Marketing or Mission ???

The Weekend Australian ran an article on Saturday called, "Churches Unite to Promote Jesus". The article is about the $1.5 million "Jesus - all about life" marketing campaign that is being run in NSW by The Bible Society of NSW. The aim of the campaign is to highlight that Jesus has the answers to even the most complex questions of modern life.

Can Jesus be marketed? Should he be? Hasn't he always been? - some would ask...

I've always thought that Jesus needed to be "mission-ed" (I don't actually think that this is a word)... By that, I mean that I always thought that Jesus needed to be shared with others and understood through caring relationships; through sharing life with others; and through acts of kindness and compassion. When God wanted to do his most important work for the world, he became one of us and moved into the neighbouthood to make a lasting difference. For me, Jesus is not information to be shared, but a relationship with God and an agenda for life to be engaged in. Can a marketing campaing be consistent with this?

It could easily be argued that an important part of the process of understanding and getting to know Jesus is about information. How do I go about understanding who Jesus is and what he is on about? I guess I need some information to know whether I should even bother trying... The aim of this campaign seems to be to get people talking about Jesus at work, at school, with friends etc...

There was an interesting interview on ABC Life Matters with David Willis (Bible Society - NSW) and Sharon Williams (Taurus Marketing) about the campaign they have put together and their thoughts on these kinds of questions. This is followed by another interesting interview on "Christot-ainment" which is worth listening on to.

Maybe there is a place for this kind of marketing alongside mission. Part of the history of the Christian faith has been "proclaiming the word" to others. This might just be one of the ways that this is done in the 21st century. Maybe its okay, as long as it doesn't replace real Jesus-like engagement with the world around us.

What do you think?

Shalom...

Jesus Asked...

When I go home from work on the train, I get a free "newspaper" (and I use the term loosely) called MX. In it, the other day, was an article called, "It's Surreal, But That Makes Sense". It "borrowed" this story from an article in "The Daily Telegraph" from the UK.

The story is about an American researcher, Travis Proulx, who has made an interesting observation through his research, that people actually learn better if they are presented with less straight forward, more surreal learning experiences, rather than clear, well organised information and facts. While this seems to fly in the face of common sense, it is not really a new discovery. In fact, Jesus, who is widely regarded as one the greatest teachers of all time, used this learning technique more than any other.

I have already highlighted this to a certain extent in a previous post, "Jesus is the Question". More than preaching sermons or arguing apologetics, Jesus actually told riddles and parables; asked people probing and personal questions; and rarely gave a straight answer to questions that were asked of him. On the surface, not much a teacher, but this latest research might suggest otherwise...

People often think that the reason Jesus told parables was to make the things of God clearer to his listeners. But when asked about why he told parables, he replied that the parables would only give insight to those who are seeking out the truth of God in their lives. For Jesus, this was the key to getting anything at all out of his difficult and surreal teaching methods. These people would listen to his parables and then ponder on them and reflect on what they might mean for them. It was through this kind of prayerful searching, that they would unlock the mysteries behind these strange, often obtuse stories (Matthew 13:1-17).

What do the stories of Jesus do for you?

Before I go, I want to re-recommend, the "Jesus Asked" podcast series that I previously recommended in my "Jesus is the Question" post. You can either download the podcasts directly or subscribe to them via i-tunes.

Do it now !!!

Shalom...

Where Does Evolution Leave God?

Both Karen Armstrong (author of "The Case for God") and Richard Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion") were asked to respond to this question by The Wall Street Journal. Neither new what the other would write and then both responses were published. I read them both in The Weekend Australian and thought you might be interested as well.

Click here to read the article from The Wall Street Journal. I think it is interesting to read what both authors have to say, but I think it is even more interesting that a newspaper like The Wall Street Journal asked them the question so that they could write an article on this topic for everyone to read. The whole God / not God debate is really going on out there...

I hope you read this article and gain some fodder to engaging in this discussion for yourself. And you should take a look at this as well. It is called "Duelity" and is a very creative representation of an interplay between creationism and evolutionary theory. It is pretty clever and it also makes you think. I'm not going to say anything more about it. You're just going to have to trust me that it is worth going to and having a look at it.

Shalom...

