Gideon's Mistake

At our local Messy Church event last Saturday I had to give a talk on trusting in the Lord and when preparing for this my mind went to the account of Gideon and the small army of 300 men God used to overcome 135,000 Midianite and Amalekite soldiers.  You can read about this in Judges chapters 6 to 8.

When God called Gideon to the task there was nothing special about this man except, perhaps, that he saw himself as insignificant.  This links in with 1Corinthians 1: 26 - 29 where Paul points out that God chooses to use the weak and insignificant for his purposes.  The people of Israel were backslidden but not abandoned by God.  For several years the Midianites and others had plundered their crops and livestock forcing the people of Israel to hide in caves.  Gideon managed to find 32,000 men to fight the Midianites and others but God says that they are too many!  Gideon's band is reduced to a mere 300 with odds of 450 to one!  But God provides the strategy and the Midianites are defeated.

But it is what happened after the battle that struck me when I was preparing this talk.  He declines the people's request to become their king but instead collects gold earnings that were part of the plunder they had taken from their dead enemies.  With this he builds an ephod which he places in his home town.  The gold used would be worth over £500,000 today.  The term 'ephod' is unusual here since it normally refers to a priestly garment and it would seem unlikely that Gideon's ephod was a garment.  But it is an item associated with seeking guidance from God.  See Judges 8: 22-27.

The tragedy is that this then became a focal point for idolatry and a snare for Gideon and his family.  It made me think how easy it is after some wonderful divine intervention for the devil to slip in and lead people astray - or (if you prefer) for our own sinful inclinations to take us astray.  The use of plundered gold in this account is similar to the building of the golden calf which was worshipped in the desert after God had miraculously delivered the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt.  It also reminds me of the situation at Ai after the people of Israel had experienced a mighty deliverance at Jericho.  Defeat at Ai followed because of disobedience rooted in the failure by Achan to recognise that the victory was God's and therefore they had no right to the plunder (see Joshua 7).

For many years it was my privilege to be part of an evangelistic team that experienced some special times when God moved in our meetings.  We had some amazing times of blessing.  But I noticed that it became common after the events for tempers to be lost and for team members to become impatient with one another.  For that reason I often made a point of encouraging team members to be careful.  Is it possible that instead of being humbled by the experiences of God's interventions we shift the focus to ourselves?  Might this have been a factor in the sins of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)?

Peter is a great example of how fickle our hearts are.  One moment he is making a profound statement about the nature of Jesus, and the next moment he is seeking to hinder God's plans.  He moves from praise to rebuke from Jesus in moments.  One moment he affirms his faithfulness to Jesus and not long after denies knowing him.  He is used by God in the early church but then gets into trouble for being a hypocrite.  These things are recorded in scripture so that we realise our human weakness.  We all have feet of clay.

When the apostle Paul met with the elders from the church at Ephesus he warns them to be watchful against external attacks and internal failures.  They must keep watch over themselves as well as the whole church (Acts 20: 28-31).

The ephod Gideon had made was a physical symbol of how God had given wisdom and guidance that brought victory.  But what was a mere symbolic reminder became a focus for worship and downfall.  Many a revival has been lost because the signs of its presence become that which we cherish rather than the Lord himself. We are left worshipping structures, organisations, buildings, worship styles; and it is all idolatry.  Whatever and whoever God may have used in past blessing these are not the source of the blessing and we should never make them sacred.

May God save us from shifting our eyes from him for unless the Lord builds the house we labour in vain.

