Author: Alexander F. Venter

Live a life of love just as Jesus loved us...
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UK Ministry Report & Observations

I’m resting up after returning home from a wonderful ministry trip in Vineyard Churches in the UK. I was honored to minister in Plymouth, Truro & Falmouth, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, and Yoevil. My essential message was the four irreducible missional dimensions of the Kingdom of God (the message & ministry of Jesus that defines how we do church).

  1. Power encounter: Spirit-ministry of  healing & deliverance, signs & wonders.
  2. Personal Transformation: Spiritual Formation of discipleship to Jesus.
  3. Social Transformation: Holistic engagement in society, as in mercy relief, justice advocacy, community development, ecological ethics.
  4. World missions: Evangelism & church planting to advance God’s Kingdom to all nations that The End will come (Matt 24:14).

In teaching Jesus’ basic Kingdom framework and explaining the four implications, I focused mainly on the first two – though I emphasized it is a ‘package deal’ and we cannot engage in ‘selective obedience’ (we do all four at the same time). After doing the conferences & seminars in these cities and being with all the leaders and people, I summarise my overall sense in the following seven points:

  1. Vineyard churches in the UK are on the cusp of a further and new season of growth and expansion. 
  2. There is a feel of vitality and expectation in the face of serious spiritual opposition, dark secularism and divisive social uncertainty. I sense the UK is ripening for a real move of God.
  3. There’s a need for stronger grounding in a clearer biblical understanding of Jesus’ worldview and praxis of The Kingdom for the health and longevity of what God is doing.
  4. There is also the need to do succession well by focussing on the younger generation of leaders to train and mentor and hand over authority and power as Jesus did to his apostles and disciples.
  5. The deliberate turn toward deepening the  psycho-emotional health and spiritual formation of the pastors and leaders is very encouraging. Pacing oneself in the easy yoke of Jesus, in what GOD is doing, is key for good sustainability and growth.
  6.  The call of God is to seek first  Jesus and HIS Kingdom, then Jesus will build HIS Church. If we focus on building the church it subtlety becomes our kingdom, and we stop pursuing GOD’s Kingdom. If we truly fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Jesus, it will change everything. This is discipleship to Jesus in the spiritual formation of GOD’s LOVE for us and his world.
       
  7.  Jesus is coming to his Church in the misty wind and waves of all our years of rowing against the storm of evil and social turmoil. The clearer we see Jesus for who he really is, the more we will step out of our boat of security, of what we’ve known and worked with for so long, and we will  walk on water. Fix your eyes on Jesus in the midst of all that’s going on. It’s time to exercise assertive faith and push into the unknown of ‘the  already’ of the Kingdom.  It’s time to walk on water! Even if the ‘not yet’ overwhelms us and we sink – taking our eyes off Jesus – he is beside us. He reaches out his hand and pull us up to stand with him in faith, in the dynamic reality of his Kingdom come.
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TRUTH OR LIES – WHAT’S THE COST?

I watched the Chernobyl series of 5 episodes and was deeply struck by the words of the  courageous Russian nuclear scientist Valery Legasov,

“As scientists we are naive.  We are so focused on our search for truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it.  Truth is always there whether we seek it or not, whether we choose to see it or not, whether we care for it or not.  Truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants.  It doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions.  It will lie in wait for all time. It will hold us accountable.  This at last is the gift of Chernobyl.  Though I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask:  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES?”

Chernobyl: The Cost

Valery Legasov was assigned by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to lead the resolving of the Chernobyl disaster of 26 April 1986.  The cause was human error and negligence, but more importantly, the design flaws of the RBMK nuclear reactor.  Unthinkable in Russia. Viciously denied and suppressed by the USSR Politburo and KGB. 

Legasov told the truth and paid for it dearly. He committed suicide two years after the nuclear reactor exploded. However, the cost of the lies of the political leaders was paid for by thousands of people who died over the years – to this day the official death toll in Russia is 31; unofficially it’s between 4500 and 90000. And nature itself paid the price:  the 2600 square km exclusion zone of radioactive death.  

In 2006 Mikhail Gorbachev wrote that Chernobyl was probably the true cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union, not perestroika and glasnost.  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES?

Post-Truth World: Lying Leaders

“That’s Russia! The West is different!” Another lie!  We are in a life and death battle of truth and untruth, of honesty and lies, of moral integrity and amoral corruption, of ethical character and ‘fake it till you make it’ performance.  We live in a post-truth world where lies are the norm. They are seen as the truth and truth is seen as lies. It’s the perverse form of the ‘politics of truth’. Power games for personal and national gain. Spiritual and political leaders are especially culpable in this regard, and the people suffer for it. 

Presidents who routinely lie with predictable ease give permission and power to their leaders, to the entire nation, to lie. It’s a spiritual reality: an evil ‘principality and power’ takes over and thousands and millions of people follow such leaders with gullible worship in ideological blindness, thinking they are heroes.

A sure sign of a spiritual power, of ideological capture, is the irrational emotional defensiveness – even violent threats – when confronted. There is no ability to reason with rational and psycho-emotional objectivity. These leaders use their power, by lies and coverups (propaganda), to make truth the enemy of the people. The nation picks up the tab and pays the price.  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES? 

South Africa: National & Personal

The price we have paid in South African for the decade of lies from Jacob Zuma and his network of patronage has been like a nuclear fallout. It will take years to recover. Now under pressure from the Zondo Commission on State Capture Zuma has agreed to come in July to answer questions. The spider of the national web of corruption is appearing. Pray for his deception to be defeated and for the truth to prevail.

It’s a serious spiritual battle. It’s not just Zuma and political and spiritual leaders – it’s each and every one of us. “The human heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things – who can know it?  I, the LORD, examine and know the heart…” and will hold it accountable (Jeremiah 17:9). Indeed, God “hates… a lying tongue” because of the destruction it brings (Proverbs 6:16-17).

Legasov once feared the cost of truth, but now asks: WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES? Or we can ask: What is the cost of NOT standing up for the truth?  What is the cost of keeping quiet? Do we love the truth enough – and the victims who pay the price of untruth – to confront and unmask the politics of truth? Do we call out people around us when they lie? Do we call out the lies of leaders? Do we drive back the suffocating darkness of lies by a relentless shining of the light of truth – not matter what it may cost us.

