Self-centredness: not just an issue of TV commentators

[This is post is a little late in coming considering that the Olympics are now well and truly over; however, I thought I'd share something that struck me in a lot conversations and coverage about the Olympics]

When the Olympics were on I heard a lot about two things in particular: 1) about the shock and sadness of Australia's lack of gold medals, and 2) about the awfulness of the channel 9 commentary.  I'm going to focus on the second one.

Many people said to me, "That channel 9 coverage is so irritating", "they're just focussing on the Australians, they're talking them up, putting heaps of pressure on them, and trying to come up with excuses for why they haven't performed as well as they have in the past".  You get the idea.  So many people were frustrated.  People living in Australia from other countries were frustrated because people from their country weren't shown as much, or they didn't even get to see events that Australians weren't in.  The coverage was Australia-centric.  I think even Australians could see the extreme slant of the coverage, and were frustrated that the achievements of others (and even Australians *only* getting a silver medal) weren't rightly celebrated.

We can see that self-centredness is just that.  Putting yourself - or in this case, a nation - at the centre of things.  It is seeing that the world revolves around you. 

Our regular commercial news stations do this too, don't they.  If a plane crashes, we are told how many Australians were on board or injured.  If there is a natural disaster, we are told what happened to the Australians or 'thankfully there were no Australians killed'.  Never mind the fact that countless others have been harmed!!

Please don't mishear what I'm saying; for I love being an Australian.  But I am concerned about this Australia-centredness, for it does not help us to consider others.  It fosters 'looking out for #1' , which is our nation. 

As you can probably tell, my point is that this is not just a problem of our media but is our problem too.  Like the media, we are concerned about what happens to us.  If a news announcement is made about tax reforms, we immediately want to know how we will be affected.  When a train timetable is changed, we look to see if it will affect us. 

At one level this is not a problem.  We would be foolish to not find out information that relates to us.  We would be like an ostrich with our head in the sand.

But I think the problem comes when we just look out for ourselves.  Consider this: if everyone is 'looking out for #1', then there is going to be a lot of conflict.  We don't live in a bubble.  We interact with others.  If we only care for our own needs, not theirs, then we will cause them a lot of hurt.

So if this trait causes a lot of pain, why do we act in this way?  Why are we all by nature self-centred?  Well, this is one way the Bible describes the nature and effect of sin.  Humanity has been corrupted.  One of the ways we express this is to put ourselves in the centre of the world.  We reject God as the centre of the world and replace Him with ourselves. 

We can see this expressed in the "I-ness" of this generation.  It is the age of the i-pad, the i-phone, the i-cloud etc.  Everything is about me.  Everything is about what I want.  I want to choose.  I want to do what I want, when I want it.

Consider then how radical Jesus is.  The Bible says that although he is the one who has all power and authority, he "came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many".  He is the supreme example of selflessness rather than self-centredness.  What's more, we are blessed by his selflessness.  He gave his life as a ransom for us.  We have been bought back by him.  We have been redeemed from our slavery to self-centredness.

Thank you Jesus for rescuing us from our self-centredness.

Jesus, the ultimate thirst quencher

I remember there used to be ads on TV for Solo softdrink.  It was claimed that it was a fantastic thirst quencher.  But after reading John 4 today, I reckon Jesus gives Solo a run for its money.

John recounts the day when Jesus was travelling through the region of Samaria.  Jesus got pretty tired in the middle of the day, so he took a breather when he got to a well.  A woman from the town came to get some water, and he said, "Can I have some water please?"  Amazingly, he then turns this around, and says, "If you knew who I was, you'd ask me for some water." 

She is gobsmacked.  'Who is this Jewish guy who is talking to me?'  (Jews and Samaritans didn't normally have anything to do with each other)  And, 'is he nuts?!  How is he going to get this water?  He doesn't even have a bucket!'

But Jesus continues, "if you drink the water from this well, you will get thirsty again.  But whoever drinks the water I give them will never ever thirst again.  For the water I will give them will become like a well inside them which wells up into eternal life (v14)."

