View From the Vicarage
‘Do something
religious!’
Perhaps you know the story told by Bob Hope, the
American comedian. He’s on a plane when it’s struck by lightning. The
passengers begin to panic and one turns to him and says, ‘Do something
religious!’ ‘So I did’, he said, ‘I took
a collection!’ Why? Because our churches often appear to be only concerned with
money even though Jesus himself said, “Our Father in heaven will give good
things to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11) and Paul was confident that “my God
will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
So while recognising that the ordained ministry has to
be paid for, and places of worship provided for, it could be that many churches
have lost sight of what they are called to be and to do (Mark 11:15-18). After
all, Jesus’ final command to those who believed in him was simply to “Go to all
peoples everywhere and make them my disciples and teach them to obey everything
I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:16-20).
But what are the distinctive characteristics of a
disciple of Christ? The answer to that can be found in Acts Chapter 2 verses
37-47 where we read that they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” In other words, they believed the Good News
about Jesus. They turned away from their sins (repented), committed themselves
to Christ (were baptised) and received God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. So there
was Bible teaching and Bible reading (John 8:31), sacrificial Christ-like concern for one another,
worship (Hebrews 10:23-25)
and prayer (Acts 1:14).
These are what distinguished those first Christians and “every day the Lord
added to their group those who were being saved”.
So was Bob Hope right? For a Christian the answer is
surely ‘no’, because all Christian giving is first and foremost a response to
God’s incredible gift of himself to us (2 Corinthians 8:5 John 3:16) for at
it’s heart Christianity is neither a ritual nor a religion. Rather it is a
relationship in which by grace (Ephesians 2:8) we become God’s children (Romans
8:14-17) and God becomes
our Father (Matthew 6:9). Therefore, when our priorities are right, God’s
provision will follow.
So – do something
religious? No. Instead, says Jesus, we are to “believe in the one whom God has
sent” (John 6:28-29).
Charles
