Bible and Mission

  Introduction The evil people do against others is often mentioned in Scripture, yet one particular type of evil seems to sit in the shadows: betrayal.   Betrayal is, however, a theme that emerges in transformative ways with historical significance, coming to a climax in Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.   Old Testament narratives and psalms of betrayal prepare the way for this climactic betrayal of our Saviour.   Moreover, they also minister to us in the very real and painful experiences of betrayal. Betrayal by Persons in Authority Betrayal can be deeply felt when a trusted person or a person in authority, not necessarily a friend or equal, uses his position to bring one harm.  This might be a board member or director of an organisation, or the minister of a church.  By such a person’s action or inaction, someone is betrayed.  A minister simply takes sides instead of investigating some parishioner’s claims against another or passes judgement on someon...

  An essential characteristic of being a church is that it address sin.  Overlarge churches easily lose authority and relational structures that are important for a church to be a church, a community considering itself a 'body' in close fellowship and concerned with health and holiness.  Where a church or a group in a church does address sin or perceived sin, however, it might become structurally impaired and reduced to 'groupthink'.  These matters can be addressed with regard to the process that Jesus lays out in Matthew 18.15-20 to address sin in the church.   The passage in the ESV reads as follows: ‘If another member of the church *  sins against you, *  go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. *   16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  17 If the mem...

  When we speak of Jesus as the ‘Lord’, we do more than honour Him. [1]   To call Jesus ‘Lord’ is also to acknowledge that He exercises divine roles and authority.   One of these is that the Lord is the Creator.   Another is that the Lord is exclusively the Lord Jesus Christ.   Also, the Almighty is the Lord mighty to save us.   We therefore acknowledge that Jesus is God, participating in divine identity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.   I would like to show how the first Christians related certain Old Testament passages to their confession that Jesus is Lord and then show how this interpretation came from Jesus Himself.   In the use of the Old Testament, we can find implications about Jesus’ Lordship that the title alone does not reveal. Think about the full meaning of saying, ‘Jesus is Lord’.   This seems to have been a succinct way confession in the early Church that indicated someone was a Christian.   In 1 Corinthians 12.3, P...

  Antisemitism has become the hallmark of the tribalism of late postmodernity in the West.  Christians should never be Antisemitic.  They should accept Jews not on the West's new virtues of diversity, equity, and inclusion--which are actually the virtues out of which tribalism has emerged, and from this tribalism has emerged its Antisemitism.  The Christian attitude toward the Jews is, instead, stated in Romans 9-11, to which I shall briefly return at the end of this essay. In the first chapter of my e-book, The Church and Western Tribalism (available on my blog’s bookshop), I describe Western tribalism in the following ways. ·        It vilifies and shames its enemies. ·        It holds to conclusions, anecdotally supported, about groups and is unwilling to reexamine them in light of other evidence.  In this, it opposes racism while being itself racist. ·        It is n...