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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.”
Are you happy? How do we measure happiness? Is Melbourne a happy city?
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Nick Reece, has announced a grand plan to make Melbourne the ‘most optimistic city’, including KPI’s to measure our happiness.
This audacious vision was conceived out of the recent M2050 Summit where 700 Melbournians brainstormed a future for our city as they enjoyed good wine, cheese and ‘don’t worry, be happy’ on loop (this isn’t a literal translation of what transpired!).
VIctor Perton from the ‘Centre for Optimism’ is championing Melbourne’s new vision (neither did I know that the ‘Centre for Optimism’ was a thing!). Perton has been interviewed alongside the Lord Mayor to promote Melbourne’ new ethos.
When a reporter contacted Perton about a Herald Sun article on the topic, he responded,
“The article was dripping with sarcasm. The writer dismissed optimism as fluff, equating it with naïveté or escapism.
How revealing.
Well, our arguments proved stronger than the cynics.
Later that day, the Lord Mayor and I appeared on several radio and television channels, putting forward a clear, confident case for optimism as a civic virtue, a strategic advantage, and a public good.”
Well, I guess it must be true then.
As I delved deeper into the website of optimism, I came across this bold and optimistic claim,
“The answer to life’s most pressing questions is optimism.
That is the optimism principle
The Optimism Principle distils the wisdom and insights acquired over ten (10) years of research on Australian Leadership and Optimism. We have found that optimism isn’t merely beneficial; it’s fundamental to achieving personal and organisational success and catalysing positive change.”
Hmmm. Not buying it? Neither do I. This approach smells familiar, much like the prophets of Jeremiah’s day who repeated the mantra, ‘peace, peace’, all while the city fell apart.
“They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.’ (Jeremiah 6:14)
Like a naked Emperor parading down Swanston Street or a French Queen with an appetite to, ‘let them eat cake’, just thinking positive doesn’t make it so. You can be the most optimistic person in the world, but like the Yarra River 200 years ago, people see through it. People need hope with substance. People need answers that go deeper than that iteration of the hedonist dream.
Now, I love Melbourne. Melbourne is the city where I live and where Susan and I raised our children. I started this blog 8 years ago to offer ‘ideas about and for Melbourne’. So, this isn’t an anti-Melbourne rant. It is rather an appeal to be real, and to recognise that our 5 million plus people need a better hope than what the Lord Mayor is offering.
The most obvious flaw in the Mayor’s plan is the implicit consensus that we are not a happy city. Melbourne is not an optimistic place, and we are not a particularly happy people. The Mayor wants to cultivate the mood change because optimism isn’t our thing.
One would have to be lying on a Tahitian beach for the past 6 years not to realise that a dark cloud hovers over Melbourne’s city and suburbs.
And the list continues longer than the Nepean Hwy.
Despite popular conception, our situation wasn’t created by the pandemic. Two years of almost constant lockdowns and restrictions certainly took their toll on us, but it wasn’t the catalyst that brought about pessimism or diminished energy and positive outlook. COVID functioned like a fast retreating high tide, exposing our hidden skeletons. The pandemic uncovered conditions that were already at work in our city: We are not happy. We are more anxious, troubled, divided and afraid, and with little hope of that trend changing soon.
Our optimist friends point to,
“we are cool.
From laneway galleries and artisan coffee to the Australian Open and cutting-edge science precincts, Melbourne has earned global recognition as one of the coolest cities on the planet. A city of thinkers, creators, performers, innovators.”
Sure, I guess that’s kind of true. But is this the sum total of what constitutes ‘happiness’?
