Other Biblical reflections
An opportunity to think of yourselves with sober judgement (Romans 12.1-8)
It's often said that humility is not about thinking less of yourself but thinking about yourself less. And there's probably some truth to that. But, according to the Apostle Paul, it's about thinking of yourself with sober judgement.
At the high point of the majestic arc traced by the letter to the Romans, Paul calls us to respond to God's mercy in Jesus by offering our bodies as 'living sacrifices' in spiritual worship. A key aspect of this is the task of thinking of yourselves with sober judgement (verse 3).
In fact, this is the first specific application of the general call to spiritual radicalism (verse 2) -- displayed not simply in non-conformity to the habits of feeling and acting characteristic of an assertion of independence from God, but also such thorough transformation and inner renewal that you now begin to recognise and delight in what pleases God.
For Paul, thinking of yourselves with sober judgement clearly involves a kind of spiritual stocktake. It means making an honest assessment of yourselves -- on the one hand, resisting our deeply ingrained inclination to rate ourselves more highly than we should; and, on the other, acknowledging the God-given diversity of your faith community. Only this will allow us to see how the different gifts God has given your community are designed to enable each of you to make a faith-full contribution to the good of all.
The National Church Life Survey is a terrific opportunity to help you and your congregation think of yourselves with sober judgement. It's about exactly the kind of spiritual stocktake Paul speaks of.
Ultimately, it's about being better informed and equipped so you can work together to serve and please the Lord.
Are you secure enough to open yourself up to honest feedback? (Mark 10.35-45)
When Jesus hammers his disciples about their hunger for power and privilege, he completely up-ends their thinking:
"You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all."
In Jesus' kingdom, leadership is radically redefined. It's not about power and privilege but service and even slavery!
And what makes this possible -- and sets the pattern for it -- is nothing short of the blood, sweat and tears of the Lord himself: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
This is easy enough to pay lip service to. But it's much harder to rigorously apply. The old ways keep coming creeping back in.
It's worth asking yourself the question, are you willing to let go of being the sole 'expert' and authority on your congregation? Are you secure enough as a servant-leader to open yourself up to honest feedback -- to let the people in your congregation speak freely, and even to allow others to analyse the data and give you their perspective on how your congregation's doing?
The 2011 National Church Life Survey is one opportunity to take this risk, face the facts (brutal or otherwise), and put your hope in the God who is willing and able to transform you...
A solemn charge and an offer too good to refuse (1 Peter 4.1-11)
The Apostle Peter lays a very solemn charge upon the church -- to be "good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (verse 10).
For Peter, this means learning to "serve one another with whatever gift each has received". This is a matter of showing the kind of love that isn't afraid to open up life and home to share with one another (verses 8-9). And it's hard to see how this wouldn't involve at least some self-awareness on the part of congregation members.
What is more, Peter prefaces all this with a reminder about what God has been doing among them, rehearsing the tremendous journey his readers have been on. By God's grace, they're no longer living their earthly lives for human desires, indulging themselves in ways indistinguishable from those around them (verses 1-4). This old way of life has been done away with and a new life 'in the Spirit' has been opened by the power of the good news about Jesus they've received (verses 5-6).
The 2011 National Church Life Survey is one opportunity to gain some self-awareness and to pay attention to what has been God doing in your church community.
It's about taking an honest look your strengths as well as the areas you could potentially grow in -- all so you can better love and serve one another. Surely help with that is an offer too good to refuse!
Taking stock: the good, the bad and the ugly (Exodus 30:11-16, Numbers 1, 2 Samuel 24)
Sometimes, we can view surveys negatively because they are impersonal. But even from Israel's early history, counting the people was a good, God-ordained thing for their leaders to do.
When Moses receives instructions about the Tabernacle on Mt Sinai, God instructs him to take a census of the people. The Israelites even have to pay to be counted as a reminder of the ransom given for their lives (Exodus 30:16). In Numbers 1, we see this census actually being carried out to good purpose.
But we can count people badly. King David, incited by the Lord, commissioned a census of the people of Israel that ended very, very badly. David's attempt to take account of the nation -- and its military might in particular -- somehow expressed his deep failure to trust God.
Perhaps the key lies in the context of this episode in the bigger story being told in 2 Samuel. There, God's always timely and abundant provision of able warriors to support King David and protect the kingdom of Israel has just been mentioned. But here David is wanting to bolster his own sense of control and self-sufficiency.
What ensues is tragic for David -- and for the whole nation. In judgement, God presents David with an impossible choice: three years of famine, three months of military humiliation, or three days of ravaging disease. He opts for disease and people perish in their thousands.
In God's great kindness, the plague was halted. Amazingly, God himself made provision for David's sin to be dealt with and its consequences mitigated. Even more amazingly, God chooses the very place where his anger was turned aside for the temple to be built -- it becomes the place where he would meet with his people!
There is nothing intrinsically bad about taking stock of your people by counting them and listening to their opinions. Nevertheless, rash participants in the 2011 National Church Life Survey beware: don't fall into David's trap of thinking this gives you control and failing to trust God. Taking stock of God's good provision for you and your church family should be an expression of trust in the living God who supplies all our needs.
Is your church an impossible-to-miss beacon to God's glory? (Matthew 5.13-16)
Jesus famously used two images to describe the public life and witness of his followers: salt and light.
Lots of ink has been spilt over the precise significance of each image. But one thing is clear -- Christians are supposed to be an unmistakable presence and influence for the good in their neighbourhoods, communities, and wider societies.
Like salt preserving and flavouring food in a pre-refrigeration world, like an elevated city in the oppressive darkness of a desert night or a lamp on a stand in the middle of a pre-electric household, our identity is to be an impossible-to-miss beacon to God's glory and for the good of all:
"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
All too often, though, Australian congregations are anything but impossible to miss -- pre-occupied with internal issues we can be virtually absent from our communities. Either that or we're known for anything but our God-glorifying good works -- living lives that tragically fail to bear witness to the Lord Jesus.
The 2011 National Church Life Survey will show you where your church is healthy and true to its identity as well as revealing where you could have further to go in being a faithful presence within your neighbourhood, community, and wider social context -- to the greater glory of God.