The link between the Message of Christmas and whether Calling Someone a Nerd is a 'Hate Crime'?

I recently was interested to see this title of a YouTube video clip of a ‘Good Morning Britian’ broadcast in my ‘recommended viewing’. The title caught my attention and its content was VERY interesting indeed:

Here is an example of why trying to go down the route of ‘hate crimes’ and criminalising the calling of people certain terms or names is a plan that will never satisfy, and is fraught with confusion and potential disaster. It not only turns people into what some call ‘snowflakes’ (as the current term is). It doesn’t build courage and resilience, and it prevents the opportunity to turn what was meant for evil into something good. It withholds the opportunity for people to learn to live above the negative intent of others, and have joy-filled and happy lives despite what others try to do to you.

Furthermore, here in this video clip, while one psychotherapist campaigns for making it a hate crime to call someone a ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’, the maths teacher and self-confessed ‘geek’ sees it as a badge of honour!

What some might use to shame, he receives as a compliment - a badge of honour.

This is a great lesson on the fact that turning something from shameful to honourable is more powerful than trying to make a law against the ‘shame’ action.

While the homosexual movement has used this idea in a bad way to turn homosexuality from shameful to ‘honourable’ in society, we can use the same approach for derogatory terms used against us.  We can take them as a badge of honour. We can create an honour-shame reversal.

This is what the apostle Paul did when he said in Romans 1:16 that he was not ashamed of the gospel (which society wanted to make out was shameful in following a leader who was shamed as a criminal punsished on a cross), but he gloried in the cross because it was the ‘power of God unto salvation’. He walked in an honour greater than the shame thrown at him.  Thus he didn’t need to fear the shame and could embrace the honour.

In this clip, there is the same call - to embrace the honour that is greater than any shaming from others.  

But not only is the honour counted as greater, but the shaming itself can be counted as honour.

Jesus said ‘blessed are you when people revile you’ (Matthew 5:10-12).  

As we celebrate this Christmas, we celebrate the One who came to turn the world’s honour-code upside down.  He showed that we can have an eternal perspective, that honour is not defined or limited to this world and what some people think it is. He entered the world in a lowly way, was misunderstood and reviled on this earth by most, and was shamed by a true ‘hate crime’, yet spoke of forgiveness, hope and endurance, with an assurance that his honour was not determined by popular opinion but was secure in the hands of his Father for eternity.

Because he endured the worst hate crime of all time, we can live above any hate levelled at us.

As Christians, let’s live in the light of the gift of our true honour in Christ. We can be secure in our identity in him, without the fear of insults, shaming or persecutions from others. And lets give thanks with great joy because…. such a gift is only possible because Jesus was born into this world as a tiny helpless baby on that first Christmas day.

It's not every day you find Wandering Donkeys and a Sapphire in your garden on the same day!

These last few weeks we seem to have had an inundation of animal visitors to our yard. 

Unfortunately most of them were unwelcome and uninvited!

First a herd of cows that broke into our yard and chewed up an entire garden!  Then a herd of goats who pushed through the ‘fence' chewed up another garden! Then a horse that somehow broke in and couldn’t find a way out, so was galloping round and round the plot!

Yes, the Klipspringers have also returned many times too, but they are not quite so unwelcome (although they are acting like lawnmowers to some of our ground cover plants as they seek out food in our garden when the bush around is so barren just now).

So between all these hungry critters our garden looks quite massacred at present.  The bush is dry and the animals are all hungry and desperate and our garden which we manage to keep looking reasonable through recycling all our water is attractive to them.  Oh how we long for rain!

However, it was another surprise to discover a Wandering Donkey - actually a few Wandering Donkeys!

For those who are regular readers of the blog, you might already be suspecting I’m not referring to a real donkey, and I’m not!  Yes,  I’m referring to a butterfly!

I have absolutely no idea why someone would call a butterfly a ‘Wandering Donkey’!

It was a surprise to see it because I had come to think I wasn’t going to see any more ‘new’ butterflies in our garden. The fact that I had found 50 different species already seemed amazing!  But yes, here was yet another species I hadn’t seen before!

But my discoveries that day weren’t over.  On the same day, I glanced down at another butterfly that had landed about a meter from me and realised it had an underside wing pattern I was fairly sure I hadn’t seen before!

And guess what?  Yes, it was another new one for me!

And it is called a Bowker’s Sapphire.  We have had one other ‘Sapphire’ in our garden before (the Triemen’s Sapphire), but not this one before - or at least I hadn’t seen it before.

It’s closed wings conceal an amazing surprise that is revealed when the wings open!

These are just two more examples from the butterfly world of the Botswana bush of God’s beautiful handiwork in creation!

Two more reasons to be caused to praise Him and glorify Him and be reminded that if he takes so much care with such tiny critters that we hardly even notice, how much more will he care for us!

But there was a further lesson for me this time. You see, I wasn’t outside with a camera because I was looking for butterfly beauty, I was outside with a camera to have a record of the mess and damage which baboons had done to our thatch lapa roof in our garden by pulling out chunks of thatch all over it. I was in the midst of a difficult situation. I was not even thinking about it being a beautiful situation.  But except for the difficult situation, I wouldn’t have had cause to be ‘in the right place at the right time’ to see and enjoy these little ‘beauty spots’ from the hand of the creator, let alone have the camera with me to record it.  On the one hand I had destruction and that felt like the main subject of the moment, and yet right beside me there was quiet beauty which God arranged for me to see and enjoy.

God had a reminder for me in this which I needed to learn yet again….that:

 the difficulties of life are never devoid of divine activity

God hasn’t stopped being God. God’s beauty and glory are still realities. God’s watchful care, meticulous design and wonderous goodness haven’t evaporated.  Though I may not understand all the reasons why he allowed his baboons to wreak havoc on our thatch roof, I can be assured that He hasn’t stopped being God. I may not understand all the difficulties of life, but I can be assured that God is still on the throne, and in his grace he is still present and at work.

