Colin: Losing Our Religion?

I recently attended a lecture at my old university, Brunel, on the future of secularism and religion. The speaker was A.C. Grayling, a notorious atheist who has written a humanist bible he calls ‘The Good Book’, drawing upon the wisdom of atheists throughout history to show that men are capable of good thinking without the need for a supernatural being.

He maintains that people can do good things without a God watching over them, telling them what to do and standing over them to ensure they obey. He confidently predicted the continuing rise of secularism and atheism and the decline of religion. He’s quite dismissive of faith and people of faith, and that could unsettle us or make us angry. He even had a go at the so-called Golden Rule: Do to others as you’d have them do to you, saying that’s the last thing we should do since others probably don’t want what we want, and that we should treat people as individuals, approaching everyone differently. He says that one of the reasons atheists have become more vocal in recent years is because of 9/11 and the other acts of terrorism committed in the name of God. In short he sees religion as a negative thing that binds people up and he wants to set them free! 

I actually agree with some of what he says. People without faith are capable of good thinking, and performing acts of kindness and goodness. Men have committed terrible acts in the name of God, and religion can be used to oppress people. I also think that his understanding of faith is shallow and that he has a caricatured, or twisted, view of God, His word and His people. He doesn’t understand that our faith is all about love, and that is why his confident predictions will prove to be false. 

One area of misunderstanding is in conflating religion and faith (making them the same thing). Religion can be used in a positive and negative sense, so the Greeks had at least two words for it for that reason. There’s the outward observance of rules made by men and the inward respect for a higher authority that impacts the way we behave. It’s worth noting that religion is only mentioned 5 times in the New Testament and mostly in a negative sense. In River we have always acknowledged this and that is one of the reasons we are part of Pioneer, which exists to promote non-religious Christianity. We’re not interested in the outward forms of religion but want hearts to come alive with a joyful, peaceful and powerful faith in the God who is love. That is why when people, like Grayling, tell me they hate religion, I agree with them. This often confuses people, as they don’t expect a church leader to say that! And it opens a door to real discussion that would otherwise be closed. 

The arguments against religion are powerful and the word is still used more often in a negative sense, so we choose to distance ourselves from it. But Pioneer also champions the cause of women, standing for their equality with men. Not making men and women the same, but recognising that women have been oppressed even until recent times. We firmly believe there is no role that a woman should be prohibited from fulfilling. The important thing is, has she been called to it? Because when God calls, He empowers. Other core values of Pioneer churches are the importance of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, and every member in ministry – each one of us uniquely called and empowered by Jesus to help build church that reflects His glory, to fulfil the great commission of making this world the love-filled planet it was created to be. 

Being part of this national network means we partner with people we love and respect in bringing life, not religion, to our nation!  

afterTHOUGHT (Mar '14)

Taking the tablet by Andy Oxley.  

I was excited last week … Jane had ordered something and arriving with it was a 'free' 7" tablet. I used to have one of my own but broke the glass and chucked it out, and ever since then I had been in mourning. I liked playing Scrabble and Angry Birds on it just like Jane does, ad infinitum, on her own unbroken one. I have spent hours sitting jealously watching her enjoy herself, but now, a new one was coming and I could once again try to form words with more than two letters.

The thing is, I can afford to buy a new tablet, but I am too tight. It comes from living an early life of abject poverty, where living in a gutter would have been a step up. So to get anything free or cheap is where my heart truly lies.

On the auspicious day of its arrival, I decided to open the box really slowly. To savour every moment of the un-boxing experience. Everything looked good, nicely packaged, a lovely shaped mains plug and charger (only a man would say that) and the tablet itself looked very much the same as my broken one. Except it was not broken. I was pleased as punch. A new tablet is one thing, but a free one, that is sublime. 

My little mind (only a man has one) began to gloat. I had a tablet... so what, so do many other people. But mine is free, gratis, cost zilch. Hey, that makes me better than you in a subtle but significant way. When I operate my touch screen, it hasn't cost me a penny, not many an Apple user can say that. 

Of course, material things are always ultimately disappointing. Even I know that; I should do, considering the number of cheap gadgets I have had. The fact is that this cheap tablet is precisely that: cheap. The word nasty also comes to mind. Far from being an object of desire it turned out to be a poor copy, a miserable clone, a fake, a counterfeit

Oh yes, it did work. It did everything it is supposed to - that's not the problem. The problem is how it did it. The screen is dull, fuzzy and unresponsive. The buttons don't feel right, and the whole thing is a bit heavy. Worse of all, its brain is slow. Ok, so it manages to keep up with my brain ok. But I prefer to have technology that makes me appear smarter. Appearances can be important - they are so effective at hiding the truth. 

I should have learned long ago not to expect much of cheap stuff. Surely I could have guessed this abomination which goes under the name of 7" Tablet, was going to be naff. Perhaps somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind I knew it would disappoint. The trouble is, my naively enthusiastic search for something for nothing always rules. 

Some of you (at least one of you reads these articles, and I know your name) are probably thinking that I am using the above in a metaphorical way, to illustrate a truth about faith. Well, as it happens that has just crossed my mind. Originally I was just having a moan, but what the heck, let’s be metaphorical, especially as I need to string it out to meet the word count.

If you think I am going to say that our faith is the one free thing that is of true value and does not disappoint, I'm not. There is some truth in that, but no. My point is that you only get what you pay for, and if you think about it, our faith has been at a great cost. The cost to Jesus is plain, but this faith also involves a great cost to us as individuals. Think about it, it's worth it