It is somewhat telling that, as far as most global measures are concerned, it doesn’t get better than Melbourne. We are still considered one of the most liveable cities in the world, and yet we don’t feel it. When it comes to education, standard of living, food, sport, and culture, we are the Mount Everest of metropolises, as tall as Babel. Nevertheless, Melbourne is a melancholic city. We are more Nick Cave than Kylie Minogue. We are Marc Rothko, not Andy Warhol, we’re into abstract expressionism not pop art. We are a monochrome city. Our uniform is black on black with only the occasional shade of grey to separate the layers of black. Moodiness is what we do well. Perhaps part of our problem is our insufferable pride. Our expectations are so high and our competitiveness so insistent, that we normalcy and averageness are seen as failure.
There is also an intrinsic misstep in our approach to life. We decided that we no longer need God and we don’t need a new creation, because we can create heaven on earth. And we succeeded, and it wasn’t enough.
In 2006, world-renowned psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote, ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’. Haidt argues,
“Happiness is not something that you can find, acquire, or achieve directly. You have to get the conditions right and then wait.
“Those who think money can’t buy happiness just don’t know where to shop … People would be happier and healthier if they took more time off and spent it with their family and friends, yet America has long been heading in the opposite direction. People would be happier if they reduced their commuting time, even if it meant living in smaller houses, yet American trends are toward even larger houses and ever longer commutes. People would be happier and healthier if they took longer vacations even if that meant earning less, yet vacation times are shrinking in the United States, and in Europe as well. People would be happier, and in the long run and wealthier, if they bought basic functional appliances, automobiles, and wristwatches, and invested the money they saved for future consumption; yet, Americans and in particular spend almost everything they have – and sometimes more – on goods for present consumption, often paying a large premium for designer names and superfluous features.”
Interestingly, ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’ was followed in 2012 with ‘The Righteous Mind’, and then, ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’ (2018), and finally, in 2024, ‘The Anxious Generation. If we need an illustration that speaks to the unravelling of a generation in 12 short years, Haidt’s thoughtful output is demonstrative.
We don’t overturn an anxious generation with skin-deep positive thinking, but with hope and a hope that has deeper meaning and consolation than a good coffee and money to pay the rent. That’s the problem, Melbourne’s new vision isn’t honest enough. Sure, we can pump out Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’ all day long, and ‘look at the bright side of life’, but cliches and forced smiles won’t cut it.
We have lost the ability to forgive. We are proficient at naming and shaming, while we wait for the day when our own sins will be exposed. We don’t know how to forgive, and without forgiveness, there is no happiness.
We have lost our grip on community. We know how much people need other people. Friendships and human connection is a basic life requirement, and yet almost every step in our society works against building community.
We have lost contentment. Contented lives are anathema in Melbourne, as businesses, schools and sporting codes vie for our attention and promise more. The contented person is almost frowned upon. How can you be happy with a small house or less than average income? How dare you be happy while living with chronic illness.
We have lost hope. Happiness without hope cannot exist, but where in our city do we find hope? Hope that depends on us will either lead to pride because ‘we can do it’ or to despair because reality catches up and we can’t. Which leads to this next ingredient essential for true happiness.
We have lost transcendence. This is something Zoomers seem to be waking up to as many under 25s are beginning to ask questions about spiritual realities and are beginning to read the Bible and turn up to churches around Melbourne. While my generation mocks Christianity and even calls it ‘dangerous’, and while Melbourne Councils find little to no room for places of worship in their grand designs, on the ground, there is an emerging recognition that we need God and that we are wired for God.
Ecclesiastes, the ancient book of wisdom, was right all along,
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
The Bible’s offering goes deeper than any optimist strategy. The Scriptures address the raw and real of the human condition. There’s no sugar coating in the Bible. We do however, find costly love and sacrifice, and hope for the helpless and joy that will outlast the best of what Melbourne has to offer.
As a Christian, I don’t subscribe to optimism or to pessimism, because the good news of Jesus Christ breaks pessimism apart and it won’t give room to hubristic ventures. This good news message offers people a way of viewing life with greater clarity, humility, thankfulness and joy. It doesn’t ignore material needs and the gains from improving education and green spaces, and hospitals, it does provide a firmer foundation, and it breaks the world open to what has eternal value.
