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Can’t we just get along?
In the 1970 film ‘Waterloo’, a British soldier’s cries are heard over the din of battle, ‘how can we kill one another…how can we? Why do we? Why? Why?…”
Why can’t Australians all get along?
Hatred and discord are woven into the human condition. The original imago dei didn’t contain such stains, but ever since the Great Fall, humanity has carried and desired personal gain through demeaning the other and yes, even through bloodletting. The history of the world is less peace interrupted by violent moments, as it is, continued iniquity that finds momentary rest by the grace of God.
Almost everyone is talking about the State of Australia. The massacre of Jews at Bondi Beach on December 14th has forced us to ask questions that most Aussies are ill equipped to even frame, let alone answer with resolve. There is widespread shock, there is tremendous grief, along with anger, fear and yes, and still with much gaslighting.
Can’t we as a society just get along?
Clearly the answer is no. It should be yes, and I imagine the average Aussie longs for the answer to be yes, but we are falling far short of this thing called, ‘social cohesion.’
There are three simple observations that I wish to make here. They are not new or novel. Others are far better qualified than myself to speak to this topic. And even here, many of my words are ones that I’ve previously offered up in public discourse.
The 3 points that I wish weave together are these:
One year ago and a week before Christmas, the Victorian State Government proposed ‘social cohesion’ laws. A watered down version of the Bill was adopted by Parliament in April 2025. At the time I suggested that ‘social cohesion’ when it’s attached to government and to laws has a touch of the Machiavellian about it. One doesn’t know whether to think it’s more like George Orwell or Monty Python!
No doubt this is a testing time for any government. There are pressures applied from all kinds of directions, and at times this leads to inaction or delayed resolve. As we have seen for more than 2 years now, this has given more oxygen to antisocial, and especially, antisemitic voices and violence. Antisemitism is an indignant on the moral and spiritual state of Australia.
Australia has never been heaven. We have never been ther perfect country, but we have witnessed developments over the past decade that are injurious and bring grief to many. We are less peaceful than we were. We are less inclusive and kind. There is more personal and social distress and with little sign of a turnaround. This is evident across the country, but Melbourne is Australia’s protest capital (not a title to boast about). Ever since 2020, when the government turned a blind eye to certain marches while slamming others, every Jane, Nguyen, and Bob has seen fit to grind city streets to a halt. Not a week goes by without banners and angry faces blocking traffic.
According to the Bible, from which we owe the fundamental notions of civil society, governments have a responsibility to protect its citizens and to punish evil doers (Romans 13:1-6). This requires the careful and just creation of laws and their reasonable enforcement. It’s not a coincidence that the Apostolic framing of Government responsibilities is accompanied with an injunction for citizens to pay taxes. The purpose of taxation is largely tied to enabling government to do this double edged sword duty of protecting and punishing effectively.
Government inaction is no longer an option. Thankfully NSW’s Premier, Chris Minns, seems to realise this and is moving beyond empty rhetoric and thin pieces of legislation. Even a Muslim Mayor in Western Sydney has taken decisive action to close a hate factory where one of the gunmen was fed his lies about Jewish people.
We have too long sacrificed cohesion at the altar of diversity. Diversity, properly defined is a beautiful thing which adorns a healthy society. I thank God for the tapestry of multi-ethnicism that has given strength and flavour and wonder to Australia. But as we have deconstructed big T Truth and other axioms, we have lost the ability to acknowledge that some ideas are counter productive and even dangerous. We can practice pluralism while recognising not every worldview is equally valid or good.
If we think that our society is beyond and above 1928 Germany, we are suffering from a greater dose of egomania than I thought.
How can the Federal Government not call for a Royal Commission to investigate the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on December 14? This wasn’t an isolated event, but the culmination of more than two years of government sitting on their hands while Jewish Australians were attacked in their synagogues and cafes and homes. And while genuine hatred was proclaimed and promoted on our city streets every week. As Stephen Mcalpine has noted, there is a directed line from the Sydney Opera House to Bondi Beach.
Even the slaughter of 15 Jews at Bondi Beach hasn’t been enough to completely silence the keffiyeh wearing mafia. So much whataboutism and justifying and excusing continues even before the bodies of the slain were laid to rest. Of course, their right handed sibling, neo nazism with men in black, is equally a scourge on our society.
While Governments must taken action against anti-semitism, Government action is not suffice. I’m not suggesting some kind of community vigilanteism; please no. But everyday Aussies are responsibile for their own words and actions and setting an example to others and demonstrating the power of kindness and grace and generosity over hatred and intolerance and selfishness. Of course we must be intolerant towards views that breed hatred toward Jewish people and views that dehumanise the other. That we need laws to demand ‘decent behaviour’ communicates how far our society has strayed. Churches need to take a lead in this, by teaching and practicing what is in accord with the Christian faith. I still cannot fathom how one Melbourne Anglican Minister in 2023 excused Hamas’ slaughter in Israel. Such disgusting commentary should be held to account.
As the Victorian Government proposed their ‘social cohesion’ laws last Christmas, I expressed discomfort at the language of ‘social cohesion’, and I remain uncomfortable. I get it; they are ‘trying’ to address a specific problem without naming the elephant in the room. Why not call it ‘Rules for Safe Protests’ or something like that?
The reason why I’m uncomfortable about the Government’s language of ‘social cohesion’ is because the task of social cohesion doesn’t belong to the government, but to the people. When government sees itself as the answer to every social ill and when the people demand government to fix every crisis, we are obfuscating personal responsibility and creating systems of governance that cannot bear the weight of such responsibility.
This is one area where the work of Dr Christopher Watkin is worthy of consideration. Monash University’s Dr Watkin articulates a positive and important work on contract theory. He says,
“Civil society is sometimes the neglected dimension of the social contract, the “missing middle” as it has been called. We have a tendency to jump straight from government and law to the individual.
These civil society relationships across different visions of the good are a glue that holds our social contract together.”