I was also amazed that, even in the midst of feeling down and frustrated and a bit overwhelmed by the persistence of this troop of about 40 or so destructive baboons, these couple of little butterflies could lift my heart to levels of joy that far surpassed the baboon battle…because they lifted my heart to the reality that here lies a further metaphor:

- despite the actions of Satan the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy, there is One who is greater, One who is not always so obvious in the midst of our difficulties, but who nonetheless is real and has purposes of bringing joy and beauty and glory to a world filled with destruction.

So…..may you too be encouraged by the lessons to be learnt from these additional two little butterfly ‘joy bringers’ in God’s creation and join me in giving thanks to our good God who brings such good gifts of joy to us even when we aren’t looking for it!

Pride...Is it ever ok to be Proud? Part 3

In continuation of Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog post on ‘Pride’, here are the final two categories for us to begin to think about as alternatives for our cultural terminology….

3. Pride vs Privilege/Blessing/Honour
What about 'house-proud'? As a woman and a wife, I am very aware that there can be pressure from others to be 'house proud', to keep the house clean and tidy. But this issue is not really any different from the boy playing sport.  If we are to do ‘all’ - everything - to the glory of God, then even keeping house should be done to the glory of God.  This is not about keeping house according to the expectations of others, but according to how God wants your home to be.  Sometimes with kids around it will have times when it is looks messy, and a house that is truly a ‘home’ is going to looked lived in rather than a display piece. This is about honouring God in how you love and care for your family, and the possessions God has given.

Again, also in regard to national pride, to some degree we equate national pride with national loyalty - this is honour language.  What we honour, we will be loyal to.  But Honour should reflect our privilege and blessing in being whatever nationality we are, not pride in our rights.  Our loyalty should stem from a desire to honour from a heart of thankfulness.  We might say we feel ‘proud’ to be associated with whatever nationality we are, but we might do better to use the words ‘blessed’ or ‘honoured’.

The words we hear and use will mold the beliefs we live by.  Let’s choose our words carefully.

When we use words that don't do the best in properly explaining truth in Godly ways and instead speak in normal 'cultural' ways,  I feel concerned that we not only entrench possibly ungodly cultural patterns, but we also miss out on the opportunity to use words to turn our hearts to the truth and joy that glorifies God.

Pride is a word which can so easily be confused with honour.  Or should I say, the concept of honour can all too easily be infused with pride, and twisted and mis-placed to become pride.  Honour in God’s scheme of things is meant to be something we receive from him, and thus give back to him and others. Pride is focused more on attributing acclaim to ourselves. Both the source and the focus is sinfully misplaced. Even when we say ‘I am proud of you’, we are ever so subtly moving the person’s ‘who should I please’ off God and onto people….and we are only a tiny step away from often then saying the additional words ‘you should be proud of yourself’.

Although, the word 'proud' or 'pride' is part of the words associated with honour, and the word 'honour' is even used in the dictionary to try to describe 'pride' as it links it with self-esteem and self-worth, it is not a word or concept approved of by God.

I suspect a great deal of the use of our word ‘pride’ is because the West has steered away from honour dynamics in the last century. But the reality of the dynamic didn’t vanish in our lives just because we avoided honour terminology. So apart from a natural bent to the sinful and self-focused distortion of honour that we see in ‘pride’, we also ended up using it as the closest honour-word that was socially ‘acceptable’ to express ‘legitimate’ honour….but in the process, using the distorted concept of pride pushes our minds and attitudes, and thus actions, further into the mire of a sinful distortion of honour, rather than the legitimate dynamic. ‘Pride’ terminology pushes us away from focus on God and others, to focus on ourself.

[8]

If someone wins an Olympic medal - an honour - they could have it hung around their neck with an attitude of pride and 'I did this, I trained hard so its my right after all, I deserve this and this should get me noticed in the world and land me a good job'.

OR 

they could receive it with thankfulness for their giftedness and humility as they know how much others have also sacrificed and contributed to the achievement.  

For the average recipient, it is probably a mix of the two.

But there is a difference between the two.  God says true honour is received through humility.

Yet, the world says to take pride in one's own hard work.

And here lies the difference - one is about 'receiving a gift' and the other is about 'taking a right'.

1 Corinthians 4:7 reminds us: 

"Who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it"

The word and concept of Pride evokes and promotes a focus on 'me'. I don't receive pride from anyone or give pride to anyone, it’s a self-ascribed status of exaltation.

Whereas true 'honour' is something that involves 'others'.  Honour is received and given, and reliant on the presence of another.

Maybe the word 'pride' is also reflective of our Western 'individualistic' emphasis and thus our promotion of the concept of self-esteem.  But of course if you take God out of the equation for life, as the West has, and only leave others and yourself, and you don't want to be defined by others or reliant on others for dignity, who is left?....only self.  Thus our world promotes 'pride' and 'self-esteem'.

Let's use the example of being 'house proud’ - if we take care of our home 'as to the Lord’ and honour Him as the goal, when someone gives us praise and honour for a homey looking house, it is humbly received and we thank the Lord for the opportunity to honour Him and His name in this way.

But if we are busy keeping our home spotless so that others will notice and so we can get the praise we desire and the acceptance and approval of others so we are not 'looked down upon', then we will expect others to notice and congratulate us and we will be disappointed if they don't or if they criticize some minor lack.  We might even point out things in our home that we wish others would comment on. I know how easily I can be tempted to go down that road! Instead of desiring that our home blesses others, we hope it blesses us!  This then becomes a ‘right’ we demand, and is more about wanting, expecting and taking prideful ‘honour’, rather than receiving it gratefully.  True honour is a gift and stirs a response of thankfulness.  False honour is sought and taken as gain and revealed in pride.

False self-honour - ie. pride -  also leads to a sense that "I have done well" or "I did a good job" instead of a simple trust and thankfulness in the Lord.  It can also lead to subtle idolatry, where other aspects of what God wants us to do and be are put aside so as to achieve the sense of 'house-proud-ness'.  This can also then flow on to judging others who don't attain your level of tidiness or decor.