The world’s most famous book on happiness (joy) is found in the Bible, Paul’s letter to the Philippians. From beginning to end, this short letter is filled with expressions of joy by man who was struck in a prison cell and facing an uncertain end.
“Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two…
whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him… not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[ Christ… I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
If we are hoping for happiness, we will need to find forgiveness, friends, contentment, hope and transcendence. I’ll happily argue any day of the week that these realities are found in the person of Jesus and experienced in local churches that are scattered around Melbourne. If these KPIs are missing from Melbourne’s vision, then the project is already bound to fail.
Our Lord Mayor’s vision for Melbourne is too superficial. We are not plastic people who can be made happy by sensory experiences alone. Human beings are made for communion with God and made for community. The heart cannot be satisfied by material gain alone. As Jesus famously quipped, ‘what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul’.
Melbourne has been rocked this week with 2 men charged with abusing little children. 1200 children are now required to be checked for STDs. Imagine the horror for these families? How do people begin to process what has happened?
In this episode of my new podcast, I want to address the question of evil, and needing a God who judges and who hates evil even more than us.
Or listen on Apple Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/episode-3-evil-in-melbourne/id1504044662?i=1000715507939
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uuIqzbk2Q6aqsEVGQA6Dj?si=ea124dbda07b44c5
Coming soon…a podcast for and about Melbourne, engaging in the big issues through the lens of the Christian faith
I am truly shocked. A local council in Melbourne yesterday adopted a motion about the conflict in Israel and Gaza. To describe it as an anti-Israel manifesto is probably a dilution of the actual words and intent.
The Merri-Bek City Council has passed a resolution with 11 separate points (which I’ve included below). In summary, Israel is to blame for all the events of the past month, including the slaughter of 1400 Israelis and the 200 hostages taken. And because Israel is responsible, the people of Melbourne (and they call on the Prime Minister) need to take sides with Palestine against Israel.
There is no word affirming Israel’s responsibility to defend its people against terrorism. If anything, the document would have us believe Israel is the evil perpetrator of genocide.
You may ask, but what about Hamas? The Council doesn’t attribute culpability to Hamas. Not once does the Council condemn Hamas; they don’t even mention the terrorist organisation. Why not? Is Hamas not responsible for the attack on Israel? Are they not responsible for the ongoing suffering of people in Gaza and are they not responsible for the continued fighting in Gaza today? It seems that admitting these facts doesn’t fit the narrative that the Merri-Bek Council wants to spin.
We are not obliged to agree with every policy and decision made by Israel over the decades. No nation is immune from legitimate criticism and concern. But these Councillors are either ignorant of what is taking place in the Middle East and ignorant of the religious and cultural history of the region or something far more sinister is going on. No wonder Jews in Melbourne are nervous and feeling a heightened sense of insecurity.
What is staggering about the Council’s resolve is that they are not even trying to hide the undertones. They are playing the discord openly and without hesitation.
The Merri-Bek Council wants to step further and introduce both symbolic and practical support of Gaza and against Israel. The motion includes a call to boycott businesses connected with Israel and the Council will be “raising the Palestinian flag on the fourth flag pole at Council’s Coburg Civic Centre for six months in recognition of the specific situation of a genocide being carried out against the Palestinians in Gaza.” Notice, that there will be no Israeli flag.
I’m not a supporter of flying flags of other nations (and causes) on our Government buildings. So don’t hear me saying that the Star of David should be flying in Coburg. But, flagrant distortion of what is happening and the gaslighting toward Jewish people beggars belief. And it gets worse, the Council then has the gall to insinuate that Israel is akin to Nazi Germany! Are they so ignorant of history?
The Herald Sun is reporting that one Councillor who voter against the motion has subsequently received death threats*. I guess those calls for peace don’t include those people who wish to stand up for Jews.
