His greatest contribution was his life, rather than his death

Denis from The Nature of Robertson has written to me about the previous post.

This is his take on the topic:

I always had a problem with the concept that Jesus died to pay for our sins - even those we had not yet committed. Somehow the time line seems important to me. If he had atoned for my sins - the ones I had not yet committed - then somehow the need to commit them ought to have been negated. But we know that is not the case.

Re The Guardian article, when I was reading it I noticed this line:

Rethinking Sentencing begins the much-needed debate into what our judicial system would look like if it was premised not on the logic of salvation as debt and repayment, but on the idea that crime is the breaking of a relationship within the community, and that genuine justice must be all about relationships restored.

That rang a bell with me. I suddenly recalled one definition of heaven (and eternity) as "being in the presence of God" - when all time ceases to exist - there is only an eternal "moment". It is sometimes referred to as the "Beatific vision".

Anyway, if that is what Heaven is meant to be, then clearly it is about relationship with God, not physical issues of warm, sunny days, palm trees, and even an Angelic Choir singing Bach! Those are essentially inwardly focussed issues - the pleasure principle continued from Earth into our concept of Heaven.

So, if Heaven is to do with our relationship with God, then it is easy to think that "salvation" (which at its linguistic origin means "healing", NOT "debt repayment") ought be to do with relationships with God (and his representative on Earth - ourselves and other people (and animals, and the planet too, if you are feeling a bit Buddhist).

So, peace and harmony are the route to salvation, because they deal with relationships.

I mention relationships with ourselves firstly - as I believe that true inner peace is probably the hardest relationship, but the most important, and the source of the breakdown of most other relationships - with other people, and with society. And it is that breakdown which gets people classified as "criminals".

So, working backwards, from the concept of Heaven, to what is Salvation, we find relationships are the key. So, sin (crime) is based on selfishness (personal gratification) above fairness (justice) to others.

Salvation comes from healing, not payment of debts.

So there, I have given you a brief run down on our relationship with God (and ourselves and other people, etc) and only used the word debt once - in the last line. And only then, to say what salvation (justice) is NOT about.

Only trouble is, it does not build into this theory of salvation the death of Christ.

However, that can surely be incorporated. But I would be inclined to say that Jesus' greatest contribution to our lives was his life, rather than his death. It was through his life that he showed us how to live, surely.

Personally, if I think about Jesus, I think of the Sermon on the Mount in preference to his death on the Cross. After all that was a political act by the Jewish Hierarchy acting in cahoots with the Roman politico/military occupying forces. And so, one can actually see that as an expression of Society's inability to deal with the simplicity of Jesus' message.

I think Salvation comes from Christ's message - his example, and his words, more so than from his death. But, if one took that sentence too literally I would probably be classed as a heretic. So, don't stress that point too much.

****************

Thank you Denis. Food for thought there.

The price of punishment - and theology

Rev. Jonathan Chambers

Dear Reader, when Miss Eagle comes across theological phrases like Penal Substitutional Atonement her eyes glaze over. A normal human response she thinks - a bit like reflexes, involuntary breathing, and blinking. Why wouldn't you?! Then after the glaze clears Miss Eagle realises she has come across a Pharisee, a member of that ancient religious sect to whom Jesus delivered all the Woes. She then recalls that they are alive and well within the Christian tradition and are every bit a challenge to the Christian's faith as they were to Jesus Himself.

After all, the basic message of Jesus is so simple that a child can get it. Certainly there is no need for five-syllable words.

Now Miss Eagle is moved to discuss this topic with you, dear Reader, because of this challenging and enlightening article. This was brought to Miss Eagle's attention by Jonathan Chambers in last Sunday's sermon at St Thom's at Upper Gully. Jonathan who, as Senior Chaplain, co-ordinates the Anglican Criminal Justice Ministry in Victoria challenged the people in the pews on Sunday not only at the very roots of their belief but also demonstrated how such belief can have implications for one's view on justice - retributive justice versus restorative justice - and prison reform.

Miss Eagle can confess to you, dear Reader, it challenged her. But it also opened her mind to the consequences of such a way of describing what she believes Jesus did for her by His death on the Cross. So, dear Reader, can you help Miss Eagle? She is praying about all this. Thinking about all this. Wanting to know what God has to say on all this. So she invites your comments, dear Reader. But, beware! She is looking for comment that provides light - not heat. Otherwise, not only will her eyes glaze over: her ears will get so sticky she won't be able to hear!