Some of our investigative journalists in South Africa are courageous heroes in this regard, such as Jacques Pauw in The President’s Keepers (on Zuma’s corruption) and Pieter-Louis Myburgh in Gangster State (on Ace Magashule’s corruption).

Defeating the Evil of Untruth

However, let me be clear: we cannot defeat the evil behind this darkness unless we are ruthless with ourselves. Unless you are radically self-honest and forsake any and every temptation to lie – even a ‘white lie’ to spin the truth, exaggerate, give half the truth, cover up – you have little or no power to defeat the power of untruth that is covering the land, the globe, like a suffocating blanket. You cannot challenge others if you yourself lie. 

Whether we know it or not, like it or not, THE TRUTH will always eventually triumph.  It will hold us accountable personally and nationally, sooner or later, in this life and/or in the life to come. If we are always utterly truthful, even to our own hurt, God will stand by us and will vindicate us in this life and/or in the life to come.

Then darkness will be driven back and light will rule in human society. The reign of the ‘politics of truth and love’ (love of the truth). The economy will prosper and nature itself will explode with fruitful life.

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SA Racism & Violence on International Display: What is our Response?

Last week @SteveHofmeyr and @ZindziMandela tweets put our history of unresolved South African pain and prejudice, anger and hatred, rage and violence, on international display – to our national shame. 

Steve Hofmeyr, not all whites are racists who arrogantly threaten death to anyone who might “come to take our land”. 

Zindzi Mandela, not all whites are “rapists… shivering land thieves”, and the other stereotypes you used to describe “them”.

Both of you derail our national journey out of racism to reconciliation. Both work against the vision of Madiba (Nelson Mandela) and most South Africans, of a truly non-racial reconciled nation – which is also the will and purpose of King Jesus for SA (Romans 14:16-18).

How do we respond to this?

As South Africans we are survivors of a history of racism and violence – the generalized violence that touches every expression of our beautiful diverse people. 

As Christians, especially Christian leaders – and more so to my white compatriots – we ought to weep over the blood shed on our soil, that it may be washed with our tears. Each drop cries out to God for justice, for redress, for judgement – unless we intervene before God and the nation, with intercession and action, for mercy and reconciliation.

On average 50 people are murdered every day in SA – an unbelievable horror!

We ought to put on sackcloth and ashes and ‘Cry, The Beloved Country!’ 

We have sown seeds of personal and structural violence of every kind, and we are reaping a whirlwind of judgement.

We mourn the long history of bloodshed in Southern Africa, from the violence of Colonialism that began in the 17th cen., to the Zulu wars and Mfecane (Difaqane), to the Anglo-Boer war and the Native Land Act of 1913, to the racist violence of Apartheid in all its forms and the retaliatory violence it produced.

We mourn the culture of violence endemic in our nation, now accepted as normal.

We mourn all the criminal, political and gang violence.

We mourn all the farm attacks and killings in its senseless brutality.

We mourn the festering wounds, volcanic hatred, hardening racism, and the evil powers behind all the violence.

We mourn the reality of fear that most South Africans live in daily.

We mourn the failure of God’s Church – the followers of Jesus – for not being the catalyst of change and instrument of reconciliation that we are meant to be. We’ve accepted the status quo, succumbing to the demons of vengeance, bitterness and self-interest, and the popular belief that reconciliation is an irrelevant idea that died with Mandela. The Church is meant to hold up the vision and work of reconciliation, through repentance, restitution and mutual forgiveness, for a diverse people who are  victims of a history of conflict.

We cry out to God for mercy, for repentance, for forgiveness, for intervention, for reconciliation and healing. GOD has the power to save us, personally and nationally.

May we all – more so Christians and Christian leaders – speak up and live up as Christ’s Ambassadors entrusted with his message and ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Let us not be quiet. Rise up and intervene every day in our context and sphere of influence, for reconciliation and healing, even if it costs us our lives, as it did for Jesus. King Jesus modelled and taught, “go and be reconciled with your brother and sister… confess… forgive… make restitution… love your enemy… as God loves us.” (Matthew 5:21-26, 38-48).

May we be ‘atmosphere changers’ wherever we are, wherever we go, making a difference in how we greet and engage each person every day with great dignity and respect as the very image of God. May we be slow to anger, quick to forgive, and even quicker to show compassion and alleviate the pain of the other in love.  

Nkosi sikelel iafrika! God bless (South) Africa!

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Father’s Day Message

Think about your father – dead or alive – or imagine him if you never knew him. What feeling does it evoke in you? What word(s) comes to mind?

Last Sunday, 9 June, was Pentecost in the Christian calendar: to celebrate the coming of God’s Spirit. Fifty days earlier was Passover, to remember Jesus The Lamb of God – God’s Son – who led a new Exodus out of the slavery of sin and death into the Kingdom of God. This Sunday, 16 June, is the Feast of the Trinity to celebrate the mystery of God as Trinity – The Eternal Community – with special focus on The Father. And this Sunday is also Father’s Day, to remember and celebrate our fathers. There is an intrinsic link between the two, our heavenly Father and earthly fatherhood.

Paul prays in Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith… being rooted and established in love… “

“The reason” for Paul’s kneeling before God the Father is the astonishing vision of the plan and execution of salvation that he describes from chapters 1 to 3. It is a vision of full Trinitarian participation, as in the reference in the above text to the Father, Son and Spirit.

Paul, a Jewish monotheist rabbi, had a phrase to communicate his revised Messianic view of God: “God our Father and the Lord Jesus… the God and Father of our Lord Jesus” (Ephesians 1:2,3). God is both Father and Jesus – and Spirit. We know God as the Father through the Son, Messiah Jesus, by the Spirit. Jesus came to reveal God: we know God as Father in relation to the Son. In other words, to know Jesus in his earthly and historical relationship to God as (his) Father, by the Spirit, is to know God The Father. The way the Father and Son love and relate reveal who they are. The Trinity is a beautiful mystery of Three Persons in the most intimate relational life of love that we can ever imagine, so much so that They are one nature and substance. And the essence of that reality is LOVE.

“I kneel before the Pater, from whom all patria derives its name”:  Pater (God the Father) defines patria (family, more accurately, fatherhood). “Derives its name” means that fatherhood and thus family derives its nature and character from God’s Fatherhood – the fountain of all reality within the Trinity and in creation. The question is: where do we derive the nature and character of human fathering? For Paul, God’s fatherhood is the standard AND the source of all earthly fathering. It is not only the measure but also the means of all fatherhood and family in heaven and on earth. This is profound. It has serious implications.