No one wants to see civilians in Gaza suffering and dying. It is a horrific state of affairs. It is however sheer ignorance and arrogance for this Council to lay all responsibility at Israel’s feet and none with the very people who perpetrated the evil on October 7, and who, by the way, have subsequently told the world that they will do it again and again until from the river to sea until Israel is no more.
We can weep and grieve for innocent Palestinians. We pray for peace. But will Merri-Bek Council not grieve for the countless Jews who have experienced the most horrific day since the Holocaust? Will Merri-Bek Council not offer one word of solace to Jews and word of assurance that they will stand by them?
Who will weep with Rachel and for her children?
We said never again, but today those words are sounding increasingly hollow.
May I propose a new motion and Merri-Bek Council takes a break from pontificating and instead read Jeremiah ch.31. If we are genuine about seeking peace, not only in the Middle East but here in Melbourne as schisms grow, then this is a word we need to take to heart.
———-
* I originally said that only one counsellor voted against the motion. Correction, there were four objections, with one of those for receiving death threats
—————————————–
That Council,
1. Mourns the tragic and horrific loss of civilian lives in the current conflict and condemns all attacks that target civilians.
2. Recognises that the constant bombing and the total siege of Gaza is traumatising for many Merri-bek residents who have relatives in the region or have come from war-torn countries. We express our solidarity with these communities.
3. Notes that the current conflict did not begin on 7 October 2023 – it began with the Occupation of Palestine, and the forced displacement of millions of Palestinians from their homelands as a result.
4. Condemns the words of senior Israeli politicians and military officials that seek to dehumanise Palestinians in Gaza to justify their war crimes. For example,
5. Notes that many global organisations and institutions, including Amnesty International, United Nations Special Rapporteurs, and the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Occupied Palestinian Territory, have documented systematic evidence of war crimes committed by Israel and its army against Palestinians, including:
a) sustained bombing of residential neighbourhoods
b) the bombing of schools, health facilities, mosques and churches where civilians are sheltering
c) the use of white phosphorous (a chemical weapon which burns the skin)
d) the denial of food, water, fuel, electricity, internet, and medical supplies to the people of Gaza.
6. Notes that 800 scholars of international law, conflict studies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies declared in a public statement on 15 October:
“We are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
7. Writes to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister calling on the Australian government to:
a) Strongly condemn the war crimes being carried out by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza.
b) Call for an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing.
c) Call for the immediate lifting of the siege on Gaza to allow Palestinians in Gaza to have unlimited access to food, water, fuel, electricity, medical supplies and construction materials to repair damaged homes and civilian infrastructure.
d) Advocate for all Palestinian and Israeli hostages to be released.
e) Advocate for a political resolution to the decades-long conflict which includes an end to Israel’s illegal Occupation of Palestine in order for there to be a just and sustainable peace.
f) End all military, economic, political and diplomatic ties with the state of Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law.
8. Notes that boycotts, divestment and sanctions are legitimate, non-violent tactics used by individuals and organisations to pressure foreign governments over human rights abuses and war crimes, including Israel’s brutal and illegal colonisation of Palestine.
9. Receives a report to explore options for council to cancel contracts with companies that support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine or profit from it, especially companies which supply equipment to the Israeli Defence Force.
10. Amends the Community Flag Schedule outlined in Council’s Flags Policy by raising the Palestinian flag on the fourth flag pole at Council’s Coburg Civic Centre for six months in recognition of the specific situation of a genocide being carried out against the Palestinians in Gaza. That this decision be communicated to the communities who were expecting their flags to be flown on other dates after six months the decision will be reviewed by Council.
11. As a diverse, multi-cultural, and multi-faith community, Merri-bek City Council deplores and actively stands against all forms of racism, including Islamophobia and Anti-semitism.
