When is something finished

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Theology

Over a significant period of time I was involved along with many others in the area of what might be termed ‘strategic prayer’ (for want of a better term) and undergirding that was a focus on removing the effects of the past. The past cannot be changed, but when there are ongoing negative effects those can be addressed. The same way things operate at a personal level so they operate at a corporate level. We see how Scripture addresses both ‘cities’ and land as if they are personal.

A big part of seeking to respond to the past is that of identificational repentance, and it is wonderful when we see something go full circle with national apologies made where there has been national oppression – a recent example is that of Spain’s apology to Mexico.

There are many Old Testament examples of ‘we and our ancestors have sinned’ type of responses but for me the clearest NT example is that of the baptism of Jesus by John. It was a baptism for ‘the remission of sins’ and thus it is understandable that John did not agree to baptise Jesus until… He refuses for how can he baptise the ‘sinless one’? The response of Jesus is to talk about righteousness. That term is not simply right and wrong but a covenant term. Jesus is suggesting that righteousness had not been fulfilled thus begging the question of whose righteousness. God’s? Certainly not. But that of the covenant people. Jesus identifies with Israel and the confession of his mouth is not his sin but that of the people. From that point on he carried the sins all the way to the cross. (We could suggest that the sin / death proclamation from Eden is carried all the way to the cross.)

I appreciate that the last paragraph might be exploring new ground for some but it opens a whole new window on the cross.

Living in our world what do we do when we come across something along the lines of the various pagan temples that we visited yesterday. Kneel, pray and stand in identification? I have done that on many occasions, but yesterday other than proclaim there is one God, maker of heaven and earth who does not live in a temple made by hands we did not do any IR at any significant level. I wondered why (and also am aware that we are yet to go to Agrigento and the valley of temples – maybe that will be different).

Of course the idea that we will have answers and understand everything is a wonderful myth, but I think I grasped something yesterday. To finish something does not mean everything is necessarily done, but that nothing is left to prevent a move forward. That is key. The future (personal / corporate) can be locked up by the past and the important part is the unlocking of the past so that the future is not a repeat of what went before (and thus further locking it up).

Maybe what I have written is a bit of a fog and not too clear, but I think it is another level of understanding for the many people who continue to seek to remove the effects of the past. The conviction of God is key as to what to address.

I am currently slowly working on Israel (not the current state but the theology of Israel) and key to that is to distinguish ‘Israel’ from ‘Jew’ (hopefully in 3-4 months time I will write on that) so have been coming to the disciples question to Jesus as to whether he was at ‘this time (chronos) he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel’. He gives them a continual direction to move in (with 3 clear allusions to Isaianic texts), for (tying it to Paul) it will be in ‘this way’ that ‘all Israel (not all Jews!) will be saved’. Hang in there!!!

The death of Jesus unlocks the past so that the future can change (chronos – the literal time) as God aligns the future with what needs to happen (God sets the chronos and the kairos together – Acts 1:7).

The work of Jesus is finished – the past cannot hold back what is coming… and yet Paul says he wants to make up what is lacking in the afflictions of Jesus. There is work for us to do – not saving the world – but dealing with whatever has been afflicting the world so that there is no lock up but a release of the freedom of the cross.

I am aware that a whole lot more could be written to expand the above… but there it is for now.

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New Testament context?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

A ‘recovery’ of New Testament Christianity does it need a context in which to develop? The most influential flavour of Christian faith that impacted me was that of the ‘new church’ movement in the UK. I am very grateful for the decades I was immersed in that and the push for ‘church as in the NT’ might be something I would wish to reposition as ‘a recovery of the gospel of the NT’… or even ‘a recovery of the trajectory of the gospel of the NT’. For some time though I have wondered if we have to also embrace a NT context – i.e. something akin to the Roman-Graeco culture of that day.