The meaning of ‘Father’ in relation to God is human language to describe a Self-revealing Mystery we call God. Though inadequate, it’s a category we can relate to, a shadow of the glorious Reality of which it speaks. The Biblical revelation of God as Father was a polemic against the matriarchal gods and cultures of the Ancient Near East – a theological word for the Jewish experience of the Self-revealing Creator-God. Thus ‘Father’ does NOT mean God is a man. It speaks of God’s characteristics of fathering, and of mothering (Hebrew Ruach, God’s Spirit, is a feminine noun; there are many feminine images of God as mother, nurturer and comforter in the Hebrew Testament). God has masculine and feminine traits – and infinitely more characteristics – seen in his human image as male and female. Thus we can say that, in terms of God’s nature and character in relation to the Trinity and creation, God is experienced as a Father who is also a Mother.

We experience the Father, Paul says, through the Son, Messiah Jesus, who “dwells in our hearts by faith”, through “the power of his Spirit in our inner being”, who transforms us from inside out into the Father’s nature and character. Then we live a life of LOVE: “being rooted and established in (the) LOVE” of the Father and Son by the Spirit.

What does this mean for Father’s Day, for earthly fathers?  My answer:

  1. Uphold a high vision of fatherhood and culture of fathering as in the Biblical revelation of God as Father. Earthly fathers (and mothers) are enabled by The Father, through the Son by the Spirit, to live the following characteristics (among others)

    A Compassionate and Protective Father:  Psalm 68:5-6
    A Welcoming, Forgiving and Celebrating Father:  Luke 15:20-24
    A Loving and Disciplining Father:  Hebrews 12:5-11
    A Generous and Good Father:  James 1:17, Luke 11:9-13
    A Blessing and Providing Father:  Ephesians 1:3f, Matthew 6:26 (vv.25-34)

  2. Give thanks to God for our earthly fathers, though they fall short of God’s standard in their sinfulness and broken masculinity.

     
  3. Forgive our fathers for their failures – even their abdication and abandonment, their abusive fathering and toxic masculinity – because God forgives us of our sin. And God forgives them, and God heals us of our deepest hurts.

  4. Celebrate the good we find in our fathers. Think about the good things, that which is a reflection of God our Father, no matter how faint it may be.

  5. Pray for, bless and honor our fathers (and mothers). They need us more than we realize. Let us obey God’s first commandment that came with a promise: “honor your father and mother so that you may live long…”    

  6. Seek for and connect to our fathers. The unfinished business of manhood (and daughterhood) is to seek our fathers, to not only make peace, but to love and relate.

  7. Receive God’s re-fathering of us. God is our real and true Father – much more than we realize! Jesus taught us to relate and pray to God as our “Abba”, Daddy. God is a Father to us in a way that our fathers are/were unable to be, in all their needs and limitations. We can receive God’s personal re-fathering and healing love for our growth to wholeness.

Happy Father’s Day!

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Who to vote for in the South African (SA) Elections?

Folk have asked for my view on who and how to vote in the SA national and provincial elections on 8 May. For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts. I write in my personal capacity.

As a nation, in terms of our political-economic situation, we’re in a mess, the lowest point since the (miraculous) change in 1994. The past ten and more years of systematic corruption, now revealed in the Zondo commission, has devastated the nation. There is a crisis of broken public trust, a credibility vacuum that many new political parties are seeking to be fill (there are 48 on the ballot paper). This is beside the lack of just and equitable resolution of outstanding issues like the land, economic empowerment for the poor, unemployment, unresolved racism – among others

How do we decide for whom to vote in the above context? By evaluating the political parties and their key leaders on the following order of (biblical) criteria. In short, we must pray, vote and work for “just and righteous” rulers; i.e. for credible, accountable, competent governance for the sake of peace and prosperity in society, as Paul taught in 1 Timothy 2:1-6. See 1 Samuel 8, Psalm 72 & 82, Isaiah 28:6, 32:1-2 for leader/ruler criteria (righteous rule and justice for the poor feature highly) and for God’s judgement on those leaders who fail. God holds all authority accountable.

Character:

Most important. Jesus said what’s in the heart, what has formed the character, predictably comes out the mouth. It’s seen in what people routinely say and do. The fruit of a person’s (and party’s) life and leadership shows who they are, for better or for worse. The ‘Big Three’ tests of character for leaders are ‘money, sex and power’. Are they safe and trustworthy with material resources, with people (relating with integrity, or in use and abuse), and with political power (re their unmet ego needs)? Evaluate the top-tier leaders of the political parties in terms of their character in this regard.

The Zondo commission shows beyond doubt the ANC is morally bankrupt. It’s not just a few rotten Zupta apples as they claim. It’s who the organisation has become (their ethos), confirmed in their list of candidates: many are implicated in wrong doing and corruption and the ANC unashamedly puts them forward to hold public office! What an insult! They have not only allowed but have presided over corruption, lies, cheating and stealing. It has become endemic at all levels of political, civic, business and societal leadership and institutions. I cannot in all good conscience vote for the ANC. The biblical view is that spiritual powers work in and through leaders and parties via broken character for evil, or ethical character for good – and via their ideology and power structures. We must discern the powers, for better or worse, behind leaders & parties, and vote accordingly.

Beliefs, Values & Policies:

It’s NOT what leaders SAY their policies are, it’s what they actually DO – their track record. What they give time, energy and money to reveals what they believe & value. Don’t be deceived by all the right sounding ideology: most of it is populist rhetoric to win votes. Go behind to ask what the leader and party actually believe and value, as heard and seen in their lifestyles and track-record of public policy and its implementation, or lack thereof. Many, if not most parties mouth similar policies and promise the same ‘things’ that our nation needs. It comes down to balancing the weight of trust and credibility, track record and implementation, against the degree of ideological loyalty we give to leaders and their values and policies. No one party will have all the ‘right’ values and policies – it’s a mixed bag of compromise with the lessor of evils.

On this point, I don’t believe in a “Christian” political party. They make their interpretation of biblical ethics national policy. It’s like an Islamic party wanting to impose Sharia Law, or a Jewish or Hindu party. The Nationalist Party was a ‘Christian Government’ creating a ‘Christian Nation’ with ‘Christian Education’, and it produced Apartheid in all sincerity, BUT in all its misery for the majority of SA. Any failure on their part brings Christ’s name and Christian credibility into public disrepute. Jesus taught the separation of Church and State, meaning, as Christians and Church we are “salt and light” (Matt 5:13-16) in society, in the political arena. I.e. we neither seek to “take over the government and nation for Jesus”, nor abdicate our political responsibility in the name of being “apolitical”.