We are living in an age of outrage. No matter where we find ourselves on the political spectrum and no matter where we land on a myriad of moral issues, navigating anger and abuse is becoming normalised. This indictment on our society isn’t a sign of progress but an alarm signalling that we have deep-rooted problems. The issue isn’t just that people disagree on important matters, and do so strongly, but that people feel unable to disagree for fear of retribution.
Last weekend Melbourne witnessed scenes that shocked us. Neo Nazis standing our the steps of the Victorian Parliament House, saluting their vile gestures and shouting obscenities. As aghast as Melbournians were by this sight, there were a multiplicity of reactions and stances made around the broader events on that Saturday in Melbourne city. The organised women’s protest has since gone to other Australian and New Zealand cities, this time without interfering fascists but with even more vitriol and violence conducted by counter protests
Despite the insistence of some of our political leaders and media personalities, it is possible to believe several things are true all at once. Indeed, I’d argue that it’s sensible and necessary. For example, all of the following are possible:
I think very few people want our city of Melbourne marred with violence and ugly protests. We’ve seen them in the past and sadly such events will appear again in our streets; it’s human nature. However, the one sight that filled the news and left us groaning was the group of around 20 men parading outside Parliament House in balaclavas, with Nazi salutes and shouting unrepeatable things at other protesters. Why the Government allowed this group to protest at all, and at the same time and location where two other (opposing) protests were taking place, boggles the mind.
I understand that the original plan was for a women’s protest on the steps of Parliament House. A rally was organised in support of women’s rights, and this then met with a counter protest in support of trans activism. The already tense scene was then crashed by what was a crude gang of thugs, who were either pretending to be or actually representing Nazism.
My understanding is that the women’s protest was alerting people to the fact that many women are feeling increasingly marginalised and under threat by a new ideology that is sweeping the Western world. A hundred years of progress for women seems to be taking a sharp decline, leaving many women feeling vulnerable and maligned.
Can one imagine 10 years ago, women protesting in our cities against the mistreatment of women, only for counter-protests to shame them and for political leaders to condemn them? It is quite staggering. The writing has been on the wall for some years, however. The sexual revolution has been underway for 70 years and it continues to follow its natural course of undermining sex and gender and removing anything that gets in the way of self-actualisation. A movement that achieved some good is bearing much fruit that is harming women. In that sense, the latest chapter of the sexual revolution has feminist roots. And so we have reached the point where it’s near impossible to answer the question, ‘what is a man and what is a woman?’ Indeed, even asking the question is often deemed offensive and will have you hauled before the HR department at work.
Professor Richard Dawkins believes that what is a man and what is a woman are basic and incontrovertible facts. In a recent interview with Piers Morgan the world-renowned microbiologist said,
“As a biologist, there are two sexes and that’s all there is to it.”
“Sex really is binary”.
Richard Dawkins is able to get away with defending this brand new ‘heresy’, but most women (and men) cannot. As Premier Daniel Andrews has demonstrated on numerous occasions, if you transgress the latest gendered religion, he will call you the meanest and worst names he can think of and get away with in public.
It’s not only issues of sex and gender, but there is a gamut of important social issues today where finding rigorous discussion and respectful discourse near impossible to find. We are living in a polarised world and fault lines are appearing everywhere. If you want to be on the ‘right side of history’ (which is code for keeping your job and reputation), without pausing one has to employ the strongest rebuke at social dissenter, and failure to do so may cause us to doubt your moral credentials.
It’s becoming the norm for all kinds of community and business groups to expect total affirmation and support, and failure to do so means one thing: you are a hate-filled and anti-everything nazi loving awful human being! Of course, that may be the case, but most likely, the labels are untrue. But what is truth? Mud sticks.
Slinging mud at people you disagree with and don’t like is easy. Anyone can do that. And sadly, sometimes that mud stains, stinks, and stays.
The Bible has some fairly strong things to say about our words, For example, Proverbs 10:18 says,
“Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”
Psalms 15 says,
“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord”
Using words liberally and losing isn’t something God treats lightly. The Apostle Paul cautions against responding to verbal insults with more of the same kind,
“when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment” (1 Corthinians 4:13).