The subtle mis-use of this word can reflect just how much our culture can unconsciously dominate our thinking and infiltrate our relationships.

But when we bring true honour into our relationships with others, we bring dignity and value and love and care.  Let’s not forget to 'Honour everyone' (1 Pet 2:17) and to 'outdo one another in showing honour’ in a right God-honouring way (Romans 12:10).

4. Pride vs Courage
Like in the photo earlier in Part 2, of the Billboard promoting circumcision, we can easily confuse pride with courage.  However, we don't have to rely on sinful 'me' pride to gain the motivation to do what is right.  It requires courage to do what is right. It requires courage to make a choice which is different from others. It takes courage to do what may not be approved or affirmed by others. It takes courage to go against peer pressure no matter what age we are. But we don't have to be 'proud' that we have courage….yet we will be if we exclude our Creator.

When God is part of our lives, to have courage is to be bold enough to step out trusting Him for honour and acceptance and success, rather than seeking human or earthly means of achievement, approval and acceptance.

God told Joshua to be 'strong and courageous', not because he could be proud of himself if he took on the challenge ahead of him, but because his confidence was in the Lord who would be with him wherever he went in accordance with God's promises, His call on his life and the Law of God. (Joshua 1:7-9)

Courage which stems from trust in the Lord and in His mighty power results in thankfulness rather than pride.  It reminds us He is our strength and enabling and without Him we ‘can do nothing’ (John 15:5).

So…

…it is interesting to note that Ezekiel 24:21 & 24:25 are almost identical verses - except for the fact that the words God gave Ezekiel to say in each place swap the use of the word for ‘pride’ in the first instance with 2 different words - ‘joy and glory [honour]’ - in the second instance.  Maybe this is also demonstrating the joy and honour nuances of the ‘pride’ dynamic - that pride is having joy and glory in oneself - in other words pride is a misplaced joy and a misplaced glory [honour] and a joy and glory that we take for ourselves and what is important to us, instead of giving it to God.

This shows us directly from the mouth of God that we can have reason to look more towards alternative ‘joy’ and ‘glory[honour]’ vocabulary, to replace the ‘positive’ ways in which we culturally want to use the term ‘pride’.

So… I'd like to encourage you to join me in a counter-cultural journey of ’striving with His energy’ (Colossians 1:29) to replace our cultural terminology with biblical truth, to enable our words and conversation to reflect God's hatred for pride but his love for virtues that please him and bring Him glory.

Let's then also help others learn and grow… in joy, honour, thankfulness and courage!

[8] photo taken by myself of the page from the Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus in One Volume, Ed William T McLeod, Collins, 1987, p78

Pride...Is it ever ok to be Proud? Part 2

 

[6]

As we continue our discussion of our use of the term ‘pride’ and what God says about it from Part 1…..One result of our modern use of the word ‘pride’ is that we also think that the opposite of shame is pride (as in the quote above).

The next result of this belief that pride is the opposite of shame is that we think it’s pride we will need if we are going to be bold to stand for a belief or choice (as in the photo below of a billboard in Swaziland[7] reflecting an issue in Africa).

This is also maybe why the ‘gay’ (homosexual) movement has captured the word ‘pride’ to produce ‘gay pride’ and even one step further that ‘Pride’ has almost become synonymous with a ‘gay’ event or matter.

Maybe we need to recapture godly and biblical terminology which we are maybe overlooking, - terminology which we have but are neglecting to use to their full extent….words such as joy, thankfulness, privilege/honour, and courage.

If we don’t recapture these words and their appropriate use, we could be entrenching sinful perspectives instead of replacing sinful perspectives.

Let's be courageous enough to root out what hinders our hearts from having God's truth firmly planted, and thus what prevents us from bearing the fruit we are meant to.  Let's renew our minds, so we are not conformed to the world but transformed in Christ!

If we take a closer look at Scripture, we soon discover there are godly ways to express those emotions which we commonly call pride.  In fact I think there are at least 4 ways we can learn to express ourselves that are taught and exemplified in Scripture.

1. Pride vs Joy
Scripture tells us for example that God 'rejoices over us’ and ‘delights’ in us (eg Zephaniah 3:17), rather than 'is proud of us', when we honour and obey and please Him.  Is this not similar to what a parent feels when a child does well?

So how should a parent respond to a child who does well?

If we have God in His right place in our lives, then our goal is to bring glory to Him rather than to ourselves.  If we have no belief in God or no regard for Him, then the glory is something we will seek for ourselves instead.  If God isn't part of our lives, then yes, our chests will swell with pride when we look at 'our’ child (or grandchild) who did well...and if we are honest, we like the fact that others see it was 'our' child.

But if God is King of our lives, then we long to see our kids do well for very different reasons.  Firstly we should want them to do well in order to bring glory to God by using the talents and skills He has given them in ways He intended for them to be used.

For the creature to do just what the Creator intended for it to do, and do it diligently and excellently, brings joy to the Creator.  

The Olympic runner Eric Liddel comes to mind when he says in the movie about his life - ‘Chariots of Fire’,  that when he runs he feels God’s joy/pleasure. When a father is excited to see his child do well in some accomplishment, in a small way it is reflective of the joy the heavenly Father has.  The earthly father rejoices alongside the thrill and joy of the child who does well in what he was created to do. 

The father and son can also rejoice together because of the blessing it also can bring others (such as to a whole team that was able to win because of the goal the boy kicked).  The earthly father also rejoices that part of him (as in the child he sired) is doing well and bringing glory to God.  Both can rejoice together and give thanks to God.  We are to do all to the glory of God and so we rejoice in the strength and enabling God Himself gives in order to do that. We are meant to always remember that whatever we do, it is because of how God has enabled us to do it. (Deuteronomy 8:18)  Father and son can rejoice that school work was done, or a game was played, or a piece of art painted, or piece of music performed - all through the enabling of God and to the glory of God.

