Courageous Christians

At our recent Weekend Away, we introduced a new program, Courageous Christians. Over the last number of weeks, we have been unpacking this and it has been moving through our Small Groups. Over the next couple of posts I am going to put some of the thoughts out there from the Courageous Christians booklet for information and comment. You can also get information about this from our website, www.dpc.org.za and via the Facebook page. 

What is the vision of Courageous Christians? Courageous Christians is a challenge through our congregation,  to help people to live their Christian lives more intentionally where they are.

There are issues that affect our fruit – the products that flow from us as Christians and as a congregation. But if we are going to bear fruit for the kingdom, then there are some specific root issues that we need to address.This is what Courageous Christians is all about. Courageous Christians are called to be both salt and light.

Light and Salt

Matthew 5

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven

As a congregation of Courageous Christians, we are called to be a light on the hill called by God to shine the gospel in a dark world (Matt. 5:14). Thus, our community life, our ministries and outreach programs are a communal witness of the coming of the Kingdom of God in our community. The congregation is also a means by which the love of God is communicated to a hurt and broken world. The congregation must be a community where God’s grace is shown through our communal lifestyle.

As Courageous Christians in the world, individuals are called by God to be the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13) wherever we live and work and socialise. We have to be transformed so that we can live out our faith in our daily lives. Courageous Christians are those who have made a commitment to practicing their Christian faith both inside the walls of the church (and so to be the light of the world), and outside (as the salt of the earth).

The Scriptural paradigm is found in Luke 10:25-28 (NIV) The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Courageous Christians are Christians who strive to live their faith to the full in all areas of life. Where most of the courses we offered in the past in the church were intended help in specific learning areas, the Courageous Christians program focuses on who we should be as Christians where we live and work and play. 

A simple illustration to describe what Courageous Christians is all about comes from the IT world: the difference between a piece of software and an operating system. A specific piece of software (e.g. a word processing or graphic design program) enables a computer to perform specific tasks while the operating system of the computer itself (e.g. Windows 8 or Vista) creates a platform from which the software programs can operate. The purpose of the Courageous Christians program is to help people find a different spiritual operating system, to create a platform from which all the other aspects of the Christian life can operate. Where the specific ministries of the church are anchored in the different gifts of the Spirit, which all believers of the Spirit share (1 Cor. 12:7-11), Courageous Christians is an expression of the fruit of the Spirit made fully visible in the lives of all believers (Galatians 5:22-23).

I am the Light of the World

This Sunday we continue the theme begun by Jeanne last week on the "I am" sayings of Jesus. Jeanne preached on John 6 where Jesus says, " I am the Bread of life." This week we look at Jesus saying, "I am the light of the world" in John 8:12. However, instead of focusing on this text in John 8, we shall focus on the way in which Jesus applies the text in the healing of the man born blind in John 9. This is a remarkable story, filled with drama, pathos and even humour. 

If you have ever visited the castle in Cape Town, you will know the what it feels like to be in the  dungeon when the tour guide closes the door and it is pitch dark; so dark that it doesn't matter whether your eyes are open or closed and the amazing experience of the door being opened again so that the light comes streaming in.

    Travis Jarrett tells a story about a similar experience:  "I was reminded of a time when I was a teenager and my family and I were visiting Kiev in Ukraine, where I grew up. My dad and I share a real love for early church history and so we decided to take a tour of some of the ancient Orthodox monasteries of Kiev. 

We came to this one monastery that had the usual stuff that tourists enjoyed – a traditional service being held in the sanctuary; chapels and prayer walls where you could stop and pray; gift-shops where you could buy a souvenir to remind you of the prayer walls and the service. But this monastery also had something else that many tourists were not interested in – they had catacombs. Miles and miles of tunnels running under the monastery and the city itself. These catacombs were the early dwellings of the first missionaries to Kiev and portions of them had been opened to the public to go down, visit the prayer rooms, and pay respect to the men and women of faith who had brought the Gospel to the country centuries ago. 

We prepared to go down by first entering a small room where we had to remove our shoes and put on soft slippers to minimize wear and tear on the floor. We were then handed a small booklet containing information about the missionaries, priests, and saints that we would find on display in their respective rooms. And lastly, we were handed a candle about the size of a regular pencil. Thus prepared, we entered into the catacombs. 

The first thing I noticed is that these were built for small people who had no fear of enclosed spaces. The ceiling was only about 6’ high, and the tunnel was wide enough for one person to go down at a time. Everything was just carved into the rock – stairs, shelves, doorways, rooms – everything. I also noticed that there were no interior lights. Nothing had been added to aid in lighting the tunnels or the rooms, so you had to do everything by the light of your little candle. Every now and then, a large candelabra filled with pieces of candle would sit in the middle of a room to shed light on the relics, artifacts, and occupants of each dwelling. But in the tunnel, it was just you and your one candle. 

You can imagine that this was a pretty dimly lit journey. You can then also imagine the panic that swept through the group of us that had traveled down when a gust of wind breezed through the tunnel, extinguishing our candles and leaving us in pitch black darkness. It is hard to describe the disorientation, confusion, and fear that one feels when in a small enclosed area with no light and no knowledge of where to go or how to get out. Though it lasted only a few seconds, it seemed like forever before someone fished a lighter out of their pocket and began to relight candles."

What does the darkness represent for you? Fear, ignorance, unbelief, the work of the evil one? Or something else? If Jesus is the light of the world, then what does that mean - how does that light overcome the darkness of fear? The darkness of ignorance? Of unbelief? Of the evil one? Of the other darkness that leaves us anxious? Despite knowing that Jesus is the light of the world, why is it that so many Christians are depressed, anxious and fearful about what they see around and them and about the future?