Rather, we influence as “salt… light… leaven” with righteous ethical values, justice advocacy, dialogical policy formation. As the conscience of government and society, we prophetically speak truth to power. If need be, we do civil disobedience in non-violent resistance against unjust/unethical policies. Individual Christians called by God to work in politics, who choose party political participation, have a grave responsibility under God to be salt and light in their party. They must influence policies and implementation for justice and righteousness, for the genuine good of society and NOT for the party vote. This includes exposing any and every lie or cover-up or corruption in their party and circles of influence – for their Christian integrity and good of the nation – or they come under God’s judgement with their party.     

Skill & Competence:
 
It goes without saying that each party and its leadership must also be evaluated on the level and depth of skill and competence in governance. This is seen in terms of track record of actual delivery on policy and promises and more. The crisis of corrupt character in leadership and lazy incompetence in management is choking SA to death. And the poor suffer the most while those in power continue to enrich themselves. The answer? PRAY AND VOTE THEM OUT OF POWER! It’s simple: if national, and especially local government (where we feel it the most) is incompetent and corrupt, don’t just curse them at dinner tables, don’t just protest in the streets by burning tyres, libraries, schools and trains, but VOTE THEM OUT OF POWER. Vote for the next most likely competent and least corrupt party.    

A strategic vote:

This is not a biblical criterion, it’s being “cunning as serpents” (Matt 10:16) in my evaluation. After all is said and done, and taking the above into account, the ANC will most certainly win the election. That’s not prophetic, it’s common analysis. Though I pray for Cyril Ramaphosa and trust God for the best, I doubt he will root out corruption and rebuild the ethical ethos, competency and delivery that is needed to turn this nation around for the good of all, especially for the poor. I pray God proves me wrong!

Therefore, our multiparty parliamentary democracy needs a strong vigorous opposition to hold the ruling party accountable and to work constructively on issues of common good for SA. We need far greater balance of power. The EFF will probably gain votes due to their populism but they will certainly be more of a disaster – by the above criteria – as the main opposition party (let alone the ruling party) than the DA. This is despite the DA’s failings on many fronts, including the perception they are a party of white privilege, which on balance is more oppositional rhetoric than the full weight of truth in my view.

There are no serious challengers in the other 45 parties contesting the elections that come even close to a sizeable influential opposition. And to spoil your vote or abstain from voting is unacceptable in light of all we’ve been through to get the vote in SA. So, I’m reluctantly voting DA at national and provisional level, on the basis of a strategic vote, in this current compromised morass of South African politics and failure of character leadership and statesmanship. There will, of course, be reason to disagree with me (including my ‘whiteness’), but taking all the above into account, my view is simply a pragmatic strategic approach for these elections.

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Entering A New Season

Sunday 27 January 2019 was our farewell service at Following Jesus, the Vineyard church we have led for just over six years. Many have asked us: what now? Where will we be going? What will I be doing?

I decided to give a more detailed answer than a simple one-liner. The purpose is for awareness among all who know of our journey with Jesus and ministry, with his church and world. And especially to ask for prayer in our new season with God – God knows we need his grace!

Just to say, if you would like to hear what we shared with Following Jesus – our farewell address and responding words of thanks to us – then click http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/alexanders-farewell-message-to-following-jesus/

I was sent into full-time paid ministry on 20 January 1975. Ever since that time I’ve been planting and pastoring churches. For the past few years I’ve known the time was coming for me to change gear and focus on what I believe God has prepared me for over the past  44 years. Simply put: to be available to the broader church to consult with and mentor leaders, to help churches with teaching and training – generally doing spiritual formation. I have been doing this for years while pastoring the local church, but now it’s time… !  Biblically speaking, I’m being released into apostolic work on a full time basis, sharing my years of spiritual-theological formation and ministry experience with those who may want to receive it.

However, to be more precise, the way I understand this new and further journey – the heart of it – is to live a slower more contemplative life. I have sensed a strong call, for the remaining years God gives me on earth, to a deepening solitude of intimacy with Jesus, to literally “echo silence” (Thomas Merton’s phrase) in all I write, say and do. I am called to write more books – as Morton Kelsey said, “I am pregnant with a number of books!” But, I want to write from inner solitude and silence, in which I hear God more clearly – the still small voice that Elijah heard – that my life and ministry may echo God’s thoughts, desires, words and deeds. To this end I would appreciate your prayers, that I may live this reality for the glory of God and fulfilment of his purposes.

Practically it means Gill and I are locating ourselves with another team and congregation not far from where we reside (I do not believe in ‘a dislocated travelling ministry’ – we will always be grounded in a local church). Gary Bradshaw, the team leader, has invited us to worship with them, to teach and lead spiritual retreats, and use it as a base for travel.

However, Gill and I are aiming to relocate to the Kwa-Zulu Natal north coast – Ballito Bay/Salt Rock area – north of Durban. We hope to do that early 2020, locating ourselves near an airport for ministry trips, and especially to base ourselves in a vibrant church that is welcoming us a teaching/mentoring/apostolic presence.

So that’s the story! Thanks to all who have supported us in one way or another, not least in prayer – especially now as we ‘walk on water’, trusting God step by step in this next phase of our lives. And P.S. my book, Doing Spirituality: The Journey of Character Formation Toward Christlikeness, is with the editors and I’m itching (waiting very impatiently!) for the final comeback, so that I can do the corrections and get the book into print. God bless!

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Social Set Theory (Centered-Set) in Doing Church

I have been asked a few times how we use “Centered Set” in how we ‘do church’ in Vineyard. Here is some of my feedback to various debates in this regard over the past years.

I was honored to work with John Wimber in 1982, learning, among other things, the Social Set Theory – the three sociological models (Fuzzy, Bounded, Centered) – introduced by Jack Simms, a sociologically trained market researcher on staff with Wimber in Yorba Linda between 1978 and 82. Wimber’s understanding and usage of it, in terms of how we do church, is recorded in my book Doing Church (pp. 50-59).

Over the years I have seen – and had questions from – leaders and people applying the Centered Set model in ways never intended, resulting in confusion. We can use models to make them mean what we want, as some do with the Bible! These points are meant to clarify aspects of how Wimber used and applied Set Theory as I understood it.

