The Kingdom of God is never Passive

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

Jesus words about the advance of the Kingdom of God are recorded in Matthew chapter 11 verse 12. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it”. Those who have studied church history will know that there has rarely been a time when great events in the life of the church have not produced kingdom advances. From Jerusalem the gospel has spread to the ends of the earth. The uttermost parts have been populated with Christ-followers and communities of His people, and now, in these later times, the gospel is being brought back from the ends of the earth, to reach the nations clustered most closely around Jerusalem.

This reality is not a passive work. The gospel is not preached because people stay at home. We can be grateful for satellite broadcast and social media and the access they have given the gospel into homes in the most inhospitable of places. However they are no substitute for the incarnate word of God.

Heaven had every conceivable resource available to communicate the message. But several thousand years of trumpet calls and prophetic utterance had failed to birth the Kingdom of God. So, breaking into a most inhospitable place, and being born into the humblest of circumstances, the God of heaven took upon himself a human form and incarnated His message among men. The word became flesh!

So, throughout ages since, men and women have gone, traveling in His behalf, relocating for the sake of the incarnation of that same word. The word again becomes flesh, because God’s messengers become the means.

Because of the actions of God’s servants communities become transformed, societies change, justice is released, and God is glorified. The writer to the Hebrews speaks of those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised” (Heb 11:23) These things do not happen because men and women are passive. They happen because the people of God are forceful, they are persistent in prayer, they find the keys to unlock spiritual strongholds, and they build the enterprises that establish the context for the message.

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The Homosexual Marriage Debate

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

President Obama’s recent statement about homosexual marriage should not come as a surprise. He needs every help that he can get come November if he is to be re-elected. With thirty states already voting against the idea he is taking a calculated risk that frustration upon the part of the LGBT community and those who support their agenda, will mobilize them to vote for him even when the economy is an issue of far greater importance to us all.

How did we come to the point where we would think that two people of the same sex should have a legal right to the mutual and legally recognized agreement between heterosexual couples that has been a tradition throughout recorded history? There are two things that those of us who are Christian and adhere to a Biblical worldview should be aware of.

Firstly, there is an attack upon absolute truth that has been gaining momentum in a secular and post-Christian society. Where once Biblical truths, that had become part of culture and community with the spread of Christendom, were the accepted norm, this is no longer the case. Every previously held sacred truth is now suspect because it derives its authority from an order that is increasingly challenged by secularism. It is apparent that if an idea gains enough momentum it can reach a point where if the majority embrace it, then it must hold authority, no matter how suspect it was when first proposed. In this way two plus two really can equal five, or any other number that we may want the sum to equal.

The vast majority of our parent’s generation, regardless of their religious practice, would have abhorred the idea of ‘gay’ marriage. After all, “marriage is between a man and a woman!”. But that idea has been eroded by the rise of ideas of equality of opportunity and the constant beating of a civil rights drum. The very same people who yesterday were urging us all to celebrate diversity, are now asking us to create an equal opportunity for all, which undermines the diversity they wanted us to celebrate. Once a gay couple are married, what axe will they have left to grind, what diversity will they have left to celebrate. Today’s college age generation has seen so much of family brokenness and disfuntionality that they have no idea of what kind of family unit is supposed to be the norm and which best expresses God’s highest desire for the basic unit of society.

President Obama stated that he had listened to his daughters over the dinner table as they talked about their school friends. Some are apparently being raised by same-sex couples, and in the President’s words: “it would not dawn on (his daughters) that somehow their friends parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them”. He went on to say that something like that prompts a change of perspective. Yet in the very same interview he stated that he and his wife are practicing Christians.

These comments provoke a number of questions. What kind of Christian parent allows themselves to be influenced by the views that their ten-year-old and thirteen-year-old bring home from school, instead of clearly laying out to their children a Biblical point of view on the subject? If that kind of comment from a school-daughter influences not just the perspective but the decision-making and influencing role of an elected official, how might we expect our elected officials to respond to the views of their children on recreational drugs, under-age sex, and abortion issues, let alone the host of other social and fiscal issues being discussed in the school-room?