So rather than say to a child 'you make me so proud', maybe we should rather say 'you bring so much joy to me, to others and to the Lord! There is also opportunity together to pause and give thanks to the Lord for all that He has enabled and the blessing He has given. But this should not just be limited to ‘achievements’ but to when the parent/grandparent or anyone else sees that child (or any person in fact) making choices and setting priorities in accordance with godliness. We love others when we rejoice in the truth exhibited in their lives (1 Cor 13).

There is still plenty of biblical room to encourage one another, honour one another and give praise for someone using their God-given strength and ability to the full. Phrases such as 'You did well my son', or 'you worked hard for this', 'that looks so great', 'you did such a neat job', ‘thank-you so much for all your effort’ etc are still important.  Praise, encouragement and thankfulness for action and attitudes that reflects God's standard and design and beauty, are not irrelevant, but let’s not stop there, let’s make sure God is honoured and thanks is given to Him.

I recall many years ago our Pastor's 3 year old son learning his entrance 'exam' answer for AWANA Cubbies which was : Q. 'What is sin?'  A. 'Makes God sad'.  If sin is making God sad, then righteousness is making God glad!....and along with God, we can be glad in what brings Him gladness!

2. Pride vs Thankfulness

What about national pride?  Should we have national pride?  Should we be 'proud' to be Australian, or American or Kenyan or Fijian, or German or Japanese or whatever? 

It might not be wrong to feel blessed to live in a certain country or community, but such feeling should be from a desire to honour God for his blessing, from a heart of thankfulness and appreciation.  We might hear the word ‘proud’ used as the national anthem is sung, but we could use the word ’thankful'.

In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul explains how the world has gone wrong, and he includes in his description that people have failed to honour God and give thanks to him (v21).  When we are proud of our own achievements or encourage others to be proud of their achievements, it leaves God out of the equation – it fails to honour him and give thanks to him.

God tells his people (Deut 8:18) that they need to be wary of falling into the sinful trap of thinking their own strength has got them where they are, when it was God who gave them the strength in the first place. Whatever blessing we have comes via all that God has already given us and thus thanks should be given to him.  I will hear statements from people like ‘we made Australia what it is’. But while it may look like that (as regard the ‘progress’ or ‘development’ that has occurred), on the surface, there is nothing truly good we enjoy that doesn’t have its original source in God, whether the air we breathe to stay alive, the plants we eat for nutrition that then strengthen our muscles and feed our brain, or the materials we use from this earth to construct and build. Being proud of our achievements neglects and rejects God, to whom all thanks should be given.

[6] Photo sourced from Flickr under creative commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/  accessed 31 August 2016 

[7] Photo sourced from Flickr under creative commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/  accessed 31 August 2016 

Pride...Is it ever ok to be Proud?

Have you ever been told 'You should be proud of yourself', or to 'take pride in your appearance', or heard someone say that a person 'should be more house-proud'?

We take the usage of the word 'proud' in these situations to mean something good, and that it’s right to be 'proud' in some situations. There is even a movie called 'Proud' where the concept is upheld as a character trait to be aspired to.

I was astonished when a devotional email message was sent to me a short while back saying that ‘pride is not necessarily a bad thing…a certain amount of pride in God-given talent and ability is needed. It’s a needed component of self-esteem and confidence for balanced mental health’…it did go on thankfully to also say that ‘pride can become the most serious sin…without tempering influences of large doses of humility, pride tends to become arrogant’.

Then I also recently read an article about grandchildren being the ‘crown’ of the elderly, that this ‘must first and obviously refer to pride’ and that ‘we know that grandparents are proud of their grandchildren, and that’s right and good’.  However, I was encouraged by the clarification of this endorsement of ‘pride’ by saying ‘But it’s not the kind of pride that says, “Look at my accomplishment. Look what I’ve done.” It’s the kind of pride that says, “Look at God’s accomplishment! Look what God has done!”’ 

But then is that actually ‘pride’?

So there seems to be some confusion and tension on the issue of pride. 

On the one hand we feel like there are times we should have it so want to excuse it or justify it, but we also know  Scripture says God 'opposes the proud' (James 4:6).

How do we reconcile these two opposing uses of the word?

What is this word 'proud’?

The Word ‘Pride/Proud'
Our English Bible's word ‘pride/proud’ is a translation of the Greek word (used in the verse above - James 4:6) tranliterated as huperephanos.
               
                  At biblehub.com,  Thayers Greek Lexicon says it means to “despise others, to be haughty”.[1]


However, unlike our culture, there doesn't seem to be anywhere in Scripture which gives a positive slant to personal pride.  To justify our use of the word we might say there different kinds of pride, there is ‘pride’ (which is ok) and ‘arrogant pride’ (which is not ok). But God seems to say that all pride is unacceptable.

If we look at Jeremiah 9:23-24, it says not to boast in any personal wisdom, might or wealth, but only boast in God and what he does. Similarly, the Apostle Paul states, in addressing the deeply rooted pride issues in the Corinthian church[3],[4], that if he was to 'boast' in anything, it would be in Christ - not himself and his strength or ability. He also talks about boasting in his weaknesses, but this is not personal pride, because his weakness gives credit to Christ for any strength or accomplishment, and ‘boasting’ in what the world despises is not seen by the world as boasting but as humiliating foolishness… and we are called to be humble and fools for Christ (2 Corinthians 10:17,  11:16-30, 12:5,9). Personal pride is not spoken anywhere in Scripture of it being godly.

In fact, as we said earlier, Scripture says that God 'opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6).  These words which also appear in 1 Peter 5:5 and are reflective of Proverbs 3:34 ’to the humble he gives favour’, are contrasting pride with humility and saying that honour and favour (grace) from God goes to the humble, not the proud.  A bit of humility here and there doesn’t excuse us having pride in other areas. No, pride is the enemy of humility not its companion. The proud are so far from a position of favour, that God actually opposes them.  The proud are on the losing side.