Losing My Religion: Unbelief in Australia

The Weekend Australian's "Review" magazine had a book review on a new book called, "Losing My Religion: Unbelief in Australia" by Tom Frame. I thought I'd bring the book to your attention and share with you some of the bits and pieces that the reviewer included in their article.

The book deals with the relationship between the secularism and religion in Australia. It is an area of study that has in the past produced confusing and conflicting data that has been difficult to interpret with any satisfaction. We know that church attendance and those who identify themselves as "Christian" in ABS surveys are declining; and that those who claim to follow no religion, are unsure or don't care about religion are growing in numbers, and will maybe one day outnumber the believers! There is nothing new about these figures. They have been around for awhile and people have discussed them, but what does it all mean?

At the last census, about 62,000 people declared themselves to be card carrying atheists. In recent times, we have seen the rise of the "neo-atheists" like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great), and it does seem that there is an element of "militantly intolerant secularism" creeping into our public and social life.The big question of this book seems to be: "What does it mean to lose belief in God?" or put another way, "What do unbelievers, believe?"

It seems like it will be worth a look... I've included a few interesting bits and pieces of media that looks at atheism and different points of view of belief / unbelief. If this is an area of interest for you, you might like to take a look at some of them.

• "The Athiests" - (Compass, ABC Television)
• "Shaking the Kaleidoscope" from Richard Hollway (Encounter, ABC Radio National)
• "Why I'm Not a Christian" with Michael Ruse & John Dickson (The Centre of Public Christianity)
  
• "The Cost of Unbelief" from Simon Smart (The Centre for Public Christianity)

I hope you find these interesting and enlightening...

Shalom...

An Aussie Bill of Rights & Freedom of Religion

You may or may not know that there has been a national consultation going on about how to best protect Human Rights in Australia. Some of this discussion has been around whether Australia needs a Bill or Charter of Rights like many other Western countries have, although a number of other processes have been suggested and are up for discussion.

If you're interested in finding out a little more about the process, click here to go to the consultation website, and / or click here to listen to a podcast about the current progress on the consultation.

But all that is just the entree. The main course for this blog post is yet another podcast I listened to the other day. It was from the ABC's "Life Matters" program, and it was very interesting. It had a number of people from different religious groups in Australia, talking together on a panel about how a Bill of Rights might effect freedom of religion in Australia.

To listen to this one, click here ...


Shalom...

Sex, Lies and Politics

Much has been written over the last week or so about John Della Bosca’s extra-marital affair. For those not up on such things, JDB was the NSW health minister and it was revealed the other week that he had been having an affair with a younger woman. I think he has since resigned as a result of the situation, although he was not asked to do so, and some say he should not have had to. He is certainly not the first politician to have been caught out in this area. It seems to me that two of the big inter-related questions of the week have been, “Is it any of our business?” and “What does it matter?”

The first question deals with whether a politician’s private life is any of our business; and the second question deals with whether it matters that politicians express dubious personal values and virtues, given that we voted them in not to not have private affairs, but to manage our public affairs (sorry, I couldn’t help it...).

Over the weekend, there have been a few good articles in The Weekend Australian that have highlighted these questions. Two of these are:

• "Off Limits or Public Interest?" by Lenore Taylor
  
• "Experts Split Over Sex Revelations" by Caroline Overington

One of the underlying questions for me in relation to thinking through the questions above is, “What is politics?” If politics is simply the management of the economy or the development of infrastructure for productivity etc, then it might be fair to argue that as long as politicians are delivering the goods in these areas, then they can do what they like, and with whom, between the sheets, on the kitchen table or in the back seat of the car. But what if politics is more than that? What if it has to do with shaping the culture of the society, promoting positive values and encouraging citizens to be the best humans they can possibly be? If this was the case, wouldn’t politicians then be expected to be the “exemplars” (the embodied examples) of those values and cultural hopes; and the drivers of a more positive picture of what “the common good” could mean?

