Culture

The mistaken Baptist Guide

/ MurrayCampbell

 The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has published, ‘A Guide for the Baptist Union of Victoria’. The ‘Guide’ relates to the Conversion and Suppression Laws adopted in Victoria 3 years ago.

The Guide was released 4 months ago and published on a Victorian Government website, and it is finding more public attention recently, including journalist John Sandeman reporting on it today.

This Government document is problematic and because of growing awareness, it is worth highlighting some of the issues.

The name of the Guide is confusing and highly questionable. The Baptist Union of Victoria Assembly has not discussed or agreed to such a Guide. However, the Victorian Human Rights website, states,  ‘We have developed the Providing Safety for LGBTQA People of Faith guide with and for faith leaders in Baptist Union of Victoria churches”’. 

On the one hand, this is not a Baptist Union of Victoria document, however, the BUV name is all over it. For example, 

  • The title, “A Guide for the Baptist Union of Victoria’.
  • The Victorian Human Rights website, states, “We have developed the Providing Safety for LGBTQA People of Faith guide with and for faith leaders in Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) churches”
  • The  ‘Guide’ states, “The Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) recognises that Baptist communities hold a broad range of views about matters of gender and sexuality”. 
  • The BUV agreed for the HRC to write the “Guide”.
  • Multiple BUV personnel and pastors met with and provide information and ideas to the HRC.
  • The Guide acknowledges assistance from BUV and baptist members.
  • THE BUV is using and promoting the document.
  • The BUV is now running seminars run by HRC.

 My understanding is that the HRC approached the BUV and BUV personnel gave permission for this project. They then provided ideas and information to the HRC.  The HRC is now using this Guide to promote the conversion/suppression laws, and as the commissioner states, we hope other Christian denominations will follow the Baptist lead. 

Ro Allen, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner, wrote the forward which includes this explanation, 

“The CSP Act does not stop anyone from holding beliefs about sexuality or gender, or having conversations with others about those beliefs – it prohibits causing harm to others by trying to impose beliefs to change someone’s gender or sexuality. This is a law to prevent harm. 

Change or suppression practices are actions based on the ideology that there is something wrong or broken about being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or asexual (LGBTQA), which this law says isn’t true….

The BUV community has been among the first to step up and work alongside the Commission to provide clear support and guidance to its faith leaders and congregations. Over time, we hope to do the same with other Victorian faith communities.” 

The Guide is confusing to the outsider and indeed to Baptists, who understandably assume that this is a Baptist document and one that Baptists affirm.

The 48 page Guide proceeds to give advice to churches and to pastors about how to respond to questions/issues surrounding a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity. At times the document acknowledges a dissonance between formal Baptist teachings/positions and the law, but then it also says things like, 

“The Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) recognises that Baptist communities hold a broad range of views about matters of gender and sexuality.”

This dissonance within the BUV now manifests itself in a Victorian Government document, and that is a problem.

The Guide affirms all the latest iterations of sexual and gender expressions, and nowhere affirms the moral goodness of Baptist and Christian views on sexuality and gender. Of course, it can’t because the very fabric of these laws aims to disqualify Christian beliefs and practices on these issues. Instead, the Christian understanding of sexuality and gender is defined in negative terms right throughout the document.

In addition, the Guide encourages churches and pastors to seek advice from affirming churches and provides a list of LGBITQ websites for churches to use.

The dissonance is aired like a screeching car brake. As John Sandeman has highlighted,

The guide outlines restrictions on Baptists and other religious leaders on discussing sexuality and gender identity with LGBTQA persons imposed by the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 (CSP Act). It acknowledges that the BUV takes the position that “Marriage is the union between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” and that “BUV shall not ordain persons who engage in homosexual practice.” The guide says that these statements of belief, and others can be made generally or in sermons and Bible studies, but not when “not targeted at an individual to change or suppress their gender identity or sexual orientation.”

There we have an example of where Baptist practice contradicts the intent behind Victorian Law. 

For Christians, sex is a beautiful gift from God and that is to be enjoyed within the constraints of marriage between a man and a woman. The Guide explains that while a church or pastor is free to explain formal doctrine in a theoretical sense, they are not permitted to address it to any individual or to insist upon it for any church member. Even praying with an individual who requests prayer, is illegal.

I don’t want to repeat everything I’ve said in the past about these laws. There are aspects that I affirm and others that I cannot, because I’m a Christian. Readers can find those comments easily enough. I will say because it is important and you may not want to read older articles (fair enough): Christians following Jesus (is there any other kind?) will love others and seek their wellbeing. The only message we have is the one we have received and that is of the righteous and loving God whose Son gave his life as ransom for many. God doesn’t pick the do-gooders, he loves those who realise they are deeply flawed. Sometimes, churches forget this. At the time when these controversial laws were being debated, I was among other Christian leaders who acknowledged there have been examples of dreadful attitudes and behaviour toward people who don’t identify as heterosexual. These may not be commonplace, but some people have been terribly mistreated. For that, churches ought to repent. Around 2019, I learned from a journalist how a few fringe religious groups practised ‘conversion techniques’, which were often adopted from mid-20th Century psychiatry, not from the Bible. The Victorian Laws go well beyond prohibiting such awful and dangerous behaviour; prayer is banned and talking with an individual about sex and gender is prohibited, unless the content of your message conforms with whatever is the latest iteration of sexual ethics from LaTrobe. That is staggering, and it’s all the more astonishing given the worldwide exposure of the abuse toward minors with gender dysphoria by State sponsored institutions.

