Couldn't Help Noticing

Couldn’t help noticing in The Da Vinci Code (Part I)

Reading The Da Vinci Code recently in preparation for the release of the movie in May, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Dan Brown. For Brown, Jesus' humanity, his supposed marriage to Mary Magdalene and their so-called “sacred bloodline” which spawned generations of Merovingian kings is far more exciting subject matter than Jesus' divinity, his death and resurrection, and his pre-eminence over all. For Brown, the secret of Jesus' descendents is exciting because it's dangerous; it could result in the downfall of the institutional church and the collapse of Christianity. Much of the plot of The Da Vinci Code revolves around its unveiling.

Contrast Brown to Mark, whose gospel of 16 chapters revolves around the unveiling of the secret that Jesus is the Messiah who has come “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Now that's a secret worth getting excited about.

Letter from the sub-editor VIII

As for the sub-editor's heading “Orderly Worship” for the passage in my Bible 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Good Lord, deliver us. Have a quick read of 1 Corinthians. Go on, do it now. I know you have the time, even though the self-appointed supplier of scriptural subheadings is completely convinced that you don't.

OK, now that you're back, be honest. You noticed it too, didn't you? Not once does the word “worship” (Greek proskuneo) occur in the entire letter. Oh alright then, once and once only. Sadly, not in this section. And sadly, not (as the sub-editor implies) to do with Christians in church. The only person who is said to ‘worship God’ in the whole of 1 Corinthians is not some Christian with a guitar, or some priest mumbling in Latin over bread and wine. The one person who worships God is a non-christian! He does it in 1 Corinthians 14:25, in response to the words of prophecy that convict him and cause him to “declare that God is really among you”.

Here, the sub-editor has completely misled us as to the true meaning of the 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. It is not about Christians. It is not about worship. It is not about Christians worshipping. It is about meeting together to speak plain, understandable words to each other about the gospel of God, in a way that brings honour to God.

Letter-writing efforts continue

Vigilant readers of CHN will have noticed that I've been publishing fewer unpublished letters lately in my quest to get the gospel into national newspapers. But once again I've decided it's time to lift the strike rate. this one actually made it in:

Dear editor,

Tony Popdera, you are right. I tried to tell my Christian mates not to get too excited by Pete Jensen's Boyer lectures getting onto the wireless, as no-one normal actually listens to them—although give yourself 10 bonus IQ points for even knowing that he's giving them.

But you asked for a summary of the Boyer message, so here goes: Jesus died on the cross and rose again, so that we could escape judgement and become children of God. We remember this at Christmas and Easter, but most people couldn't tell you why.

Now if others can do better than this, I will personally undertake to give the summarizer a signed copy of the lectures. If I can't persuade the Archbishop to sign, I will do it myself.

Yours Sincerely,

The Rev. Gordon Cheng

Peter Jensen's Boyer lectures can be found here.

I hope he didn’t mean to say that

An interview on Business Sunday (full transcript available) provides an intriguing insight into the difficulty of being a successful CEO and follower of the Lord Jesus in the modern world.

Roger Corbett, a well-known and respected Christian leader, and CEO of Woolworths, was asked about his company's profits from sales of alcohol, cigarettes and poker machines:

INTERVIEWER: This is a very personal question but it is probably going to be the last chance we get to speak to with you on Business Sunday. You are now the biggest pokies operator, the biggest pub owner, the biggest liquor retailer in Australia, how does that sit with your very well known personal Christian beliefs?

CORBETT: Ali, right across the community lots of people like a drink, I like (a) nice glass of wine myself, like lots of people go to their local hotel and it is their club, it is their social life, lots of people like to use a gaming machine. I think from our point of view we are anxious that the retailing of liquor, and the providing of hotel services to our customers is at the highest level, so we create environments where it is conducive with people enjoying it in the way that I think it is best used. You have got to remember, a person asked me the other day, ‘why do you sell cigarettes?’. Well people have a right if they want, they are adults, we cannot be the type of standard setters for society, that is not our role.

INTERVIEWER: As you look back on your career though at Woolies if it could have been as profitable as successful as without going into liquor and into gaming, would you have been more comfortable?

CORBETT: That is not a judgement for me to make. The board of directors is elected and empowered to make those judgements on behalf of the shareholders and it is their decision. From my point of view, personal point of view, then that decision being taken, I want Woolworths to be the most caring organisation it can be in how it delivers those services and I'm sure in doing that I have a great partner in Bruce Matheson in doing that.

INTERVIEWER: Did you ever consider walking away?

CORBETT: In the broader—it is a very difficult question. But my greatest obligation is to do what I'm employed to do by the shareholders and that is to do my very best in their interests at all times. And that was the overriding principle here.

MOORE: So you never considered walking away?

INTERVIEWER: I wouldn't say that.

So what do we make of all that? Did Mr Corbett really mean to say that his “greatest obligation” is to his shareholders? Was he just “following orders” from his Board? Did his Board really make the decision irrespective of his own wishes and/or recommendations as CEO?

All I can say is, I'm glad I was not in his shoes. I suspect decision-making at Matthias Media is considerably easier.

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday evening, dozens of Protestant churches in my area held Ash Wednesday services. I've always been uncomfortable with this practice. A quick research of Ash Wednesday on the internet yields much information on its connections not only with the Catholic Church but also with a sacramentalism that Protestants broke away from after the Reformation.

One Protestant defender of such a practice said to me, “Any time I can gather a group of people to hear God's Word is good.” Of course, he is right. It is never bad for people to gather to study Scripture and pray together. The question has to be asked though: Is this close connection with the Catholic Church and corresponding practices of Lent worth keeping for the sake of one Wednesday evening service?

Lent is supposed to be a time of inner cleansing and introspection in preparation for the celebration of what Christ did on our behalf. Unfortunately, it is practiced in the most trivial of ways. There is no better way to mock Jesus' importance in your life to others than by claiming such things like giving up chocolate, cola, or meat (as is the practice for many Catholics and Protestants here in America) really pay Christ homage. Further, by making 40 days out of the year ‘sacred’, what are you saying about the rest of the year? The clear consequence of this type of thinking can be seen in the celebrations of Mardi Gras.

Ash Wednesday (kicking off the Lenten season) carries with it both theological and practical baggage. I doubt it is worth continuing a practice with such problems. Maybe a better idea is that we use the opportunity to clearly delineate between playing at religion verses taking one's relationship with Christ seriously all year long through meaningful obedience that gives glory to the Father (instead of taking a few inches off the waist). Or, maybe it opens up an opportunity to make every Wednesday evening a good time to gather for prayer and Bible study.