From his book, Biblical Critical Theory,
‘the vague and sporadic measures taken by contemporary governments to shore up the social contract with well-meaning but half-hearted attempts at “civic edu- cation” have little effect, when all the while billions of advertising dollars and a destructive paradigm of competition in all areas of society expertly catechize individual consumers to be little predisposed to the civic duties a strong social contract requires. No rewriting of the social contract can be complete without giving serious attention to its cultural and liturgical infrastructure.’
We will do well to engage with Dr Watkin’s material closely and carefully. There is much goodness and valuable ideas to be found. Here is one lecture he gave recently on the subject.
No Government is up for the job, and it’s not designed to be. Part of the problem embedded in any Government setting the rules for social cohesion is that this is never a natural space. This is one of the heresies attached to secularism. Secular is certainly preferable to Sharia Law and to Christian Nationalism, but it is no more epistemologically and morally neutral. Secular is the sum of the worldviews present in and controlling the moral impulses of the day.
There are wonderful pockets of social cohesion is found in all kinds of places and communities across our State. There are sporting clubs and men’s sheds, and there are temples and synagogues. It is certainly experienced in local churches.
Churches are frequently more culturally diverse than the communities surrounding them. Where I have the privilege of serving and belonging, we have people from China and Uganda, families from Vietnam and India, Nigeria and Columbia. Young and old mix together, single and married are friends and serve one another. Of course, Churches have their failings and blindspots, (after all, the very point of Christianity is that there is only one perfect saviour and we’re not him!), and yet there is profound togetherness and other person-centredness.
The Victorian Government accompanied its Social Cohesion directives with expanding anti-vilification laws. Religious groups were understandably concerned such new laws will tighten the noose of faith groups from teaching and practising in accordance with their convictions; history is a strong indicator. It’s amazing how often over the last 10 years Victoria has assumed the bishopric role when Christian praxis hasn’t supported their social agendas. There is a mine of irony in Victoria where Government identifies a growing social disorder and yet clamps down on one of the few societal groups who are truly exhibiting positive social health and life. If we are interested in civil society, maybe we ought to return to the worldview that created the ideas and values from which this vision derives: Christianity.
Not every religion is equal. Not every idea is equally valid, and assuming so will only give licence to the kind of behaviour that is all to common now in our city streets. And yet we must delver deeper than legislative reforms. No, I don’t support the idea of a State religion. Religious freedoms and pluralism is a Christian idea for Christianity isn’t something to be gained via Government guidelines and laws. Christianity is grounded grace not law. Without irony however, it is the Christian message that cdreates the space and gives air to the art of persuasion and serving others through disagreement. It is, for example, because Christians believe Jesus is the only way to God that we don’t want Governments legislating religious doctrines. There are however religious and irreligious teachings which contradict basic ideas of social freedom and respect of life and dignity of fellow Australians.
This is one reason why we are losing something precious by running away from the Bible and the God the of the Bible. It’s not something for Government to oversee, this is something the people have largely lost and would do well to come home to. The Scriptures that Jews and Christians alike believe, teach that we must love God with all our being and love our neighbour. Jesus insisted,
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
We must love our neighbours. We ought respect and reach out to our Jewish neighbours. We should show kindness to our Muslim neighbours. Law and legislation is a necessary weapon, but the bigger antidote to seeing real and heart transformation requires something more.
Two days ago we celebrated Christmas, the ultimate day of truce-making, although that first holy night was filled with peril. Nonetheless, the hope born that night in Bethlehem really is the only hope we have today. Come, check out a local church and see that hope in action. Let me leave you with the great Messianic promise of Isaiah for he is breathtaking,
‘The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.’
Josh Frydenberg addressed the media and onlookers at Bondi Beach yesterday. The former Federal Treasurer is a Jewish Australian, and one who has been raising the alarm over anti-semitism these past two years. Yesterday, he delivered a must-watch speech. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Frydenberg’s words are remembered in 100 years, either as a catalyst for change or as the warning that went unheeded. It wasn’t political grandstanding. There was pain in his voice, as well as anger and frustration. He gave a clarion call for Australia to rid herself of this ancient evil: antisemitism.
“Prime Minister, can’t say those words, Islamist ideology, if you can’t speak them, you can’t solve them.”
The gaslighting and bullying over the last 2 years have been staggering. Even as the blood congeals at Bondi voices are casting doubts and questions. When Dr John Dickson made a comment expressing anger at the persistent ‘tradition of violent jihad’, one prominent Sydney religious leader suggested he shouldn’t make such a link. On Tuesday, ABC’s Laura Tingle had the gall to suggest that the attack was not motivated by religion, even though the terrorists made that claim themselves with an ISIS flag draped over their car, and with Federal investigators confirming links with Islamic hate preachers in Western Sydney.
There is one word our Prime Minister has used, and it is being uttered by many politicians, religious leaders, and ordinary Australians alike is, ‘evil’.
It is evil. Name it. The targeted slaughter of Jewish men and women at Bondi Beach was an act of evil. There are many evils in our streets and suburbs, and yes in every human heart. There is something particularly abhorrent about what took place on the evening of 14th December. It is an ancient and wicked sin, and one that the world has yet to put to death. Even the murder of 5 million Jews in the holocaust was not enough to end this vile.
I would like to address the concept of evil. Why do we turn to this word, and what do we mean by it?
Calling out certain attitudes and actions as evil is more than a gut reaction. Evil is a moral category. It requires there to be a standard of goodness and righteousness. Indeed, for evil to be anything more than a sociological label that is used to explain how we feel about bad events, evil requires there to be a good God who defines what is right and true.
I grew up in Melbourne of the 1990s, and then in Sydney and Melbourne in the 2000s. In the society in which I walked, learned and worked, there was an underlying quiet, yet smug insistence from people too smart for themselves who alleged evil doesn’t really exist. I recall an article published by the ABC during the pandemic by a Zen Buddhist psychologist who argued that while death is not very pleasant but it’s little more than part of nature’s cycle.
Geoff Dawson asserted,
“If one’s view of the world is based on science, we are not special, we were not placed here by a God to be the custodians of the Earth (and if we were, we have let the Almighty down big time!) and like all other species, we will have our place in the sun.
