Shining

I reckon these things should be the hallmarks of any Christian's life:

• Being honest and humbly repentant about your sin;


• Living with humility;


• Speaking graciously and kindly about people;


• Showing respect for your husband or wife, regarding marriages as of great importance and sex as a special part of that;


• Being willing to talk about the confronting, troubling things in life;


• Being persistently thoughtful, generous and other-person centred, in little ways and big.

I'm glad to say that when I look around at my Christian brothers and sisters, that's often what I see. :-)

Seeking understanding

Sometimes, when life's been hard the thing that I've desired more than anything - almost more than the end of the pain - is to understand. I want to see that:

• there was some good reason for my trouble. Even if I've been wronged, I want to know that there is a bigger picture that brings sense to all this, that there is some good reaching over it all. I want to know that my suffering didn't just come from randomness, negligence or cruelty.


• something good will come of my suffering. I don't want to go through all the pain and it be for nothing.


• it won't always be like this. I want to know that, one day, it will be well, and it will be good.

And my God answers "yes" to all these things. That's not why I came to believe in him, but I am glad that it is true. It doesn't mean he will let me in on his purposes or plans though, and that can be very hard. But he's trustworthy - he's worthy of my trusting him.

Poverty as a middle-class Westerner

The year before last I didn't have quite enough money to live on - so each fortnight I'd have to pay for something 'essential' on my credit card, and just hope some money would come from somewhere to pay it off before it got too out of control. I could've asked for help, but I'm not always good at that, and I had this strong conviction that if other people paid their own way through their studies then why shouldn't I. And when I'm unconvinced about something I find it near impossible to take action for practical reasons alone . . . At the time I wrote down the things I'd come to know through being (relatively) poor, but it wasn't appropriate to blog about it then, as I was still in the midst of bitterness. So here it is - all the unpleasant things you experience, without any of the answers - these are provided them in a series elsewhere. [Here's the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth posts of that series.] I hope that knowing this stuff will help us to empathise with and provide assistance to people in need, in Australia and overseas.

When you're poor you:

• are sick with stress and fear about surviving. Your trouble seems insurmountable. You have difficulty trusting God and not worrying.
• consider how much things will cost before you consider anything else.
• change your lifestyle and do without all sorts of things - in the process realising that many of the things you consider normal are actually middle-class luxuries.
• can't participate in things, or you have to choose the cheaper option, or you have to pretend you can afford it when you can't. You can't be hospitable.
• have to rely on other peoples' generosity and hospitality, knowing you're unable to return any favours.
• are envious of people who live lives full of riches, ease and sophistication.
• are aware that even as a poor Westerner, you're still very rich, and are horrified at true poverty.

Big scale

Sydney is an event city. Perhaps lots of big cities are. Things don't happen organically or small-scale here (well, apart from the health system ;-)) - they get organised. So, people go to the Official Opera Australia Program. They go wine-tasting at the Official Wine Tasting Festival Tour Thing. They explore ideas at the Official Series Of Lectures Put On By A University. And it's the same in the Christian world. If there's something everyone needs to learn or get amped about, we put on an Official Katoomba or Hillsong Conference or run an Official Beach Mission.

I actually think it's great that Christian culture accords with the wider culture in this regard. But I do find it funny - just because I'm not used to it. And I'm wary of it being seen as a foolproof solution because I know that it wouldn't work too well in a place like Tassie.

A little more like Jesus

God loves contrition. When it is right for us to be broken, then it is good that we are. But he also loves joy, especially joy in him. I feel like sometimes in Christian circles it's only permissible to say is how sinful we are; talking about growth in righteousness and love is taboo. This should not be! We must rejoice in the changes God is making in us, just as much as - and perhaps even more than - we mourn over our sin.

Seeing justice done

The thing that bothers me most about my faith is that some people will end up in hell. I don't think that this is unfair or vindictive of God - I actually think that's exactly what we people deserve - including myself. And I think that if God were to rescue even only one person, it would be an act of beautiful mercy - so it's wonderful that there will be "a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language".1

So what's my problem? This is it: I care more about God acting in mercy than in justice. I'm glad that God is just, but it doesn't stir my heart the way it should. I pray that it would.


1 Revelation 7:9

A cat in a china shop

Before I became a Christian, I dabbled in Buddhism - for long enough to get the basic gist - and to see that the basic gist is not where it's at. I mean Buddhism isn't even a thing for words. If you've managed to describe it in words and concepts, you haven't really described it at all. So I get very frustrated whenever I hear Christian people making brazen statements about Buddhism.

But last week I had the pleasure of hearing from a gentleman who's been working with Thai Buddhists for many years. He got across something of the complexity and subtlety of Buddhism, and he conducted himself with calmness, humility and courtesy. Here are his tips for sharing Jesus with Buddhist people:

1. Never argue - it will make the other person lose face. Never compare religions. Avoid 'friendly' mockery.
2. Accept them as a person and show them honour.
   
3. Tell them about your life - without being patronising. Tell them about the Creator God as well as stories about Jesus. Don't do this in a linear way - talk in circles. Explain that Jesus washed away bad karma.
4. Feel free to be up-front on a personal level - it's fine to ask if you can pray for them.
5. Leave the results up to God.