Following Jesus - 3

Following the release of the document Following Jesus, comparisons have been drawn here and here with two significant 20th century documents, the Barmen Declaration and Message to the South African People (1968). Miss Eagle thanks Steve Hayes of Notes from the Underground for his dedication in translating the Message from hardcopy to the electronic world. It is published below:

A MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

WE ARE UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO CONFESS ANEW OUR
COMMITMENT TO THE UNIVERSAL FAITH OF CHIRSTIANS, THE
ETERNAL GOSPEL OF SALVATION AND SECURITY IN CHRIST ALONE

1. WHAT THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL SAYS
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Is the good news that in Christ God has broken down the walls of divisionbetween God and man, and therefore also between man and man.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
declares that Christ is the truth who sets men free from all false hope of grasping freedom for themselves, and that Christ liberates them from the pursuit of false securities.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
declares that, in the crucifixion of Jesus, sin has been forgiven, and that God has met and mastered the forces that threaten to isolate man and destroy him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
declares that, in the resurrection of Jesus, God showed himself as the conqueror and destroyer of the most potent of all forms of separation, namely death, and he proved the power of his love to overthrow the evil powers of fear, envy and pride which cause hostility between men.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
declares that, by this work of Christ, men are being reconciled to God and to each other, and that excluding barriers of race, nationality, language and culture have no rightful place in the inclusive brotherhood of Christian disciples.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

declares that God is the master of this world, that his is the mind and purpose that shapes history, and that it is to him alone, and not to any subsection of humanity, that we owe our primary obedience and commitment.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
declares that we live in the expectation of a new heaven and an new earth in which righteousness dwells; that the Kingdom of God is present already in Christ and through the holy Spirit; and that it therefore now demands our obedience to his commandments and our faith in his promises.

2. Our Concern
This, in summary, is the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It offers hope and security for the whole life of man; it is to be understood not only in a mystical and ethical sense for the salvation of the individual person, and not only in a sacramental and ecclesiastical sense within the framework of the Church; the Gospel of Christ in a cultural, social (and therefore political), cosmic and universal sense, as the salvation of the world and human existence in its entirety. Further, the Gospel of Christ is not only the object of our hopes; it should be experienced as a reality in the present.

For this reason Christians are called to witness to the significance of theGospel in the particular circumstances of time and place in which they findthemselves. We, in this country, and at this time, are in a situation where a policy of racial separation is being deliberately effected with increasing rigidity. The effects of this are seen in a widening range of aspects of life – in political,
economic, social, educational and religious life; indeed, there are few areas even of the private life of the individual which are untouched by the effects of the doctrine of racial separation. In consequence, this doctrine is being seen by many not merely as a temporary political policy but as a necessary and permanent expression of the will of God, and as the genuine form of Christian
obedience for this country. But this doctrine, together with the hardships which are deriving from its implementation, forms a programme which is truly hostile to Christianity and can serve only to keep people away from the real knowledge of Christ.

There are alarming signs that this doctrine of separation has become, for many, a false faith, a novel gospel which offers happiness and peace for the community and for the individual. It holds out to men a security built not on Christ but on the theory of separation and the preservation of their racial identity. It presents separate development of our race-groups as a way for the
people of South Africa to save themselves. Such a claim inevitably conflicts with the Christian Gospel, which offers salvation, both social and individual, through faith in Christ alone.

This false offer of salvation is being made in this country in the name of Christianity. Therefore we believe that the Church must enable all our people to distinguish between this false, novel gospel and the true eternal gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that it is the Church’s duty to enable our people to discriminate more carefully between what may be demanded of them as
subjects or citizens of the State of South Africa and what is demanded of them as disciples of Jesus Christ.

3. The Gospel’s Claim
The Christian gospel declares that there is no other name than that of Christ whereby men must be saved. Thus salvation in Christ exposes the falsity of hope of salvation through any other means.

The first Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, discovered that God was creating a new community in which differences of race, nation, culture, language and tradition no longer had power to separate man from man. We are under an obligation to assert this claim and live by it. We are under an obligation to assert that the most significant features of a man are not the details of his genetic inheritance, nor the facts of his ancestry. The most significant features
of a man are the characteristics which enable him to be a disciple of Christ – his ability to respond to love, to make choices, to work as a servant of his fellowmen; these are the gifts of the grace of God at work in the individual person; and to insist that racial characteristics are more important than these is to reject our own humanity as well as the humanity of the other man.