We will die out, and other, more adaptable, life forms will take our place.
The myth that we are somehow special and will continue to live forever as a dominant species is based on a deluded human-centric form of existential narcissism.
We may wring our hands and our hearts may ache at the rapid destruction of wildlife that is happening right now before our eyes, but we never seem to seriously consider that we may go the same way.”
I guess Geoff Dawson is trying to be consistent. I quote him because his philosophical consistency is both revealing and repugnant. If all that exists in the universe is matter and mathematics, and there is no God, it is difficult to suppose there is ultimate right and wrong. At most, what we have are little rights and wrongs, where we agree some things are unacceptable, but only because there is a group consensus, not because there is a universal truth.
And yet we know that cannot be the case. Evil isn’t defined by a poll. Evil isn’t just a label adopted to soften the blow of what are uncomfortable but ultimately meaningless events. But to maintain the objective and universality of evil, we need a counterpoint of objective and universal truth. In other words, we need God. And not only God, but a God of utmost righteousness and goodness.
The Philosopher Alvin Plantinga explains,
”Could there really be any such thing as horrifying wickedness [if there were no God and we just evolved]? I don’t see how. There can be such a thing only if there is a way that rational creatures are supposed to live, obliged to live … A [secular] way of looking at the world has no place for genuine moral obligation of any sort … and thus no way to say there is such a thing as genuine and appalling wickedness. Accordingly, if you think there really is such a thing as horrifying wickedness (.. and not just and illusion of some sort), then you have a powerful … argument [for the reality of God.]
Without God, notions such as love, compassion and grace also lose their moorings and essential status. Without Divine orchestration, what is kindness and compassion other than an evolutionary product to help us survive as a species? They aren’t inherently good and necessary; they’re cosmic luck. They’re chromosomal, chemical and cultural byproducts of evolutionary processes.
Again, we know that such thinking is nonsense. It’s not only cognitive dissonance, but moral and existential dissonance. We know justice and compassion are more than ways of describing our preferences, just as we know evil isn’t simply a way of categorising things we hate or are afraid of.
Our world requires a God who is above us and outside the universe: A Divine Being who defines right and evil, justice and compassion and who has shaped the universe to have and need these things.
We can categorically say Islamic Jihadism is evil. We can confidently say NeoNazism is evil. Why? Because existing outside ourselves and yet imprinted into the image dei is the God of love and goodness.
Like Sydney, Melbourne enjoys a large Jewish population. Melbourne is home to more Holocaust survivors than any other place in the world, other than Israel. Between my home and the city stand many Jewish schools and synagogues. My kids regularly played sports with and against local Jewish schools, such is the vibrant Jewish community in this part of Melbourne.
But Melbourne, and perhaps this is also true of Sydney, has relied upon hubris and false piety for far too long. How different we are today from William Cooper. A Christian man and Aboriginal leader, William Cooper stood in solidarity with the oppressed. With foresight, Cooper understood the unfolding evils in Germany and spoke up when most world leaders remained silent. On December 6 1938, William Cooper led a march in Melbourne to the German Consultant, in response to the infamous Kristallnacht, and condemned the “cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government in German.”
For all our pseudo-sophistry and boasting in our cosmopolitan and cultural greatness, travelling in our DNA are the same iniquities that have tainted all nations of old, including what was once considered the most ingenious and advanced culture in the world: Germany. We Aussies love to sing our own praises, with this gleeful myopia that sometimes shares more in common with Nero than with William Cooper.
This week, I am reminded of one of the books that both Christians and Jews hold as Holy Scripture, the book of Jeremiah. The prophet spoke in a time of immense upheaval and uncertainty.
‘We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
You who are my Comforter in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?”
“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?’
(Jeremiah 8:15, 18-22)
Months ago, I reflected on the growing expressions of hatred echoing around Melbourne,
“The sad reality is, I don’t know if our fragile cultural cladding is able to resist the kinds of attacks on Jewish people we are now seeing. I think the jury is out, and that should cause us great concern for the future.”
Today, Jewish families around Australia are less certain about tomorrow. They are less confident and free. Their warnings and fears have become reality. That ought to bring great sadness to our land and shout a loud warning.
And yet there remains an unwillingness to learn the lessons of history. We struggle to use the right words or even understand them, because for so long we have stripped the world of ultimate realities and truths in exchange for personal preferences.
Sunday, 14th December, saw evil in its brutal force; religious beliefs fuelling hatred and mass murder. Whether it is the result of ignorance or fear or complicity, we have failed the Jewish community in Australia.
The words of Jeremiah resound loudly today, and yet that doesn’t have to be the end. 600 years after Jeremiah’s day, an elderly Jewish man lived in Jerusalem. We are told,
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him”
His eyes saw Jesus and he exclaimed,
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
One thing I do know is this: if Simeon’s assessment is true, Divine consolation can be found. As much as we need evil to be more than a gut-wrenching sensation, we need a consolation that can plumb the depths of despair and pain and bring healing. He is who I am thanking God for at Christmas. And I pray my fellow Australians, even those who disagree with me, will also come to know this Divine consolation.
Last night our church building was packed with people, gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus. While our evening was filled with laughter and joy and praise, what we didn’t know at the time was that a massacre was unfolding at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Thousands of Jewish Sydneysiders gathered at Bondi Beach to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. As they welcomed the festival of light, darkness descended as two men dressed in black opened fire.
15 people are now dead, with dozens injured, including 2 police. One of the gunmen is also dead, and his accomplice is critically injured. Police and the NSW Government were quick to announce this as an attack on Jewish people and an act of terrorism.
I am shaken. I am profoundly saddened. What has become of this nation?
I am angry, really angry. Damn those men to hell. Damn those who cultivate and stir hatred toward Jewish people, and those who excuse growing anti-Semitism in Australia.
Can we say that Australia is safe for Jewish people? If the answer wasn’t already tenuous, after last night’s terror, it is difficult to say yes.