But secondly, this incident should serve as a reminder that the historic laxity on the part of the church on addressing issues of human sexual sin, has weakened our authority on the issue of gay marriage. While divorce, co-habitation and other ‘less than God’s highest and best’ practices are left unchallenged that which has been called the serial monogamy of the west has become a societal norm that leaves more conservative societies disdainful of our right to speak on anything with authority. As we look across the denominational spectrum we see our own churches torn apart by the homosexual issue. Sadly where some have chosen to take a stand they have paid the price by being evicted from their houses of worship.

We may derive encouragement from the fact that the majority of states in the United States have voted against the recognition of same-sex marriage, but without a spiritual revolution among tomorrow’s generation of leaders, it would seem inevitable that today’s normative thought will become tomorrow’s exception and the cultural landscape of the nation will be changed forever.

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The National Day of Prayer

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer in the United States. Across the nation people gathered together to pray for the nation, their state and their cities.

Here in Richmond the Christian Leaders Prayer Breakfast has taken place every year since the early 1990s. Travel has meant that I have not always been able to attend, but on the occasions I have been able to I have enjoyed participation with as many as two hundred leaders from across the spectrum of the Richmond Christian Community.

Jesus prays his great high priestly prayer on behalf of the church yet to be, when he meets with his disciples just before his arrest. In John 17 verses 20 & 21 we read: “My prayer is not for (my disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me”. He is defining a formula for the success of the church. As we are in right relationship with one another, and as we are in right relationship with God, the world will believe in the good news.

Yesterday’s gathering in unity revealed a diversity of denominational affiliations. It was remarkable for several things.

We prayed together with the Richmond City chief of police. We prayed for him, and for the work that he is doing on behalf of our city. We also prayed for unity of the body of Christ in Richmond. I found myself wondering how many were aware of the significance of who was leading the prayer. As with the other prayer sections of the morning two leaders, representing the diversity of the body stood at the podium. The white pastor of a dynamic and contemporary local congregation introduced the topic with a powerful challenge to unity within the diversity of our various traditions. His congregation is affiliated with the Churches of Christ, an association which, in the name of restoring the Kingdom, has historically distanced itself from other Christian communities. He is representative of a younger generation of Churches of Christ leaders who recognize the importance of connecting with the church at large.

The closing prayer for the section was then led by the leader of a large African-American congregation. He also is representative of a younger generation of leaders, but still lives with the legacy of historical segregation. The rapid growth of his congregation has alienated it from some other African-American leaders, but despite this, the leadership and members are reaching out to connect with others.

Richmond has come a long way as its churches and Christian leaders have prayed. A growing number have consistently come together to seek the Lord for His Kingdom and Righteousness in our city. Much has been accomplished. There is still much more to do.

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Brazil 2012

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

I am in Brazil. This is my seventh visit in nearly 21 years. As usual I am here on business, but business is revealing the changing dynamic of this influential Latin American nation.

There is a great likelihood that anyone who has flown between small cities in the United   States has flown on an Embraer Jet. This Brazilian company has a large share of the American market for regional jets, those narrow silver cigars that we stoop our bodies to walk within and fold ourselves to be seated. Such is the drive for airline economy that companies like Embraer have done an excellent job of usurping the 737s and DC9s of the past.

One of the company’s slogans: “We are big supporters of some of the world’s smallest things!” is indicative of the spirit of a nation whose entrepreneurism has grown their economy rapidly in the years since economic stability was achieved. They recently surpassed the British economy to become the world’s sixth largest. To crown their rising influence they will host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

Despite endemic poverty on the fringes of the cities, materialism is on the rise. Indications of greater wealth are everywhere. The malls in Sao Paulo are filled with every conceivable modern fashion and convenience. Fast food, even that of the Brazilian variety, sells at prices considerably higher than those prevailing in the USA. Visits to the resorts of Buzios and Monte Verde confirmed that there are many with plenty of disposable income. I would add that I saw more people with dental braces on than I think I have seen anywhere at any time in the past – a further indication of disposable income.

