Blog
Being a Jesus-centred church 18.2.26
As we think about our vision and identity as a church over the next few weeks, during Lent, I want to take the time to write a little about the values that we will be exploring together, and that will help to describe that identity and vision. This week, I have been thinking about what it means to be a Jesus-centred church. Now, I imagine it may seem a little redundant to talk about a church being ‘Jesus-centred’. In fact, I hope that it may seem so. I mean, what else is a church supposed to be? Appropriate Trinitarian considerations aside; any and every church should surely be Jesus-centred in prayer and worship; as we (naturally) sing our songs and say our prayers to Jesus. When we celebrate Holy Communion we believe that Jesus is, mysteriously, somehow, made present to us. So of course we are Jesus-centred! But I do think that this is still worth saying; still worth considering. In fact, when we look at the world we live in, with all of its troubles and struggles, I think that this is something that we need to consider and say more and more, if only to ourselves! We need to keep asking ‘What does it mean – what does it really mean - to be a church that is Jesus-centred?’ And this can be a hard question to answer! But before we get to the hard bit, it is worth reminding ourselves that, at the centre of the Christian experience is a revelation of Jesus Christ. You see, believing in God doesn’t make us Christians. Neither does believing that Jesus is real; that someone called Jesus walked (and talked) in the Holy land 2000 years ago. We are Christians not because we know about Jesus; rather we are Christians because of something much more mysterious: an experience of Jesus. St Paul himself talked about God being ‘pleased to reveal to him’ that Jesus was God (see Galatians 1.13-16). At the root of all of Christian faith is some sort of encounter with or experience of the resurrected Christ; the Spirit of God somehow revealing to us who Jesus is. It’s a matter of the heart, not just the head. But as well as God revealing Jesus to us, Jesus also reveals God to us. Jesus was remembered to have said ‘anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14.9) and Paul said that Jesus ‘Is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1.15). This matters, because the Bible doesn’t give a single or monolithic picture of God. Very broadly, the ancient stories of the Old Testament show that the people thought God was at times, angry, war-like, and desirous of animal sacrifice. The Prophets then came along and described God as compassionate, merciful, full of loving-kindness and longing for justice. But we believe that this deepening understanding of the nature of God found its fulfilment in Jesus: when we look at Jesus, we can know what God is truly like (which is very good news indeed!) These are good reasons to say that we must be Jesus-centred! But another reason is simply that a Christian is not just someone who Jesus has been revealed to, but someone who follows the Way of Jesus. Being a Christian is active too. We are called to be disciples of Jesus; followers who try their best to do as Jesus did, and live with the same love and compassion that he showed. And this is where it gets challenging. To be a Jesus-centred church is to take seriously this call to discipleship. To ask ourselves that evergreen question ‘What would Jesus do.’ To allow our lives to be formed and shaped by telling, sharing and reflecting-on the story and stories-of Jesus. And then to put in to practice whatever principles or practices we find. This, perhaps inevitably, means that we may come into some opposition; Jesus was always seeking to show God’s love and blessing to outsiders, to strangers, to sinners, to the ‘unclean’ of the time. And he was well-known for being a thorn in the side of the comfortably (self)righteous. Jesus, ultimately, spent his power and his life on others; even giving up his life to death on the cross. The way of Christ is not necessarily comfortable! But it is joyful. As Christians we have the joy of knowing that we are changing the world around us by being Jesus’ hands-and-feet on earth. We have the Joy of community; a community formed around Jesus who unites us in our diversity. We have the joy of knowing that God is with us, no matter what comes. We have the joy of finding God’s endless, infinite, tender and patient love, revealed to us in Jesus. So, to sum up: Love that is life-changing. Hope that is eternal. Community that is life-giving. Justice and compassion for the world. That is what we find when we put Jesus at the centre. This is why we should never stop trying to be a Jesus-centred church! Tim.
A place where you can bring your doubts 19.1.26
At the start of this year, I am thinking about what makes St Paul’s a special place. This may sound a touch ‘prideful’ – or a least a little self-congratulatory, but I hope it isn’t. Rather, at the start of this year, as we think about things such as our vision and who we are as a church, I want to identify and celebrate the things that we do well. Firstly because these things are simply worth celebrating, but also so we can better discern what God is inviting us to build on as we look to the future. So what makes St Paul’s a special place? Well, naturally it’s lots of things, and (equally naturally) lots of people. But recently I have been thinking about one aspect of who we are and what we do well that I think is really, really, important; and it is to do with doubt. It is this: I think that St Paul’s is a safe place to bring your doubts. Why does this matter? Well, simply because a church’s relationship with doubt shows a huge amount about who they are, and a huge amount about what it is like to be a member of that church… But also (and perhaps this sounds a little contradictory) because I think that doubt is actually an important part of faith. You see, doubt is not the opposite of faith. As many have said, if anything is the opposite of faith, it might be certainty. Faith is a choice, even an action, that we make or do in the presence of mystery, and the reality that we can’t know for certain. The choice to follow the way of Jesus, to believe in Jesus, is always a choice. Perhaps we first make that choice because we have experienced something of God’s love in our hearts. Perhaps we first make it because it was the way we were invited to see the world when we were young. We choose, as Christians, to be held by this ancient faith, by the creeds that the Church profess and by the scriptures and beliefs that make sense (perhaps) of the life experiences that we have had. But this remains an action, a choice. Faith remains a ‘leap’. And that’s ok. What’s not ok is to demand that no-one ever doubts, or to see doubts and questions as a weakness, or a failure. If anyone ever made you feel like your questions or doubts were a failure; then I want to say that I am sorry. I don’t think that is right. Actually, I find that the place of doubt and questioning is the place where our faith can deepen. And it is certainly the place where authentic Christian community can be formed. This is because the need to question is human. If a church doesn’t allow people to question, then it doesn’t allow them to be fully themselves. If we have questions, we need to ask them, we need to them to be taken seriously, not batted away or trivialised. Furthermore, if we don’t allow people to doubt or question, then we create an environment where faith can easily become coercive and controlling. The certainty that encourages some leaders and churches to tell people what they must think or must believe can be comforting. But it also creates division, and it leads to a church that is unable to hold together those who (for example) understand a scripture or a doctrine differently. Perhaps this is what lies at the root of the Anglican Church’s current disagreements on human sexuality. I want St Paul’s to be a safe place to bring your doubts and questions. I hope it is. Actually, as I have said, I think it is. So do you have questions? Ask them! I can promise you that they won’t be trivialised or obscured. Do you have doubts? That’s ok! It’s not a problem to doubt; It’s actually much more of a problem to think that you are so right and correct that the only way anyone else can be correct and right is to agree with you. When we come together around the shared mystery that is life and faith, when we choose to believe together in the person and world-changing way of Jesus despite our doubts, when we ask together the difficult questions that arise, then a truly life-giving, holistic, beautiful and deep faith can be the result. And that’s what I want to see here. Thank you, everyone, for making St Paul’s a safe space to bring your doubts. Tim Fox. If you do have any questions about faith and want to speak to Tim, please email him at St.paulschurchvicar@outlook.com