In Scripture, ‘pride' in anything or anyone except God, is sinful. Even pride in our skills and achievements is wrong, as we are not supposed to boast in those, when we should be directing our acclaim to the Giver of those things. (Deut 8:18)

In fact John Piper puts it as bluntly as ‘God hates human pride’ and goes onto list several passages in Scripture as his reasons:

• Proverbs 6:16–17 says, "There are six things which the Lord hates, seven which are an abomination to him . . . " and the first one mentioned is "haughty eyes."
• In Psalm 101:5 David speaks for God and says, "The man of haughty looks and arrogant heart I will not endure."
• Proverbs 16:5, "Every one who is arrogant is an abomination to the Lord."
• Isaiah 2:11, "The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall be humbled; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day."
• Jeremiah 50:31, "Behold, I am against you, O proud one, says the Lord God of hosts; for your day has come, the time when I will punish you."
• Jesus said in Luke 16:15, "What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God."
• And in Acts 12:23 it says that an angel of the Lord struck Herod so that he was eaten with worms and died because when he received applause from the people, he did not give God the glory but took it for himself.[5]

Right now you might be saying: “But, but but.... What about congratulating a child on a job well done? How do we encourage someone to endeavour to keep their house neat and clean?  How do we describe the feeling a parent has when their child does well on the sports field or in an exam?” Surely there really are some contexts where being ‘proud’ is ok?

I wonder if the problem we have here is that, without realising it, as Christians we have unconsciously adopted the ways of the world around us, in how we express ourselves.  Like any culture, we can make too many assumptions that the way we do things must be right, instead of asking ‘Does God say it is right?'.

I don't accusingly point the finger, because I have also used this terminology with no thought at all, and I still find it all too easy to slip back to this terminology which in use all around me. It almost feels ‘strange’ to use other terminology. It certainly feels counter-cultural!


Is There A More Godly Way?  …find out in Part 2 of this blog post.

[1] Accessed 26 August 2016 http://biblehub.com/greek/5244.htm

[3] Piper John, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord, message on 1 Cor 1:31, http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/let-him-who-boasts-boast-in-the-lord accessed 31 August 2016.  In it Piper points out that it was pride that was the root problem in the Corinthian church and gives 13 references to elucidate this: 1 Cor 1:29, 1:31, 3:7, 3:21, 4:6, 4:18, 5:2, 8:1, 13:4, and 2 Cor 1:9, 3:5, 4:7, 12:9)

[4] Keller, Timothy, The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness, 10Publishing, p8

[5] Piper John, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord, message on 1 Cor 1:31, http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/let-him-who-boasts-boast-in-the-lord accessed 31 August 2016.

Life Lessons from ... African Vervet Monkeys

Last blog post I talked about how despite the trials of of living in the African bush…there are joys…but today I want to highlight one of the trials, but how even the trials are tools in God's hands for teaching me!!

One of the trials is…monkeys!

When people come to visit us and see the monkeys, they get all excited about seeing monkeys in the wild.

But we don't get so excited when a troop of monkeys visit.

You see, their visits are like a noisy tornado coming through. They thunder across the roof and swing through the trees and jump all over the porch furniture, pull off the cushions, and continue on their demolishing exercises across the pot plants and garden.

Yes it is that bad. We get used to the thundering across the roof, but we have never got used to the destruction they bring. We were glad to learn that they hate water so if we are home, the quickest way to get rid of them is to squirt water at them or quickly turn on a hose.

This brings me to the first lesson from monkeys about the way 'not' to live life! …but I will express it in the positive…

DO teach your kids!

Verses like Deuteronomy  11:9 remind us to be sure to teach our children diligently the things of the Lord.

You see in monkey-land, parents don't seem to teach their kids anything.  They raise them to weaning stage and then all the 'kids' born in that season in that area are pushed out to live life on their own.  So when the babies are born the mothers are kind of together raising their babies, but then its like the nursery gets abandoned and the kids form a new 'gang' of 'teenage' monkeys to find their own way in life.

So each generation 'teen-gang' comes through with no parents anywhere to be seen, and they test all kinds of leaves and plants, fruits and flowers, breaking them off or pulling up bulbs, biting into them and usually deciding they don't like their choice and subsequently throw it on the ground.  Eventually they decide after various attempts over time, what they do and don't like. But then that group have their babies and teach the 'kids' nothing of what they learnt. The kids just are 'free' to work it out themselves when the time comes…and thus wreck a whole heap of further havoc before they work out what they do and don't like. 

Here's an example:

These plants look lovely in the little red wagon on our porch, but take a closer look and you find…..

The chives have been 'hacked'

and just left lying around on the ground after these monkeys all have a taste and decide they don't like it afterall!

Not teaching our kids, or thinking that letting them be 'free' to discover what works or not in life, all on their own, is not only unloving (as it puts them through unecessary  pain and heartache which also cheats them of time that could have been used for more constructive development), it is socially and environmentally damaging.  It affects more and hinders more and damages more than just themselves.

God sees everything, we can't hide from him

So often when we go out to 'squirt' the monkeys, even before we have done anything, they will tuck their heads behind a tree or wall or edge of the roof, (while the rest of their body is sticking out), thinking we can't see them. (I wish I had a photo of it, but I'm usually too busy trying to chase them away!) Like it is so often with children, when they can't see you, they think you can't see them!

But when we live hoping to just hide our wicked ways for now, until we think no-one is watching, we show ourselves to be the fools in the long run.  Either our sin will find us out, or we will discover in this day and age that someone was recording or filming on a smart phone, or even if none of this occurs, one day God will reveal all that has been done in private.

And those who think that ignoring God and blocking him out of their vision, somehow ceases to make him exist, are just showing the reality of the Scripture that says 'The fool has said in his heart "There is no God"' (Psalm 14:1) .

There is a Latin Phrase 'Coram Deo', which simply means 'before the face of God' that is worth remembering - we should live every moment in a way that acknowledges God, and that he sees us and everything we do and even think. We are to live so honouring him that we have no fear to be fully exposed and open before him, not hiding like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. While fear of his displeasure/disapproval should never be far from our minds, his presence should be a comfort to us and a reminder of his love. 

Let's not be like monkeys!