But, in South Africa, everyone is expected to believe that a man’s racial identity is the most important thing about him. Until a man’s racial identity has been established, virtually no decisions can be taken; but, once it is established, it can be stated where he can live, whom he can marry, what work he can do, what education he can get, what hospitality he can accept,
where he can get medical treatment, where he can be buried – and the answer to multi8tudes of other questions can be supplied once this vital fact is established. Thus we are being taught that our racial identity is the final and all important determining factor in the lives of men. As a result of this faith in racial identity, a tragic insecurity and helplessness afflicts those whose racial
classification is in doubt. Without racial identity, it appears, we can do nothing: he who has racial identity has life; he who has not racial identity has not life. This amounts to a denial of the central statements of the Gospel. It is opposed to the Christian understanding of man and community. It, in practice, severely restricts the ability of Christian brothers to serve and know each other, and even to give each other simple hospitality. It arbitrarily limits the ability of a
person to obey the Gospel’s command to love his neighbour as himself.

Attempts have been made to support racial separation from Scripture. For instance, it is said to have the authority of an order of creation, which was divinely confirmed by the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel and emphasised again at Pentecost.. The fact is, however, that the event of Pentecost asserts and demonstrates the power of the Holy spirit to draw men into one community of disciples in spite of differences of languages and culture and it is thus the way by which the disunity of Babel is healed.

The Bible’s teaching about creation has nothing to say about the distinction between races and nations. God made man – the whole human race – in his image. God gave man – the whole human race – dominion over the rest of creation. Where differences between people are used as badges or signs of opposing groups, this is due to human sin. Any scheme which is proposed for
the rectifying of our disorders must take account of this essentially sinful element in the divisions between men and between groups of men. Any scheme which is claimed to be Christian must take account of the reconciliation already made for us in Christ. The policy of separate
development does not take proper account of these truths. It promises peace and harmony between the peoples of our country not by a faithful and obedient pursuit of the reconciliation wrought by Christ, but through separation, which, being precisely the opposite course, is a demonstration of unbelief and distrust in the power of the Gospel. Any demonstration of the
reality of this reconciliation would endanger this policy; therefore the advocates of this policy inevitably find themselves opposed to the Church is it seeks to live according to the Gospel and if it shows that God’s grace has overcome our hostilities. A thorough policy of racial separation must ultimately require that the Church should cease to be the Church.

Everywhere, sin corrupts God’s creation, particularly, it exploits differences to generate hostility. The policy of separate development is based on the domination of one group over all others; it depends on the maintenance of white supremacy; thus it is rooted in and dependent on a policy of sin. The Christian Gospel declares that God has acted to overthrow the policy of sin.
God is bringing us from a living death to a new life; and one of the signs that this has happened is that we love the brethren. But, according to the Christian gospel, our ‘brethren’ are not merely the members of our own race-group, nor are they the people with whom we may choose to associate. Our brother is the person whom God gives to us. To dissociate from our brother on the grounds of natural distinction is to despise God’s gift and to reject Christ.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ declares that God is love. This is not an easy doctrine. It is not ‘sentimental humanism’. It is far easier to believe in a god who is less than love and who does not require a discipleship of love. But if God is love, separation is ultimately the opposite force to God. The will to be separate is the most complete refusal of the truth. The life of separation is the most plain denial of life. The Christian Gospel declares that separation is the supreme threat and danger, but that in Christ has been overcome. According to the Christian Gospel, we find our identity in association with Christ and with each other. Apartheid is a view of life and a view of man which insists that we find our identity in dissociation and in distinction from each other. A policy of separate development which is based on this concept therefore involves a rejection of the central beliefs of the Christian Gospel. It calls good evil. It rejects as undesirable the good reconciliation and fellowship which God is giving to us by his Son. It seeks to limit the limitlessness of God’s grace by which all men may be accepted in Jesus Christ. It seeks to confine the operation of God’s grace within the barriers of human distinctions. It reinforces
divisions which the Holy Spirit is calling the People of God to overcome. This policy is, therefore, a form of resistance to the Holy Spirit.