Years ago I visited Pompeii then read passages from Revelation in the evening. Forget about ‘left behind’ and other such myths – we read what we had been walking through. Today Gayle and I went down the coast from Marsala and the last place we walked through was the archaeological site of Selinunte. A site of ancient (Greek) temples. Here is one of the many temples:

Impressive for sure! But imagine Paul’s world – coming to Athens and temples to each and every god, and even one to the ‘unknown god’! A challenging culture to proclaim that the ONE God, creator of heaven and earth does not live in temples made of stones and that this God has raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead! Amazing that people lined up to say – OK I am ready to follow.

And challenging to proclaim the gospel in that context. But this is what they did and with a long-term vision that everything connected to Imperialism would resultingly fall (the message of the book of Revelation as I read it).

So do we need a culture that more closely resembles that of the NT? Multi-faith so that in the ‘market place’ we make our presentation? Or maybe that culture is more present than we realise? What might be the temples in our city – temples that demand sacrifice of time, money and the future? Maybe if we could see them for what they are we might already find that we are in a NT context, then go on to discover what the presentation should be and then…

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Lion or Lamb?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Biblical Observations

Revelation – still stands head and shoulders above other literature as a critique of Imperial political power (not talking party politics but politics in the sense of dictating the life and culture of the polis). Mark of the beast etc… is a critique of economic unjust transactional trade (and a push away from buying and selling to giving and receiving as the economic culture)… All relevant then and deeply relevant now.

Revelation 4 and 5 are the pivotal chapters. Chapter 4 would have left John’s hearers somewhat in a daze for when Caesar came to town his throne was the centre and the elders (by Domitian, numbering 24) were around the throne. From there the future shape was determined, but John describes another throne, a heavenly one. But this is no simple vision of ‘just sing God is in control and all things will fall into place’, for he describes a major issue. He sees a book totally sealed that no-one can open so there is no alternative future but the one that Caesar (and the many would-be-Caesars that arise) determines. But there is hope – and the hope is rooted in Scripture:

Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,
and the obedience of the peoples is his (Gen. 49:9-10).

The (Jewish) hope that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah and sort everything out, hence one of the elders declares:

Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

The book can be opened, human destiny, the purposes of God for humanity will be outworked. John stops weeping and turns to see the Lion who has overcome. He sees a Lamb bearing all the marks of having been slain. He hears of a lion, but he sees a lamb. As happens in Revelation the sight gives deep meaning and insight to the hearing. And Jesus is the revelation of God.

I have had a look and I cannot find another reference to the ‘lion’ after that first one. References to the lamb – yes, but none to Jesus as the lion. And I read of the call to follow the lamb wherever he goes.

The unlocking of human destiny is through the slain Lamb and the followers. The Lamb unlocks the scroll, but those that John represents have to eat the scroll (described as a ‘little scroll’ (Rev. 10) so probably indicating that it is not the whole scroll’s content but that there is still work to be done).

The rulership (kingdom) of God is not top down, but working from within; engaging at a level that embraced that which was top down: sin and death, those twin powers.

Paul’s gospel was one of transformation of what was offered to Jesus (the kingdoms of this world)… Jesus, Paul and John in a book full of violent imagery all agree. There is a path for us to follow.

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Dreams and nights

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

I have been blogging for over 25 years and it began when someone in Germany said to me that I should ‘blog’. My response was – I am not interested in what others are pontificating over so am not about to add my pontificates to theirs. Then I began to read what others were writing and thought if I can keep it away from the pontifications and lean into ‘these are personal perspectives’ it might help me to process where I have been and where I think I am headed… and maybe be a help to someone else to journey with authenticity. I am far from convinced that there is one response that all followers of Jesus should make, after all Jesus in response to Peter’s moan was that how John would respond to God’s leading had nothing to do with him. Of course there are issues that we are to watch out for but outside of that the leading of God is very personal. So in reading my posts they are ‘personal perspectives’, and one of the challenges is that no-one is right on everything, our problem being that we have no idea where we are wrong! Here then follows something as much for my benefit as for anyone else, reflecting on our departure from Oliva just over 3 weeks ago and how we set ourselves for the coming week.