Melbourne this year has borne witness to Neo-Nazis leading marches through our city streets. A prominent Neo-Nazi has addressed crowds in public. Arson at Melbourne’s Addas Israel Synagogue saw the building severely damaged 12 months ago. Jewish Aussies are regularly subjected to anti-semitic graffiti and verbal attacks on the streets.
To suggest Australia is safe for Jews rings hollow. It is too our shame.
Stories of heroics are slowly emerging. It needs to be said, given the likely identity of the gunmen, that one hero who emerged last night was a Muslim man who ran and tackled one of the gunmen, almost certainly preventing further loss of life. He in turn was shot twice and is now in hospital.
As hundreds of people came together at Mentone Baptist Church last night, we focused on the God who came. I talked about how hurt and harm naturally produce friction and distance. God knows how deeply divided our cities and suburbs have become. Something counterintuitive happened with Jesus; God determined to come closer. When God saw all the evil in this world and all odious motives and words and deeds, instead of walking away as he had every right to do, he came to us. He came in the most miraculous and vulnerable of ways. The Son of God didn’t come to take away life, but to lay down his own life so that we might gain eternal life.
The birth of Jesus was accompanied by such bright light, and the scene was also interrupted by a wave of evil and darkness. The Gospel of Matthew records the massacre of the innocents, when Herod chose violence and murdered the young of Bethlehem in his hunt to rid the world of the prophesied one.
Matthew turned to these Scriptures to echo the horror,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
Today, there is weeping and great mourning in Sydney. This should not be. Why are we not surprised? We are shocked, and yet who is surprised by the blood soaking into the sands of Bondi Beach? Perhaps the location took us by surprise, but our fractured society is losing coherence as we struggle to find something that keeps us together.
Politicians, stop pandering to groups who advocate this bile.
Religious groups, expose and expel religious preachers who teach this evil.
How long must we watch city streets clogged with protesters shouting obscenities and anti-semitic slurs, all in the name of ‘freedom’.
This isn’t a left or right issue, for the hatred has its horns on both ends. It is a religious issue. It is an ideological issue. It is a heart issue, and evidence suggests we are not equipped to respond. Violence isn’t the solution. Vile social media posts won’t bring about peace and healing.
The Gospel of John records Jesus attending Hanukkah. While not one of the Festivals instituted in the Bible, this commemoration of the Second Temple’s restoration in the 2nd Century BC, had quickly found a home in the Jewish calendar. It is unsurprising that Jesus, a Jewish man, participated in this Festival of Light (John 10:22).
A light was snuffed out last night at Bondi Beach, and the light has grown dim around Australia.
Where will we find light to overcome the darkness? Political muscle and social goodwill have some but limited influence. Who can gaze into the soul? Who can outdo evil?
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Pray for the injured. Pray for the hundreds of victims who were present and witnessed last night’s evil. Pray for our emergency services who today continue to work and protect our streets, investigating last night, and attending to the wounded, both the physically and mentally hurt. Pray for our Jewish friends and neighbours. Check in on them. Assure them of our friendship. Pray for them.
As Hanukkah continues and Christmas approaches, my hope rests in the One about whom it is written,
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Lord, have mercy. Maranatha
The ABC is reporting that new Guidelines for NSW Health will crack down on hospital management who try to prevent abortions.
“Hospital managers and executives would be barred from blocking abortions because of personal beliefs, under new guidelines proposed for public health services across New South Wales.
A draft copy of the “termination of pregnancy policy directive”, obtained by the ABC, includes a new section that specifically deals with conscientious objection among those managing and administering health and hospital services.
The policy has been under review for more than a year and lays out requirements for individuals and institutions providing or assisting with abortion care.”
The ABCs language of choice is ‘abortion care’. While ‘care’ is also used in the Government Guidelines, the reporter can’t help but repeat ‘care’ more than 20 times in the article, as though saying it over and over again must make it true. But the hypnosis doesn’t work.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that ‘abortion care’ is an oxymoron of epic proportions. Care means to provide love and kindness, whereas abortion by definition requires the taking of human life.
Of course, ‘abortion care’, like its sister slogan ‘reproductive health care’, has become difficult to keep together as science reveals more about the little ones whose lives are removed during the early weeks and months of pregnancy.
The old argument, ‘it’s a clump of cells and not a human being’, is rarely used nowadays. The proof is in the womb. The more science reveals about life in the womb, the more we have to admit that the Biblical testimony is spot on,
‘For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be’
(Psalm 139:13-17)
And yet, the commitment to uncreating this wonderful frame persists to this day. So much so that NSW Health want to force hospital employees to act against their good conscience. Can you imagine the State forcing organisations to take a life against their conscience?
The ABC goes on to quote NSW Greens MP Amanda Cohn. Listen to the dishonest rhetoric.
“I’ve heard about instances of conscientious objection provisions being weaponised by department managers or hospital executives to then cause a whole department or a whole hospital not to provide a service,” Dr Cohn explained.
Weaponised? Let’s get this straight. According to Amanda Cohn, those who seek to save lives are ‘weaponising’ while those who wish to take a life are offering a service? It’s as though we’re now living in the Upside Down. It’s less George Orwell and more Aldruous Huxley. We’ve swallowed the soma. Of course my career and dreams, and lifestyle are more valuable than an unexpected baby! And we thought Molech was a demanding god!
Are we okay with the State forcing individuals to sanction the taking of human life under their care?
Meanwhile, in Victoria, pressure is mounting to expand the laws surrounding euthanasia. Sorry, ‘voluntary assisted dying’! What a surprise. Once the scent of death is caught, the bloodhounds and sharks won’t relent. In October of this year, the Victorian Parliament removed the ‘gag clause’, now giving Doctors permission to initiate conversations with patients about using euthanasia as an option for them.
From life at its beginning and at its end, our society has snatched the key of death and now claim the right to lock and unlock.
Stranger Things may have its Vecna, who appears as kind Henry to steal the children away. We have our own Henrys, and strangely, we not only protect but praise them.
Thank God the story doesn’t end here. The way to overcome the Upside Down is staggering and the perfect salve. I’m not looking to Houses of Parliament and to street marches. Christmas, of all thing,s points us in the right direction.