3. Our Task
People should be able to see the Gospel of Christ expressed in the life of theChurch. They should be able to see in the Church an inclusive fellowship anda freedom of association in the Christian brotherhood. They should be able to see the power of god at work in the Church changing hostility into love of the brethren. We are indeed thankful for these signs of God’s grace where they are to be seen in the life of the Church. But, even in the life of the Church, there is conformity to the practices of racial separation; and the measure of this conformity is the measure of the Church’s deviation from the purpose of Christ.

Our task is to work for the expression of God’s reconciliation here and now. We are not required to wait for a distant ‘heaven’ where all problems will have been solved. What Christ has done, he has done already. We can accept his work or reject it: we can hide from it or seek to live by it. But we cannot postpone it, for it is already achieved. And we cannot destroy it, for it is the work of the eternal God.

4. We must obey God rather than men
The gospel of Jesus Christ declares that Christ is our master, and that to him all authority is given. Christians betray their calling if they give their highest loyalty, which is due to Christ, to one group or tradition, especially where that group is demanding self-expression at the expense of other groups. Christ is the master and critic of all of us and all our groups. He is the judge of the Church also. If the Church fails to witness for the true Gospel of Jesus Christ it will find itself witnessing for a false Gospel. If we seek to reconcile Christianity with the so-called ‘South African way of life’, (or any other way of life) we shall find that we have allowed an idol to take the place of Christ. Where the Church thus abandons its obedience to Christ, it ceases to be the
Church; it breaks the links between itself and the Kingdom of God. We confess, therefore, that we are under an obligation to live in accordance with the Christian understanding of man and community, even if this be contrary to some of the laws and customs of this country.

Many of our people believe that their primary loyalty must be to their group or tradition or political doctrine, and that this is how their faithfulness will be judged. But this is not how God judges us. Indeed, this kind of belief is a direct threat to the true salvation of many people, for it comes as an attractive substitute for the claims of Jesus. It encourages a loyalty expressed in self-assertion: it offers a way of salvation with no cross. But God judges us, not by our faithfulness to a sectional group but by our willingness to be made new in the community of Christ. We believe that we are under an obligation to state that our country and Church are under God’s judgement, and that Christ is inevitably a threat to much that is called ‘the South African way of life’. We must ask ourselves what features of our social order will have to pass away if the lordship of Christ is to be fully acknowledged and if the peace of God is to
be revealed as the destroyer of our fear.


But we believe that Christ is Lord, and that South Africa is part of his world. We believe that his kingdom and its righteousness have power to cast out all that opposes his purposes and keeps men in darkness. . We believe that the word of God is not bound, and that it will move with power in these days, whether men hear or whether they refuse to hear. And so we wish to put to every Christian person in this country the question which we ourselves are bound to face each day; to whom, or to what, are you giving your first loyalty, your primary commitment? Is it to a sub-section of mankind, an ethnic group,a human tradition, a political idea, or to Christ?

May God enable us to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and to be committed to Christ alone!

************************************************

“A Message to the People of South Africa” is the work of the Theological Commission of the South African Council of Churches, and its publication is authorised by the Council.

The Biennial Meeting of the Council resolved “that individual Christians be invited to sign the document as an expression of their Christian commitment and that member churches of the Council be invited to give it serious consideration”. If individuals or groups sign copies of the Message as an act of identification with it, it would add to the significance of the act if the South African Council of Churches was informed. Further copies may be obtained from the Council at 10 cents per copy, or 50cents per 10 copies.

The Message is offered as a basis for study and action. Some may like to read it aloud in Church groups or to congregations and distribute copies to members of parishes.

The next task of the Theological Commission of the South African Council of Churches is to develop in greater detail the significance of the paragraph ‘Our Task’, and to work out the practical implications of this statement of faith for both Church and society.

****************************************

Notes
What follows here is not part of the Message to the People of South Africa, but is an explanatory note about the background to the document.

This electronic version is being made available since the Message was an influential historical document, and forms part of the history of Christianity and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. It was part of Christian history in a particular time and place, and thus may be useful to students of church history. It may also speak to Christians in other times and places who are trying to witness to the truth of the Gospel in the societies in which they live.

The Message was released in the middle of 1968, and was one of the first public acts of the South African Council of Churches, which had grown out of the Christian council of South Africa. It was preceded by a theological conference on Pseudogospels and some of the wording in the Message came from papers read at that conference.