Another week… Days, weeks, months (lunar or calendar?) and maybe even years are wonderful dividers for us. Take a day at a time is one of the wisest approaches we can take – in that sense I only have today. A good friend who sadly passed away in 2001, Johnny Barr, was asked to pray for a woman who had been diagnosed with 4 months to live… He said to her I can’t possibly pray for you on the basis of that prognosis. She asked him – so how long do I have? His response was – today. Scripture consistently says ‘today’. If you choose to live today I can pray for you.

I don’t know if the week begins on Sunday (‘first day of the week’) or Monday but we tend to take each week from Monday, so here we are. Dreams and nights are important for us. Gayle has maybe 5-6 dreams per month that we need to take note of; I, maybe 5-6 per year that are ‘pay attention’ dreams. We have been directed to geographic places in dreams, but also note patterns. Since arriving in Marsala dreams have increased but not so many have ‘landed’ – an indication of activity but contention. Then add to that how disturbed sleep can be – and when it is somewhat disturbed indicates a level of opposition. Land loves to respond to care and prayer for release from bondage (Rom. 8), but there is a process involved for (whatever is meant by spiritual powers) are rooted in geography and so do not simply shift in an instant.

We are now hitting the stage of… time to move on. Not the voice of heaven! The stage of – so how serious are you? That is the voice of heaven.

Time to dig in.

We are encouraged that across Italy there is a move that is continuing to hold a protest position against the inhumane situation in Gaza and concerning economy that profits from war. We observed this in Spain earlier in the year and our hope has been that this would spread across Europe. What has that to do with the gospel? Well if narrowed down to ‘hands up and sinner’s prayer’ we might give one response… but if we look at the bigger picture of what I term ‘the Pauline gospel’ we might give another response and a shift on the bigger picture removes a measure of the blindness that ‘the Satan’ brings over people.

Colonisation is coming right into view. There is no value in over-judging the past. If we were to do that we would judge many of the ‘saints’ of Scripture – everything fits the era it was in. Garibaldi and the conquest of Sicily? At one level irrelevant but a sign of something fresh that can be released. Hence something here to continue to pray so that fuel comes to a humanitarian push across this continent that is line with the image of God is in humanity, thus declaring all war as ‘civil war’.

Musings for the day… and maybe fuel for us as we go to the marker point of the most westerly point on the island. From the West… the western hegemony is coming to an end (ends of that nature die slowly) but out of the ashes something has to come from the west. The angel who brought the book in the dream (that we have not been able to read – yet) was struggling to hold the book due to its weight and size, but it was held at three points – to in the arms extended to the extreme and the other on the stomach. I think symbolically the three marker points on this triangular island.

A missing element so often is patience – not something passive but deeply active – for it is through faith and patience that heaven comes. Another week.

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From the west

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

We have been interested in how the history fit together as history (for a person and a geography – hence Scripture relates to geographies as it does to people with over 1200 references to land… heaven and earth is a constant theme which has been replaced by ‘heaven and hell’ as if they are the constant contrasts) reveals what is located in a place or explains what is present now. Marsala did not arrive here this morning, nor did arrive here in 1860 but that era has caught our attention.

A rather graffiti-covered monument!!

In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi arrived with his expedition of 1000 from mainland Italy (though it was not ‘Italy’ then) and landed at Marsala – on the westernmost point of the island of Sicily. From there he conquered Sicily as the first part of his vision for a united Italy. This phase finished at the border where Gayle and I stopped and prayed some 2 weeks ago – the northern border of the ‘kingdom of the two Sicilies’. We simply went with our ‘gut’ that we should make that stopping point on our journey and likewise when we entered Sicily in the north east we had a decision to make – go south or west. In our days when roughly planning the trip we thought we would go south but as we got off the ferry, we followed our ‘gut’ and went west to the furthest west on the island, here in Marsala. We did not know o Garibaldi’s landing here, the beginning of the unification of Italy.

The monument above is of two ships and I think we will visit it repeatedly to pray. Been there once, did not sense great traction – but who knows?

What difference does this make? That’s what makes me buzz. Not a clue!!! Doing what believe should do is the key, and yes a theology of land, history and city might indeed suggest that a difference takes place, but the wonderful part of seeking to follow God is never knowing totally what difference our words and activities make.

