eChurch Blog

Yesterday, in another obscure far flung place on the Interweb, I noted an accusation levelled against some Christians that they were judging other Christians as: ‘playing at being a christian’.

In my general response as to why Christians might look upon other Christians in this light, I made this observation:

I would proffer that the comment: ‘playing at being a christian’, would infer a suspicion that some folk are playing a game of subversive entryism of sorts.

Quite coincidentally, and along related lines, today I happened upon a blog post entitled: Why Impostors Love the Church. (Hat-tip Roger Pearse)

Here’s a sample, but the whole piece is worth a read:

The New Testament warns us, of course, about spiritual impostors. Sometimes these “wolves” are there to introduce subtly false doctrine. But, just as often, it seems, these spiritual carnivores hold to true doctrine, at least on the surface. But they use this doctrine and service for predatory ends. The sons of Eli, for instance, use their priestly calling to co-opt the fat of the offering and to lay with the women at the altar (1 Sam. 2).Virtually every New Testament letter warns us about the same phenomenon (e.g., 2 Pet. 2; Jude).

But why, when there is so much opportunity for debauchery out there in the world around us, do such people choose the church?

First of all, I think its because deception can look a lot like discipleship. A disciple is like a son learning from his father, Jesus tells us. The student resembles his teacher. That’s good, and right. But the satanic powers turn all good things for evil. A spiritual impostor can mimic such discipleship when he’s, in fact, just “casing the joint,” watching the mores, learning the phrases, mimicking the convictions. It can seem like the passing down of the faith when, in reality, it’s an almost vampiric taking on of another identity, all for the sake of some appetite or other.

Second, I think it’s because these impostors are looking for something they can’t find in bars and strip clubs. Many of them “feed” off of innocence itself. The Apostle Paul, therefore, warns of those who “creep into households, taking captive weak women burdened down with sins” (2 Tim. 3:6). The impostors are able to gain power over the weak not only by deceiving them but by morally compromising them.

Often these victims are drawn, for reasons good and bad, to spiritual authority. The impostor mimics this authority, sometimes with a precision almost to the point of identity theft. But use it to defile, sapping away what seems to them to be innocence as a vampire would lap up blood.

This all begs the question of course, should Christians be judging the salvific condition of other professing Christians?

I’ve oft noted how opponents of the Church cite survey polls gauging public perceptions, to argue the case that the Church is out of step with zeitgeist and should change its “policies”.

But what about when Christians employ the same strategy?

Today, as widely reported, a new ComRes poll sponsored by Catholic Voices revealed that 7 out of 10 British people believe marriage should continue to be defined as a lifelong union between a man and a woman.

Obviously, these results are being used by Christians today, to lend weight to the traditional marriage stance.

But this strategy concerns me.

If Christians are to appeal to the ‘public opinion arguments’ to bolster a particular stance, then should they not also bow to public opinion when this runs contrary?

What happens if Christians use ‘public opinion arguments’ and then public opinion changes? Could we then find ourselves hoisted with own petard?

Appealing to public opinion must be consistent, and if not, then surely to be avoided.

Does the Church really need to bolster its moral positions by appealing to the opinions of those outside the Church? If so, does this not highlight a certain fragility?

Is the Church not to be thought of as counter culture?

I’ve nicked this from Fr Z (hope he doesn’t mind) but I simply must share these comments made back in 1969 by theologian Joseph Ratzinger on the future of the Church:

The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning.

She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members….

It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek . . . The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain . . . But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.

And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death.

How prophetic and encouraging for our day!

Wonderful. No wonder he’s Pope.

I cheered from the sidelines when the hacktivist group Anonymous attacked, took down, and defaced the website of the hate group: The Westboro Baptist Church; the nasty “God hates fags” folk who like to picket funerals for some unknown reason.

When I learned of two pernicious US bills, designed to censor the Internet, I secretly harboured support for Anonymous in their fight against this.

I even asked if Christians should support the activities of Anonymous, especially given that Christianity appears to be the religion of choice for hackers.

Suffice it to say, I now rather regret my sympathies with this group.

Anonymous have declared war on religion; well I say religion, they’ve only attacked Christian Church websites so far. Apparently the reason for these attacks is, and I quote:

“HACKED Reason: religious idiocy and foh dah lulz.”

Right, so that clarifies and justifies everything then!

The three Websites that have been attacked so far are: Bethel Outreach International Church, the Charlotte International Church, and Crossfire Ministries. All three religious organizations are based in and around Charlotte, North Carolina.

None of these groups appear exceptional in any way.