With this rising tide of materialism has come a changing dynamic to the church. Twenty years ago many were offering for service in overseas mission fields. Many have gone, but many have come back, lacking the basic partnership of church and supporters to enable them in ministry. Churches that once gave are now spending more on themselves.

The church is everywhere. It has undergone phenomenal growth in the last half century and some say that as many as 17% of the population are evangelical Protestants. Little church buildings can be seen in many streets of the big cities, and large churches occupy whole city blocks, warehouse-style. They come in every shade, from Methodist, to Assemblies; Presbyterian, to Baptist; and independent through to the pseudo-cult.

But Brazilians are still offering themselves for international service in Christian mission. I met several who are heading toward French West Africa, and another who will move to Indonesia. Not all is lost in materialism. I was challenged to learn that a pastor whom I previously met recently sold his house and downsized so that he could invest the proceeds in building an orphanage in Haiti.

Professionals with medical, business and vocational skills are now offering for missions, where a past generation may have included many with little education. The challenge of church and mission is to find the appropriate pathways down which they may travel to join in the great adventure of reaching the nations for Christ.

As the Brazilian economy is growing its share of the world’s business, may the Brazilian church also grow in participation and leadership in the advance of the Kingdom of God in the nations.

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The Epistle to the Muslim Heart

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

I have been reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians and particularly thinking over the content of chapter three. It seems to me that this and other parts of this letter could easily have been written for the Muslim community, still six hundred years from its emergence.

When Paul asks in 3:2 & 3 “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” and “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” I can’t help but think of these as pointed questions to the Muslim.

Islam is about following the whole law of Allah, just as Judaism was about following the whole of the law and the prophets. The Muslim Sharia governs every aspect of life. As the Torah has been interpreted for the Jews by their scholars in the form of the Talmud, so Muslim scholars have developed the themes of the Qu’ran in the volumes of Hadith.

In the gospel of Matthew chapter 23 Jesus speaks a series of “Woe to you” statements over the Pharisees. These were the men in His day who had become the custodians and interpreters of the law for the benefit of Israel.

He says (verses 23 & 24) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel”. The law had become the be all and end all of the matter. It had become an obstacle to the life that the Father really desired for His people.

With the coming of Christ came the age of God’s grace. God’s people were no longer bound by the consequences of failing to keep the law. However centuries later, another spirit has sought to put us again under the law. How could anyone who has truly experienced the grace of God choose to live again under the law?

A Muslim asks in the Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qu’ran “Guide us to the Right Path”. It is an essential part of his daily prayer routine. Yet sadly Islam has missed the point that is expressed in Jesus words when he said that he had come not to abolish the law but to complete. The ways of God, and the Way to the ‘right path’ can only be understood in the light of the gift of Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection have set us free from the curse of the law. As Paul reminds us: “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”” and “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”” (Gal 3:10 & 11).

Let us live by faith and not by our works; Let us serve lovingly, diligently and responsibly; And let us live so that our Muslim brothers and sisters may be led to the knowledge of the Lord and into freedom from the curse of the law.

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Engraved Upon His Palms

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

A Muslim delights in reciting the 99 most beautiful names of God. According to a hadith the man who commits them to memory will get into Paradise (Sahih Muslim – 35.6475). If you travel among Muslims you may often see them fingering a string of prayer beads, either 99 in number for all the names of God, or 33 in number (the economy version!) with each bead representing three of the names.

The names are diverse and cover a wider range of attributes of God than are ascribed directly to him by the Christian Scriptures. He is both the Subduer and the Exalter; the Giver of Honor, and the Giver of Dishonor. He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing, and the Destroyer, as well as many things that a Christian would expect to see ascribed to God: The Eternal, The Omnipotent, The Creator, The Almighty, etc.