Life Lessons from the African Klipspringer

While there are trials of living in the African bush, there are a myriad of joys as well.

One of those joys is the periodic visits to our yard and garden of two dear little Klipspringer antelope. -Klipspringer meaning 'rock-leaper' in Africaans.

Their Scientific name is ….get ready for it….Oreotragus oreotragus (meaning mountain he-goat). No, I haven't made a mistake, both words are the same. Klipspringers are the only ones in their genus category. Their closest 'relative' is the dik-dik (yes as mentioned in Jungle Doctor books!).  They stand just over 40cm at the shoulder.

They quietly wander in and browse on plants in our garden which they especially seem to think are tasty - thankfully the ones they choose are ones that are plentiful in our garden. They also browse very delicately on their small and fine hooves, and unlike monkeys or baboons, don't appear to do any real damage to the garden. So they are welcome visitors which delight us with their visits.  When monkeys or baboons visit, it means immediate effort to shoo them off before they do massive amounts of damage to the garden and drain our plunge-pool like its their ever-ready watering hole! But to have the Klipspringer visit is relaxing and enjoyable…

...all except one time when one of them tried to see if they could drink from the pool and fell in!…

...thankfully it was a time we were watching and we were able after multiple attempts, to get her out! (you see we couldn't just jump in and pick her up, because, as my husband wisely pointed out, their hooves are sharp and pointed and as they would push against us they would probably rip our chest apart! - thankfully my husband was present with his knowledge, as after we had finally set her free from probably her first baptism and swim, we discovered that the pool cover (thermal blanket) that was on the pool when it happened, ended up with 'hoof' sized neat round puncture holes in it where she had tried swimming across it!

Anyhow we were glad we were both home and watching, on the occasion they decided to try out that source of drinking water, so that now they know and hopefully won't try it again.  We've not see either of them go anywhere near the pool since.

But that was just ONE of many reminders/lessons God has brought to us via these beautiful little creatures  - God's care

- that God so took care of them so that they tested it out, found it to be dangerous so wouldn't go near it again, but made sure they did it when we were home, so that we were here to make the rescue and we are more at peace as well that we won't come home one day to find one of them dead and drowned in the pool. 

The verse from Matthew 6:30 comes to mind 'If God so clothes the grass of the field….will he not much more clothe you?'. If God cares for other parts of creation that are not 'made in his image', then how much more will he care for us.

But anyhow, back to the joys of their visits…..

The 2nd lesson from our two Klipspringer is - faithfulness -  they monogomously mate for life.

We only ever see them, on their own, but together. There is no 'herd' of Klipspringers. And we never see just one of them on their own.  They are totally devoted to each other until 'death do they part'.  So they could teach we humans a thing or two!…after all if two Klipspringers can stick together for life, why can't humans! They don't seem to be worried that they are 'missing out' on whatever other Klipspringers might be doing, they are just devoted to each other and happy with each other's company, forever!

A verse to remember: Genesis 2:24  'A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife'

The 3rd lesson is - sacrificial love

As I was watching these two creatures one day I realised something interesting. As one would graze, the other would not. In fact the one 'not grazing' would always be on alert and look-out, like a sentry, and often that meant standing on top of one of our stone walls, while the other one was grazing below.  Even if they are no walls around, the 'lookout' one would put their two front hooves on a rock to elevate them so they could see around and watch out for the one that was more vulnerable while having its head down and eating. They never seemed to be both eating at the same time. In fact immediately when the one on the wall decided to jump down to eat, the other would stop and jump up on the wall, and they would 'swap' being the lookout.  And it didn't seem to matter which of them moved first, the other one would just shift role. The female looked out for the male and the male looked out for the female, however it was needed.

The 4th lesson - looks aren't everything

The 'man' in this pair, isn't exactly the perfect specimen, he's quite a  bit smaller than the female (when Klipspringer males are usually larger than females) and his stubby antlers are not even the same length and look like they may have even got broken off.  But 'Mrs' is dedicated to her man and is mostly right by his side - or at least within his sight, never more than a few meters apart (except when she fell into the pool and he ran off to the protection of the bush when we entered the scene). Maybe he had an accident with his horns, or maybe he's just genetically 'quirky', either way she's stuck with him through thick and thin, whatever his physical abnormalites or uniqueness.

Remember 1 Samuel 16:7: 'Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart'

The 5th lesson - rocky ground is no hindrance

These beautiful little antelope are 'custom made'.  Not only are they the only antelope in their genus, their bodies/feet are designed for rocky ground. They walk on their 'tippy toes' like a ballerina across the rocks and their hooves are made of a kind of hard rubber to cushion their amazing spring-loaded running jumps. While other antelope might like the ease of flat smooth paths, these guys are not afraid of tough terrain.  They almost seem to prefer to pass through our yard via the tops of the rock walls! But why should they fear, their Creator made them for the task he had for them. Just like He doesn't put us in places He hasn't designed us for - both with our unique traits and the faithful enabling of our maker and redeemer.

Psalm 139:4

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

But I do have to just tell you that they have the prettiest bi-colour ears, and the most beautiful long black eye-lashes!  Times of them in our garden are some of my most special African experiences!

We do hope we might continue to see them visit…with maybe a baby one next year (they usually mate in Aug-Sep and gestation is 6months)…and we pray that their predators might leave them alone for a while at least, because we do have a few of their predators living on our hillside - baboons, snakes and leopard!  Because of predators they keep their babies hidden away in the bush for at least 3 months so the 'baby' might not be so small by the time we see it.

But while some people come to Africa to see the 'Big 5' (Rhino, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Lion), I think these little antelope are pretty special!

For more info look here and here and here

A few more thoughts on Identity Politics, Evolution and the Future

Photo source

Our sense of honour, value, worth, is inextricably linked to our identity - who we understand ourselves to be.

Recently the author of 'The Coddling of the American Mind' (Jonathan Haidt ) was visiting Australia and gave an interview on Sky News.

He made a couple of interesting points (in bold) I would like to mention and comment on.