Don’t misunderstand, there is merit in explaining the law, however, this Guide does much more. It contains ideas and advice that is contrary to Scripture and our pastoral responsibility. It is targeting Baptist Churches and for some reason, the BUV thought it wise to give them ammunition and the target. Baptists used to believe in the separation of church and state! This is a Government produced document designed to shape how our Baptist churches think about sexuality and gender issues. Arguing otherwise is simply not believing the authors’ words.

The thing about the Christian Gospel is that it is about conversion. By definition, Christianity is a conversion religion. Jesus calls people to ‘repent and believe the good news’.  Of course, it doesn’t mean someone who is same-sex attracted all of a sudden wants to marry someone of the opposite sex; that’s not the Christian goal. As many same sex attracted Christians testify, the desire and aim is to be godly, and that includes honouring God with our bodies and relationships. Sure, that may not be a common view in our culture, but in an age where we are beginning to realise that ‘you do you’ isn’t always good and it doesn’t really satisfy, there is something new and intriguing about the old time Bible vision for human flourishing.

In contrast to NSW Baptists who have taken positive action in recent years to confirm Christian belief and practice, imprecision and trying to mimic the Archbishop of Canterbury has an adverse effect on Gospel unity and mission success in Victoria. That ought to grieve our churches.

It is unfortunate, to say the least, that there is now a public document confusing people about where Baptists stand and what we believe. I have already had a member of another Christian denomination contact me because s they were perplexed and couldn’t understand why the BUV would participate in such a project. Not only is this Guide confusing people (both outside and inside baptist churches), it’s almost like handing over a noose for Baptists to hang themselves.

To be clear once again, this Guide is not our guide. It is not a Baptist Union of Victoria document. It is the unfortunate result of a few well-meaning Baptists taking the bait from the HRC.

It is my hope that we Victorian Baptists serve and love our neighbours well, always holding out the Gospel of life, and clarify and confirm that this is not our Guide. 

15 December update:

John Sandeman has spoken with the VEOHRC. This added information only adds weight to concerns that have been raised with this ‘Guide’. This issue is consequential for all Baptist Churches and Pastors in Victoria – https://theothercheek.com.au/a-disturbing-question-about-the-vic-baptists-and-the-conversion-law/

12 Dec update:

David Devine from the BUV Office has spoken with John Sandeman and offered a perspective on the Baptist Union’s role in the publication of the Human Rights Commission’s ‘Guide for the Baptist Union of Victoria’. 

David is a brother in Christ. 

His comments confirm what I have written above and underscore the important issues I have raised. 

Vic Baptists: How we were consulted on the LGBQA guide to the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act

A Melbourne Synagogue Burns

/ MurrayCampbell

‘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)

  

Photo from X

Adass Israel Synagogue is located up the road from where I live and the church where I serve. The Synagogue is located in the Council area, adjacent to mine, which, in Melbourne distance, makes us pretty much neighbours. 

What took place yesterday was pure unadulterated evil and has tarnished our city, perhaps in ways we may not comprehend for some time to come. 

In the early hours of Friday morning, 2 men set fire to the Synagogue, causing extensive damage and injuring two people who were inside at the time. The perpetrators went about their deed, hiding their identities as the cowards they are. There is no courage or moral fortitude in attacking a place of worship.

Melbourne is home to more Holocaust survivors than any other place in the world, apart from 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 community in this part of Melbourne. 

William Cooper is one of our great Australians. 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.”

86 years later, to the day, my Melbourne, our city, witnesses a burning Synagogue.

For all our pseudo-sophistry and boasting in our cosmopolitan and cultural greatness, travelling in our DNA is the same iniquities that have tainted all cities of old, including what was once considered the most ingenious and advanced culture in the world: Germany.  We Melbournians love to sing our own praises, in this gleeful myopia that sometimes has more in common with Nero than William Cooper.

Of course, this chromosomal thread appears in all kinds of ways; sometimes we call it out and other times we call it good or choice. The unnerving fact is that Melbourne has not decided where we will fall.

Today, Jewish families around Melbourne are less certain about tomorrow. They are less confident and free. That ought to bring great sadness to our city and shout a loud warning. 

Two millennia ago, an elderly Jewish man lived in Jerusalem. We are told in Holy Scripture, 

 “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” (Luke 2:25)

May the consolation of Israel pour out His grace and peace.

Coldplay’s prayer in Melbourne

/ MurrayCampbell

Coldplay is in town. It seems like every second friend has bought tickets and is  joining in the chorus of ‘Yellow’ and singing, ‘I used to rule the world’

The last time Coldplay performed in Melbourne was in 2016,  and I took my 2 boys to the concert.  The eldest, who was 11 at the time, had aspirations to be a drummer like Will Champion. The night was a kaleidoscope of colour and light and memorable tunes.