From the diary:

• Last Wednesday I travelled to Hastings in East Sussex for a service of thanksgiving for the life of Dr. Jim Waller.  Jim was a passionate evangelist who was a catalyst and motivator for all kinds of missional activity.  He had a particular concern for people of other faiths to discover all that Jesus has done and is doing for them.  He was a good man and it was a privilege to have worked with him in the past, especially in our friendship evangelism in Turkey.
• Hope in our Villages continues to move forward and people from the various churches in Yelvertoft, Lilbourne and Crick are enjoying working together for Jesus.  We have our first major event this coming Sunday (20th July) with an Open Air Songs of Praise Service followed by a picnic and family fun in Crick.  Please pray for a good response from within the three communities.
• The number of new members of the prison choir is presenting a challenge.  We may have attracted some who see it as an easy option and risk spoiling it for those who want to work.  Please pray fore this Tuesday afternoon's visit that I will have discernment and wisdom so that this ministry will not be spoiled.
• On Thursday afternoon I am speaking at a WI meeting about the work that I and others do in prison.  Please pray that I will use this occasion wisely and for God's glory.

I seem to often find myself involved in complicated situations of a confidential nature.  I have two at present and people seem to seek my help because of my experience over the years.  Both of these situations have already taken up considerable time and look like doing so for the immediate future.  I am never sufficient of myself for dealing with these issues and need your prayers that I will manage the situations and the time required wisely.  Please pray.

God is good and longs to bless us more than we long to be blessed.  Why not ask him for some specific blessing at this time that will make you a blessing to others.

Barry

On Your Bike!

As today sees the start of the 2014 Tour de France cycle race I thought I would base my thoughts on the topic of cycling and how it relates to my activities as a rural mission consultant. No, I do not travel around Britain's villages by bicycle, though it would be great to have an army of evangelists who did just that.  But, back in the 1980s, as we were pioneering an enabling approach to rural mission, I drew on the image of cycling to illustrate what was then a new way of thinking about mission.

Regular readers may be aware that for a quarter of a century I was part of a mission team that served rural churches of various denominations and across Britain.  While there were various important aspects to the work we did, at its heart was this itinerant team ministry. Members of the team was multi-talented and could offer a powerful preacher, a gifted gospel singer, an artist capable of producing amazing biblical pictures or cartoons to illustrate gospel truths, a conjurer, a raconteur, a pianist, an organist, and an audio-visual expert.  Between us we could run activities for children, youth, adults and adults in the third age. We conducted church services, and ran meetings in village halls, schools, pubs and people's homes.  But by the mid-1980s I was reflecting seriously regarding the value of what we were doing.

Our short-term outreaches were conducted at the request of local churches and carefully designed to fit with the local context.  They were fruitful events that brought many hundreds of people to faith in Christ, planted and grew churches.  But was this the best or even the only strategy?  One of the factors that brought matters to a head for me took place in a Cumbrian village during a home-based evening meeting packed to capacity.  The lady sitting on my right leant past me to speak to the vicar sitting on my left.  "Well Vicar," she said, "I don't know what we are going to do next week with only you to entertain us!"

It was not meant unkindly, and the use of the word "entertain" did not offend.  It was the words, "only you" that hit me. How hard was it to follow up the discontinuity caused by having a highly talented team in the church for a week or two.  Were we giving the impression that evangelism could only be done by outside 'specialists'? How did our programme contribute to the development and deployment of the gifts God had already put within the church for his purposes?

Out of these and other practical and theological questions was born what seemed then a new and unique approach to mission enabling.  Our vision was to help rural churches of any size understand their particular role within God's mission and how they could use their own resources (no matter how limited) in ways that feel comfortable, that are effective and sustainable with the minimum of outside support. This was a paradigm shift and as I looked for ways to explain its relevance two images came to mind.

The first of these was bespoke tailoring.  What we were seeking to do through consultation, education and training with a church was to help them design mission strategies that, like a well designed suit (for example) would fit perfectly, be in a style that suited and was not embarrassing, and which the church would be pleased to 'wear' publicly.  We rapidly developed appropriate material to use with churches on away-days and got to work.

Cycling was the second illustration - or rather teaching someone to cycle.  We were aware that for most Christians in rural areas the idea of expressing their faith in mission (and especially if this included evangelism) was sufficiently scary for them not to want to try it.  If the vision was to become a reality and transform many churches then designing the strategies was not enough on its own.  More was needed if the strategies were to be implemented.

