The Cross Blog

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in the 1970’s. One of the songs is attributed to Judas, who criticises Jesus for some of his decisions.

 ‘If you’d come today, you would have reached a whole nation
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.’[1]

The point being made is that if Jesus had been born in the 1970’s, he would have been able to use contemporary technologies (Photography, TV and radio) to reach a whole nation. If we follow that thought through, obviously, if he had been born today (2022) he would have had access to every kind of digital media which would have provided global coverage in an instant. Jesus, or at least some of His followers, would have been all over Tik Tok, Snapchat and worse. For better or worse, everything that Jesus said and did would have gone viral.

Personally, I think God got it right. There are lots of reasons why I’m particularly pleased that God chose to send His Son to Palestine when he did. I’m only going to mention one.

Let’s face it, Jesus went viral – remains viral – in spite of what we regard as the lack of technology available in 1^st Century Palestine. That would mean that we would all know exactly what he looked like. And that would have caused all kinds of problems. So much of our cultural baggage would get in the way that we would struggle to get the message at all.

When I speak at a conference or workshop, I normally introduce myself as a ‘Follower of Jesus’. I recently wrote a blog post (Follower of Jesus (Part 1)) about what that phrase means. For me, a follower of Jesus is someone who makes a decision to live their life differently, with Jesus as the focus and purpose of their life.

In the blog post I made the point that following Jesus is a daily decision. I try to make that decision each day before getting out of bed. ‘Today,’ is my prayer, ‘I choose to follow you.’ But following Jesus is much more than that.

When I was at school I was a bit of a day-dreamer. I found it hard to concentrate in the classroom. There was always somewhere else I would have preferred to be. Something else I wanted to be doing.

Nowadays, as a Christian, I try to live my life in Communion with Christ. I want him to be part of everything – of my whole life. That might sound like a rather grand claim, but it’s actually true. I’m not saying I’m good at it. I’m really not. I am a work in progress. Part of me is still the day-dreamer – I’m easily distracted. I’m just saying that the desire to be in that relationship with God is part of who I am. It’s about actively trying to put Him at the centre of my life. All of my life. I want him to be part of my decision making. I want him to be part of my relationship with my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my neighbours and everyone else. I want him to be part of who I am.

Pope Francis wrote a homily about the centrality of Christ in all things.

‘Christ is at the centre, Christ is the centre[1] ‘

Keeping Him in the centre doesn’t just happen. In every relationship there is more than one person. In my relationship with God, there’s Him, and there’s me. The day dreamer. One of the great themes of Scripture is the call to ‘return to God’[2]. Again and again He calls Israel to return to Him. The point being, God hasn’t moved at all. His people have moved away from Him. He calls them – he calls us, to return. The Apostle James says to us all:

‘Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you.’ (James 4:8)

I have this sense that each day, I start with the best of intention of following Jesus, of being close to him, of serving him, of loving Him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength[3]. Yet most days, there are things which tend to pull me slightly off target. Maybe something makes me angry. Perhaps I notice something which I want but haven’t got. I suddenly feel that something or someone lets me down. I find myself dwelling on something from the past for which I have been forgiven or for which I thought I had forgiven someone else. Sometimes I just find I’ve been day-dreaming in an unhelpful direction. These things just happen – they edge us away from where I want to be – in the presence of God.

The good thing is that the love of God is greater than I can describe. His compassion is endless and his forgiveness is eternal. Like the day dreaming student I find myself missing the point. I can miss the opportunities to serve. I can miss the prompt. I can fail to notice His intervention or provision. I fall short.  

Each time I acknowledge that I have fallen short, he welcomes me back. Like the teacher who smiles at the day dreaming student and encourages them back into the path of learning. Everyone falls short. Let’s move on. Follow me.

So, I learn, day by day is not enough. Hour by hour, incident by incident, I have to consciously put God back in the space where He belongs. At the centre. That’s the context of my life and my ministry. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Richard Jackson is the Director of LifePicture UK. He is exploring life as a contemplative evangelical.

[1] Pope Francis Homilies – Christ the King

[2] Eg Malachi 3:7

[3] Mark 12:30

A follower of Jesus is someone who makes a decision to live their life differently, with Jesus as the focus and purpose of their life.