Paul was a regular target for insult and assault. He didn’t enjoy the mischaracterisation that he regularly experienced, and he fought hard to not respond in kind. Rather, it caused him to lean more heavily on God and to respond as the Lord Jesus responded to his critics and crucifiers.
The right to protest is engrained in Western liberalism and it is an important freedom, albeit one that I choose not to exercise (with one exception many years ago). I personally think there are better ways to communicate concerns but I also recognise there can be power and persuasion through the force of numbers. Then again, pro-life marches in Australia often outnumber other protests and yet they rarely make the news.
Leaving aside the question of whether protests are helpful or not, last weekend’s protests and the response since are yet another example of how our culture has turned into the ouroboros. We are chasing our own tail and trying to bite it off! We are slowly destroying ourselves as we deny essential realities about the world and about ourselves. And we have lost the ability to communicate hard issues with grace, gentleness, and respect. It’s as though some bright spark read Romans 1:18-32 and thought to himself/herself, what a brilliant pathway to progress! But this isn’t progress, it is a dangerous game of power and bullying and it is hurting real people who are struggling with real issues.
Jesus once asked a group of intellectuals, “Haven’t you read…that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female…”
Can you imagine Jesus standing in Melbourne City and saying these words today? He was willing to say the unpopular thing. Jesus was also known for his great compassion. He didn’t renege on truth or on grace.
Above all, our city of Melbourne needs to relearn how to listen to the One who came from heaven and who was crucified out of love for us. But giving up hubris and putting on humility isn’t an easy path to take, but it is a necessary one if we have any chance of finding redemption. Shouting and demeaning is easy. Listening, speaking well and showing grace is hard. Until such time that we recover these Christian graces, I suspect we are going to face more trying times ahead.
And so for my final plea, Christians of Melbourne, don’t buy into the rage. Resist it with all the strength God gives and offer a better pattern. Perhaps no one will listen for now. But eventually, a day may come when the road of rage ends its course and people no longer know where to turn. So be that presence where people can turn. But they probably won’t turn up to our churches or ask those deep questions of us if we’ve already signed up to angry and spiteful mobs that are controlling our public discourse today.
Amidst all the carnage of bad news stories and accusations, anger, and slander that’s filling the news, here’s a good news story that happened to us tonight.
I was taking a shower when the front door knocked. Susan opened the door and in front of her stood a stranger. A man slightly older than middle-aged introduced himself. He was filling his car up with petrol at the service station about 800m from our home when he noticed a letter on the ground.
The envelope was addressed to me and it had been torn open. He noticed the letterhead and thought it must be important. It read ‘Australian Army’.
He handed the letter to Susan and explained where he found it. He also shared, that according to his wife, that missing mail has become an issue in our local community. Apparently, there are persons walking our streets at the moment and helping themselves to mail. Australia Post, take note!
For a moment I thought, what other mail has been stolen. It’s not that we get many letters anymore, but obviously, it’s even fewer than we are meant to receive. I also thought, maybe that’s what happened to Chris Watkin’s, ‘Biblical Critical Theory’. The publishers have twice sent me a free copy and twice the book has never arrived. If anything, maybe these letters (and book) thieves will open Chris’ volume and read it!
As it happened, the letter is important to us. There are in fact two letters. You see, our eldest son recently joined the Australian army and he’s now serving his country as a soldier. We are very proud of the decision he made. The letters are from our son’s Company and Platoon commanders, introducing themselves and providing families with information about their children and the basic training they are currently undertaking.
I didn’t have a chance to meet or thank this stranger, although Susan explained the letter’s significance and thanked him. Susan called to me and so I grabbed a towel and came out, water dripping. She handed over a tattered envelope.