Anonymous attacked these websites and defaced them with a YouTube video featuring Richard Dawkins, entitled: An Atheist’s Call to Arms.

Anonymous have made this declaration:

Greetings fellow pirates,

Let us be clear from the start: any kind of religion is a sickness to this world. A sickness that creates hate and intolerance, a sickness that brings people to wage war on their fellow people, a sickness that has come to this world long time ago, when mankind wasn’t educated, a sickness that brought false hope and suppression to those who believed and often even more terror and suppression to those who dared not to believe.

Religions are authoritarian hierarchies, designed to dominate your free will. Religions are mind control. They’re power structures that aim to convince you to give away your power for the benefit of those who enjoy dominating people. When you subscribe to a religion, you enroll in a mindless minion training program. Religions don’t market themselves as such, but this is essentially how they operate. In case you ever wondered why religious teachings are invariably mysterious, confusing, and incongruent? This is no accident — it’s intentional.

We see religion pretty much the same way as we see many governments. Fear mongering and making lots of money, so a small group of ppl will become insanely rich, while the believing masses can eat dirt…

So people of the world, don’t let religion control your life. Don’t fight against each other for contrary beliefs. This world and our life can be a wonderful adventure, where you have the unique chance to help mankind and your fellow citizens. Where we can all work together to make this earth a better place for ourselves,our children and all those generations who will come after us. ^(;,;)^

Uh-huh.

Anyway, Anonymous were not quite so successful in their endeavours to attack the Vatican:

Brilliant! Hat-tip: Doug Chaplin

There is apoplectic outrage across the Interweb as the Occupy St Paul’s Cathedral Occupy the London Stock Exchange protest was finally forcibly evicted late last night.

The real bone of contention seems to be the fact that police removed folk that were forming the “Ring of Prayer” from the steps of the Cathedral. From what I can glean, the High Court eviction order (obtained by the Corporation of London, with the support of the Cathedral) was against the encampment in the square, and so the folk gathered on the Cathedral steps believed they had a legal right to be there.

As it turned out, a Trespass Order had been granted in collusion with the Cathedral, granting police authority to remove those folk from the steps.

It’s also purported that four policemen could be clearly seen on the Cathedral balcony, “in silhouette”.

Enter on stage Jonathan Bartley of Ekklesia and his viral Video:

As you can hear, the police cite Cathedral permission, Section 14 of the Public Order Act, and breach of the peace. They also state the assembly was antagonising other people.

This has led to a stream of “dismayed and shocked” comments aimed at the “un-Christian” stance of the Cathedral.

Just a couple of quick comments.

From the very beginning this protest morphed into a battle with the Cathedral in particular, and Christianity in general. And as it began, so it has ended. In the process, many of us (Christians) who may have been sympathetic to the grievances of this movement, were alienated and sent on the defensive.

I witnessed a continued outpouring of vitriol against the Cathedral, with many that have not darkened the door of a church in years, pontificating on Christian morality. So much so, at times, you could be forgiven for thinking that the very Raison d’être for the protest was the ‘evil’ cathedral itself.

The irony is, with all the focus on the Cathedral; all talk of greedy bankers and corrupt Capitalism, was notably absent.

I think this all highlights a serious weakness in the Occupy movement. They are so easily subverted simply because they don’t really know what they stand for. What I mean by this, is that although we know what they stand against – corporate greed, banking systems, markets, capitalism – we never really found out what they proposed as alternatives.

I think the reason for this, is that they don’t really have any answers. And I’ve been observing this movement for months.

I note that Ekklesia have used coverage of this eviction as a nice little opportunity to have a dig a conservative Christians:

….I wonder whether those groups who sound off about supposed ‘Christian persecution’ in the UK will take up the issue of political and religious authorities working together to have people who are praying kicked off Cathedral steps? Or are they only concerned to support sectional privileges for those with conservative views?

The hypocritical irony here, is that Ekklesia often rail against conservative Christians as wishing to be in some way exempt from the laws of the land; especially, in regard to “Equality” laws.

It would now seem that Ekklesia themselves would wish to be exempt from certain laws; notably, trespass, or Section 14 of the Public Order Act.

Granted, the system we live in has many flaws, but it also has many benefits, that need to be recognised and more often readily acknowledged. I know for a fact that I don’t want anarchy.

I don’t know of a better system this side of the Kingdom, do you?

But as a Christian I do know this:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

The Occupy London Movement have made this promise:

to take stock and learn the lessons of the past four and a half months. But be assured that plans are already afoot: plans of some ambition, employing a diversity of tactics and delivered with the aplomb you would expect from us. All will be revealed in time. May is one of our favourite months.