We know the circumstances in which several people in Scripture were specifically invited to follow Jesus. Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Nathaniel, and Matthew (Levi) were specifically called to leave what they were doing and follow Him. Their invitations are actually recorded in the Gospels. It may be that the other five Apostles were similarly called. We simply don´t have a specific record of that.

In Luke 6, we read that Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing twelve apostles ´from amongst His disciples´. Notice the all night prayer prior to making the decision. This was a very important moment in the ministry of Jesus. The implication is pretty clear. A group of people – more than just the twelve we know about – were there to be chosen from.

As he moved from place to place, Jesus was approached by people who wanted to follow Him.   

These verses remind us that people were attracted to Jesus. They wanted to follow Jesus.

These verses also teach us that following Jesus is about more just than just articulating the decision to do so. It’s not passive, it’s an active decision. It’s about responding to Jesus. It’s about picking up your life and looking at it differently. It’s about being prepared to put Jesus first. It’s about setting aside, or at least altering the priority of the other things in our life. It’s not something to be put off until a more convenient moment. It’s about recognising the importance of following Him. It’s about doing it now.

These are active verbs which describe what following Jesus is like. It’s an ongoing relationship. Following Him is about taking a step of faith each day. It’s about offering yourself in a daily act of devotion. It’s about recognising that following Jesus has a cost, and being ready and willing to stand that cost.

For Simon, Andrew, James and John, part of that cost was walking away from their fishing business to literally walk with Jesus. For each of them there will have been other costs. We know that in leaving their nets they also walked away from family and friends. Like Simon and Andrew, Philip came from Bethsaida so he and his brother Nathaniel may have been fishermen too. Matthew (Levi) had to walk away from a profitable place as a tax collector. He would have known that walking out on that lucrative position was a one-way ticket. Someone would immediately take his place. There would be no turning back. We don’t know with any certainty the lives which the other Apostles led prior to following Jesus but it’s a safe bet that their decision to follow Jesus meant setting their previous life aside.

Each of them was ready to step out and follow Jesus. Each of them felt able to put their trust in Him. Each of them put their hope in Him. They witnessed and experienced His compassion. Throughout the three years of His active ministry, Christ gave them resilience and stability of direction. These things define their relationship with Him. These things enabled them to cope with the cost of following Him. These things gave them the confidence to step away from things which could have held them back.

Trust, hope, compassion and direction. These are the things which a follower needs. Jesus provided them in abundance. 

Each of His disciples made a decision to live their lives differently. They made a decision to make Jesus the focus and purpose of their life.  Then, as now, that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Richard Jackson is the Director of LifePicture UK. He is exploring what it means to live as a contemplative evangelical.

‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ 

This well know phrase, often incorrectly attributed to Voltaire, rather encapsulates the meaning of the word ‘tolerance’. I may disagree with your argument, but I will defend your right to hold it, and even to express it.

We all love a bit of tolerance.

For many years, I was part of a ‘Union’ Church in Essex which prided itself on tolerance. Members of the congregation celebrated the fact that they came from all kinds of denominational backgrounds, but that none of that mattered, because they practised tolerance. To be fair, everyone worked together pretty well and enjoyed each other’s company. It was all going so well. Until, that is, a dispute arose unexpectedly over, of all things, the authority of Scripture.

The Minister who, let it be remembered, had been called by the Church members to lead and guide their spiritual lives, mentioned in passing one day that Scripture was the Word of God, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To the average evangelical, this is foundational to our understanding of Scripture. However, the comment brought a surprisingly strong response from the Church leaders.  For some reason which I have never really understood, people started referring to the denominations of their previous Churches as a flawed and slightly awkward means of asserting their ‘authority’ to express a view. 

The first (Baptist, tolerant) said that he felt it was unwise to mention the authority of Scripture because nowdays no-one believed in the Holy Spirit (?). Another (URC, liberal) said that  the status of the Bible was less important than Christ’s commandment that we ‘love one another’ (I think you’ll find that in the Bible…).  One former elder (Quaker (apparently), fiercely tolerant of everyone who shared his views) questioned whether we were seriously suggesting that all of the Bible was the Word of God, implying the freedom to choose which bits to believe. At a Church meeting, he supported this view by dismissing the creation story as ‘mere myth’. Another (Anglican, confused) questioned whether any reasonable person of average intelligence would seriously argue that Revelation was God’s Word. Several people (diverse denominational backgrounds) voiced the opinion that the Old Testament was full of violence and intrigue and should be ignored (except, perhaps, the Psalms, which could provide reassurance to those in need). (One assumes that they were unfamiliar with the ‘imprecatory‘ psalms!)