 

  1. Social Set Theory is from Sociology, proposing three contrasting models on how societies/communities organize themselves. Each model is incompatible with the others. Some in the Vineyard ‘mix’ elements of Bounded Set and Centered Set in a ‘hybrid’ model to cover a multitude of things they want to justify or explain. It shows they haven’t understood the purpose and function of the models.
  2. By definition a model is a pictorial overview of how segments of reality are arranged and work. Models have limits to what they represent, to what they say and don’t say. Hence we don’t use Social Set Theory for theological or ethical reflection regarding church and society. We must be clear on the biblical theology of church (from a Kingdom hermeneutic) and then see where and how the Centered Set helps us to articulate it, and NOT the other way round. I.e. to make the Centered Set the basis of our ecclesiological or ethical thinking and praxis is to loose our biblical base.
  3. “Integrating truth” (a Vineyard value and practice) from other disciplines into Christian-Biblical faith and praxis (e.g. how we do church) needs critical theological evaluation as to its usability and application. We use the language and idea of the sociological models for their original purpose: contrasting views of approaches to society – how communities arrange their common life. We use it to explain aspects of how we do church (Centered) and do not do church (Fuzzy and Bounded).
  4. In Social Set “values” are the underlying norms determining the arrangements and ethos in each sociological model. Applied to church, some see values as doctrines – leading to values as ideology that reinforces the boundary of who’s in or out. Others see values as relevant moral principles in market terminology. Values, as Wimber used them (at the center of the centered set, to which we draw people), are where core beliefs, social relevance and what the Spirit is emphasizing, intersect. They communicate in relevant terms what are non-negotiable principles, what forms our ethos in terms of our beliefs and Spirit-given purpose in the context of our times.
  5. Some in the Vineyard use “adult to adult” relationship as a license to believe or do what they want. When held accountable (confronted and/or corrected) they take offence accusing us of “parent-child” relating. As with sociological model, the concepts and language of Transactional Analysis has to be correctly understood, taught and enacted.
  6. In my book Doing Church, I apply the Centered Set to membership as a dynamic process of belonging in increasing levels of relational involvement toward the center. I also say that membership is a theological category: biblically there’s a clear point of commitment to Jesus and his people, publicly attested to in baptism, with formal reception into the local church. It was debated with Wimber in 1982. He said formal membership is not incompatible with the Centered Set – one concentric circle could be a line indicating a point of commitment – though his practice was more fluid via relational belonging. Many Vineyards have membership courses with a formal commitment to membership, adding value to the centered set approach without contradicting it. The dynamic-process view has been reworded in post-modern terms of “belong, believe, (then you) behave”, correcting the modernist “behave, believe, (then you can) belong” – Vineyard has never taught nor practiced the latter. The problem with postmodern “belonging” is that without any agreed criteria of what it means – with no process of membership – it can ongoingly cover a multitude of (wrong) beliefs and behavior, as in remaining unconfronted and silently endorsed in the name of unconditional acceptance.
  7. This raises the issue of social ethics vis-a-vie the Centered Set model of doing church. We’ve all been asked, “Can Christians who live together (unmarried) be members of our church – we’re centered on Jesus who accepts everyone?” “Can practicing homosexuals be members, even leaders – Jesus taught unconditional ‘love, acceptance & forgiveness’” (a phrase from Jerry Cook’s book, referred to in Doing Church). The same applies to facilitating same-sex marriages and similar challenges. These are ethical issues that must be decided biblically in terms of Theological Ethics and Ecclesiology (church membership and participation). To place them in the category of human rights and/or to decide from a centered set model on how we handle them is to use sociological assumptions to decide theological-ethical issues. This always results in theological relativism and eventual heresy. Biblically, we are called to accept and love everyone unconditionally, regardless of who they are, what they believe or do. But acceptance is NOT agreement with or endorsement of identity, beliefs, behavior, character and lifestyle, which is always challenged by the gospel as we follow Jesus. Repentance from sin, healing from brokenness, moral transformation, etc, is a given as much as unconditional love and acceptance is. The decision as to how we integrate this with church attendance and then membership – let alone ministry and leadership – is a theological-ethical evaluation and decision, with pastoral wisdom, not a sociological one based on the centered set.
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Living the Life God Intended – Talk 12 – Hated, Love & Maturity

Jesus’ teaching on Living The Life God Intended, in regard to hatred, love and maturity, comes from Matt 5:43-48 (read it!) To listen to the audio teaching click on http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/living-the-life-god-intended-talk-12/

Jesus essentially says, “It’s not about loving your neighbour and then hating your enemy, but about loving your enemy. And in so doing, being perfect as your Father in heaven.” 

Jesus completes the six ethical commands with the capstone of love of enemy as children who live the complete character of their heavenly Father. Thus v.48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, is the summary conclusion of all six ‘antitheses’ that Jesus taught from Matt 5:21-47. More of this just now.

We must first discuss Jesus’ quote of the great commandment to love your neighbour (Lev 19:18). Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say what Jesus quotes, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’” The OT does not command us to “hate your enemy.” What then is Jesus quoting? From where does he get this? What is he referring to?

He’s referring to the oral tradition of certain groups in Israel at the time. The School of Rabbi Shammai – a contemporary of Jesus – taught that once you had obeyed Torah by loving your neighbour you were free to hate your enemy. Zealots who fought for Israel’s liberation agreed, teaching a holy war theology of killing the enemy in God’s name. They saw their enemies as God’s enemies, and vice versa – identified as the Romans, pagans, and ‘backslidden’ non-Torah-keeping-Jews. One could hate these people because they are judged and condemned by God. The Essenes in the Qumran sect had a similar teaching of loving the children of light (those in their community) and hating the children of darkness (those outside their community). Thus Jesus was quoting a known oral tradition in his day that legitimized hating one’s enemy.

The full text from Lev 19:18 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.” The oral tradition that Jesus refers to understood the phrase “among your (own) people” to mean within God’s people, the covenant community. Once you’ve loved your own kind you can hate ‘the other’ – perceived as ‘the enemy’? Thus they joined the two and made one new revised version, “love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”

In so doing they conveniently overlooked the context, as in Lev 19:33-34, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Here Moses actually repeats word for word Lev 19:18, “love them (your neighbour… the foreigner) as yourself, for I am the Lord!” The Lord says your neighbour is BOTH your own kind AND the foreigner/stranger.