I hope they do learn the lessons; namely, not to allow themselves to be so easily subverted against their natural allies, and to present to us concrete ideas of what they actually stand for; rather than just what they stand against.

A few links I found interesting for one reason or another:

Barna Research – How Pastors Plan to Improve their Churches

Ethics and Foreign Policy – Developing an Understanding of Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions

CounterCultural Father – On Being a Bigot

New York Times – Suicide Bomber Kills 3 in Nigeria

PsychCentral – The Addictive Personality: Why Recovery is a Lifetime Thing

The Deacon’s Bench – New call for divorced and remarried Catholics to be able to receive communion

Telegraph – Mark Thompson: BBC director general admits Christianity gets tougher treatment

I wholeheartedly agree with the archbishop of Westminster Rt Rev Vincent Nichols who is quoted in the Guardian as saying:

I personally don’t feel in the least bit persecuted. I don’t think Christians should use that word.

Absolutely right.

In fact, if Western Christians are to self-define as “persecuted” then we need a new term to coin the brutalisation of Christian minority groups in Islamic lands and elsewhere.

Nichols goes on to say:

“what might have started out as an acknowledgement of a variety of religious and philosophical positions has produced a seeming determination to tear the legal and therefore cultural life of the country away from its Christian roots.”

Again, absolutely right. And I will be the first to acknowledge that the secular agenda is on the ascendancy in the UK. However, this still does not equate to “persecution” in the true sense of the word.

It is entirely possible of course, that the UK Christian ‘persecution narrative’ is based on a subjective perception that we are witnessing the thin edge of the wedge, and I think this is the very heart of the matter. UK Christian persecution anxieties are not so much based on current events, but on the perception of what may be on the horizon. We can see a slippery slope and it makes us edgy.

Let me elaborate on the UK Christian “persecution narrative” as I see it. I believe it is a self-reinforcing group narrative within which subjective perceptions are evidenced as an objective reality. Firstly, you cite a few recent high profile legal cases. Any that were successful prove the encroaching persecution; any that were unsuccessful prove the anti-Christian bias of the law courts. Either way the narrative is affirmed and the lawyers make money.

All of this “evidence” of persecution perpetuates the narrative, leading to a subcultural “moral panic” that potentially precipitates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Many outside of Christianity perceive Christians to be lamenting the loss of a privileged position and status within our culture, rather than anything else. Sometimes I can’t blame them. Many of the recent high profile Christian ‘persecution’ legal cases have revolved around the ‘Equality’ laws and many in society are annoyed, as they perceive Christians as believing they should be exempt from such laws. Yesterday Sir Trevor Phillips, the Head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was quoted as saying:

…..the law stops at the door of the temple as far as I am concerned.

Of course, this cuts both ways.

The crux of Phillips’ argument is that it is only inside a church or religious institution that believers can apply their own rules. Phillips also makes the argument that if we make exceptions for Christians, then we need also make exceptions for others; for example, the implementation of Sharia law. There is a logic to this in my mind.

In truth, no government will really be able to legislate for ‘offense’ or ‘equality’ for everybody, as it is inevitable that as a result of these laws, some will actually become discriminated against. Personally I believe the government should legislate as little as possible in this area of life.

Given the hostility of the world towards Jesus, should we always expect the world to be nice and friendly towards us? Is this even a healthy state of affairs for the Church, as it can potentially foster complacency and too much involvement in worldly affairs?

The truth is, if we define ourselves by our victimhood, we have a massive problem, as we ape the society around us, which is dominated by a hierarchy of victimhood.

In conclusion, I will state that I personally don’t feel that I belong to a beleaguered minority; we’re everywhere and I think Christians need to be more confident about who we are.

UK Christians need to stop using the word “persecution” for fear of devaluing the term. We may experience areas of discrimination, belittlement, exclusion, and so forth – Who doesn’t – but this is patently and qualitatively different to persecution.

Anyway, when did Jesus say it would be an easy ride?

I love to be inspired. I love sharing my life with others, and supporting them with their endeavours and being supported in return. These are important aspects of my church experiences and I have not managed to find other groups here at university that fill those roles in my life. Finally, I think I just really love food. My Thursday bible study group? We cook each other dinner! When I have a dinner party, who is by far most likely to attend? My Christian friends! Meal-sharing is emphasized in Christianity and there is little else in the world I appreciate more than good food and good company at the same time.

So yes, I love church. And no, I don’t believe in God. I hope that is okay with you, but even if it isn’t– that doesn’t matter to me, since I have a whole bunch of friends from my church who love me anyways

SOURCE

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth,

O Lord: consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Gospel Mark 7:14-23

Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’