Coldplay is back in Melbourne and singing a prayer. 

By prayer, I’m not referring to fans hoping to see Guy Berryman after illness forced him to miss out on performing with the quartet for the first time in their 27 year history (I believe he returned last night for their second Melbourne concert). Coldplay’s latest hit song is called, ‘We pray’.

‘We pray’ was written by lead singer, Chris Martin, in conjunction with a group of musicians from around the world, and it explores his personal journey in spirituality and understanding the human condition. 

The song itself is a congregational invocation to prayer. The lyrics are deliberately vague for no particular god is addressed and his character and personality are unknown. The song is about the human longing for help, hope and forgiveness.

‘We pray’ is clever because people can fill in the gaps however the wish, but is that point of prayer? The word grabs onto some vague and universalist notion of the Divine: unnamed and unknown. 

It’s hoping without knowing, it’s needing and not possessing.

Take a look at some of the lyrics, 

Pray that I don’t give up
Pray that I do my best
Pray that I can lift up
Pray my brother is blessed
Praying for enough
Pray Virgilio wins
Pray I – I – I
Judge nobody and forgive me my sins
I pray we make it
Pray my friend will pull through
Pray as I take it
Unto others I do
Praying on your love
We pray with every breath
Though I – I – I’m in the valley of the shadow of death

Pray that we make it to the end of the day
And so We Pray
I know somewhere that heaven is waiting
And so We Pray
I know somewhere there’s something amazing
And so We Pray
I know somewhere we’ll feel no pain
Until we make it to the end of the day

Coldplay is, of course, singing a similar tune to one that is all over our streets and suburbs today.

Human beings are deeply spiritual. The sum of who we are cannot be reduced to skin, bones, blood, and organs. This is one reason why the new atheism was always doomed to be little more than a cultural fad. The materialist world cannot sustain or explain the needs and hopes found in the human soul. But neither are we left in the realm of guessing and taking a stab in the dark.

New Atheism is dead. In places like Australia and the UK, neo-paganism is gaining traction, Eastern religions are growing (largely through migration), and people are dabbling in alternative spiritualities in volumes I’ve not seen before. Why? The soul needs peace. We need hope.

‘We pray’ is a descriptor of the human condition but it doesn’t give any substantive answer.

Prayer isn’t a magical amulet that I rub and repeat. Prayer without relationship with the actual living, listening and loving God is little more than a placebo. What if real prayer was possible?

Coldplay’s idea of prayer isn’t original. The city of Athens was renowned in ancient times for its religious pluralism. In fact on the day the Apostle Paul walked through that great city, he noticed a statue to the Unknown God. The citizens of Athens erected a monument to a God with no name, just in case the pantheon of gods had missed one and so people could pray and pay homage to this unknown divinity, hoping to find blessing and help.

Paul, this early Christian leader, made a commentary about this Athenian spirituality, when the leading intellectuals invited the him to address the famous Areopagus, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 

What follows is one of the great speeches of history. The words of this address, both astonished and intrigued people in what was the equivalent of Oxford in the day, and I suspect there is good reason for the people of Melbourne to be similarly astonished and intrigued today.

“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17)

In summary, he explains:

  • There is a God and he is the powerful and purposeful creator of the universe.
  • This God doesn’t need us but provides us with life and breath. 
  • God has made himself known
  • We don’t fashion God’s existence.
  • The world will be held to account by God (how we need a God is right and just and will do justice)
  • The definitive proof of God is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Understand, these points are but the introduction to all that Paul had to say, but straight away he eliminates vagueness and universality. There is God and he is this God. It’s not guesswork and speculation, but the resurrection of Jesus is proof. 

Does it matter to whom we pray? Is the efficacious nature of prayer found in the activity itself or in the one to whom we address? 

Why does it matter which God we pray to, if the spiritual and psychological benefit lies in the activity?

By way of illustration, would it matter if  I spoke to any individual and in any way, assuming or hoping that they were my spouse? Would it be appropriate to pour out my heart in a married kind of way with any random person who happened to hear me talking out loud on the street?

Apart from the fact that they have no duty to listen or respond to my words, how belittling and insulting it is to the person who actually is my spouse!

To whom we pray does matter. 

On one occasion Jesus speaks about lostness.  This being lost is a way of describing our natural state; being disconnected from God and the forgiveness and life that can be found in him. We wander about and test and experiment, looking for a way to leave behind this state of hopelessness and uncertainty. Jesus says, he is the way. He is the One who came to seek and save the lost.

Don’t believe me? You don’t have to take my word, check out the resurrection of Jesus. 

I love this prayer that Jesus taught. It is to God who is named, known, who is just, who forgives, and in whom we can depend,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one

Australian Catholic University speech causes mass walk out

/ MurrayCampbell

The media is having a field day over a story that erupted at a graduation ceremony yesterday for the Australian Catholic University (ACU). 

Former Union chief, Joe de Bruyn, was awarded an honorary doctorate and delivered a speech to the newly graduating students. What followed led to 90% of students, staff, and family members walking out in disgust. 