A Muslim once told me that the names of God are so important that God has even inscribed them on the palms of our hands. If we look at our hands we see lines upon them. On the left hand three lines, the first two of which come close together or meet between thumb and forefinger. On the right hand, the reverse. Now the inverted V symbol of the two lines that meet between thumb and forefinger are the Arabic numeral for the number 8. A single line on its own represents the number 1 just as we are familiar with it. So, on the left hand we have an 8 followed by a 1, and again the reverse on the right. 81 added to 18 results in the total of  99 on our palms. Not bad math for handprints! And all this to ensure that we do not forget the Lord!

By contrast the Christian Scriptures make it clear that God has not forgotten us. Speaking of Zion, the spiritual aspiration of all believers and the place to which all nations will come (Isaiah 2:2), the prophet speaks the word of the Lord: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands”. (Isaiah 49:16) This is the Lord God speaking of His compassion for His people and His desire for their salvation.

The Easter season serves as a reminder of the suffering that Christ endured for us. His broken body was hung upon a cross, held there by nails through hands and feet. He took our sin upon himself, bearing our punishment and so winning redemption for each of us. However, if we are inscribed upon the palms of His hands, surely He took us to the cross with Him and where He was nailed we were nailed with Him. Such is the compassion of our God, that He remembers us on the palms of His hands, takes us with Himself, to share our sufferings and bear our burdens.

And therein lies one of the great contrasts with the god who is revealed in Islam. Our God extends the grace of forgiveness to each one of us in loving faithfulness. He remembers us as He comes to live among us. On the other hand, the god of Islam wants to be remembered, but otherwise remains impersonal, remote and utterly transcendent!

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Reflecting on Servanthood

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Andrew Fuller

One recent Spring morning I went for a walk through our neighborhood. I spent some time praying out of some verses in Paul’s letter to the Philippians “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”. Phil 2: 4-7

As I walked I came across an increasing phenomenon in our neighborhood: Sergio, the Brazilian tree surgeon! Others might call him an arborist or a domestic lumberjack.

It may sound a bit funny but the typical American tree surgeon brings in a truck with a hydraulic lift on it and a large bucket on the lift arm. The surgeon gets in the bucket and raises it up beside the tree to cut the branches off. This equipment costs money and the American tradesman is also subject to a lot of licensing, health and safety and other regulations.

But Sergio comes with only his mountain climbing gear, his harness, ropes, and spiked shoes. He throws his belt around the tree, and begins to climb, with his chain saw hanging on a rope below him. I watched as he tied off a line to a branch, ran it on a pulley across another tree, then had an assistant lower the branch to the ground after he severed it. Sergio is legal, but you can be sure that some of the workers he employees are undocumented. Without the heavy equipment, the contraints of employment regulation, and paying less than minimum wage to some of his assistants, you can imagine he comes a lot cheaper than the American professional. In our forested neighborhood he is doing a lot of business. If you want to learn more about this lifestyle inAmericayou can watch a great movie from last year entitled, “A Better Life” – Mexican actor Demian Bechir was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a member of the undocumented labor force.

So what does this all have to do with servanthood?

The migrant worker is willing to do what the local is not. He is willing to earn a lower wage and live to a lower standard just so that he can send money home to his family. The largest source of foreign income inSomaliais gift income sent home to the families of Somalis living in Europe andAmerica. I am sure there are many other nations where a similar practice is a significant source of income.

The migrant is also willing to take greater risks. He lives in the shadows, cares little for local customs, and if not focused on his own welfare is focused on a “Better Life” for the wife, children and extended family back home.

Jesus’ example of servanthood is one that lays aside the glories of the throne room of heaven, and, with little thought for personal comfort embarks upon a journey of salvation. In the words of English worship leader, Noel Richards, he “laid aside (His) majesty, gave up everything for me,”

Jesus calls us to this kind of servanthood. Paul underlines it. The Christian servant is willing to live to a lower standard so that others may live. He is willing to do what others are not willing to do. He is willing to take risks so that the great enterprises of God may be realized in the community where he lives.

May we live this kind of servanthood for our communities and for the world. May we not think about our own gain, but only about the glory of the one who sends and sustains us, and the ‘Better Life’ in abundance that he desires for all those who are still to find him.

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