Christmas is less than 2 weeks away, the most poignant celebratory day in our Calendar. On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of a child, the child, the Son of God. We know that he was an unwanted child, so much so that the State interfered and try to have him disposed of.
God kept this little one alive. His mum and earthly dad also cared for him. Before his birth, while Mary was heavily pregnant, a Divine announcement came that shook the world and echoes with clarion goodness even today,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
People tried to take Jesus’ life. In the end, he laid down his life for the sins of the world. That not only means the God calls out insidious laws for what they are, it means the God of grace and truth can do what our society cannot. Whatever our modern Henrys allege about life and death, the reality is, the scarring and guilt stick. Bad choices remain bad, and no dose of soma pills can change what the heart ultimately knows. But Jesus can.
Many a church will read John’s Prologue over Christmas, as will we at Mentone Baptist Church. The word has not lost its necessity and grace, no matter how much our culture may wish to have God dead and buried. Think it over,
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
One of the largest memorial services in American history has just concluded.
Whether we approve or not, whether we are invested in the story or not, the assassination of Charlie Kirk has dominated the news cycle and continues to do so today, with his memorial service taking place in Glendale, Arizona.
The papers and social media are speaking about very little else. It’s not that this is the only thing that matters today, but there are moments in history that capture the public imagination in ways that coinciding events do not.
It’s clear that there were two narratives running through the memorial service, and we mustn’t confuse them as being the same or necessarily belonging together. I want to pull apart the politics that were present and the gospel that was also present.
Several members of the Trump administration spoke, including the President. Donald Trump gave a speech in which this line has already gone viral,
“He [Charlie Kirk] didn’t hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them – that’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I HATE my opponent and I DON’T want the best for them.
I suspect the President said these words with a certain tongue in cheek. He was bringing a moment’s levity to what was a very sombre occasion. At the same time, that does seem to be his modus operandi. But of course, Trump’s words are not his alone; this is the norm and assumed posture across religions and ideologies and politics. Whether it is fascist or anti-fascists or left or right, and most of the middle, we think ill of those who disagree with us. That the President is saying so with knowledge of the truth isn’t laughable, it’s woeful. Doubling down on hate doesn’t resolve the growing friction and factions that are disintegrating our societies. That leaves us with a game of power where the loudest, fastest and strongest aim to take charge and impose their will on the rest of us.
Trump, the ever populist and pragmatist, may well use whatever movement that helps maintain momentum. That’s a problem, as it was when previous American presidents co-opted Christian language and concepts to promote their own ethics and agendas.
On Saturday, I gave a lecture at the Reformed Theological College, where I outlined 3 principles for doing public theology:
Christian pundits, commentators and pastors would do well and serve our congregations and the unbelieving public by recognising and practising those distinctions. Of course, the differences are not always perfectly clear and it is true that the gospel of Jesus changes every part of us, but nonetheless, we will do well to avoid those trappings. Why? In part, because the gospel is too important to be confused or co-opted by red or blue or green.
Merging the Christian faith with politics is fraught with dangers, and that’s true across the political spectrum. If you think that your particular position is exempt from that rule, that only exemplifies the very problem. It doesn’t mean every political ideology is equally true or good or respectable. Of course not. How we value the unborn really does matter. How we view migrants and the poor matters. And many other topics.
As I said earlier, two narratives were present in the memorial service, and it is the second one that I hope shines the most.
Charlie Kirk’s pastor, Rob McCoy, gave a clear presentation of the good news of Jesus. He said.
“Charlie knew … at an early age … he entrusted his life to the Savior of the World. . Jesus came to this earth, was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin, was crucified upon the cross…”
“His blood was poured out because blood must be shed for the remission of sins…And His death upon that cross was sufficient for all the world’s sins, but only efficient for those who, like Charlie, would receive Him as their Savior.”
Can we say an Amen to those words?
Erika Kirk then addressed the crowds and uttered the impossible word,
“I forgive him…I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.”
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said. “The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love – love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
This is the message our polarised world needs to hear. I thank God that God has not judged me according to every word I have said and every thought I have entertained. I am eternally thankful to God that he forgives sinners such as me. And grasping this gospel does something to us, where Trump’s words disappear and where love and forgiveness take shape.
What is so sad and troubling is that I know our culture well enough to see how this is going to play out in the media and social media: most people will simply double down on their prior commitments and attitudes. People are so entrenched in their ideological preferences that we will read the room as our glasses are glued onto our faces, and we are unable to see any other perspective. MAGA supporting Aussie conservatives will criticise me for my posture here and progressive Aussies will criticise me for not damning Charlie Kirk to hell alongside the President.
Reality is almost always more complicated and nuanced. One does not need to elevate Charlie Kirk to the status of Stephen (Acts 6) or label him ‘ult right’. The Christian truth is that sinners are saved by grace alone on account of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus alone. Anything else is hubris.
Here is a thought: regardless of our political leanings, if God uses the gospel preached at Charlie Kirk’s funeral to convince some people of God’s saving news through Jesus, will we rejoice or will we resent & grumble like Jonah in Ninevah?
The mystery of Christianity’s ongoing relevance in Australia continues.
Shining through the dark clouds and rain of Tokyo last night was an Australian woman. It wasn’t her winning the high jump at the Athletics World Championship that so much elevated the spotlight (as impressive as this is) but how Nicola Olyslagers pointed her praise and joy to God.
“And every time that I was jumping. It was just worship. I was like, let’s go. And so even if waiting and out there in the rain, I have such a joy because I know these moments are forever, the gold medal was the added bonus.”
She’s right, it was worship. It was worship not because her performance was outstanding (as it was) or because of her world-class athletic ability, but because Nicola Olyslagers was using her gift in delight of and for glory of God. The Apostle Paul describes the entire Christian life as a living sacrifice of worship to God. It is a life of thanksgiving and joy to and for the God who made us and whose Son gave everything for our redemption.
It’s not only the Ancient Greeks who deified their athletes. Australians raise our athletes to a bar that they, nor anyone, can measure up to, whether it’s sporting successes or their personal lives. We stick them on a mantle and throw garlands of gushing praise that would make Hercules blush.