The fact that this conversation was even necessary was a huge and damaging surprise to me (Follower of Jesus, contemplative). People became increasingly entrenched, argumentative and polarised in their views. Almost overnight, a welcoming and generally ‘happy with life’ congregation at a suburban Baptist Church dissolved into heated arguments and confusion, with insults being traded by all concerned with abandon.

I have always been puzzled that the issue which caused this absurd act of self destruction are widely regarded as central to the Christian faith, yet were seen as beyond the acceptance of a significant portion of a ‘tolerant’ congregation.

Predictably, within a few months, the Church became fragmented, and the unfortunate and passionately well intentioned pastor (Baptist, conservative evangelical) , who, as a Bible believing Christian,  welcomed persecution but never anticipated it coming from his own congregation, succumbed to a breakdown.

This was all a very long time ago. After many months, the minister recovered sufficiently to tender his resignation, and was welcomed to a new pastorate in the East Midlands where he was loved and respected for many years.

I have had many years to reflect on what happened back then (it was a very long time ago). Over time, I learned that matters could have been handled better by everyone, including me (and the Minister). I learned that tolerance is a very helpful concept, but for a Christian can must never be a defining or overriding position. When people think or act in a way which we are uncomfortable with, in other words of which we are rather less than tolerant, how do we respond?

It seems to me that we’re unconsciously making ‘tolerance’ decisions all the time, you and I. We pass someone in the street and we notice if their clothing is too revealing or unusual. We drive along the motorway and watch in horror as someone weaves between the lanes of fast moving traffic. We walk down a street and notice the badly parked car, the unusual colour of paint on the brickwork of a house, the language of the teenagers om the street corner, or the off hand attitude of the cashier in the bank. Our tolerance filter is constantly running, checking virtually everything we see and hear against our cultural reference databank which we have unknowingly and unconsciously assimilated and developed throughout our lives. Every now and then, more often than we would think, our tolerance filter registers something which we are uncomfortable with. Something which we tend to be intolerant of.

As a Christian, I have a special addition to my cultural filter. It’s called Scripture. I try to use it as a constant reference point which influences and sometimes overrides my instinctive response to situations. If something exceeds my normal tolerance level, my first reaction might be confrontational. I may even feel angry. But then my Scriptural filter clicks in and says ‘don’t get angry’ (Matthew 5:22, James 1:19). I may feel judgmental of the drunk who sits on the square close to my apartment, but my spiritual filter reminds me that he too is my neighbour (Luke 10:25-27).

The Apostle Paul writes,

‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,’                           

2 Timothy 3:16

Tolerance is great. But it’s not always the answer. The tolerance of Christian’s should be limited by their cultural norms, mediated by their understanding and interpretation of Scripture. Having said that, of course, it only really works if you believe that all Scripture is the Word of God, written by men, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

You may think otherwise. If you do, I would respectfully disagree with your position, but will defend (pretty strongly) your right to hold it. 

But can we still be friends?

Here we go again.

Richard Jackson is the Director of LifePicture UK. He is exploring life as a Contemplative Evangelical. 

In Episode 163 of The Goon Show, the highly esteemed BBC radio comedy from the 1950s, Neddy Seagoon happens across the childlike Eccles in a dark, damp, coal cellar. “What are you doing here?”, asks Seagoon. Eccles replies: “Everybody’s gotta be somewhere.”[i]

Eccles, it seems to me, had a point. It is a simple matter of the laws of physics and of common sense that all of us, at any point in our lives, have to be somewhere. The fact that we are somewhere, means we cannot simultaneously be anywhere else. I am sitting in the shade in my daughter’s back garden in Bristol. I cannot simultaneously be sitting on the terrace of my apartment in Horsham.

Eccles was right. “Everybody’s gotta be somewhere.”

The same is not true of God.

