Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin
OUTLOOK
Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves,
for tomorrow the Lord will do
amazing things among you."
Joshua 3:5
Dear Friends
Question: What do reports about events such as the death of Charlie Kirk and ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstrations and pronouncements made by charismatic figures have in common? Answer: The need to exercise discernment when forming an opinion. Because such news items are full of dramatic sound-bites, agenda-biased views and simplistic, blinkered opinions. As I re-read what I’ve just written I guess, in some ways, the same could be said of this article! However, my aim is definitely not to be dramatic, agenda-biased or simplistic, even though there isn’t space here to rehearse all the arguments relating to the above.
The way and the truth [Shutterstock]
Instead I want to remind us of the importance of listening & to all sides & taking time to find out the facts and, as far as possible, to discover the full picture before deciding what to believe. Jesus knew the importance of that. In John 8:31-32 we read, To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth will set you free.
Social Media [Ibrahim.ID]
It’s so easy to hear just one side of a report. To listen to just one side of an argument. To read views expressed from just one camp. At the weekly Youth Forum prayer meeting led by Phase we were reminded recently that when it comes to social media, in particular, “we don’t choose the content we see, the content chooses us.”
Now I know that for most of us we’re not big users of social media (if at all). Nevertheless where we get our news from will have its own bias, its own prejudices, and in being discerning we need to be aware of that.
And we need to beware of jumping on the band-wagon of popularist, alarmist views, that seek simplistic answers to complex situations. That look to blame the “outsider”, the “foreigner”. That shout, “we are right and your opinion counts for nothing.” That worse still, claim to be Christian values. Christian beliefs. Over the centuries many powerful leaders and nations have tried to hijack the Christian message and have twisted it to fit their own views and justify their own actions. (Sadly this country has not been innocent of falling into that temptation over the years …)
But the gospel of Jesus Christ is not the way of the rich and the powerful. It is not the way of the strong and the mighty. The gospel is not the way of the charismatic and the attention-seeking. It is the way of the cross, of self-sacrifice, of love. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. It demands that the voices of the marginalised, the down-trodden, the poor, the vulnerable are listened to and acted upon. And that requires effort and thoughtfulness and a willingness to seek the truth. And not just the truth but, as is said in a court of law, “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
We are living in very difficult times and it’s easy to get caught up in the rhetoric of the loudest voices and the most firmly expressed views. Sometimes, of course, those views will hold some truth and do need to be heard, but let’s make sure that in all our opinion-forming we keep looking to Jesus, ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’. Who is God, who is love.
Every blessing,
Jane
Every blessing,
Jane
Harvest Festival window displays [Sam Hallas]