A Biblical Commentary on the ‘Message to the people of South Africa’ by the Revd John Davies, Anglican chaplain of the University of the Witwatersrand, was published and distributed by the Christian Institute of Southern Africa.

There was also a 64-page book, The “Message” in perspective, which had press editorials, church statements and articles on the theological issues raised by the Message.

In this electronic version, I have tried to correct obvious typos and misspellings (“thaat” instead of that, “me” instead of “be”), though I may have introduced a few of my own for which I must accept responsibility.

This electronic version typed and distributed by
Deacon Stephen Hayes
shayes@dunelm.org.uk
Tuesday, 09 May 2006

If you wish to suggest/submit documents

which meet the three criteria laid out in Following Jesus - 2

please email Miss Eagle on the sidebar.

Following Jesus - 2

Further to my previous post, Following Jesus, Miss Eagle has some more information in relation to the document. As well as being published in full in the previous post, it is available in *.pdf format on the Canberra Baptist Church site. Miss Eagle received her copy courtesy of Dale Hess. Miss Eagle has spoken to Jim Barr of Canberra Baptist Church, one of the contact people - along with Doug Hynd - regarding the document. Apparently, Following Jesus came out of concern by a number of people regarding ethics and morality in Australian public life. These people met to discuss their concerns at a coffee shop in Barton, the government precinct of Australia's national capital, Canberra. They refrained, Jim said with a dash of humour, from calling the document the Barton Declaration. He didn't know that Miss Eagle had already compared the document to the Barmen Declaration.

Steve Hayes, who many will know from the South African Missiological Society, can be found these days at Notes from Underground. Steve says that Following Jesus reminds him of the Message to the people of South Africa, published in 1968. This document was published by the South African Council of Churches. It was highly controversial at the time it was published but, over time, it had a significant impact on Christians in South Africa because of its declaration that apartheid was a false gospel.

Miss Eagle has not been able to locate the text of the 1968 Message to the people of South Africa on the 'net. She has, therefore, asked Steve if he can locate a link and, if not, could he locate a hard copy which could be worked up and placed on his site for people to access.

Then Miss Eagle had a think. Here were three prophetic documents in which Christians spoke out of the signs of their times in a way that was not in tune with majority opinion in their culture, in their communities; three documents which provided leadership; three documents which proclaimed that Jesus was Lord and that God was owed our allegiance and first obedience above all. Miss Eagle suggested to Steve, and he has passed on the suggestion to others already, that a collection be gathered of documents of recent memory which meet the three criteria of the other documents. How often are Christians apathetic, not zealous in matching the signs around them to the ethics and morality of the Kingdom of God? Such documents provide leadership. They are an example to us of how true Christian leadership can proclaim the active Word of God for living out in our daily lives. They make no apologies for where such Kingdom living leads. After all, where did it lead for Jesus?

******************

Please email Miss Eagle off the sidebar if you want to submit documents.

Links if they are available, please.

******************
For further comment on Following Jesus

please contact:

Rev James Barr, Senior Minister, Canberra Baptist Church

jim@canbap.org Mobile: 0500-546-227

Doug Hynd

doug.hynd@netspeed.com.au

Following Jesus

Miss Eagle received this by email yesterday. She has been unable to find a link anywhere on the net to shortcut you too, dear Reader, so - because it is so important - feels she needs to post in full. If anyone has a link, could they please email Miss Eagle with it.

You see, dear Reader, this document entitled Following Jesus is endorsed by some fine Christian leaders across major denominations who are based in our national capital, Canberra. What Miss Eagle finds striking about the document is the similarity of its core theme to the Barmen Declaration. Let me hasten to add that Miss Eagle is not likening the Australian Government to Hitler and the Nazis.

The Barmen Declaration, whose signatories included Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Neimoller, had as its central thesis the Lordship of Jesus Christ - Jesus is Lord. Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933. The declaration was made in 1934. The Christian church - or at least a part of it - was quicker off the mark than usual. Note: only a part of the church recognised the situation and called it accurately. The rest of the German church was off supporting the government of the day, wrapping itself in the flag, redefining national traditions and maintaining the status quo.

Following Jesus provides apostolic leadership. It tells us that our first loyalty is to God. It reminds us of our polestar in a modern world that challenges the Christian tradition on all sides. So please take the time and patience to read on. It will be worth your while.