I know very little about de Bruyn and I’m not making a judgment about where his heart is, but his speech may well go down in the annals of ‘how not to present a Christian viewpoint’ (if indeed this can be classified as Christian).

In his 15-minute address (which ACU heads knew about in advance), de Bruyn offered a critique of all that is evil in Australian society. He hit at 3 subjects in particular: abortion, IVF, and same-sex marriage. 

Unpopular opinion: it is possible to agree with the substance of his concerns (or agree in part) and also think de Bruyn’s speech is counterproductive and even unChristian.

First of all, I believe abortion is a terrible practice for society to accept. Taking the lives of the unborn isn’t a sign of cultural maturity and success; quite the opposite. Second, I accept Jesus’ understanding of marriage, and how marriage is between one man and one woman, intended for life. Third, I disagree with de Bruyn’s cancellation of IVF. IVF, like so many technological developments, presents us with ethical dilemmas that require much wisdom. For instance, a Christian couple may proceed with IVF along with agreed conditions, thus using the technology but with a much narrower moral parameter than what is set by law. More importantly, framing all these issues without the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will in fact distort each one and therefore misrepresent how we ought to speak of these issues in both church and society.

Second, why do I suggest that the speech was unwarranted and unhelpful?

There are 3 key components that work together and de Bruyn failed in 2 ½ of these:

i. What he said…

ii. How he said it…

iii. The occasion in which he said it…

Let’s start with the occasion. This was a graduation ceremony at a university, albeit a Catholic one. Being Catholic, I imagine this provides more latitude for Christian language and ideas to be present than if it was a secular institution. Even with this, is a graduation service the appropriate time to list all the evils in Australia and to vent all one’s personal axes and anxes onto the students and their families? I would be stunned if such a speech was delivered at a Christian theological college, let alone a mainstream university.

Second, I’m reminded of how often the Bible tells us that how we speak is as crucial as what we speak. 

Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

The Apostle Peter exhorts, 

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15)

Paul writes, 

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  (Colossians 3:12)

Speech that is void of love is like a cymbal repeatedly clashing in your ears; it’s jarring and we do your hearing no favours. As the Apostle says,

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

Of course, truth can and often does offend, even when spoken with the gentleness, patience, and kindness of Christ. Look at how society responded to Jesus when he taught and showed the grace of God! Nonetheless, this doesn’t legitimise aggression or slander and a host of accompaniments that betray the Christian message. It may also be worth pointing out that when anger is expressed by God, Jesus, or the Apostles, it is often aimed at religious people for their hypocrisy and their failure to live out the faith they claim to have.

Why I am writing about Joe de Byun’s ACU speech? A reason for making a comment is because this address is symptomatic of a theme that is becoming far too common and accepted today in ‘Christian’ circles. It’s as though angry words mean faithful words. No, it doesn’t. Yesterday’s incident is all the more bewildering given that he was invited to speak, knowing his track record, and with some knowledge of what he was planning to say. 

Too often we are seeing angry Christians throw around words in the public space as though they are faithfully representing Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, anger has a place, but it shouldn’t be a regular go-to in public discourse. Are we trying to win applause from vocal supporters or are we trying to persuade people of a Gospel vision for life?

Hundreds of people walked away, a few staunch supporters remained, while others sat uncomfortably and embarrassed and required to continue with their duties. Did anyone leave with a better understanding of the Christian Gospel or of a life-affirming view of God?

Thankfully there were other words spoken at yesterday’s ACU Graduation. These words aren’t being reported in the newspapers but they were shared and how much more befitting,

 “As you take you next step, remember our mission. 

First, Act in truth and love. These words are from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul was writing to a community of Christians struggling with persecution and division. The love Paul talked about here doesn’t translate perfectly into English. He wasn’t talking about romantic love or the love between friends. He certainly was not talking about an emotion or anything sentimental. Paul was talking about a decision – an act of will – to live in ways that serve, and meet the needs of other people, especially when doing so is hard, and costly.

Second, Pursue knowledge. Knowledge founded in truth, and communicated with grace and compassion. We see every day the ugliness of discourse as it exists on social media. I encourage you to make the decision to mediate the knowledge you gained through your study at ACU by acting with gentleness and kindness.

Third, remember that all people are valuable. As you grow in confidence in your professional lives, don’t forget what it was to be unsure, vulnerable or unpopular. 

Finally work for the Common Good. My hope for you is that your professional lives promote the wellbeing of the peoples you encounter in your communities and in the wider world.   

… I’d entreat you though to remember that the real test before you as you enter the next stage of your lives as teachers, knowledge professionals, pastoral workers and business leaders is how you work for the good of others when you get no thanks or acknowledgement, when those ‘others’ are very different from you, when they challenge your patience, when they are hurtful and when your differences seem irreconcilable. As an institution inspired by its Christian ethos our mission would have us love the unlovable and reconcile the irreconcilable. 

Commit to this as you step through life and I am sure you will leave your piece of the world transformed for the better.    

Once again, my congratulations to you all and I wish you the very best in all you aspire to achieve”

Talks from ‘Sex, Gender and the Good News of the Gospel’ now available

/ MurrayCampbell

Last week’s ministry conference in Melbourne was an encouraging and stimulating day. Many thanks to David Starling and Dani Treweek for serving us well. Each of the talks and the QandA session are now available for listening to on youtube.

