Roboboy - The Post Modern Pinocchio

There's an advert that is being shown early in the morning just before I set off for work. It's worth a mention because it's a really good one... it sets me up for the day; which is more than I can say for the Omega 3 egg advert or the Slim Fast "Fruity Tootie... Now My Jeans Fit My Booty" song which just filled me with feelings of intense rage. I'm not going to link to either of those adverts... I would save you that pain.

No, the advert I am referring to, actually is really rather heart warming and it touches the part of you that is forever young... that part deep inside ourselves, wants to go out, play and have adventures. It's Persil's latest advert entitled Roboboy:

It's obvious inspiration is Pinocchio, the wooden toy who wants to become a real boy. The advert speaks to me because I've known all about embracing the outer robot for quite some time... and during the last year and a half, I've felt the call of the world outside the door... the inner child. At the moment, I actually think I'm standing on the threshold of the door; I've set a few things in motion... that I probably can't turn back from. Somewhere in the wuiet confines of my soul...a personal revolution is commencing.

It also occurs to me that this advert has a deeper more spiritual significance. As human beings, God always intended us to be children of abundant life... but somewhere along the way, through sin and strife... we stumbled and created ourselves a harder, cruder pale imitation of God's plan for each one of us... all of us.

The first instance of this in the Bible, is when Adam and Eve having tasted fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, try to cover up using little more than shrubberies for underwear... not the greatest fashion statement. After God has convicted his two creations of their rebellion... what does he do? He clothes them with the hides of animals (presumably the human race caught on).

Whether you take the Adam and Eve story as literal or not, isn't important to the lesson to be learned here. The point is that we stumble... but God is there. We try to cope by wearing a hedge, when God longs to wrap us up in a warm robe. We hide in the robot... but God calls the boy. God wants us to live a life more fruitful... one in which we can experience the abundance of everything he offers:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10

Adam and Eve's clothing came at a price (one that they did not have to pay), the price was the life of an animal.

Similarly, this abundant life - the transformation from robot to man, also comes at a price... and again it's a price we don't have to pay. The cost was paid on the cross by Jesus. He died that we might be set free from all our wrongdoing... and came back to show us that we don't have to be robots any more.... we can come outside and play with him... and be transformed into what God always wanted for us... the very best he has to offer.

The question is, are you going to stay inside your skin of steel... or do you want to come out and play?

Sinflation.

I'm not an economist by any means; I won't pretend that I have the business acumen or fiscal skills of a major league stockbroker.

All the same, something doesn't quite add up to me; it never has.

Politicians and powerful businessmen always contend that in times of severe inflation, it is incredibly unwise to give workers a pay rise that enables them to cope with rising costs. They argue that doing such a thing merely forces inflation to increase even more.

At the risk of sounding like a complete fool, I'd like to partially challenge this assertion. It's true that the cost of essential resources such as gas, oil and electricity is going up (latest estimates have it at about 60% by the end of the year), that I wont dispute.

However, merely allowing people to pay for natural price rises, doesn't really increase inflation... it just allows people to keep up with an existing inflation rate that won't go down until the cost of resources falls.

I think they are attacking the wrong part of the equation. You see what I think happens after the public's pay is increased, is that greedy executives decide that now people have more money... they can push them even harder in the hope of improving their profit margin.

Simply put, in a relatively stable economy, sky-rocketing inflation is largely caused by insatiable greed.

Greed is most definitely NOT good.

But perhaps for some, it could be said that greed is god.

Nobody is saying it is sinful to make a profit... but as human beings, we should seek to make our fortune with integrity, decency and goodwill to others.

Jesus once said:

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Matthew 6:24

In fact, it is recorded twice in the gospels. What Jesus was expressing here, is that if we don't make ourselves accountable to God... we become accountable to lower things. You can't put God on a par with anything else in your life, it just doesn't work.

We live in a generation that has all of a sudden largely decided that it has "outgrown" God. That belief in God is nothing more than a quaint commodity... and as the love of God decreases, the love of money is increasing. The apostle Paul picks up where Jesus left off and continues the cautionary teaching:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

But love of money isn't the only problem.... because that usually only affects those who actually have it. There is also the worry of money. Bills rise and wages remain static... and the average man in the street is left wondering if he is going to make it through the year without being financially crushed. Well, Jesus had several things to say about that too:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

and:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

It's relatively easy to talk about turning all your troubles to Jesus, but I appreciate it's no easy thing at all when you are stacked with mounting bills.

And this is why the pendulum swings once more towards who have been blessed with material wealth.

In the Early Church, the believers followed a simple way of life. As the book of Acts records:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Idealistic? Maybe by the world's standards...but as Christians we re not called to live by the worlds standards... and we should take hold of this idealism and live it. I and adhered to. firmly believe we should try ans embrace the same principles those early believers stood for

Several hundred years after the events recorded in the Bible, a man whose name I share, took three bags of gold and according to legend... discreetly dropped them into the house of a poor man, in order that his daughters could get married. That man came to be known as St. Nicholas, and we celebrate his kindness very year at the time of Christ's birth (whose nativity was the beginning of the greatest act of kindness ever).