I know this sounds naive, but I am not alone in wishing that this was the case. In the recent BBC “Reith Lectures” series, Professor Michael Sandel delivered four lectures on "A New Citizenship". It was a fascinating series and I listened to these lectures over and over again. Professor Sandel proposed that religion and morality needed to be invited back into the centre of civic life, so that a new conception of “the common good” could be developed and realised. He said that he fully expected there to be robust discussions, debates and disagreements as a result of such a course of action, but that it was necessary to avoid a colourless, and perhaps dangerous society ensuing. He said that governments tended to reduce discussion and debates on important civic issues to economic terms because it was easier to avoid the complexity of these kinds of discussions by hiding behind the safety of economic arguments.

What would the role of politicians then be in this process? All Professor Sandel would say on this is that he would expect more from our politicians in such a system. And I agree. I think we can and should expect more from both our politicians and our political system. We should not allow the quality of our civic life to be reduced in any way, particularly by those who we have been voted in to drive, promote and protect it. To a degree, we get what we expect.

I say, “Expect more!”

Shalom...

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

Philip Pullman of "The Dark Materials" trilogy fame (better known to the general public as "The Golden Compass") has a new book coming out. It is called, "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ". I wonder what it will be about (insert sarcasm here)...

But seriously folks, we really needed another neo-athiest manifesto like a hole in the head. I am now two years into trying to read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, but am still languishing in chapter 2. Its opening chapter and a bit was so disappointing that I have struggled to bother with it. This was supposed to be THE world's most prominent atheist sticking it God, Christianity and religion etc and if it keeps going the way it has started, then atheism is in big trouble. Maybe it gets better as it goes on... Maybe I'll never find out... Over the weekend, I was horrified to see that "The God Delusion" made it onto "Appleyard's Dozen: 12 books that helped change the world" influential books list... God, help us all if that is what is influencing us...

Anyway, "heads up!", another one is on the way. Apparently, one of this new book's main tenets is that the Apostle Paul made up the divinity of Christ and influenced the writing of the gospels. Not startlingly original but interesting enough to make the papers. I will probably buy a copy and try to read it, but no promises...

I am in the process of reading Pullman's "The Dark Materials" trilogy and it is a ripping good yarn. It is a great example of the fantasy genre. It has been called the "Anti-Narnia", given its apparent anti-Christian themes, but apart from some slagging of at the church (I've been known to do this a bit myself), so far it has been thoroughly enjoyable. Apparently these themes ramp up more towards the third book, where they kill off God.

Interesting, I'll keep you posted...

Shalom...

The Maestro in the Crowd

The Sunday Mail ran an interesting article on page 3 on the weekend. It was called, “Maestro in the Crowd” and told of a “social experiment” that the Sunday Mail set up last week. What they did was, get Warwick Adeney, arguably Queensland’s best violinist, to busk in Brisbane’s CBD. He would play 50 concerts a year to very discerning audiences and you would normally pay between $50 to $70 to get to hear him play.

During the 35 minutes he played, only 11 people paused to listen and he only made just over $15. People just did not notice the “maestro in the crowd”. While this was a social experiment to highlight that we are often too busy to stop and notice something special in our midst, I think that the application goes even deeper for all of us. It highlights to me, that we often don’t see “the maestro” in others; that something special in everyone.

The Bible teaches us that every person has “the image of God” in them, and that this special characteristic in all of us is the basis for our human worth, dignity and value. All people, regardless of how good they are, or how bad they are, are worthy of the kind of respect that simply comes from being human, a possessor of the “Imago Dei”.

Jesus took this idea even further when he talked about those who are poor and excluded in our communities. In Matthew 25:31-46, he tells a parable about Judgement Day, where the King separates the people of the nations like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep are the “righteous” who get to go with the King forever, and the goats are the “unrighteous” who are to be separated from the King forever. The basis of this separation is what the sheep and goats either did or did not do for the “very least” in the community (EG – feed the hungry, visit the sick, accommodate the homeless etc etc). He says, “Whenever you did / did not do these things to the very least of these brothers of mine, you did / did not do them to me.” Jesus goes as far as to say, that helping “the least” is the same as helping him. The presence of Jesus there in their lives.

Stop and look around. Take time to see into the crowd. There are “maestros” in our midst.

Shalom...

Banking on Good Faiths

As I was looking through a “Post Grad” Higher Education booklet over the weekend, I came across a course being run at La Trobe University – a Masters in Islamic Banking. The short article on the course said that some of the distinctive of Islamic Banking were that it insisted on a strong asset backing for loans; prohibited “short selling” and perhaps most significantly, a ban on charging interest on loans. Instead of interest, both the borrower and the lender invest in the asset or development project and share in either the risk or profit of the venture. Sounds like a good idea to me...