Sicily – the first place outside of Italia colonised by the republic (pre-Imperial Rome… though there will always be a pull for Republics to become Empires, and often Empires hide behind the term republic).

Patience is needed. I like things to happen instantly, but often it is repetition that makes the difference. Throw the nets in one more time… but we have fished all night, was the reply. We will go again and again, and walk the city and I think slowly insights and revelation will come.

Sicily sits in the middle of middle earth. It has been a crossroads for trade and imperial conflicts. Marsala has a history way before 1860 and we probably will need to go there, but for now praying for something to begin that might make a mark in years to come. Not the unification of Italy through military conquest, but a unifying across Europe. Let’s see… I think ‘my friend’ (as I like to call him!) Paul had such a vision.

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The ekklesia in Europe?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

I only put the ‘in Europe’ part as this is my geography and I am trying to intersperse comments about our little adventure in Sicily with posts focusing on Europe. But I also add the ‘Europe’ part as I have this crazy idea that in the body of this old continent something is slowly forming… for the sake of the world. And before anyone thinks I am some kind of ‘head in sand’ post-millennialist let me state that all the pre-, post-and a- are (in my humble opinion!!!) mistaken. (More opinion than humility there!) I am simply focused on the job we are to engage with and leaving all that ‘end-time’ stuff in the hands of God, as I find almost nothing in Scripture pointing me in that direction, but a call to live in the light of the coming age and seek to live, act and relate in a way that is consistent with that age.

Been planning to get a tattoo to mark the time in Sicily. Here is my first attempt at a profound design; Gayle is quite dismissive! And to think all my creativity went into it:

Want a clue? Though pretty obvious… I had to shorten John’s words of what he saw (Rev. 21) by substituting a Pauline phrase… though the form of the last word does not appear in the NT. Pretty sure I have got the form of the irregular noun correct – hope so!!! But waiting for Gayle to bring on her improved version.

A few little background notes. Paul left behind an ekklesia (usually translated as ‘church’) in the cities and regions where he went, doing this throughout ‘Europe’ until he was able to claim a fulfilment of Matt. 24:14. Quite a claim! If we were to do a word-association exercise and I was to say ‘church’ my guess is 90+% of us would imagine a building and a service at the centre. If we read James and the section about a rich person coming in and being given the best seat we probably would not first see a meal table but ‘pews’ or seats inside a building. I am not an iconoclast and given that we all prefer to live in buildings I don’t think anti-building is likely to get us anywhere. However, it is the focus of what we are centred on that is more important. Thomas Finger (Mennonite theologian) wrote that ecclesiology is the least innovative area of theology, so much simply being assumed.

What was Paul up to? Is he simply looking to form groups that are separate from their geography who are expressing a spirituality? If so then we would suggest that it is all about ‘salvation’ to escape from a future. There is that element there… but given that there was already an ekklesia in each place where Paul went we probably have to consider that there is a kind of ‘alternative’ that he is ‘planting’ there. (I like the word ‘planting’ as it is organic and situational.) The ekklesia that was there on behalf of Rome was commissioned to be actively committed to help shape the relevant geography to reflect the culture and values of Rome. Paul leaves behind an ekklesia not of Rome but of Jesus Christ. A company of people whose citizenship was not Roman but derived from heaven. Here then for me is the core clue: this company of people have a corporate purpose – one of enabling where they are planted (organically and situationaly) to mirror at some discernible level the culture and values of heaven. Of course such a company is made up of a mixed-bag, so the restoration of all of us who are ‘mixed’ (should that be spelt ‘messed up’?) is part of the process, but even in our mixed-up-ness we are to be present as agents of helping bring about a shape where heaven’s presence can increase.

[Sidenote: I am not a Universalist, but see a ‘wideness in the mercy of God’ that outworks in two ways – in the ultimate sense any inclusion/exclusion is issue is in God’s hands and not in the hands of any theological system; and the second way in the here and now there are those who are agents of the kingdom who are not disciples (Acts 19 and Asiarchs for me is very key in this approach.)]