1. Western multi-cultural Democracy as we know it cannot continue or survive without a sense of shared future

In other words, all the factions of tiny segments of society - which he believes social media had a major part to play in forming - who want to see themselves with a unique identity, cannot keep the world 'together' as a shared humanity. But interestingly he said, we don't just need a shared belief now about who we are and what we are doing, but we need a shared future in order to do that.

Mmm, what does it mean about the concept of 'future'.  Just this morning I was discussing African traditional culture with our Motswana co-worker and we mentioned (as African theologian John Mbiti also noted) that African culture generally looks more to the past than the future.  Ancestors of the past and traditions from the past are what guide and direct all of life. 

Where a person has come from - ie what family - is of utmost importance, and keeping the traditions of that family/culture continuing is the mandate the culture has to abide by.

However, as Christians, our worldview is vastly different. While we know where we come from - God created us and we are all descended from Adam - its not the past that propels us through a day, it is the future. Our Scripture not only tells of our beginnings but also tells of our future.

Scripture is full of looking to the future. Prophecy is all about the future.  Eternity is all about the future. Salvation is all about looking to the future.  

Not only is what Christ 'has done' for us important, but that he is coming back to take us HOME. Future resurrection, and freedom from sin, and living with God for all eternity, is what spurs us on through each day. Heaven and resurrection in the consumated Kingdom of God, is our goal.

Yet as we chatted this morning, something else came into the conversation….that Evolution is the very opposite of looking to the future. 

Like African Traditional Religion, Evolution looks to the past. It gets busy trying to find where we have come from. But in separating itself from God, not only does it prevent itself from actually finding out where we came from and come to all kinds of wrong conclusions, but it also has nothing to say about where we are going. It has no hope or certainty about the future.  Anything future is an unpredictable accident which supposedly will be decided by random chance.

2. We have to have a sense of identity politics in a multi-cultural nation.  Martin Luther King was doing identity politics. But there are two kinds of IP -

 1. Common humanity identity politics (where we emphasise we are all human and some brothers and sisters are not being given justice 

2. Common enemy identity politics (where you say 'they are the bad people who are causing all our problems…whatever dimensions of power and privilege make people more conscious of').

Again it is interesting how these mirror the Scripture and are trying to be re-created in our world, but without God. Yet without God, it is impossible.

Why impossible?:

- we are only truly all one shared humanity if we are uniquely human. But evolutionary theory tells us we as humans are not 'separate' and unique from the rest of creation. We are just part way on a progression from sludge to grubs to monkeys and apes to us to ??  To truly share the fullness of our human identity enough to hold us together we have to agree who we are, where we came from and why we exist and where we are heading. And that only comes when we accept we were created by God.

In this, African traditional religion (ATR) is way ahead of Western secularism. ATR at least acknowledges the Creator God, even though it fails to recognise God's character, and his place and role in the world.

- Not only do we need 'common humanity' but inbuilt in us is a recognition that there is right and wrong in the world and somehow we are meant to identify and reject what is wrong and cling to what is right. The problem is that we have a warped, sinful, contaminated view of what is right and what is wrong and left to ourselves we will continue to try to figure it out and get it wrong.  But that doesn't stop us from feeling that the wrong should be stopped because its wrecking what is right.

And it is totally true that there is wrong and there is right, and it's the wrong of the world that needs to be stopped and the 'wrong' that is our enemy.

It's just that without God we will mis-identify what is wrong and right, and who causes the wrong and what... or Who... provides a way to live in the peace and harmony of 'right'.

So lets not despise those who are seeking identity in politics, but recognise that their seeking is valid, good, and needed.  But also let us pray, and diligently strive, to be vessels of good news to such seekers, so that they may find us open and willing to discuss the topic. May we be wise and careful, bold and clear, as we share with them the answer to identity, the hope for the future, and the message of the true Victor over all the wrong and evil in our world.

Today's generation may not say anything about wanting to go to heaven, but deep down, its heaven they are looking for. May we gently and courageously bring them the light that leads them step by step to the place where they realise its actually a perfect heaven they desire, and its Jesus they need!

ps. if you are interested in hearing more very important advice from Jonathan Haidt I would recommend watching this short video as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Awmmj57ZDI 

Latest Culture Test Results Once Again Show Africa is 'Honour-Shame-dominant'

The latest Culture Test results are out!

Almost 50,000 people have now taken the test worldwide and the results are VERY interesting.

Over the last 60 years or so the cultures of the world have been divided anthropologically (and also missiologically) into the three categories of fear/shame/guilt cultures - stemming from the work of Ruth Benedict (1934,1946) --who categorised Asia and the West as shame and guilt respectively, and Eugene Nida (1954) who later also referred to an additional fear category of tribal/African groups. 

However despite these categories, our own observation over the last almost 2 decades, and specific research over a decade, has been continually confirming the ‘shame’ focus of Africa, and there is a growing reference by scholars (both African and non-African) to the ‘shame’ elements of African culture, as well as more suggestion that it is actually predominantly ‘shame’ not ‘fear’.

Kenyan theologian Martin Munyao stated in his PhD thesis (2017) on the topic, that:

…on the surface, fear and power are evident in African cultures, but digging

deeper reveals a more dominant and pervasive cultural value, namely, honor

and shame. Prevailing theology seems to have failed to address the people’s

fear of censure (shame) and desire for honor in the community.

I also have had a growing suspicion about fear being an equal partner in this assumed trio. Yes I believe there are elements of all three in all cultures, but is ‘fear’ an equal partner, or an emotive response of a different category altogether that partners with guilt and shame? I am working on a book draft that I would like to publish one day that begins to examine this further.

It is interesting that with each stage of the Culture Test results there has not been a continent or large overall people grouping that has come out as predominantly ‘fear’ even though the Culture Test has been designed to differentiate between ‘fear’ shame’ and ‘guilt’ emphasis cultures.

The latest culture test map results reveals two interesting results for me:

1. in using country rather than ‘global regions' results as the first result graph did back in 2015, still no whole region is coming up ‘fear’ dominant, and at a country specific level in the latest results, only one country (Surinam, in South America) in the whole world is coming up ‘fear’ dominant?

