Connecting with the dead
by | Posted on February 16th in Pastors thoughtsWe want everyone at Hunter Bible Church to be living missional lives!
That is, we want everyone to understand themselves and their networks of relationships through the lens of the gospel. Our apostle nails it when he says in 2 Corinthians 5:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. We want to have a biblical understanding of humanity, not a worldly one.
This is far from comprehensive but it will mean at least 2 things:
1. We will recognise ourselves to be undeserving recipients of God’s mercy!
Titus 3:5 - when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
2. We will understand that those outside of Christ are dead and objects of God’s wrath.
Ephesians 2:1-3 - As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
If this is true then we work with, eat with, play with, rub shoulders with, exercise with, speak with dead people everyday. In fact, more than that, we would be dead if it were not for the mercy of God lavished on us through Jesus (read the rest of Ephesians 2).
The reality is though that we rarely see people through this lens, and so we unconsciously rub shoulders with dead without offering them a chance at life. Or perhaps we rarely even do that. Perhaps, we choose not to venture into the land of the dead. We mix in circles of friends, go to schools, play in sporting teams, start church soccer comps so that we never have to rub shoulders with the dead…. and so forget about them… so never offer them a chance at receiving the mercy of God in Christ!
Let’s make 2010 the year of:
- Playing sport with a bunch of workmates - not church mates
- Having BBQ’s with families who need Jesus
- Joining a club where you can meet people with similar interests - but different eternal paths
- Inviting an old uni friend to live with a bunch of you from church
- Setting aside nights to spend time among the dead
February 19th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Thanks for the thoughts Sam!
I reckon people are best finding an activity that clearly expresses the way God has changed them. For example, it’s an assumed part of Rugby culture that
1. players will disrespect referees
2. players will lose their tempers and start fights
3. players will selfishly desire to be in the top grade rather than joyfully serving their club wherever they’re most needed.
Those are three areas that as a Christian I can stand out because
1. I’ve been learning how to respect authority (even poor authority) because I’ve seen Jesus’ submission to humans while being God-King.
2. I don’t need to protect my own pride or self importance, so I can just ignore the slander that comes my way
3. Rugby is a gift from God, but it’s not an ultimate thing. It’s not my primary source of joy so I can enjoy it from many different roles.
It’s sweet because it makes Rugby a really easy place for me to stand out as a Christian. And even when you reactionally swear to yourself for making a mistake, you’ve still got the cleanest mouth in the club! BONUS!
I reckon find something that you’ll be significantly different in, and go to (almost) every social thing those people do together!
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I agree we definitely should be missionally focused…Jesus was missionally focused…we want to be just like him… don’t we?…however…
I feel church comp and christian schools and a-like are as just as much a mission field as non-christian comps. “Christians” (emphasis for people who don’t live with Jesus as Lord) are in just as much need to be shown the Gospel as Non-Christians, in addition there are also non-christians who are in these places.
As you look at Acts where Peter & Paul go and preach to the Jews (God’s chosen people)and they think they’ve got it right.
BUT until they understood that Jesus had come, they had crucified Him and that they needed to repent because they (like us) have rebelled against God, they wouldn’t have known.
Many people were saved by this and are saved by this.
Now i’m not saying we are as gifted as Paul, the Spirit is what works… but i think that the whole World is a missional place and christians need to be everywhere.
Now, I think the biggest issue with what is being said is what the word “Christian” means.
So when people hear the word Christian what do they think?
Should they be thinking Christ…what he has done…and how it has affected and infected us?
But instead they think a cult of people who have good morals and some Jesus guy. We have to explain this!!! We have to be able to explain this!!!
Good for Growth
One of the places, one of the most encouraging places, I personally grew in relationship with Jesus was with the help of fellow christian mates through HBC soccer teams. Relationships were made, games were won and lost, we shared ups and downs but most importantly we shared our lives. We shared how Christ was and is affecting us day to day. What i am trying to say is that the most encouraging relationships i have in my Christian life have been made through this team…i have found it easier than Church in this sense to be kept track of and be nurtured from a seed. Now this may not be the case for others but it has been for me.
I would not be so in love with Christ if it were not for Christ putting this in my life.
Good for evangelism
I have been lucky enough through playing in the Christian comp to explain to a few mates and work mates outside this comp what being a Christian (the Gospel) really means stemming from playing for in this comp (very easy evangelism). Im not one to measure evangelism but this is still evangelism to me and it has been effective.
To conclude,
I completely agree with Sam in his blog.
I think we really need to think about our reasons for playing or being associated under the Christian banner and whether it is for us OR for Jesus! What a worse thought than knowing that mates of ours are going to hell because we didn’t show them Christ!
February 24th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Had some great conversations with people over this one! I am encouraged that people are thinking about how every aspect of their life is for the glory of Christ! I am praying that our church continues to mix with people in Newcastle in intentional ways.