Perhaps it is in Europe that an ecclesiology that is diverse – the multiplicity of the small and the richness of diversity – develops. We have that opportunity. Courage and faithfulness to the one to whom the ekklesia belongs and who is the source is required. And finally there is room for optimism. Corinth,for example, a city of around 200,000 in Paul’s day had a mixed-bag ekklesia (understatement) that was not large (Rom.16 shows this). Maybe 0.1% of the population. In desperate need of church growth? Well according to Paul in need of ‘faith-growth’ (but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our field among you may be greatly enlarged, 2 Cor.10:15). If that could happen he could happily get on his donkey and travel to fresh geographies.

I got to be an optimist! And even if that optimism were ultimately to be misplaced I got to keep the central focus of ‘let your kingdom come’, not ‘get me out of here’.

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Into Marsala

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Today around mid-day we move into the city of Marsala. We have taken an apartment for the next 32 days. With ‘booking.com’ so have not been able to see it but confident we can make it work. Street view below, and the entry door for us is the first on the left. (Parking of van…?????)

We are ready to enter the city after being on the edge for 5 days. We a) feel at home in the city and b) sense its significance for the next weeks. It is on the extreme west of the island – some 4 hours drive from where we landed.

Sicily is a triangle in shape and is marked at the three corners – the west point is here in Marsala and certainly feels the place to start. Walking the city, finding key points and let’s see.

The city is close on 3000 years from its initial beginnings and has been a ‘first’ in a number of ways. I have mentioned in a previous post that one natural reading of the unification of Italy is that it began here with Garibaldi landing with his ‘1000’ and from here eventually conquering all the way to Naples / the border of the ancient ‘kingdom of the two Sicilies’. This was not in our sight those days back when we were at that border but now seems to make sense. It was also where the first Punic War began (wars between Carthage and Rome 3rdC BCE lasting over 23 years) – the battle for supremacy in the Western Mediterranean. Finally in 241BCE the city was given to the Romans and soon became one of the most important cities in the Sicily.

History always gives some clues as to what is in the land, as in the same way that personal history shapes an individual. Sometimes of course the history covers over the reality… let’s see.

A few nights ago I had a dream that has stuck with me. First some background. (And if you wish to tone down the language that is OK – the substance / reality is always what counts…) someone said that the place to start would be like a portal for sight on Europe and that there was a ‘book’ there that we would receive giving details and strategy. So the dream. A few nights ago I was in a large space – either a large room or perhaps outside with some walls surrounding. I was not focused on that nor on whoever else was present, because an angel (don’t ask how one ‘knows’ what one knows in a dream – no wings to give away, but I simply knew this was not a human figure, but had come from a non-earthly location) had come carrying a book. The angel was small – maybe 5’5 (165cms) tall. And the book was large, heavy and very awkward to carry. I was aware that the book had come a long way so was deeply impressed that the angel had persisted and thought that I probably would not have persisted. To hold the book the angel had to bend somewhat as the book was too large to carry ‘normally’ or under an arm. The arms were to stretched to the furthest extent. I did not say anything, but the angel said – I will bring it, I have come thus far and not about to give up. Then with great effort the angel lifted the book on to a lectern, ready to be opened and read. End of dream. Of course it could just be a dream that rose from my sub-conscious, but…

So off to the city and whatever concludes about the book I think if we persist then we will leave here with something of significance.

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Brave and good people

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

We spent a big part of yesterday in the city of Trapani and enjoyed our time there in a city that seems open and holding life. As we were leaving we walked past this burnt out car that has been preserved as a marker.

Carlo Palermo replaced his friend that the Mafia (Cosa Nostra as they term themselves:’Our Thing’) had killed. He carried on the work and was immediately a target. The car above was set up. Palermo himself was injured but survived and carried on the work of investigation and justice, The bomb however killed a mother and her twin sons – hence the three ‘flowers’ growing up out of the shell.