Sex, Gender and the Good News of the Gospel

/ MurrayCampbell

Congratulations to Dr Dani Treweek on winning Australia’s Christian Book of the Year, for her outstanding work in, The Meaning of Singleness: Retrieving on eschatological vision for the contemporary church.

Dr Dani Treweek and Dr David Starling will be speaking at this special ministry leaders’ day at Mentone Baptist Church on September 6th.

In an age that is increasingly confused about sex and gender, what are we meant to think? What is a Gospel way to think through these important issues?

Click on the link or QR Code for further information and to book tickets for what will be an encouraging and equipping day.

https://events.humanitix.com/sex-gender-and-the-good-news-of-the-gospel-sbjsm9s9

The Olympic Vision: ‘My Way’

/ MurrayCampbell

The Paris Olympic Games began with the humanist anthem, ‘Imagine’ and closed with another, ’My Way’. 

This notion of a world where humanity climbs to the top of the Eiffel Tower (or Babel!) and no longer relies on God, is as common in France as the baguette. Indeed, the French Enlightenment has profoundly influenced how we look at the world today: secular humanism. 

Whereas Imagine empties the world of ultimate meaning, design and hope, My Way is the crooner’s funeral dirge. 

‘And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friends, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and every highway

But more, much more than this

I did it my way’.

French singer, Yseult, performed ‘My Way’ with gusto and fireworks, but the song is delusional. ‘My Way’ is a self-justifying way of looking back over life and saying, ‘yep, I screwed up, but at least I did it my way!’

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not an Olympic critic. I enjoy the Olympics as much as any diehard sporting fan. And watching the Green and Gold outdo the Red, Blue and White is kinda ‘slay’.

There was, however, a hubris weaving throughout the Games that tarnished the gold, silver, and bronze. The alkaline isn’t achievement and success, it’s Rousseau’s imagining that set the Olympic message from start to finish: secular humanism.

The humanist project is appealing for it hooks onto every aspiration for personal freedom and success. The dream is then set within the possibility of imagining no hell and heaven, and no religion too. It’s very French. It’s thumbing our noses at the establishment (whoever they may be), and a finger salute toward religion. Ironically, and as the Olympics have shown, secular humanism is as religious and worshipful as the Temple of Artemis and any local Mosque or Church across Paris.

Like the moon glistening over the Seine at midnight, the Olympic message is romantic… until you jump into the river. It is a myopic vision in these 3 ways.

The Backdrop

The backdrop to the Olympic Games is Venezuela, Myanmar, Gaza, Ukraine, and Bangladesh. Political and social unrest is found in English cities and Australian streets. Geopolitical tensions are so high that political leaders are not asking if there will be a global war, but when?

‘My Way’ just isn’t believable. Doesn’t the message feel somewhat empty when we look outside the Parisian bubble?

Tony Estanguet, President of the Organising Committee, presented this stirring offering at the Opening Ceremony,  

“Tonight you have reminded us how beautiful humanity is when we come together.

And when you return to the Olympic Village, you will be sending a message of hope to the whole world: that there is a place where people of every nationality, every culture and every religion can live together. You’ll be reminding us: it is possible.

For the next 16 days, you will be the best version of humanity.

You’ll remind us that the emotions of sport form a universal language that we all share.”

There is a smidgen of truth and goodness here. It feels kinda right. But then we see that the words are canvassed by imagining a world without God, and without ultimate justice and hope. It’s up to us and we can do it!

What’s the answer Mr Olympics? Sport unites?

I wonder how this resonates for those who can’t return home because of war or persecution?

The Backhand Swipe

The Olympic message also serves up a backhanded spin toward all those parts of the world who don’t buy into this self-human deification.  

I guarantee there are more than 3 athletes uncomfortable with the Imagine My Way vision of life, and more than 4 viewers. The message is a backhanded slap in the face to many people in the 2/3s world who don’t buy into humanism.  Today, much of the world is turning to the gospel of Jesus Christ and is looking at the West with weird fascination as they see celebratory pride in the midst of decline. It’s 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!’

There is an arrogance attached to the humanist project. It relies on hubris because humility requires depending on a source and foundation that is other. The ‘My Way’ syndrome can’t afford to accept the human condition and it relies on the notion that we won’t repeat the mistakes from the past.  And yet we do. Secular humanism has become a lame duck that employs all the boisterous noise of an Olympic triumph; mesmerising and leaving behind a truckload of debt. 

A Modern Heresy

A third way the Olympics is short-sighted is its failure to understand how secular humanism functions as a Christian heresy. It’s not a Monet original, it’s a third-rate copy.

Tom Holland, Glen Scrivener and others have effectively shown that the air we breathe in our culture is oxygenated by Christianity. The Olympics doesn’t derive notions of equality from thin air! Even our anti or post Christian beliefs are immersed in the teaching and person of Jesus Christ.