Learning to ride a bike is not that hard but some help in the beginning can make a world of difference - especially for the young or nervous.  Of course there are some who will just get on the bike on their own, wobble around, fall off a few times, but eventually get the hang of it.  But how might you go about teaching someone to ride a bike?

It seemed to me that example might be helpful but a new rider will never learn from example alone.  Then there are a number of practical aspects that are important such as making sure that the saddle and handlebars are the right height and that the brakes work. It is also important that the new rider learns which part of the foot should be on the pedals to maximise thrust, how to fix their vision ahead rather than looking down, or around, or back.  But the there will be times when looking around or back will be important.  Finally, it is all about balance - and balance best maintained by forward motion.

By now, all should be able to see how apposite this is as an illustration for learning how to engage in mission.  But we have yet to come to the issue of confidence in mission.  It is usual when teaching someone to ride a bike to provide a little support.  This might mean walking or running beside the bike while holding onto the back of the saddle to correct wobbles or simply to reduce stress.  Eventually the teacher has to let go.  Of course there might be a tumble or problem of some kind but in the early stages that is to be expected and can be corrected.  The end result is that the teacher can enjoy watching the new rider enjoying the exhilarating experience of cycling.

Today thousands of cyclists in Leeds and around Yorkshire will have started cycling in this way.  Today they will be riding more sophisticated bikes and wearing Lycra, safety helmets and all the rest of the gear.  But they will be riding because they enjoy it!  Of course Yorkshire will provide a challenging context in which to race.  They will have to cope with bicycle congestion, cobbled streets, narrow bending roads with some scary hazards if they make a mistake.  Not unlike rural mission!

I do have a bike.  For many years I had not been on a bike.  Life is busy and a car is more convenient (?) perhaps.  But I do have a bike.  It is in a shed, well oiled with tyres pumped up.  I just don't ride it - or at least I haven't for a long time.  I wonder whether for any reader that too is a picture of where you are at in your role within God's mission.  Or perhaps it is where your church is at within God's mission.  God gives to every believer gifts and ministries which are specific to each individual so that they can play the part he has planned for each of us in his mission in his world today.  It follows that every local church is therefore a collection of such enables people and that the church therefore has a specific part to play.

Please pray as we continue to help develop bespoke tailored strategies with rural churches and help them gain confidence to implement them. And where are you at in this process?  Have you and has your church got its strategies appropriately tailored?  Hopefully, you are already 'on your bike' in a missional sense and it is not neglected in the shed?

From the diary:

• Praise God for his blessing on the activities of the past week which included a school assembly.  The service at Gartree Prison last Sunday was once again a special occasion when God's presence was felt.
• Pray for Brayford Methodist Church, Devon, as they receive my report and consider the way forward for them.
• This Saturday forenoon I will be speaking at the Ordination Service for a colleague called Joy at Markfield (near Leicester)
• On Sunday I will be leading the meeting at Yelvertoft.
• Please pray as we seek to finalise the plans for a special United Service as part of 'Hope in our Villages' on Monday evening.  The villages of Crick, Yelvertoft and Lilbourne have eight congregations and this is a unique opportunity to work together.
• This is a relatively quiet week with few engagements (I shall be working in prison on Tuesday as usual) so this offers an opportunity to catch up with some essential administration.
• I value prayers for my wife, Doreen who has peripheral neuropathy and has had a few small falls recently.  Pray for wisdom as we seek to make the home a safer place.
• Praise God for the encouraging replies I have received from Christian leaders who read this blog/newsletter.  I am glad that it seems to have become a ministry in itself.
• Some of the Christian prisoners have chosen to undertake a partial fast for the next few weeks to deepen their relationship with God. Pray for them at this time and for prison chaplaincies.
• Having past the halfway mark for another year this is a good time for taking stock of all we seek to do for God.  Some times we can be so busy that we have insufficient time to hear what God is saying.
• Thank God for gifts received during June.  Rural ministry does not feature very high with most Christians and we are thankful for those who share the vision, pray for us and support us as they are able.

Thank you.

Barry