So very sobering when encountering people, or their memory, in the public arena who have stood at cost for a different future. Maybe some of them have lived with mixed motives but I am aware (moving now a little in a theological direction) that God honours what is good. From the generic piece of observable wisdom that ‘righteousness exalts a nation’ to the parable of the ‘good’ Samaritan – Samaritan of all people! There is no need to go down the line of ‘good works saves a person’ but neither should we dismiss what is genuinely good. It is a belief that my ‘religious’ activity gets me favour before God that is critiqued and critiqued strongly – your righteousness is as filthy rags.

Two aspects challenge me in this. One a humility that I am not the one who says who makes it into the age to come; and that I have to find a different narrative to the simple one that ‘born again = go to heaven’. There is no Scripture that talks of ‘going to heaven’ in such a clear manner so I need to find a different / bigger reason for knowing the Lord (or as Paul corrects himself ‘being known by the Lord’). That bigger picture for me is of the body of Christ taking responsibility for our world. We can create space where those come along who ‘do good to all’ and our world mirrors a tiny bit of heaven’s reality, and I think push back so that less innocent people are damaged by the fallenness of our world.

Don’t blame the world… As I once said to a group of people in the USA who were concerned about abortion and changes to the marriage laws in their country. I said that the WH had never legislated on such matters (they had at one level, but not at the level that counts)… I said people like you present in this room did. When you walk up the aisle making promises and then walk down saying I have found someone better you legislated about marriage (thank God there is wonderful grace re. divorse / remarriage, but an ‘opting out at first opportunity’ is not what Scripture talks about). And secondly when you tithe and raise your hands in church to worship but support the killing of ‘those bloody Iraquis’ (that was the era) you legislate who can and can not be killed. If you are blasé about human life that can be seen and interacted with we should not be too surprised that society becomes blasś about life that cannot be seen.

The Pauline gospel.

Yes there is the intimacy with the Living Lord that we enjoy… but there is a reason for the body of Christ on the earth. Praying for and rejoicing when there is any manifestation of the kingdom.

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To the finish

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

I’ve started so I’ll finish. A phrase from the Mastermind quiz but maybe also a biblical / God phrase? ‘When God began to create / in the beginning’ (dependent on how it is translated – the first one I understand to be the better of the two) relates to the end – a new heaven and a new earth; new creation.

Jesus words on the cross – ‘It is finished’… and yet Paul says ‘making up for what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ’; Paul claims that the gospel (good news message) had been proclaimed throughout the world. Finishes that are real; but somehow they are unfinished finishes that have to be supplemented, not by something different, but by the same flow. So where am I going with this?

There is an end… new creation. How do we move toward it? The pivotal moment of all moments is that of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is the firstfruits of all that is to come. His resurrection is the guarantee for us and for creation that we are not staring down the barrel of nuclear obliteration but of participating in the rebirth of all things. Paul saw his sufferings as participating in the sufferings of Christ. Not suffering for the sake of it but to release the blessings of heaven for the body of Christ. His life was not a ransom for others but a means of releasing others into the benefits of the ransom that comes through the cross; thus enabling there to be a proclamation to the whole earth (or rather the oikoumene of the Roman Empire). I believe the Pauline gospel (and that term is not inappropriate as he terms it ‘my gospel’ in Rom. 2:16) is on the way to significant recovery, a message that the death of Jesus on the cross initiated a global transformation with a gracious invite to join the movement. (Maybe we can summarise the message as ‘Jesus is Lord and there is a movement of those liberated from the power of sin that you can be baptised into’?)

I have no idea how this all works out. Times and events are not what Scripture whets our appetite with, but direction and process. ‘To’ the ends of the earth and ‘being witnesses’ through the power of the Spirit to the new creation that we see.

Landing this post…

I am writing this post as a small addition to the former ones on ‘Europe’. The place where Paul’s gospel had been proclaimed (and later infiltrated and subsumed by Imperial sovereignty) has an offer being given to it. It is found (as always) in the desert, the place where symbolically the powers of darkness dwell – hence the lack of fruitfulness there. Paul’s work is ‘finished’, but the final word of Acts is ‘unhindered’ (ἀκωλύτως). We have a responsibility. And oh yes there is a Jerusalem aspect too. Not one of a king dictating over the whole world, but one that witnesses that the prince of peace died there so that reconciliation – no Jew nor Greek (civilised Roman world) divide, nor slave nor free (economic), nor male and female (creation language superseded). A place of reconciliation. Now that is a dream.