As Christopher Watkin notes, 

‘The most interesting migration of all concerns the secular itself. Claiming to have chased religion from its home, the secular has moved in and kept all the furniture. The secular is built on the assumption that there are two domains— the religious and the secular—and that one can grow as the other shrinks. As Tom Holland points out, this is a thoroughly and deeply religious idea, reaching back to Augustine’s notion of two cities. When secularism arrived on the scene it “came trailing incense clouds of meaning that were irrevocably and venerably Christian,” and the very idea of secularism witnesses not to Christianity’s decline but “to its seemingly infinite capacity for evolution.’

While trying to keep her love child in a backroom closet, secular humanism is courting a new friend from the depths of pagan Europe.

From Bacchus the Smurf crashing the Last Supper at the Opening Ceremony, to the ‘Hymn of Apollo’ that was set to music for the Closing Ceremony, neo-paganism is trending again,

‘I will remember, nor could I forget, far-shooting Apollo,

 whom gods tremble before as in Zeus’s abode he is striding—

 then as he comes up close to the place they are sitting, they leap up,

all of them, out of their seats, as he stretches his glittering bow back.’

Let’s leave aside the irony of thinking that it’s cool and inclusive to sing a hymn to fictitious gods, yet honouring the God who gives us breath and strength is anathema!  The repeated dipping into neo-paganism is more than acknowledging the Olympics’ story of origin, it’s looking into the murky Seine and needing to explain the world and provide a moral compass should Christianity be taken to the guillotine. It’s an impossible task of course, because without Christianity, all our best values lose their mooring.

Tom Holland exposes this forced marriage between Humanism and neo-paganism. He points out how the ancient gods of Greece and Rome, “cared nothing for the poor,” and “to think otherwise was ‘airhead talk”. 

It’s Christianity that changed everything and yet we want to sing ‘Imagine’ and ‘My Way’. It is Christianity that transformed the way we view the poor and the excluded. It is Christianity that gave rise to feminism’s first revolution in those early centuries AD. It is Christianity that altered the way society looks upon the young and the vulnerable. Any hints of moral goodness flowing through secular humanism has its roots in the very thing it wants to dismantle: Christianity. 

Because of this, perhaps ‘My Way’ was a fitting end to the Paris Olympic Games. The Olympic flame was snuffed out, its dying embers a sign of where ‘Imagine’ becomes reality.

Another Way

There were glimpses of a better way sneaking through the Olympics. There was Nicola Olyslagers at the Village, accompanying athletes from across the world on the piano in song and praise to God. There was the Fijian contingent in one voice proclaiming Jesus. Again, there was Nicola Olyslagers who chose to glorify God in her sport, 

“My worship may not be singing, it’s in my feet jumping over a bar”.

There is America’s gold medallist, Sydney Mclaughlin Levrone, 

‘What I have in Christ is far greater than what I have or don’t have in life…he has prepared me for a moment such as this. That I may use the gifts he has given me to point all the attention back to him”.

Hubris or humility?

Self-seeking or God-glorifying?

As the athletes flooded into the Stade de France for the final time, the music pumped out, ‘no time for losers’. Athletes swayed with arms raised to the heavens and shouting out, ‘no time for losers’.  Should we mention the 90%+ of the world’s Olympians who failed to medal in any event? And what of thousands more who failed to make an Olympic team?

Secular humanism is a temporary fix for the strong and successful. Christianity is the gospel for losers. The message of Jesus Christ is for those who have failed and lost and grossly miscalculated. This is the true Gospel of liberty and equality and fraternity because the onus and hope lays with  God and because this salvation is by grace. This message is about the God who came down and drew all the world’s evils and suffering and went to the cross.

As Jesus puts it (I’m mulling over these words before preaching this week)

‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’

How?

‘“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.’

Olympic ‘Last Supper’ depiction with a French Twist

/ MurrayCampbell

I do enjoy French quirkiness and the absurd. It is often playful and sometimes provocative. And sometimes it is attention-seeking and puerile.

I loved much of the innovation and freshness that the French gave the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The interplay between art and athletes, and the sitz im leben of the city instead of stadium was pretty cool.

During the Opening Ceremony, there were many highlights, and of course, there was controversy. There was the mass reenactment of Marie Antoinette’s beheading with geysers of blood reaching the skies. If blood lust didn’t do it for you, another scene was depicted, and unsurprisingly it was most controversial, consciously so. although as myopic and unoriginal as a school kid’s impression of Monet’s water lilies. 

I’m still unsure how Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper relates to the Olympics. Let’s leave aside that the painting is Italian, not French. The French do however enjoy the question and leave us without the answer.   In this Olympic staged drama, the French have, as artists previously mimed, revised this Biblical scene where Jesus teaches his disciples over the Passover meal, on the night before his crucifixion. The French Jesus isn’t a male. Of course, let’s turn Jesus into an obese woman with a halo hovering over her head. The disciples can’t be men either. No, let’s have men in drag and a child and a splash of androgyny. 

More than a few people are angered by or upset by this depiction of Jesus and his disciples. I don’t like it either. Mocking Jesus is kinda stupid and unoriginal. It’s a pale copy of the original setting where the crowds, Pharisees, and soldiers mocked Jesus every step to and on the cross.