It sounds like a nice, friendly way to do banking... Get in there and see what we can make of the venture, together. If it goes well, then we both do well, and if it doesn’t go well, then we go down together. Islamic banking, it seems, is a more asset-based system, rather than our current debt-based system which is at the centre of the Global Financial Crisis.

The article went on to say that, “Even the Vatican has praised the tenets of Islamic banking while condemning the excesses of Western capitalism.” Many people would be familiar with the saying, “the love of money is the root of all evil”. This is from the Bible. And given that money can cause so much “evil”, it should not come as a surprise to us that God has had quite a lot to say about money and how it should and shouldn’t be used. The Bible has more to offer on the subject than just this generalised warning about the danger of money. In the Old Testament particularly, whole economic systems are proposed that prevent the accumulation of too much debt by anyone and that protect the poor from the rough end of the cycle of poverty and debt.

In relation to property, no-one owned the land. It was not the people’s to buy and sell. Instead families or tribes looked after the land for God and leased it out to others if they so desired. Every 50 years, the land returned to the “owners” so that the leasing process could begin over again. In this way, families and tribes had a regular opportunity to free themselves from the cycle of debt through a renewable asset (Leviticus 25:10). Alongside this, God set up provisions for the poor in the land at any given time. People were commanded to leave the corners of their fields “un-reaped” so that the poor could take advantage of what was left over (Leviticus 19:9-10). People were also not allowed to charge interest to someone who was poor (Leviticus 25:35-38). Why? Because it’s not right to take advantage of someone who is doing it tough! Simple stuff... Some of you may remember the “Jubilee 2000” campaign that went alongside “Drop the Debt” heading towards the year 2000. These campaigns were based on Biblical ideas of debt release that work today and "Jubilee Australia" is still working on these issues today.

Anyway, there are more examples than this. This is just a handful to paint a broad picture of what religion has to offer in the field of economics. We are often told that religion should be left out of the public realm of politics and economics, yet it seems to me, time after time, that the public realm is starving for the kind of guidance and wisdom that spirituality can offer. Let’s keep chipping away...

Shalom...

Jesus is the Question...

My friend Marty put me onto this great book the other day called "Jesus Asked" by Conrad Gempf. In my search for the book online, I came across an audio version of it, read by the author himself. It is great! I have been listening to it over and over while I have driving in my car or on the train going to and from work. I recommend it to you. You can find it by clicking here. You can download the 20 or so, 10 - 15 minute "audio readings" from the site or get the podcasts through subscribing on i-tunes.

The basic premise of the book is that if you met Jesus on the street, he would actually be more likely to ask you a question or tell you a riddle, than to actually teach you something. Gempf goes into considerable detail on this and recounts Biblical account after Biblical account where Jesus simply refused to "tell it straight" to his listeners. Instead, he used clever questions to evade, confront, and even baffle. In one instance, Jesus "pretended" to be doing one thing when his intention was to do something else, and on another occasion he said that he does not know the answer to a question posed to him. It is all very interesting stuff and worth a listen to...

But "why?" I hear you ask... Why is this observation about the teaching style of Jesus so important? What could it mean for us? (Good questions by the way, well done)...

This is important because Christians often put themselves forward as having all the answers and put themselves under lots of pressure to have the answers. Reams of "apologetics" literature has been produced so that we can have answers to the meriod of questions that people ask us about God, life, the universe and everything. The interesting thing for us Christians, is that upon closer inspection, it would appear that Jesus did not take this approach. His approach was to not always give clear answers, but to ask the probing questions that got people thinking about what they thought and where they stood on issues. He often ignored the questions that were asked of him and completely highjacked the conversation to the issues that he felt were more important or lurking underneath the questions asked of him.

Gempf says that the most important question for Jesus; the one he was constantly looking for people to answer for themselves; was, "Who do you say that I am?" So, rather than "Jesus is the answer", it would seem that the more appropriate cliche should be, "Jesus is the question."

Go listen to those podcasts. It will make more sense to you then.

Shalom...

So,