A man imprisoned saw something (Rev. 21). If he could maybe we can dream also? And maybe we will see it if we can see beyond any prison doors (most of which are in our minds) that might seem to contain us.

I am a dreamer that Europe will find a way and humbly serve beyond her borders – even to the places that carry the testimony of recent waves of ‘revival’. There are worlds beyond the ‘whole world’ that Paul focused on. This is the destiny of Europe. To the finish. A perspective.

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Round the world trip

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Prophetic Perspectives

Perspectives… we all have them, the challenge to faith is being faithful to our perspectives while being open to change. Here is a little follow up to the 12 years of the woman being sick and the resurrection of the 12 year old girl. Christendom. A major change takes place with the conversion of Constantine and the ‘in this sign you will conquer’. The cross of Jesus – self sacrifice, peace through his death becomes the sacrifice of others and peace through inflicting death on others; the irony of the temple of peace (Pax) being built in Rome on the field dedicated to the god of war (Mars). Peace, the Pax Romana, held together through victory on the battle field. What is termed the myth of redemptive violence… and the path that all Imperial structures have followed ever since. The eschatological vision of Scripture is of turning the sword to plough shares. I appreciate we live in the ‘real world’, the world of compromise, but the compromise we are to be involved in is ‘redemptive compromise’, in other words compromise today so that tomorrow might look more like the eschatological future. When we have the cross colonised to defend violence we have a major problem.With this sign!!

God is a compromiser. I know that cos he walks with me. That is a level of extreme compromise. But God is a redemptive compromiser. That God has worked within the confines of Christendom is clear, and we see the same process in Scripture – give us a king… they are rejecting me… OK bring me Saul and I will anoint him. I am grateful (understatement) for the power of the gospel which has made such a difference throughout the globe; the gospel is like seed but so often it has gone out inside the bag of Christendom, thus the drive for ‘apparent’ Christian legislation (though I don’t recall legislation that touches on anger, greed, sexism etc). I am a big believer that the body of Christ is to be the authority on earth – but the authority we have is NOT over people, but over the power of the enemy, that power manifesting as the dehumanisation of humanity.

My take then is that for a real advance Christendom has to be abandonned; we have to walk away from going back to the good old days, and advancing toward the manifestation of love and embrace.

In the first post on Europe I suggested that our theology shapes our perspectives – particularly our theology of God and of eschatology. If God is ‘sovereign’ whose reign is maintained through power and force that will shape our theology. If so the incarnation and the cross becomes some sort of temporary aberration rather than ‘the fullness of deity dwelling bodily’ in Jesus. If our eschatology is shaped around events rather a Person often the events become the focus! Adrio König wrote a book ‘The eclipse of Christ in Eschatology? (I might have the title slightly wrong as that is from memory); sadly true. Armageddon; restore the land even if genocide is part of the process etc.

So much of ‘popular’ eschatology feeds knowledge (same driving force as to why someone might read a horoscope); that drive I do not find in the NT.

If someone lives outside of that initial cradle for the gospel (Europe) they need to live out their life in that context; mine is here, hence I have to shape my hope based on the cross in this context. My hope is that we can embrace the end of an era, dig deep and discover that maybe we are closer to a NT context (muti-faith, multi-cultural) and so might find that the gospel is better having been shed of the Christendom clothing. It is not longing for the ancient past (shipwrecks, beatings, crucifixion, martyrdom – not my ‘hope’!) but a desire for a future that will enable there to be a push around the globe. Rejoice wherever we see people come to faith, but I suspect the train carriages will follow where we have gone. And take seriously the need to find a new path into the future even if we are labelled ‘post-Christian, secular’ Europe.

I am certainly not saying that the path will be easy and there might be marginalisation in the process. The desert is the place… it was the place that Jesus was offered economic, political and a religious framework. Turned down and returned in the power of the Spirit.

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