February 28th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Thankyou Sam for your words on this subject. While I entirely understand where you’re coming from in regards to your statements - we should be missionaries to those who need it most. However, playing in another competition (eg. Newcastle’s ID league or higher, dependent on ability) would require more time spent away from the Gospel - compulsary training two nights during the week (possibly removing your involvement in a Growth Group), and the high probability of games on a Sunday every weekend (possibly removing your involvement in Church). This doesn’t even include all of the “extra-curricular” activitives involved in non-Christian sporting competitions (you know what I mean), and this is possibly too great a temptation for some of us - we are human, after all. For all intents and purposes, this may have been the reason that the Christian Soccer Association was set up in the first place - however, don’t quote me on that. While this concept of playing in a non-Christian competition would give you opportunities to evangelise people you would otherwise not have access to, the unfortunate tradeoff is that you would not be growing yourself, due to the sacrifices that you need to make to maintain your place in it. It’s a little bit like the TV show Cheers: “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came…”, though not set in a bar, and I have no personal resemblence to Kelsey Grammer (that’s questionable, at best).
Furthermore, it has made me realise that I need to take into account what soccer has done for me (on a personal level), for the men (and women) who have played for us (in my capacity as President this year), and for Hunter Bible Church in general over the last nine years.
As some of you may be aware, I grew up playing basketball. But then, I got injured, and I couldn’t play it anymore. After consulting with my doctor, we decided that I still needed to do some form of physical activity, and that team sports would be more beneficial for me if I could do them. When I heard there was a Christian Soccer competition based in Newcastle, and that my church was intending to play in it for the first time in 2002, I (figuratively) jumped at the chance (after clearing it with my doctor).
I am one of only two members remaining from that original team (the rest having since moved away or retired from playing), and I have been on the Executive for HBC Soccer for the last four years, last season and this upcoming season as its President. I have seen the improved commitment and passion of its members, and I have seen the mateship of its team units, and I have been there in all its lows (Hunter Bible Church holds the distinction of being the only team to go an entire season in the lowest division possible without winning a match) and all of its highs (within the last four seasons, we have won three Grand Finals in various divisions, and been in the Grand Final in two others), to the point that we are at now today - one team playing in the Top Teir of the competition, and another team that plays the game socially (as a form of exercise).
With time (and to a lesser extent, the success we have attained in it) has come reputation. While we are not to boast in anything but Jesus Christ, I would like to mention HBC’s reputition within the Association that we play in (Hunter Christian Churches Football) - we are known as the fairest, the cleanest and one of the most respected (and respectable) teams in their entire competition. We have achieved this in eight seasons, and there are teams in this competition that have been there for much longer. Furthermore, we have done none of this for ourselves - we have done this for God. We have always done this for God. We were always competitive, even though in the early days, we rarely had a full team every week. This is the one statistic that I (on behalf of every person who has played for HBC Soccer, past and present) would like to maintain.
I am happy that I have associated myself with this competition over the last decade, and look forward to keeping our ties with them in the future. Some of the most meaningful relationships I have with Christians today have started because of my association with this competition, and not just members from HBC are in this group.
I welcome any comments that you, the reader, have on this subject, but may I suggest checking out the website for the Association (see address below) and seeing for yourself.
- Harvey Noell (Honourary President for 2010, HBC Soccer)
Competition Website: http://www.christiansoccer.org.au/hunter
(Hunter Christian Churches Football “For God Through Sport”)
April 19th, 2010 at 11:37 am
As a previous member of the “Ninjaroos” (Soccer team) i have come to realise after playing in the christian comp and then moving on to play in a interdivisional comp, that the oppertunities given to me by God in the ID comp were incredible..
After quickly getting the nick name “churchy”, i didnt have to talk or ask anyone about Jesus. They came to me and asked why i believed. It was a great experience and oppertunity. When playing for the Mighty ninjaroos, this did not happen to me once.
The team i played for in the church comp were all Christians, the growth for me personally and the growth as a group was good but i think that is a selfish attitude (to play in a team so you will gain benifit).
Although playing for a team that trains twice a week means that you may miss out on some God learning time. i think its selfish to think that you should be learning (building on the knowledge that Jesus is Lord of your life) whilst others go around not hearing the Gospel at all.
As a member of the ID comp, and a Uni student i had time for a Growth group, i also had time for a uni growth group and i did not miss one church service whilst playing. Even if you did have to miss soccer one week to make sure you made it to church i think this would just be another oppertunity for people to see what was really important in your life.
I also thought that being the only Christian on a team would be hard and a temptation. Yes it was hard and a temptation, but once the team knows of your faith then the hard part has been done. The members of the team would ask me if i was okay if i had more than one beer at team drinks everyweek. if i became frustrated on the feild as a joke the other non christian members would say random things like “remember the big guy” and would sing with terrible voices “God is watching us” even though they said it to make fun of me it helped a whole lot to know that i was being watched by them and God. If this seems to hard by yourselfs, take an extra 1 or 2 people with you. imagine what sporting comps would be like if there was a Christian or 2 in every team.
i have just been listening to some talks on Ecclesiastes and from that i have been challenged that life is meaningless. Why worry about life now if we are saved. Shouldnt we be worrying about an eternal life? and the people who are going to spend eternity in hell?
Just know that i am not trying to bag out the Church comps or anyone playing in them. i think they do a good job and people are saved and bring Glory to God.
I just think that we can be using ourselfs in a better way.
Cheers Josh