What a kind act. This man wasn’t obliged to pick up the letter, come to our home and hand it to us. He’s probably on his way home after work and has responsibilities to attend. And yet, he decided to go out of his way to give us this important correspondence.
I doubt if our special postman will ever read this blog post, but if you do, thank you. Our family appreciates your kindness toward us.
This simple gesture of kindness reminds me of what God’s kindness is like. He doesn’t show kindness because we first smiled or because we’ve completed our ‘good deeds’ for the day. That’s not how God works.
“He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:17)
God showers us with kindness in small and big ways, and especially in sending us the good news message of his Son, the Lord Jesus.
The news across Melbourne today is a stark reminder of a lot of ugliness that mars our city and that churns and turns people against each other. Tonight Susan and I received a wonderful reminder that kindness can also be found.
As we approach Easter, I’m also thinking about how much we need God’s kindness, the kind of tenderness and concern that God loves to express. How amazing it is that this Divine kindness is given to those who are lacking righteousness. God is kind to those who are unkind, he shows love toward those who are unloving, and he gives grace to the guilty.
The Bible urges us to avoid contempt, “do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
Instead of turning our backs on our Creator, perhaps we should reconsider the extent to which God is kind toward us. As the Apostle Paul says of all who accept God’s message of life,
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6-7)
Embedded in Melbourne’s memory is the largest crowd ever to gather at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Last night Ed Shereran lit up the G for 105,000 people. What a number! And he’s repeating the feat tonight with another 100,000 fans singing along to the pop star and his acoustic guitar.
For anyone walking past the G last night, a 100,000 strong chorus could be heard,
“Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
My bad habits lead to you”
There have been some monumental moments at the MCG. From the 1956 Olympic Games to the famed Box Day cricket test and the odd game of footy.
The MCG is almost a sacred space to Melbournians. Every year we take the pilgrimage to the G for football and for cricket and rock the stadium with cheers and boos as beer and tomato sauce splash on jumpers and jeans.
I have also visited the G at night when no one was around. We even managed to step onto that magical ground…before security ushered us off. Under that night sky and with the stands darkened, the stadium stood tall and magnificent, a Colosseum befitting the world’s sporting capital.
As journalists today rushed to the history books to uncover the biggest crowds in the MCG’s history, they found a day in 1959. On that day, 130,000 people converged at the MCG to hear a man talk about crucifixion. He explained with clarity and passion, how God came to earth as a man and died to take away the sin of the world.
Billy Graham preached and the choir that day did more than sing ‘bad habits’, they cried out,
“Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee
Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt
Fighting and fears within without
Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come”
I was speaking with a friend during the week and commenting about how exciting it is to see my city of Melbourne alive again with music and concerts. Only last week Susan and I picnicked across the river from the G, and listened in the Melbourne Symphony under the stars. To be sure, I’ll be there in 2 weeks’ time for the start of the AFL season and watch the mighty Blues trounce Richmond!
I’m sure the Ed Sheeran concert was great and will leave 1000s with a night to remember. But that day when Billy Graham came, he pointed Melbourne to the Son of God and many thousands of lives were changed forever.
Imagine a God who exists? Imagine moving not only to songs about romantic love but of a God who loves his enemies? Imagine not only enjoying watching a pop star live but coming to know the Son of God?
This message of Jesus Christ isn’t spoken around Melbourne as much as it was once. To be sure, there are still churches preaching this Gospel of Jesus and people are becoming Christians. Fewer people though are attending church and one can’t imagine an evangelist ever again filling the MCG. If anything, we find this Jesus repellent. From politics to education and our local celebrities, we are trying really hard to squeeze Jesus out of the city. We’re uncomfortable with his assessment of this thing called sin. He tells us, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Frankly, we choose ourselves and we’ll worry about God later on. Even the Melbournians who refuse belief in God still clench their fists at his words and claims on this world. But confirmed in the history books and still lurking in our memory, is the compelling story of Jesus and the cross he bore for humanity.