There is something humbling and attractive when winners don’t point to themselves. How interesting it is to hear athletes directing praise not toward themselves but to God. In Western countries like Australia, we pride ourselves in the so-called decline of religion in general, and Christianity specifically. We preach how we have built an alternative society in the vein of John Lennon’s hopeless ‘Imagine’. But as we’re discovering, this secular humanism is more like Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus. Except, Sisyphus is no longer pushing the boulder uphill; it’s fast chasing him down the hill, and yet strangely Sisyphus is shouting, ‘Look at me, I’m free!’
No matter how we try to squeeze out or sanitise Jesus, he won’t be locked in a cultural box, but in so many areas of Australian life, and yes, even among our athletes, this Jesus is making an appearance. Think of Geelong’s Ollie Dempsey, who is playing in the AFL Grand Final this Saturday, or Gary Ablett Jnr, Labuschagne and a host of NRL players.
Nicola Olyslagers’ words may appear strange to many of our ears, partly because God is the idea we are trying hard to leave behind. Who needs God today? We’ve also accepted a popular myth; God is baggage that keeps us from having success and happiness. Nicola Olyslagers is one of may athletes at this year’s World Championships showing us otherwise.
It is one thing to compete for self-satisfaction or actualisation. It is another thing to represent one’s country. It is reaching beyond the stars when athletes strive and exert for the glory of God. It’s not that the last of these is the least or cancels out the love of sport and the honour of running, jumping and throwing for your country. Competing for God raises the bar, not the bar of expectation, but the bar of realised contentment and happiness.
Think of it this way, if competing for yourself brings about a certain but limited happiness, and competing for others brings a higher level of wonder, then to jump or run for God’s pleasure is the greatest pleasure of all.
“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure,” so said Eric Liddell, the 400m gold medalist from the 1924 Paris Olympics Games.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games Nicola Olyslagers shared,
“I think as a teenager I was always an outcast; and I got welcomed into a faith community that loved me. And I just remember encountering god’s love and it changed the way I thought of myself – as a misfit why was I created so tall and stuff – and it gave me passion and purpose to use it.
“In 2017, it was my big moment when it flicked the switch and I decided to pursue God over sport.- whatever comes from sport is a bonus, but I am already complete and perfect and loved as a person regardless of it.
“That just allowed me to soar over high jump bar and not be scared anymore because I am loved and that is the most important piece.”
There are extraordinary athletes who follow Jesus, and there are extraordinary athletes who do not. This is the case in every field of endeavour. Some of the most brilliant minds in the world today are followers of Jesus, while others are not. Many of history’s most influential thinkers were professing Christians, and others not. Today, in the fields of medicine, law, science, music, film, and economics, there are men and women who profess the name of Jesus, and there are men and women who do not.
The difference doesn’t depend on a person’s intellect or effort, but in the category that is greater than all others. Neither is the distinguishing characteristic success, as though Christians are more likely to win Word Championships or unbelievers are more likely.
One of the lessons here is that you don’t need to sacrifice God for sporting achievement. You don’t need to ditch God in order to find success. We are not required to ignore God in order to find our truest self. Nicola McDermott and Sydney McLaughlin are among the many athletes who prove this myth to be false. And what these athletes have shared is a message of good news that surpasses sporting achievement. Eric Liddell who felt God’s pleasure as he raced to gold, also said this, “Many of us are missing something in life because we are after the second best.”
The Apostle Paul once wrote a letter to a young man. He used a sporting analogy to describe the greatest race worth running.
“ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
You see, Christianity’s ongoing relevance in Australia isn’t a mystery. My generation may be stuck with ‘Imagine’ on repeat, but Zoomers are looking for meaning and realisation beyond the low and crumbling ceiling we call ‘self-actualisation’.
No doubt many young Aussies are dreaming about future sporting success. Many more are thinking about the future and considering the possibilities before them. We do not need to make the mistake of locking God out of life. Indeed, through Jesus Christ, he promises something of eternal meaning, joy and satisfaction. A few may eventually win a World Championship medal or AFL Grand Final, but let’s not miss out because we are after the second best.
Today is R U OK day.
This is a national day of action, when Australians are urged “to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life.”
R U OK?
The chosen day is somewhat ironic, given the historic significance of September 11. I will never forget that night, turning on the television to watch the late-night news and seeing live footage of airplane slamming into the World Trade Centre. I was so confused that I thought I was watching a movie. But then, I understood what I was watching, the moment that killed the hubristic ‘end of history’ motif and which began to expose the tectonic plates of clashing culture and spirituality.
R U OK?
My daughter’s school has organised special events for today, to remind the kids of laughter and to teach them how to laugh. I guess, such is the despondency and anxieties capturing our society, that we need help to learn how to laugh.
R U OK?
This morning, we all woke to the horrifying news of Charlie Kirk being shot and murdered at a College event in Utah.
Once doesn’t need to agree with every view Charlie Kirk promoted, even if he was right about the things that matter most. As others testify, Kirk’s ability to listen, engage, and respond with clarity and a smile is a dying art in our polarised world.
It is a testament to his contribution to civil life that Presidents and political leaders and religious leaders alike feel the need to offer public condolences. Yes, there are the haters too, and the whataboutism pundits who ever fail to read the room. A word to the whatabout crowd, please don’t. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are examples to avoid not copy.
The immediate outcry of sadness and shock is quite incredible. Reading the commentary today feels as though a black veil has descended upon America. Here in Australia, young people especially know the name Charlie Kirk. He was followed by millions, including many Gen X and millennials across Australia.
This murder further accentuates how our societies have lost the ability to communicate, disagree and debate. The appetite for hate and rage is strong, and like a virus, it is eating away at our soul. Police in Melbourne are again expressing profound concerns over proposed marches and protests that are planned for this weekend. We no longer speak to each other and seek to understand; we yell and spit and throw projectiles.
R U OK?
Many today are not ok.