2. No-where in Africa is there a fear dominant country showing up, and apart from South Africa and Zimbabwe (which I will comment on in a moment), the whole continent is coming up ‘shame’.  It is interesting to note that Botswana for example is coming up equal ‘shame’ emphasis to what have long been considered strong ‘shame’ cultures like Saudi Arabia and China and Japan.

Now I want to just clarify why on the Culture Test results for Africa, that South Africa and Zimbabwe are coming up as ‘guilt’ (blue) emphasis in their total results.

This interactive map is wonderful as it gives opportunity to see how different sectors have influenced total country results.

So in South Africa and Zimbabwe, if you only select the results of the indigenous ethnicities and leave out those from various European backgrounds, both South Africa and Zimbabwe  suddenly give results of high levels of shame. And similarly, Botswana goes from medium shame to high shame.

(see tribal groups selected at right hand side of screen for each screenshot below)

So what does this tell us?

Noting the limitations and purpose of this Culture Test, the results are never-the-less very revealing.

The results continue to confirm the overall ‘shame’ emphasis of Africa.  And this confirms that evangelism and discipleship that targets the ‘guilt’ areas that Westerners are comfortable and familiar with, and the ‘fear’ areas that have been assumed as the predominant dynamic directing life in Africa, is missing the largest and greatest motivator and director for life decisions, priorities, perspectives etc….ie the African worldview ‘core’ (as Kenyan theologian Mbuvi put it), is rooted in honour-shame, including a primarily ‘shame’ response to sin and an understanding of sin defined by shame. An African believes that to avoid shame (as culture defines it, before people), is to avoid sin.

Unless ‘we’ as Christians in Africa (whether citizens or missionaries or visitors) recognise this, we won’t be sharing the depth and full truth of the gospel with people. At best we will cheat Christians of understanding victory over sin in daily life, and at worst we will hinder them from understanding the truth of salvation for sin and being able to truly place their faith, trust and allegiance in Christ.

Turning the 'ordinary' into the 'awe-dinary'

This is a bit of a follow-on from the previous post - like a Part 2….

I have continued to ponder on the fact that my 'ordinary' moments of life are no less God designed than any other times. Of course I know that…but day by day I come to k-n-o-w that more and more!  God is in (what we call) ordinary!

But like I talked about in the previous post in relation to the 'ordinary' black and white butterflies, I am caused to ask myself if I should even look at life as having 'ordinary' moments.

In language expression we use a whole bunch of words — like ordinary, regular, normal, routine, usual,    — in order to say that nothing has happened which we would rate as 'special' or 'significant' or 'unusual'.

In some ways life is full of the 'ordinary' - just plodding along and pressing on with the daily life tasks that have to be repeated day after day, week after week, year after year.  And God has created life on this earth to be on a repeated constant schedule of -

days (sunrise and sunset, evening and morning), 

weeks (creation, and institution of sabbath rest), 

months (the moon's magnetic effect on the earth), 

and years (the cycle of seasons).

I'm not saying we ought to do away with, or ignore these divine patterns put in place for our good. It is always going to be good to live according to God's design.  And we need words to describe life, and so yes, words like 'normal' and 'ordinary' do get used.

However, what my challenge is to myself, and to you with me, is that these patterns and life's repetitive functions and activities are not ordinary, in the sense that they are not less significant or less vital, or less divine, than any other moment or task.  

Every aspect of life, every moment of life, every decision of life is significant, important, and a place where we can either glorify God or fail to glorify Him.

'Doing all to the glory of God' (1 Cor 10:31) means ALL moments are significant and important opportunities to do that. 

God is looking for every one of our moments and thoughts to be ones in which we acknowledge him (Proverbs 3:5-6), seek him, welcome him, honour and obey him, submit to him, trust him, look to him, love him, follow him, rest in him and rejoice in him….because we need him. Without him, we are nothing and can do nothing (John 15:5).  And yet, I know how easy it is to go through what we think are 'ordinary' moments, less aware of all that than we should be.

AWE is something that we don't think a lot about. I know I mostly think about it when someone uses the word 'awesome' ..again! But though its 'overuse' has often irritated me, I am caused to re-think my irritation.  Everything ought to be awesome!  

We are apt to rate our life, and compare ourselves and our experiences to those of others, or ours of yesterday, or our own expectations, so we don't think too many things rate as 'awesome'. But the only 'rating' that really matters is God's  - not others, and not our own.  And we are meant to line up our rating, our view, our opinion, with God's. 

….that brings me to one quick aside - there is only one thing in this world that is totally not awesome and not God's design for his creation, not his plan, not his purpose, not his will and desire, and that thing is sin in all its forms and effects.  That is neither ordinary nor awesome. Sin is sad, horrific, distorting, disgusting, abhorrent, disgraceful...

Thus everything in God's design and purposes - every moment, every aspect of his creation as he made it, is awesome!  It's just a process for us to recognise the 'awesomeness' that is already present in God's plans and purposes. Our entire day, every day, should be that of awe—of living in the greatness of the presence, power and provision of God. 

We need to bring the 'awe-some' into the ordinary, not to cheapen it or trivialise the awesome, but to enliven the 'ordinary' to the level God wants it to be. 

This doesn't mean that we need to have to live on the constant high adrenalin of physical and emotional expressions of perpetual excitement. It just means a level of heart-filling, mind-inspiring, life-transforming thankfulness to God that changes our perspective on life…. which can be in quiet contemplative contentment, and thoughts of thankfulness, without any need for constant exuberance….not that we might still at times be exuberant in how we express it!

This is when I am once again caused to realise how far short I fall in honouring God as I should, of how finite I am—my head feels like it couldn't contemplate or contain thoughts of so much awe.  But our goal should be to see life more and more from God's perspective and less and less from our own.

  He doesn't want me to live like life is 'ordinary' but to see life as AWE-dinary - filled with AWE—of him!