Due to the discipline of scripture memorisation, when rabbis quoted a text they had in mind the whole context. We see this in Jesus’ teaching practice. Therefore, did Jesus tell his story of The Good Samaritan in Lk 10:27-37 from this interpretation of “love your neighbour = love the foreigner-enemy” in Lev 19:18 cf. 33-34? He provocatively says to his ‘own kind’ that the perceived foreigner-enemy, the Samaritan, had mercy on his perceived enemy, the Jew – while fellow Jews walked passed their beaten up ‘own kind’ as if he were the enemy! How radical is this? Jesus himself prayed for his enemies while they were driving nails through his hands, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing!” And Paul speaks of God’s enemies in Rom 5:8-10: God demonstrates his great love for us in that while we were “God’s enemies” he sent his Son to die for us, so that we may be reconciled to God.

Love of the foreigner, ‘the other’, ‘the enemy’, is the stream in the OT that Jesus teaches. We see it in Ex 23:4-5 and Prov 25:21-22, the command to do good to one’s enemies in various ways, thereby “heaping burning coals on their heads.” The OT does not teach hatred of enemies, as in humans beings made in God’s image, but hatred of evil itself, as in evil spirit, pride, lying, cheating, killing, and so on (Prov 6:16-19). It differentiates evil itself from the human instrument through which it comes. Evil is personal spiritual power(s) opposed God and his purposes in the heavens and earth. Hebrew ha satan, “the opposer”, is God’s enemy, the devil and his spiritual kingdom of demons.

Paul clearly says our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against our real enemy: the unseen spiritual forces of evil that operate in, on, and through human beings (Eph 6:12). He says in Rom 12:9-21, “hate what is evil; cling to what is good… bless those who persecute you… do not repay evil for evil… do not take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath…” Then he ends by quoting Prov 25:21-22 word for word! And concludes with, “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). Paul learnt well from Messiah Yeshua ha Notzri and his first apostles.

Therefore, “love your enemies” is about loving people as in your neighbour, the person in need, the foreigner, your enemy. Jesus’ command fulfils the spirit and intention of Torah. In fact, Jesus’ “love your enemies” – put in this way and the meaning he gives to it – is unprecedented in all of Jewish literature. It is not stated, let alone taught, in this specific way in the entire OT, in the inter-testamental writings, and at the time of Jesus (in the Essenes, Josephus and other Jewish literature). It’s not found in the Rabbinical writings of the Mishnah and Talmud (250-500 AD), neither in all of the Greek philosophers and the Greco-Roman literature. Jesus was truly unique and radical in this regard.

Three questions arise: WHO is (y)our enemy? WHY must you love them? And exactly HOW do you love them? Jesus answers them in reverse order.

The HOW. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (v.44). This is a form of Hebrew parallelism: “to love” is paralleled by “to pray”, and “your enemy” is paralleled by “those who persecute you.” I.e. to pray for our enemies is to love them. Prayer is the first and highest act of love for those who oppose us, persecute, exploit and treat us unjustly. How so? Because prayer is power! God is our Creator-Father who has all the power in the heavens and earth, and he hears the cry of his children when we pray for the wellbeing of ‘the other.’ But prayer is not the only HOW or way of loving our enemy. What other ways can you think of – practically, specifically?

The WHY. The reason Jesus gives as to why we must love our enemies is “that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (v.45). By loving our enemies we live up to, and live out, our Father’s character of love and mercy. This is our witness to the world of who God is. Jesus grounds his reason in the Father’s love and mercy for both the righteous and the unrighteous, for both good and bad people – because God makes the sun to shine on both, he causes the rain to fall on both (v.45). Therefore, be like your Father in heaven and love your good neighbour and your bad enemy alike. Then you will be seen to be God’s child, living his character – different to all other people.

Jesus presses the point: “If you (only) love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (v.46-47). Here is the WHO. He names two perceived enemies in his day: tax-collectors and pagans. The former were among the most despised of Jews, seen as enemies because they collected taxes for the oppressive Roman occupation. The latter were idol worshippers, perceived enemies of Judaism because they could lead non-Torah-keeping-Jews astray into idolatry as frequently happened in Israel’s history.

However, here’s the point: are Torah-keeping-Jews any different to the tax-collectors who love only their own kind? What recognition or reward does God give to that? If Gentile pagans greet only their own kind, and God’s covenant people Israel do the same, what good is that? What’s the difference?

So Jesus is saying to his followers, “You ARE different, you’ve entered God’s Kingdom, so BE different! Live differently by loving those who are not your own, by greeting those who are different to you. In so doing you show yourself to be children of the Father, living his nature of love for all people, especially for so-called enemies. This is the life of the new covenant that God intended and enabled by his Word and Spirit in you. Our Father recognises and rewards this life of love. He does so by using it (us) to make a difference in the world, as witness to his Kingdom of Heaven on earth – through you!”

The question must be contextualised and personalised: who is YOUR enemy? Both the perceived enemy of your group or national or cultural stereotype, as well as your personal enemy in daily life?

Jesus’ capstone summary and conclusion:

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The Greek for perfect, telios, does not mean sinless moral perfection, rather perfect as in complete, whole, full-grown, mature. It is the perfection of love. Luke’s version of the same phrase is enlightening: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:38). It can also be translated “compassionate.” I.e. Jesus is speaking of full-grown love, of being whole in God’s mature mercy and complete compassion for all, which shows God’s true nature.

In fact, Jesus’ “be perfect/merciful as your Father is perfect/merciful” is his interpretive quote of Lev 19:2, “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (the key verse in the Holiness Code, Lev 17 – 26). Here again we see Jesus’ mind working with the whole context of Lev 19:18, and Lev 19:33-34. Jesus interprets holiness, not as moral purity per se, but as wholeness, completeness, maturity in God’s love. This was in radical contrast to the Politics of Holiness in his day: the dominant system or way of legalistic purity and obedience to the letter of The Law – what Jesus called the “righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.” Jesus understood holiness as the Politics of Love, his Messianic Way of Compassion, modelled in his life and ministry.

This is the perfection of love to which Jesus calls us. It’s the character of our Father that enables us to naturally live the life God intended, to easily obey Jesus’ six ethical teachings in Matt 5:21-47: “you’ve heard it said… but I say to you… go beyond anger to forgiveness and reconciliation, beyond lust to love, beyond divorce to integrity of marriage, beyond manipulation to truthfulness, beyond retaliation to non-violent resistance, and beyond hatred to love – loving your enemies.”