Next week I’m giving an address at the Reformed Theological College in Melbourne, where I’ve been asked to speak to this topic: ‘Engaging Society: A Gospel Response.’
Without giving too much away, may I point us in the direction that God points. Ephesians 2 spells out God’s plan of peace and it is a heavenly vision designed to be experienced on earth. The full embodiment of this promised peace will have to wait for the resurrection day, but it is nonetheless a given and realised even in the middle of tumultuous times,
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:13-14)
God has announced his peace plan. With staggering undeserved grace, he paid the price for peace: the death of his only son. God’s plan of peace reconciles separated people, those separated from God and from one another. The Gospel of Jesus Christ really is the answer to all our brokenness and divisions, our frustrations and hates. Leaning ever closer to this Divine peace is the antidote. This plan will outlast and defeat every hatred and misunderstanding, every anxiety and fear.
I didn’t know Charlie Kirk, but amidst his words and views, a living faith in the risen Christ was apparent. That counts for everything.
R U OK?
I’m looking forward to this day spoken of by the prophet Micah when God’s peace covers the earth,
“Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.”
This weekend, I am having a mini break, which means it’s an opportunity to visit another church.
I love the church where I am a member and belong, but annual leave is an opportunity to visit other churches and be encouraged by what God is doing elsewhere.
We had originally thought that we would visit one of the churches in Melbourne CBD, but knowing police are overstretched and multiple protests were being organised, we thought it best not to go. Why add to the business? And who knows how long we’d be stuck in the city while protesters blocked intersections around the CBD.
So we visited Mentone’s daughter church, Regeneration Church in Clayton. It was lovely to catch up with old friends and encouraging to meet around God’s word and see how the church has grown since I last visited. It was a beautiful sight: a room filled with mostly 25-year-olds and representing so many different ethnicities, from all over the world and yet with one voice praising God and enjoying a deep sense of unity in Christ. I said to the pastor afterwards, ‘here [the church] is the answer to all of the friction and suspicion and anger in our community’.
It’s true, if you want to see a glimpse of what God is doing around the world today, go to your local church. If you wish to have a little taste of what life in eternity will be like, drop into your local church next Sunday and see where disconnected men and women from all backgrounds, jobs, education, ethnicity are finding joy and peace and love and life together through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes the music is happening, sometimes it’s out of tune. Sometimes the coffee is proper Melbourne, most of the time it isn’t. Sometimes the kids are noisy; often they are. The building’s architecture may be plain or striking, the preacher a great storyteller or simple words explaining the Scriptures. In these many different settings, from Clayton to Camberwell, from Pakenham to Preston, and from Mentone to Melton, church is like a breath of fresh air compared to the anx and rage filling our streets.
What a contrast with the clashing protests in Melbourne city today, where protests met with counter-protests, one volume of insult matched with further insult and even assault. Yes, many are probably marching for a myriad reasons, concerns over housing and cost of living, and fear of the unknown. But with the surprise element of boiling water burning you, these protests were already marked with signs of what they were about. When a protest is arranged under the banner, ‘stop mass immigration’, and then days out it’s described as defending ‘white heritage’ and denouncing Chinese and Indians in our country, of course, the march was going to go off the rails. So when a known neo-nazi is given a microphone and addresses the crowd from the steps of Parliament House, to the cheers of people below, what were you expecting to see?
A few days ago, Victorian Police expressed concerns that to deal with these protests, they were forced to take away resources from their search to apprehend a man who murdered two of their own and seriously wounded another only 5 days ago. Why would we create further strain on our police after the shocking week they have endured? And then, at the protest in Adelaide, a poster appeared, supporting the alleged police murderer.
Melbourne’s new Lord Mayor wants to claim the title of the ‘optimistic city’, but Melbourne is anything but optimistic or happy. Melbourne has turned into the nation’s protest capital, with weekly interruptions by protests and marches, often promoting the most insidious of causes. Our city is experiencing tumultuous divisions and doubts and fears. One solution often produces another misstep and further erodes public confidence and our social cohesion is increasingly tenuous. We are no longer the city we once were.
Jesus once warned,
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke 21)
Tired of bad news? Exhausted by the negativity and fear? There is someone to whom we can turn. I’ve said it before, and I will keep on saying it: there is good news. There is really good news, and it can already be seen and experienced in Melbourne. There is something beautiful and good and happy taking place across our city where people from all manner of backgrounds are finding not a feeling of optimism but a happy and certain hope. To be sure, it won’t make the newspapers of 6pm news; good news stories don’t sell. But boy, do we need a better story than the ones filling every breaking news. As Jesus explained, what we get to see in our churches is tasted and seen in a million different cities and towns around the world and in a thousand languages and on a billion faces,
“This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
“For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share”
Australia has a rich and wonderful history of immigration. It is not overstating the case to say that our great nation is largely built on the blood, sweat and tears of migrants. Australia also has a mixed and difficult history with immigration; from the treatment of Chinese settlers in the 19th Century, to the Irish and sectarianism, the arrival of Italians, the white Australia policy, to welcoming Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees and more.
Like in the United Kingdom and the United States, there are growing noises here demanding that Australia shut down mass immigration.
A march is being organised across Australian cities for next Sunday. I would never have known about it except for a couple of individuals plugging it on social media. The website claims,
“Australia is changing in ways most of us never agreed to. People are waking up to a country they barely recognise. Endless migration, weak leadership, and political cowardice have brought us here, and it’s time to put a stop to it.
Immigration poses exciting possibilities. Also, immigration always presents significant challenges. There are genuine questions to be asked of Islam, as there are of Christian Nationalism and other isms. Nations rightly have borders, laws, and citizenship that govern and give shape to a country. To be pro-immigration doesn’t mean zero borders and no caps on immigration. There are real and complex questions relating to social cohesion in Australia. Deciding on intake numbers and who comes into the country and under what conditions isn’t an easy task. If you have ever spoken with an immigration officer, you’ll understand that they take their work with utmost seriousness.
People are afraid, fearful of losing the known, fearful of losing identity, and fearful of the other. But is the answer to fear, demanding the end to large immigration? Is the answer to wrap ourselves around the Australian flag, close the borders and keep out those who look different from us?