Following Jesus

Introducing the statement:
The mission of the Christian church is to witness to Jesus Christ as God’s good news for a needy world. This includes preaching the gospel, comforting the broken-hearted and teaching the content of faith. It also entails the prophetic task of discerning the signs of the times and asking what is true, honourable, just and pure, in order that the God of peace may be with us (see Philippians 4:8–9). Our true worship is to avoid conformity to this present age and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern the will of God – what is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1–2). With these biblical exhortations in mind, we offer the following confession of what it means both to believe in and to follow Jesus Christ in Australia today.

Following Jesus in a World of Deception, Violence and Fear

The world is overwhelmed by violence. Families and communities across the globe have been traumatised by terrorist attacks and other conflicts that violate basic human rights. This has resulted not only in horrific loss of individual life, but also in vicious cycles of vengeance that breed cultures of retribution. Violation of basic humanitarian norms is widespread and is not confined to insurgent movements that employ methods of terror. Removal of hard-won constraints on state power is increasingly taken for granted, justified by the presumption that force will resolve the issues at stake.
In recent years, Australians have become increasingly distrustful of politicians and government. This is hardly surprising in view of the Australian government’s refusal to apologise to indigenous Australians, the ‘children overboard’ affair, treatment of asylum-seekers and others claiming refugee status, collusion in the illegal war in Iraq and half-hearted efforts to build bridges of understanding with members of Muslim communities. Australians have good reason to be concerned about the lack of public accountability on the part of those exercising political and bureaucratic power. Putting a spin on things, rather than speaking the truth, has become the norm.
What is the Christian response to all this? Jesus summoned those who follow him to work towards building communities of human wholeness, characterised by truth-telling, peacemaking and respect for the dignity of all, even perceived enemies. We affirm the abiding validity and value of Jesus’ call, moral vision, teaching and practice. We also acknowledge that in each new time and place we need to discern what it means to follow Jesus. We offer what follows to the church in Australia, as well as to others with similar concerns, as a contribution to the process of discernment in a time marked by deception, violence and the politics of fear.

Our first loyalty
A Christian’s first loyalty is to God, revealed in Jesus Christ. This loyalty is expressed by belonging to the church, the multi-ethnic ‘body of Christ’ spread throughout the world. Loyalty to God has priority over loyalty to one’s nation, government or racial group. ‘We must obey God rather than human authority’ (Acts 5:29).
For this reason, we do not accept that claims of national or ethnic identity, let alone concerns for ‘national security’, supersede our loyalty to God. Nor do they override our responsibility to make the moral vision of Jesus real in our world.

Waging peace
Jesus’ call to peacemaking commits Christians to the presumption that warfare is wrong. This commitment is strengthened by the devastating reality of war and its impact, not only on those who are paid to fight, but also on innocent families and communities as well as our fragile environment. Christians have a responsibility to be honest about the costs of war, to explore peaceful alternatives, to act on behalf of victims and to work for justice and reconciliation. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be known as the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9).
For this reason, we join with those who oppose government policies based on the assumption that ‘war on terror’ overrides human rights and the rule of law. Certain measures can never be condoned – torture, bombing of civilians and the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Telling the truth
Jesus warned against judging others and failing to recognise our own faults (see Matthew 7:1–5). No person or institution, whether church or nation, is immune from moral failure. Individually and collectively, we should be strong enough to be truthful about our failures, compromises and deceptions. ‘If we claim to be faultless, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us’ (1 John 1:8).
For this reason, we join with those who refuse to label critics of government policies as enemies of the ‘Australian way of life’. No government or nation is above criticism and the duty of accountability. Telling the truth and working for justice and peace – not deception and fear – is the true calling of government.

Welcoming the ‘other’
Jesus taught an ethic of love, but with a radical edge. He taught that to love as God loves is to love even those identified as enemies, to acknowledge their humanity and to respect their dignity. ‘Love your enemies, I tell you, and pray for those who harass you, so that you may be children of your heavenly father…’ (Matthew 5:44–45). This does not mean capitulating to evil, but it does require taking the hard road of opposing aggressive, inhumane acts while affirming the humanity of perpetrators.
For this reason, we join with those who insist that no person can be excluded from the law’s protection. We reject any rhetoric that demonises perceived enemies because this helps to create a climate of tacit approval for the abuse and victimisation of those considered different, ‘other’ or a threat. We oppose mistreatment of prisoners and detainees, regardless of supposed benefits in dealing with terrorist activities, and we call for generosity in dealing with refugees, asylum-seekers and holders of temporary protection visas.