As I was translating the Greek text of v14 I was struck by the emphatic nature of it.  Whoever comes to Jesus will never ever thirst again.  The strongest possible negation is used.  It also adds another bit at the end 'eternally'/'into the ages/eternity'.  I think it's used as another way to reinforce the strength of the never ever thirst again; that is, not even at any time in all of eternity.

Jesus is the ultimate thirst quencher.  He is the one who will quench your thirst so that you will never be thirsty again.  Far from being just about physical thirst, Jesus is talking about life itself.  Water is life.  The water he gives them will give them life.  Not just life for the here and now, but life lasting eternally.

Jesus is the life giver.  The one who comes to him will get eternal life.  He will never turn them away.  They will never thirst again. 

Tonight I've been thinking a lot about a dear sister who is walking a really tough road right now.  I pray that she will cling to Jesus and keep trusting in him to provide for her, both now and in the future.

But I also pray for me, that in my comfortableness I will still come to Jesus.  That I wouldn't become complacent with the goodness of life at present, but that I would still come to Jesus for the true water and life which satisfies and lasts.

God is sovereign, so the Bible is relevant

This week College is holding the Annual Moore College Lectures.  Rev Chris Green from the UK is speaking.

One really fabulous thing which struck me in Tuesday's talk was his encouragement to hold our Doctrine of Scripture together with our Doctrine of God.

Sceptics will readily say that the Bible is an ancient book.  Evangelicals will also affirm the ancientness of the text.  In particular, Evangelicals will seek to look at the original cultural and historical setting in which the writer was writing.

However, an unfortunate by-product of these ways of thinking is that it distances the Bible and God.  The Bible is no longer relevant because it was written so long ago.  And God only spoke to people back then, not now.

I have heard it said that 'we don't need to make the Bible relevant, because it is relevant'.  I think this is true.  However, I don't this statement is always presented with solid evidence to back it up.

But Chris helpfully showed theological evidence for why this is true.  It starts from what we know about God.  God knows everything.  He knows everything for all time.  Therefore when He caused the Bible to be written, He wrote exactly what he wanted to say to people in every age.  He did not just constrain His words to people in the 1st century, but He wrote those words for us too.  So although the Bible doesn't mention things like computers and other technological advances, God has still given us all that we need for life and godliness through those ancient words, because He knew that these days would come.

Thanks all-knowing heavenly Dad for giving us a true and relevant word for today and every day!

the beautiful sovereign kindness of God

Hello blogworld!

I'm still here :-)  I've just been busy.

I had a fantastic time in Brisbane recently.  The school reunion was better than I thought, and I got to share with people the difference that Jesus makes in my life (this was one of my big hopes and reasons for going apart from catching up with people).

The sovereignty of God is a marvellous thing.  He looks after the entire world.  And more than that, he looks after the little details in our lives too.

I was so delighted that I was able to see my sister-in-Christ again, Gloria.  We met at Unichurch in Brisbane.  She had come from Indonesia to study here.  We read the Bible together, and it was at that time that God revealed to her that she was completely forgiven only by His grace.  It was a beautiful thing.

Since that time she has returned to Indonesia and I have moved to Sydney.  But out of his abundant kindness and power, God orchestrated for us to be able to meet together again.  I had booked to come to Brisbane for a school reunion.  A few weeks before that date Gloria told me she was coming to Brisbane.  I was excited but sad, as I thought I wouldn't be able to see her.  However, when I looked at the dates I saw that I was already going to be in Brisbane when she would be here!  Hooray!!

We shared a marvellous time together.  In the time we have been apart God has still been growing each of us.  We could see His hand guiding and leading us.  We could see our progress in the faith.  We shared how God is changing us and prayed that He would keep changing us to be more like Jesus.  Although neither of us have blood sisters, we are sisters in Christ.  Both us have been adopted by God our Father.  And in the overflow of His kindness, He brought us to see each other again.

Thanks heavenly Dad!