There is a major problem with this ‘March for Australia’.
The problem lies both in its starting point and in its trajectory. In short, ‘March for Australia’ is grounded in fear, ethnocentrism, and at times racism. I’m sure many people who’ll be swept up in the march are not racists, they are Aussies concerned about their country, and they’re unduly jumping onto a movement who while willing to give them a voice, is promoting xenophobic and racist ideas.
When your slogan is, ‘Stop Mass Immigration’, you are in fact acting in an anti-Australian way, because Australia is a nation made up from the nations, and we have always been. Who among us isn’t a descendant of migrants? Who among us hasn’t brought our culture into our cities, both good and bad? Have we forgotten sectarianism? It’s more than that, it is this Christian notion of the dignity of every human being, loving your neighbour and welcoming the poor and oppressed, that gave moral impetus to welcoming people to our shores. We do not welcome them because they are like us, but because we are ‘the lucky country’, and, to quote our National Anthem, “For those who’ve come across the seas, We’ve boundless plains to share”.
If your starting place is ‘immigration is bad and we must stop it’, then what follows will almost certainly be unhelpful. If, however, we begin by affirming the goodness of immigration, then we can have a conversation.
The trajectory is already being shown. When I hear a promoter say that ‘Australia has too many Chinese and too many Indians’, that is racism. And that way of thinking is gross and an affront to huge numbers of Aussies of Chinese and Indian descent, and I take it personally on behalf of my family and friends.
As one friend pointed out, this march is essentially calling for a return to the White Australia policy.
Another person alleged that anti-semitism is the reason why we must clamp down on immigration. I have said more about anti-semitism than most Christian leaders over the last couple of years, and while there is an evil anti-semitic undertone among some Muslim people, most of the anti-semitism I see is from university students and old socialists of white European heritage.
To allege immigration must stop is to say something about our character and how we view the other. It is building a society based on fear, not grace, on protectionism, not generosity, on self-actualisation, not sacrifice. In that sense, it’s all law and zero gospel. Now, that may not bother the average unbelieving Aussie, but it should surely concern the Christian. What casts out fear? Not hate, it’s love.
The wonder of the Christian message is that God includes the outsider. God’s only Son gave his life to welcome into God’s Kingdom the very people who do not belong and do not deserve citizenship. God’s Gospel is about grace, kindness, love of neighbour and for the nations.
While the Gospel and the Parable of the Good Samaritan do not outline an immigration policy, they are doing something deeper and broader. If Jesus died to save people from Morocco and Mexico, and from China and Chad, surely this changes the way we will view these image bearers of God.
Yesterday I posted a comment about immigration as a blessing, not a curse. One of the problems with my interlocutors yesterday is that as soon as I said, ‘immigration is a blessing’, they read it as saying I’m advocating for open immigration, even though my very next sentence stated that immigration brings challenges. They can’t seem to distinguish between no borders and generous immigration. But this march isn’t calling for generous immigration, according to many comments I’ve read; they want Muslims, Chinese, and Indians kept out of our country.
We are a nation of plenty. We are a nation of extraordinary wealth and prosperity. We are also a society wrapped up in red tape and layers of bureaucracy that make even simple decisions near impossible (ie solving housing). I find it interesting how Jesus didn’t say, ‘Let me come and help out so long as it doesn’t cost me anything’.
What especially stood out to me was the fact that a couple of Christians think that this march is a good idea. First of all, this protest would require you to skip church. Sure, it begins at midday, but for most people, that means missing church. If a movement or march requires you to miss church, do you think its origins are of God? Second, do they really believe that changing government policy will save our nation? That’s not a Christian answer.
Several years ago, Russell Moore was asked a question about Muslims moving into the community and wanting to build a mosque. Moore not only espoused a Baptist view of religious freedom and toleration, he also said this,
“That doesn’t turn people into Christians, that turns people into pretend Christians and sends them straight to hell. The answer to Islam isn’t Government it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the new birth that comes from that”.
Russell Moore is right.
Ephesians ch. 2 makes it clear that God’s reconciliation plan isn’t accomplished through Government or political means, but through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This kind of Jesus reconciling brings disparate people together; it unites the great divide between Jew and Gentile.
“remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household”
If you think Australia will be saved through less immigration, you have missed the gospel, you probably won’t enjoy heaven, and you’re behaving more like the Levite than the Samaritan.
Jesus didn’t side with the Sadducees (who might be described as Roman conformists) nor with the Zealots. Modern-day Australian religious zealots may be feeling and seeing social discord, but rather than bringing reconciliation, they add to the discord.
Next week’s march is no more Christian than many of the protests that belong to the left-edge side of culture. Those already caffeinated on rage and scribbling out their placards for the march, will probably not like what I have written. If anything, the rage temperature will increase; perhaps it is a self-fulfilling prophecy!
However, if you’re one of those followers of Jesus who are troubled by social divisions and the fracturing we are witnessing in our streets and suburbs, press closer to the gospel of Jesus and believe God’s purposes through his son.
If you have issues with Islam, as I certainly do, love your Muslim neighbours, don’t hate on them; invite them over to your home for a meal with the family, don’t ostracise them. Invite them to Church and make them feel welcome, because they are.
Our Church is hoping to begin a ministry next year to migrant families in our community. Why? Because we want to serve them and we want them to know the good news of Jesus, just as someone once shared with us.
I love how yesterday in Western Sydney, a Sydney Anglican Church hosted a conference. It was given the name, ONE FOR ALL, and Archbishop Kanishka Raffel preached on the gospel that crosses cultures. Australia needs more of that.
If you hear people saying that there are too many Chinese or Indians or whoever in our country, call them out.
On Sunday, 31 August, go to Church as you ought, worship God with his people from among the nations, love each other, and hear again how the gospel of grace is our answer.
Update: the Melbourne march was attended by people from many different persuasions. However, the march was led by a group of self-identifying neo-Nazis, and a prominent neo-Nazi spoke from the platform to address the crowd.
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