Called to freedom
‘For freedom, Christ set us free’ (Galatians 5:1, 13). Jesus Christ calls us to freedom – freedom to serve one another and freedom from fear, whether generated by terrorist activity, media frenzy or government rhetoric. Jesus’ own freedom was expressed both by caring for those at the margins and by challenging authorities and institutions motivated by self-interest and the maintenance of power. Authentic Christian freedom is demonstrated by treating those at the edges of society as neighbours and by challenging authorities and institutions that prevent them from living life in all its fullness.
For this reason, we deny that Christian freedom is merely a ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ experience detached from the reality of bodily and communal life. Conforming to a culture of fear that ignores or tramples upon the needs of those who are different sabotages Christian freedom.

Looking ahead
By embracing Jesus’ call to freedom, justice and peacemaking, we join the joyful adventure of living out an alternative to a stifling and destructive culture of deception, violence and fear.

Signatories to the confession:
Rev James Barr, Senior Minister, Canberra Baptist Church
Dr Kevin Bray, Churches of Christ in the ACT
Rev’d Jane Foulcher, Senior Priest, St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Reid
Rev’d Dr Graeme Garrett, Canon Theologian, St Mark’s National Theological Centre
Rev Mark Hurst, Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ)
Rev Mary Hurst, Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand
Doug Hynd, Lecturer, St Mark’s National Theological Centre, and President, AAANZ
Rev Professor Thorwald Lorenzen, St Mark’s National Theological Centre
Rev’d Dr Elizabeth MacKinlay, Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies, Canberra
Venerable Dr Sarah Macneil, All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie
Dr David Neville, Senior Lecturer in Theology, St Mark’s National Theological Centre
Associate Professor Stephen Pickard, Director, St Mark’s National Theological Centre
Most Rev Pat Power, Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn
Dr Heather Thomson, Lecturer in Theology and Academic Dean, St Mark’s NTC
Rev Peter Walker, Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest
For further comment you can contact:
Rev James Barr, Senior Minister, Canberra Baptist Church, Mobile: 0500-546-227

For information on Christian engagement in peacemaking and comment on issues of violence in Australia and overseas:
National Council of Churches in Australia – Decade to Overcome Violence
http://www.ncca.org.au/dov

Owning up and going from there

Boyd over at Non-violent Jesus has a great post on what we - and particularly those of the we who are Christians - should be doing. His post is out of the USA and relates to that nation's involvement in the war on Iraq. Miss Eagle has long advocated similar principles in Australia in relation to this nation's handling of reconciliation with the people of the First Nations and in the matter of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigration policies.

" 'Fess up!", Miss Eagle says. Come to grips with the truth about ourselves, our actions, our motivations. Then - and only then - can we move forward into new and creative policies and solutions. Christians, if we are worth our salt - or, as the good news says, if we are the salt which has not lost its taste and flavour - should stop shilly-shallying and being mealy-mouthed and lead the way in this direction. The principles espoused can be used on a number of fronts.

1. Honesty, self-criticism, confession.
2. Contrition, repentance, making amends, setting things right.
3. Reformation in our actions and ways of doing things. New actions. New attitudes.

These are principles that can be taken onto a number of fronts. Not only in the matter of war and peace. Not only in the matter of asylum seekers and hospitality. But also in the matter of the new workplace legislation. Miss Eagle has said harsh words, particularly about the Howard Government, in all this. But if Miss Eagle is to be honest, the most satisfactory result for all with justice for all - employers, employees, business and community - will involve reconciliation. And Miss Eagle has to say that the state jurisdictions - at least the one in which she worked in Queensland - have strong conciliaton processes, and the word 'conciliation' is in the title of the governing industrial relations tribunal.

But - most Christians sitting in pews do not seem to have a clue about industrial relations or the issues involved. In most parishes or congregations of most denominations, industrial relations is barely a blip on the agenda. In fact, some denominations have poor track records themselves in industrial relations. Yet the current state of industrial relations in this nation has the capacity to rend asunder community values and traditions with no significant benefit or enrichment to either. So, in the name of Christ, Christians, what are you doing?

Following Jesus, but he's no Christian

Doug Soderstrom has some interesting things to say about following Jesus.

Perhaps you won't agree with him - but he certainly provides food for reflection.