John 4:24 summarises a truth which permeates Scripture. ‘God is Spirit.’ From the first verses of Genesis at the beginning of the Bible through to the closing verses of Revelation Scripture makes clear that God is not constrained by the laws of science. He is not limited by geographical or political boundaries. He is global. He is universal. Our God is the creator of all things and is present by His Spirit throughout His creation (Isaiah 40:28). 

Unlike us, God can, by His Spirit, be everywhere at the same time.

We have a tendency to ‘compartmentalise’ our lives. We can easily start to see our work life as distinctly separate from our home life. Our behaviour during time spent with our friends can be very different from time spent with our family. Our expectations of our own behviour Saturday evening can be wildly different from our expectations of our behaviour on Sunday morning. Our attitude when driving our car can be completely different from our behaviour when visiting our Grandparents or our Grandchildren.

And yet another truth which permeates Scripture is the closeness of God. Wherever we go, regardless of our circumstances, God is always there.

²³ Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? ²⁴ Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24 (NRSVUE))

Where, asks the Psalmist, can I go to get away from your Spirit?

Where can I go from your spirit?  Or where can I flee from your presence? (Psalm 139:7)                

The answer, ultimately, is ‘nowhere’. A God who is fills his creation with the Presence of His Spirit is everywhere. His presence extends to us as individuals.

Always ‘remember’, says Jesus to His followers, ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ (Matthew 28: 20).

A God who is Spirit, who fills His creation, and is always present. When we’re facing an exam, or a hospital appointment, or a relationship breakdown, that can be a real comfort. When we’re dealing with bereavement, or anxiety about the future, or deep seated depression, that can be a lifeline.

God, we know, ‘is near to the broken hearted,  and saves the crushed in spirit.’ (Psalm 34:18)

But of course a God who is Spirit, who fills His creation, and is always present, creates a huge responsibility for all of us. A God who watches over us and never sleeps sees everything we do (Psalm 121, 3-4), and knows every word we say, even before we say it (Psalm 139:4). Nothing, but nothing is hidden from Him. We can compartmentalise our lives as much as we like. We can make excuses for our less than appropriate behaviour in dark corners of our life, but we can never hide our activities, even our thoughts, from Him.

A God who is Spirit, who fills His creation, who is always present, who is all knowing. This can feel burdensome, even overpowering. It can feel as if we are constantly on show. As if every error we make is being seen and noted. Yet this is balanced by the sense of His loving presence supporting, encouraging and blessing us at every point as we walk through life with Christ alongside us.

As followers of Jesus, we need to remind ourselves that the sense of burden which comes with our recognition of that ‘responsibility’, only kicks in if we are doing things which we know we should probably not be doing. The burden becomes heavier still, if we try to compartmentalise our lives in such a way that there are areas of our life which we would prefer that God did not see. Dark recesses where we hope that the light of His presence will not shine. Yet we have just reminded ourselves that such a ‘hidden’ place cannot – does not – exist. Scripture says that however hard we try to do that, we simply can’t hide ourselves from Him.

My point is that it starts to look a bit like this. If we’re doing the right thing, His presence is a comfort, an inspiration and a joy. If we’re not doing the right thing, His presence is a burden

If I’m observing my responsibilities –if I’m doing the right thing – the Presence of God is an awesome thing. If I’m disregarding my responsibilities – going my own way – doing the wrong thing – His presence is something to be hidden from. Doing the right thing means that I can enjoy life to the full in His Presence. Deliberately doing the wrong thing creates a sense of anxiety and the desire to keep things hidden from God.

Adam and Eve tried to hide in the Garden of Eden. Jonah tried running away to escape from God. They all discovered that you simply can’t hide from God.

So, here’s the thing. Eccles was right. Everybody really has gotta be somewhere.

If you’re following Jesus, the teaching of Scripture is clear. Wherever that ‘somewhere’ may be, God will be there. You can try to hide. Or you can celebrate His presence. The choice is yours. If you are a follower of Jesus – you decide.

Richard Jackson is the Director of LifePicture UK and the former Executive Director of Christian charity Family Foundations Trust. He is exploring life as a Contemplative Evangelical. 

[i] The Goon Show Site – Script – The Last Goon Show of All (Special Episode)