Bear with me, but this reminded of the sermon that I’ve prepped for church tomorrow. W e are looking at that most famous and intriguing saying of Jesus,

“the truth will set us free” 

Without giving too much away ,there is a line in my notes where I explore contemporary understandings of freedom and at one point, already with the French in mind, I say this,

‘When it comes to art, in painting, music and film, it does is pushes into the absurd or obscene, because freedom requires difference, new and fresh.”

The French have just provided a classic example! In this sense, the artistic directors for the Opening Ceremony are doing little more than conforming to the overdone narrative that is now basic to university education, social commentary and Parliamentary halls. 

France is famous for revolutionary undertones; it’s part of the kindergarten curriculum: how to protest and exhibit violence 101.  For example, French Protestant Christians were nearly wiped out in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Christianity has been a tiny minority ever since. In a way, Christianity is an easy target for the French (and yes, for Aussies too). Although, if the organisers had thought for more than a French moment, they’d have realised that more many African and Asian and South American Olympians, Jesus isn’t a parody or obtuse figure of derision; he is worthy of more honour and glory than all Olympic gold combined. Maybe they aren’t so concerned about social and international tolerance!

If the French were really daring, they would imagine an Islamic scene and the prophet Mohammed But of course, we know how that would quickly turn into real bloodshed  (by the way, I think that would be a really dumb idea for all kinds of reasons: not least, because it’s not a way to love our Muslim friends).

So why depict Jesus and his disciples in feminine and trans robes? Is it a call to equality or sexual expression? Is the city of love trying to deconstruct the patriarchy? Like many things French, who knows! One thing on display however is this return to paganism that is popping up in Western cultures. The Olympic Games have their origins in paganism and as recent Olympic Games have intimated, we are returning to these superstitious waters.

This dramatic display turns the Last Supper into a hyper-sexualised trans orgy with Greek mythological overtones (hence Bacchus the smurf turning up).

I suspect this is not the intention, but there is in this boorish parody of The Last Supper, something that at least opens a question to what Jesus was showing that night.

The revolution planned by God before all eternity and carried out by his Son involved the shedding of blood, as the Passover meal vividly showed.  The bloodshed didn’t involve chopping off the heads of his enemies, but dying in their place for their salvation.

If we are looking for the absurd and obscene, the beautiful and original, the cross of Jesus Christ to which the Last Supper prepares, is as French as it gets. It is the efficacious symbol for the peoples of the world.  Not for the glory of sport, but where God’s good news draws people from everywhere corner in freedom and truth and love and grace. And yes, this will include people whom we find unlikable and uncomfortable or just different from us.  That’s true originality: the cross speaks volumes about the foolishness of freedom searching without God and of staggering Divine love for these very people. As those who don’t fit gaze upon the crucified and risen Christ, there is not an emptiness or sterile religion, but a holy and loving God who forgives and frees. Stick that in your baguette and enjoy it!

Update Jul 29.

Olympic organisers have apologised. They confirm that the scene was depicting the Last Supper, infused with Greek paganism (Bacchus the blue smurf). It was a conscience artistic and moral judgment to sexualise and trans the Last Supper and with pagan elements added into the mix.

The apology sounds like the unrepentant juvenile caught stealing on CC TV, but I can afford to accept the apology.

One wonders what the closing ceremony will include!

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/28/paris-olympics-organisers-apologise-to-christians-for-last-supper-parody

https://www.yahoo.com/news/paris-olympics-producers-confirm-last-173957068.html?

Horoscopes are on the news!

/ MurrayCampbell

Since when does superstition qualify as news?

Look no further, astrology is coming to a news channel near you. Channel 7 has announced that their nightly news will have a new and regular segment on the stars to inform viewers on what Sagittarius and Capricorn are up to today. 

Laugh not; the producers are quite serious. 

It’s been reported, 

“Channel 7 has defended a new daily astrology segment to be introduced as part of its evening news bulletin.

The network has confirmed it will be bringing in the new segment featuring an astrology report from Natasha Weber, also known as ‘Astro Tash’.

Ms Weber’s new segment will be about 20 seconds and will be aired after the weather forecast.  

New Director of News and Current Affairs Anthony De Ceglie said it was part of “exploring new ideas and concepts”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

Channel 7s entertainment reporter, Peter Ford, explains that the decision is motivated by shrinking audiences on commercial television,

“the EPs of the news services in Melbourne and Sydney are under a lot more pressure than in Perth, because the competition is much, much tighter. So this is a response to that.”

He also admits that Natasha Weber is a real believer in horoscopes, 

“She’s deadset serious about it all.”

What a juxtaposition, following the daily meteorological report will be a report on the stars. It’s science versus superstition. Horoscopes now equals journalism!

This shift is less surprising than we might think. Sure, it feels like desperation, but I reckon the Seven News boss Anthony De Ceglie knows something, and that is, belief in alternate spiritualities is on the rise in Australia. 

In one sense, this isn’t new, but it has been suppressed by the weight of hubristic rationalism and the ride taken by the new atheists.