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Living the Life God Intended – Talk 11 – Retaliation & Resistance

This talk on Living the Life God intended is about Jesus’ teaching on retaliation and non-violent resistance, in Matt 5:38-42. To listen to the audio teaching of these notes, click on
http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/living-the-life-that-god-intended-talk-11-retaliation-and-love-of-enemy/

 

Jesus says in Matt 5:38-42 that it’s not about payback, but about self-sacrifice in non-violent resistance of evil people. This 5th ‘antithesis’ of Jesus is closely tied to the 6th in Matt 5:44-48, as seen in Luke who reverses the order and joins them (Lk 6:27-36). Taken together, Jesus’ basic point is to value people and relationships above self-security and possessions. I.e. unselfishness, motivated by love – even as in self-sacrifice, even for one’s enemies – is mature human flourishing, The Life God intended. That effectively resists and defeats evil while saving others. How so? We are brought to completion in living our Father’s perfect nature of loving mercy (Matt 5:48 cf. Lk 6:38) – which God’s Son embodied and modelled for us.

However, as per Matthew’s order, Jesus’ 5th ethical issue is about the lex talionis: the law of retaliation, or principle of retribution, “an eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” (Jesus quotes Ex 21:24, Lev 24:19-20). This law was well-known in Palestine and ancient Near Eastern cultures. It was a ‘ready-made’ judicial formula for a just punishment, which was seen by all as equal justice in the courts of law.

When a person perpetrates an injustice, does some injurious or hurtful action against you, there are three ways to respond: 1) retaliate violently, or 2) take the person to court for a just reversal of the action (lex talionis), or 3) passively accept it with no response or retaliation – ‘just suck it up’! Jesus offers another creatively redemptive way that cuts through and transcends all three. And he uses deliberate exaggeration to illustrate it.

The lex talionis was originally given to restrain violence, not to foster retribution or vengeance. It was given to limit retaliation or payback to a sentence of fair punishment for the perpetrator. The problem was that, by quickly taking people to court, this law was used to justify vindictiveness in the name of justice! People readily took each other to court in that society, as it is today. That practice had no redemptive power. It didn’t expose and defeat the evil behind such attitudes and actions, both in the victim and the perpetrator. At worst, it could become a vicious cycle of injury and legalised retaliation, a downward spiral of violent reciprocation and more revenge, which can continue for generations in families and communities! Jesus’ answer to resistance and retaliation of evil people runs along far deeper heart channels.

Jesus did not say “resist evil” as in abstract evil. He says, “do not resist an evil person.” Firstly, he refers to unjust evil acts done by others against you, stated in Deut 19:19-21. He refers to those through whom evil operates. Evil works through people who allow it, as we see in Peter’s actions in Matt 16:21-23. The more one allows it, the more one becomes “an evil person”. I.e. over time evil (spirit) incarnates itself in persons, and in socio-political-economic structures that people develop. Evil seeks to make people and communities in its own image, just as God incarnates him/herself in us individually and corporately by Holy Spirit, as godly image bearers.

Secondly, the word “resist” (antistenai) was used for war, to ‘stand against’ enemies, for violent revolt as in Barabbas’ insurrection (Lk 23:19,25). Zealots, among other groups in Jesus’ day, taught a holy war theology, saying one can use violence in God’s name to “resist” Israel’s enemies. They saw the occupying Romans, including non-Torah-keeping Jews, as evil. Their enemies were God’s enemies, to be purged from the Holy Land. So, in saying “do not resist evil”, Jesus is not teaching passive docility, rather, do not repay kind with kind, don’t retaliate against personal or structural violence with violence. Jesus himself resisted evil, the question was about the means, the how. Paul used antistenai in Eph 6:13, of our spiritual warfare against all forms of evil. Paul “resisted” Peter to his face, because love demanded it, due to Peter’s unresolved racism that damaged the gospel and fellow believers (Gal 2:11-15).

However, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person” is in the context of the lex talionis, meaning “don’t resist in a court of law; don’t take them to court!” This interpretation is required in the second of the four examples below that Jesus gives, though it applies to all. This instruction by Jesus contradicts the old covenant, but makes sense in the context of Matt 5:17-20. I.e. even the lex talionis points to Jesus and it’s fulfilment of the (S)spirit of the law: though instituted to curb retaliatory evil due to the hardness of people’s hearts, the lex talionis failed; but a time will come when resistance and retaliation will be transcended in self-sacrifice, forgiveness and compassion. That is the life God intended. That defeats evil.

Jesus said, that time had come! He was fulfilling the prophesy of the new covenant, the way of living where obedience sprang from a new heart in-dwelt by God’s Spirit, a renewed mind formed by God’s Word (Jer 31:31-14, 32:38-40, Ezek 36:26-27). Jesus’ four examples show what this looks like, how radical this was in his day:

“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” To strike someone on the right cheek in a right-handed society meant a backhanded slap. It was the most grievous insult, humiliating injustice, in the ancient world – besides spitting in a person’s face (Is 50:6) – no matter the reason for such a “klap” (as South Africans say). One can retaliate by hitting back, or take the person to court, or passively accept it. Jesus’ new covenant way transcends these. His kingdom response is to turn and offer the other cheek. This causes the perpetrator to have to consciously change posture to take up your offer to slap you, this time with the open palm of their hand, the so-called ‘normal’ way of hitting a person. It forces the perpetrator to pause and think and decide if they will actually do it… or not… exposing the unjust heart of the perpetrator to him/herself and all who see the evil act. Plus, the victim or survivor maintains dignity due to a dignified nonviolent response that exposes and defeats the evil intent behind the insulting backhand.

“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” In the ancient world people sued one another to recover what was owed to them, as it is today. They could even legally sue the shirt off your back – the inner garment. The poor generally only had an inner garment and outer coat. BUT the law protected the poor victim by legislating that one’s outer coat could not be taken from them, no matter what, because it was what people slept in, keeping them warm at night (Ex 22:26-27). Jesus’ deliberately exaggerated kingdom response, in this case, goes against Torah teaching and the law courts. It exposes the evil behind a person who, having taken all your possessions, now takes you to court to get your shirt! So give them your outer coat as well. Just imagine, having given away your shirt and outer garment, walking home in your loin cloth (underpants)? This hyperbole exposes and embarrasses the humiliating injustice of the person taking your shirt as ‘legal retaliation’, as their ‘right’ to make you utterly destitute. With such a nonviolent response, your dignity will ironically be affirmed, and people will see the injustice, and the evil behind it will be unmasked and defeated.

