. When the Berlin Wall fell, it was time to identify a new social enemy against which the religious right could mobilise. Enter cultural Marxism, “the perfect post-communist adversary located specifically in the cultural realm – academics, Hollywood, journalists, civil rights activists and feminists. It has been a mainstay of conservative activism and rhetoric ever since.”

The global pandemic has provided fertile ground for Christians who love to play the victim. It is a new Cold War waged against the so-called elites. But Cultural Marxism is a conspiracy theory just like all the other “alternative facts” spread by Christians at war. The world would not be a better place if everyone were like this.

UnChristian

In the early 2000s, the Barna Foundation commissioned David Kinnaman to conduct “groundbreaking research into the perceptions … sixteen to twenty-nine-year-olds” have of Christians. What they discovered should shock and challenge all Jesus’ followers. These young adults perceived Christians to be hypocritical, anti-gay, judgmental, and insensitive. The research published in UnChristian is one of the most challenging books I have ever read.

It is a sad indictment upon the church that produces disciples of Jesus that are nothing like Jesus. Jesus, the man who hung out with the poor and side-lined and who ate with the unclean. He was scathing towards those who were religious but lacked mercy, who “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13). The world would certainly NOT be a better place if all the Christians were unchristian.

The Genuine Article

The world needs to see authentic Christianity – people who are honest about their failures and mistakes. We owe it to people to apologise for our missteps. To open our lives to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to make us like Jesus. We read the gospels to investigate what Jesus was like, who he spent time with, how he spoke, and interacted with people. We pray that we will progressively become more like him. Not people locked away in church buildings or protesting against this world, but people who get their hands dirty in helping the poor. We welcome the excluded even though we know that other Christians will criticise us and leave the church because “those people are here.” I know because I have experienced this firsthand.

On October 23 1915, Albert Einstein published an astonishing 3-page critique of the growing “Christian nationalism” in the country of his birth. He argued that the problem with hateful Christians is their departure from Christianity. Written in his native German, the little essay is titled “Meine Meinung über den Krieg” or “My Opinion of the War.” It ends with the beautiful words (translated from his German): “Yet, why so many words, when I can say it all in a single sentence, and indeed in a sentence that is most apt for me as a Jew: Honour your master, Jesus Christ, not only with words and songs but, rather, foremost through your deeds.” Apparently, the antidote to violent, nationalist Christians is … Christianity!

I think it would be helpful to rephrase the question. “Would the world be a better place if everyone were like Jesus?” It’s a massive YES from me!