When we remove God from the picture,  we must find an alternative to create meaning and fill life. The new atheists put up an effort for 20 years, but their ‘godless’ alternative leans either toward a moral and spiritual vacuum or a gladiatorial arena where power wins and the weak are trodden. A world without God is brittle; no wonder issues of identity and self worth are paralysing a young generation.

The Gospel Coalition have reported how in the United States, astrology and horoscopes are finding popularity primarily among millennials. It’s not sceptical Generation X or the latter-day baby boomers, but teenagers and young 20-somethings who are grasping for meaning and hope.

Why is this the case? Hard-core materialism doesn’t work. Millennials are smart enough to see through that crusty materials don’t satisfy and they have been sufficiently indoctrinated to assume organised religions, especially Christianity, can’t be trusted. So where we do go? Like swings and roundabouts, let’s revisit pagan Europe and source wisdom from the gods of Greece and Babylon. Let’s turn our gaze again to the stars as though they offer droplets of guidance and words of hope.

For all the talk about science, human beings are a suspicious lot. For all our reasoning and cognitive faculties, our society is replacing empiricism with emotion,  and truth with neo-paganism. Part of the reason is the emptiness offered by secular humanism and the new atheism. Another reason is a biblical one: God has wired us for eternity.

‘He has also set eternity in the human heart’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11) 

We are made to worship. At our core, human beings are worshippers, seeking Divine purpose and design. 

Don’t misunderstand, the Bible isn’t anti-science. Far from it; it is the biblical worldview that can gave rise to much modern science and intellectual growth. I’m simply affirming the BIble’s thesis, that the default setting in our heads and hearts knows there is a God and spiritual realities that govern and interact, subject and even save. 

For example, the former juggernaut of the new atheists, Ayaan Hirsi Ali,  is now a professing Christian and follower of Jesus! She speaks of her mental agony and former belief that ‘she can do all things by self’ but with ‘humility’, she has experienced a ‘spiritual awakening…my life has changed, it’s been transformed’.

Ali has found that the alternative to crippling unbelief isn’t to believe in anything and everything but to grasp a concrete hope in a real God.

It seems that Channel 7 news will be following the weather by reporting a very human imprint on celestial gaze. But it’s not news and it’s certainly not journalism. It’s old fashion suspicion and gaslighting. 

Will I fall in love?

Should I buy that house?

How can I find meaning?

 Does life have real purpose?

Don’t worship the stars. Worship the God who made the stars.

Psalm 8 puts it like this, 

“Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?”

Last year at church, a woman was baptised after becoming a Christian. For many years she immersed herself in alternate spiritualities, what we often call ‘new age’. While her attention didn’t lay with horoscopes, she tapped into almost everything else. This is some of what she had to say, 

“My New Age practices were strengthening as I became focused on positivity and not allowing negative energy to flow into my life. I’m not going to lie, it was exhausting. Having routines and rituals, having crystals, stones, special essential oils, cleansing spaces, clearing your mind and meditating. The New Age practises which are supposed to be to clear your mind so you can just ‘be’ involved doing the exact opposite. They involve work, concentration, work and more work on your part and if you get it wrong, you’re the one to blame.”

Then she read the Bible and in those words, she met Jesus and like an exploding star, she found peace, for God had found her. She continued,

“After becoming a Christian it’s been amazing to see how God has opened my eyes to so many things. From that moment onwards my life was different. God had given me new eyes. Everything I once saw in the New Age and believed to be good I realised had come from darkness. I also had a sudden awareness of my sin, things I had done and how I had fallen from God. 

Since becoming a Christian I wake every day with a sense of peace. Peace about why we are here on earth, our purpose, which of course is to glorify God. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t thank God for sending Jesus to die for my sins. For those of you who see me here, I often hide in the back, primarily because even now, 3 years on I still get so emotional and teary singing in church about God’s grace and the grace he has shown in saving me. I often think people must look and think ‘who is that crazy girl crying at the back’. 

Since becoming a Christian, going to church and attending growth groups here at Mentone I have been blown away by the impact God has had in my life. The first and biggest change is the sense of peace I have in my heart. Whilst there are the obvious happy and sad events that take place in life… put those aside and I now live in a place of contentment. There is absolutely nothing anyone could give me or take away from me to take that. No money, no person, no material object can bring me and more joy or peace. I already have all the peace I need inside me from Jesus. He is my peace.”

Don’t listen to the horoscope, listen to Jesus. 

Christopher Watkin speaks on creating a healthy society

/ MurrayCampbell

On July 25th at Mentone Baptist Church, Dr Christopher Watkin will be addressing one of the key social issues facing Australia in the 2020s:

‘How can we build a healthy society in a fractured age?’

Australia is wrestling with important issues surrounding religious and social freedoms and responsibilities. Dr Watkin will help us navigate a way forward.

In 2021, Chris addressed political and community leaders in Parliament House, Canberra, outlining a positive vision for civil society. It’s a great opportunity for Melbournians to engage with ideas that can shape tomorrow.


Dr Christopher Watkin is the ARC Future Fellow at Monash University. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Biblical Critical Theory’ and numerous other volumes including, ‘Difficult Atheism’.

Reserve your tickets today:

https://events.humanitix.com/building-a-healthy-society-in-s-fractured-age