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” The occupying Roman soldiers had the legal right to force Jews – any local natives in the Empire – to do certain types of work (see Mk 15:21). They commonly made locals carry their ‘army pack’. But the law limited it to one mile so that they didn’t exploit people to the point of death from exhaustion by forcing them to carry their load for many miles under the hot sun. It was known that Zealots – ordinarily dressed Jews, but freedom fighters – would carry a Roman soldier’s load for a mile, then look for a bush along the road to lay it down. When the soldier bent down to pick up his load, the Zealot would take out his sicarri, a dagger hidden under his belt, and cut the soldier’s throat. He then went on his way praising God that he’d killed an infidel in the Name of the Lord for Israel’s liberation. Jesus instructs his followers, including his apostle Simon the Zealot, to go two miles as an act of nonviolent resistance – even as an act of loving smiling service to the oppressor. Imagine the effect on a Roman soldier? That would have raised many an eyebrow in Jesus’ day. He taught it in Galilee, the hotbed of Jewish revolutionary activity. Jesus’ way was to resist and defeat evil by creative redemptive acts that gave dignity to the victim of injustice and moved the heart of the perpetrator, exposing the evil behind the unjust action.

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” This follows up on suing a person for the shirt off his back. Jesus endorses Torah teaching on giving and lending money. Kingdom people must lend money to the needy without charging interest (Ex 22:25, Lev 25:37), especially before the 7th Sabbath year of release when all debts were forgiven (Deut 15:9). But Jesus goes further, teaching unselfish giving in a spirit of generosity. Lend money without expecting to get it back, viewing it as your giving to God. The OT stressed giving to the poor (Deut 15:7-11; Ps 112:5,9; Prov 19:17, 22:9), but it does not mean that Jesus is teaching giving without discernment, giving out of guilt or manipulation, giving to everyone all the time, especially those who seek a ‘soft touch’ (Prov 11:15, 17:18).

Again, these four examples deal with the heart attitude, the “better righteousness” of the new covenant, the life God intends for us. They are examples of Jesus’ kingdom fulfilment of the spirit of the law; i.e. his Messianic Torah. And he goes even further in the 6th (last) antithesis regarding love of enemy.

Having interpreted these four examples of Jesus in the context of his day, how do we apply that meaning to our context today? What is Jesus saying to us in our particular world?

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Living the Life God Intended – Talk 10 – Manipulation & Truth Telling

Oaths, Swearing and Truthfulness, Matt 5:33-37

To hear the audio teaching of these notes, click on
http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/living-the-life-god-intended-talk-10-manipulation-truth-in-communication/

In this text Jesus says that healthy community, good communication in life, is not about making vows and keeping sworn oaths, as in Num 30:2, Deut 23:21-23, but simply telling the truth! Jews swore by all sorts of things other than God in the belief that, if they didn’t keep their word, they were then not using God’s name in vain (i.e. breaking the 2nd Commandment).

The practice of swearing, making vows, taking an oath, was to persuade with power communication, to ‘vouch’ for your promise, to ‘prove’ the truth of what you said, even to get your own way! It amounted to manipulation and control in conversation. So Jesus, in this text, addresses speech and truth-telling, and the (mis)use of God’s name.

Depending on your culture, you may say, “I swear on my mother’s grave that…”, to make others believe you’re telling the truth. In the Judaeo-Christian judicial system people have to put their hand on the Bible and swear under oath, “I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God!” The idea is to call on a higher authority, represented in a sacred symbol, which binds the conscience to tell the truth and/or to fulfil a promise. And thus to be held accountable – punished or vindicated – by that higher authority, i.e. God (see 1Kgs 8:31-32).

The rabbis in Jesus’ day debated which oaths were binding or not, as seen in the hierarchical list that Jesus referred to in Matt 5:34-36, and also Matt 23:16-22. His central point is that whatever you swear by is ultimately God’s, whether it be heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the Temple, the altar, or your head (even the hairs of one’s head are under God’s sway and ownership!) Swearing by any of these ‘things’ is still swearing by God – though indirectly! So Jesus’ answer to this, his way of being authentically human as God’s image, is simply not to swear at all and keep your word and tell the truth.

Be truth-full. Don’t lie. Not even white lies! Never make promises you can’t keep. If you make a promise, keep it! Don’t try to impress, exaggerate, manipulate or control others by your words, pressurising them to believe what you’re saying, by resorting to swearing, making vowing, invoking God as your authority.

For example, some Christians use “God told me…” when it’s evidently not the case for various (discerning) reasons. People who live the life God intended, those in his new covenant rule and reign (Kingdom), are as good as their word. They mean what they say and say what they mean. Their ‘yes’ is ‘yes’, their ‘no’ is ‘no’; “anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matt 5:37).

Strong words from Jesus! The devil was a liar from the beginning, the father of lies, the ultimate manipulator and deceiver. Don’t live out his evil nature (John 8:44), a hypocrite who acts out one thing while being another behind the mask! Jesus’ way of being human is to be a “WYSIWYG” person: what-you-see-is-what-you-get! Being real. Be honest. No pretence, no games-play, no pressurising others, no getting your own way.

In short, Jesus intensifies the letter of the law (Deut 23:22-23, Eccl 5:5) by upholding the spirit – the original intention and direction – of the law, especially the 2nd commandment not to take God’s name in vain (Ex 20:7).

This is very relevant and applicable to our world of politics, power-language, spin-doctors, motivational-talk, manipulation and control – a world of misinformation, half-truths, fake-news and deceit. The Oxford Dictionary is updated annually. They choose one new word that has come into usage that best captures the spirit of the year. In 2016 they chose ‘post-truth’.

We live in an ‘after-truth’ world where blatant lies are shamelessly presented as the truth, modelled by political, civic, business, national and global leaders. People swear in all sorts of ways to make their point and get their way, often using foul expletives to intimidate others. We no longer easily believe or trust people. We listen with a skeptical ear and cynical heart. This is NOT the life, nor community, God intended – it “comes from the evil one”.

Christ-followers are salt and light: we stick to our word, fulfil our promises, are consistently truthful. We don’t (have to) resort to manipulative words, or abusive swearing, or use God’s name in vain to impress others, or to get our way.