Perhaps it is time for Melbounians to open the old book and rediscover the One who laid down his life for us.
On the day Melbourne equalled the world record for the longest lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic and during another day of violent protests in our city, we were struck by a surprising visitor.
About 9:15 in the morning, our house began to shake violently. For the first 3-4 seconds I assumed a large truck was speeding down the road past our home. I soon realised then that this was more than a vehicle travelling too quickly. The floor and the walls continued to sway for over 20 seconds.
The earthquake hit 6.0 on the Richter scale, just north of Melbourne. Thankfully no one was injured and the damage was limited to 40 buildings.
Melbourne isn’t exactly the epicentre of earthquakes. Australia sits comfortably in the middle of a tectonic place, and yet even this seat proved unstable.
At the time my 12 year old daughter described the event as “surfing on concrete”. Over the course of the morning Melbournians came together in a way we rarely see, and on Twitter of all places! Comedic memes and funny one liners appeared. One of the best ones was a take on our Premier, then Dan Andreas Fault! Even better was the meme featuring Melbourne’s Federation Square with the tag line suggesting that the earthquake has improved this iconic building.
As the day progressed, people tried to explain the earthquake. Scientists suggested New Zealand was responsible, an explanation that makes sense to most Aussies. Apparently it’s something to do with moving plates and the Kiwis jumping and breaking them in order to keep our nuclear subs away.
Other people pointed to the protests erupting in Melbourne or the Government for its continued lockdown rules. Others again, suggested the event was some kind of Divine sign, even if most said it in jest.
It’s this last thought connection which is most interesting. There remains in Melbourne’s subconsciousness, a reference to God and the supposition that behind cataclysmic events is God. Sadly though we less often associate all the good things and beautiful things with God, even though God,
“satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5)
This thought process isn’t a drop of evolutionary dross that remains to be drained from our minds, it is evidence of the God whom we are trying to shut out.
Should we connect the earthquake with God generally or with God’s anger more specifically? The Bible has much to tell us about this question. For example, God is Sovereign and the earth is His. He made all that is and he remains in control.
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
Earthquakes are mentioned in the Bible, usually as historical events and other times as analogies illustrating God’s activities and character. And of course, as Jesus hung on the cross and died, there was a violent earthquake in Jerusalem.
Perhaps the most poignant Biblical reference to earthquakes is found on the lips of Jesus,
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8).
Jesus is describing the world as it is and the world that will continue to be until the Son of Man returns to judge. Jesus’ explanation doesn’t ignore a scientific one, he is answering the why question rather than the how. To be clear, Jesus’ summary of world history is not connecting specific ‘natural’ events with particular human transgressions, as Melbournians suggested with humour yesterday. For example, in Luke’s Gospel the story is retold of a tower collapsing in Jerusalem and 18 people died. Jesus says of this tragedy, “do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” The answer was, no.
You see, the jokes about judgement, while missing the mark in one sense, are in another way closer to the truth than may realise. Earthquakes, bush fires, pandemics, and wars each defy and destroy the hopes we have. They are violent reminders telling us that life isn’t right and that the world isn’t what we long for it to be. This is why, even in our subconsciousness we desire for things likes restoration and reconciliation. Even in our secular age where unbelief is the passport to intellectual and popular success, we cannot escape the inbuilt desire to explain our world in design with God, and with a God who both judges and saves.
Today Melbourne has taken the world record for having the longest lockdown, and we know that are many more weeks to go. Dreams have been shredded. Securities have come up empty. Suffering is real. For many, hope has fallen through the cracks.
Jesus understands. He has interpreted the world for us and his words are written down to prepare us. Jesus doesn’t leave us with a world of hopeless despair. He entered it with us and for us, even death on a cross. Through resurrection from the grave, he offers something we need, not just for heaven, but to make sense of today and to give the peace and joy today.
In the same message where he talks about earthquakes, Jesus also says this,
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
MurrayCampbell.net 