Maybe those stories are a little old and archaic... the world's moved on Nick... remember?

OK, what about the 1990's? During the last recession, there was a village in Scotland which had a local economy that was largely dependent on the fishing industry. As economic gloom began to take hold, jobs were lost and the whole village began to collapse.

Then the church came along.

The local church began to use it's (admittedly not massive resources),to employ local men who found themselves out of work. Oh it was only small jobs at first... but somehow people found their bills payable and the village was saved... and pews were filled with people who had seen the kind of love the church can demonstrate... if only it were willing.

So the choices are simple:

Do we embrace or do we exploit?

Do we rescue or do we turn away?

Do we love our neighbour as ourselves or do we just love ourselves?

Do we worship God or goods?

One final sobering point on inflation... while we bemoan our current financial hardship and economic troubles, it is worth remembering and reflecting upon the fact that the people of Zimbabwe have had inflation of 2.2 million % compared to the UK's relatively meagre 3.8% and we don't live under the law of violent oppression either.

So while we feel the pinch, let's not lose perspective.

A Right Old State!

I thought I'd entered a parallel dimension a few days ago.

The newsreader moved onto a story concerning Lady Thatcher and the fact the Government has rubber stamped the idea of giving her a state funeral when she finally departs this mortal coil.

Then I discovered that... no this was in fact reality.

I can't believe it. Irrespective of what your political leanings are, I don't think Thatcher ticks enough of the right boxes to have this honour afforded to her.

I am strongly of the opinion that state funerals should only be awarded to people whose contribution to the nation's welfare (be it military, social or economic) is so unquestionably recognised from every quarter, that there can be little room for dispute.

Churchill ticked that box, so did Wellington... so did Nelson.

Margaret Thatcher is anything but that.

She has split people right down the middle. If you think you can find a miner or industrial labourer who'd support the notion of a state funeral, I'd be highly surprised.

I actually think it's foolishness to commemorate the life of Lady Thatcher in this manner. I think it will bring out the worst in people. The likelihood is that the many people who would be angered and hurt by this decision... may hold a macabre festival of their own. I can see people celebrating her demise in an inappropriate way in a counter establishment response.

You may be reading this and thinking of doing that very thing - and as much as I disapprove of Thatcher's style of Government, I could never agree to such a thing.

But you see... I think I have this figured. There's one reason why a "Labour" Government would approve this.

It is a reason that I find even more gut churning.

When the rough beast that is Tony Blair ends his days (if that is even possible), they will be clamouring for exactly the same thing... and that would be equally wrong, if not more so.

Conservative or Liberal?

You’ll notice that as of yet on this blog I have not made a big thing of the current divisive issues being fought over within the Church of England and the wider Anglican Church (principally the role of women and gay priests).

This is by no means an accident, for I do not intend to. This blog is called a Sanctuary for a reason. It’s a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers...

oh no... wait a minute, that’s Babylon 5.

All joking aside, I designed this site to be a place of peace: a relatively benign entity in cyberspace; a place where people could come and share their feelings and thoughts, without harm of persecution. When you chance upon these pages you come to a place that honours the ancient traditional rite of asylum. I may disagree with you, but I will never bite you for what you say.

I have left my political views equally ambiguous on my Facebook profile as well. If we must invoke concepts of conservatism or liberalism to describe our position, we had better gain a proper understanding of what they are, or we are all going to become unstuck.

I’m going to use the ancient art of sword-making as an analogy.

Sound pretty bizarre?

Bear with me.

Through the ages, the design of swords have changed and evolved to suit particular needs. Some civilizations favoured a curved blade with a soft edge which was excellent for cutting, but it wasn’t very hardy and if you tried to repeatedly block your opponent’s attacks with the blade, it would soon deteriorate and break. The reverse was true of other civilizations who favoured a hard edge and a straight blade. The weapon was extremely hardy and good for defensive parrying, but it was not as efficient on the attack as it lacked a cutting angle.

Then, the Japanese made a major breakthrough -the sword of the samurai.

A Samurai Sword

This weapon was refined and folded many times over and it also had another unique feature... a blade that was soft at the front and hard at the back. It took the best of both concepts. Today, if you shoot a bullet directly at the cutting edge of a samurai sword held in a clamp, the bullet will split in two leaving the blade with the slightest of nicks, ready to be used again.

I believe the same applies to the principles of conservatism and liberalism. If you dedicate your personal doctrine solely to conservatism, you won’t get very far. Defensively you’ll have a strong moral foundation that can withstand the fiercest assault. However, if you try to evangelise using the hard edge of conservatism, people who deep inside themselves already feel lost or condemned will feel awful and become defeatist... they will walk away from the gospel feeling judged. Jesus was rightly critical of the Pharisees for this very reason. On the other hand, those who are confident of their own moral compass will shut their ears to any positive message you may have and stir up nothing but trouble... denouncing you as self righteous.

Similarly, if we choose to use liberalism as our sole doctrine, our message may well be appealing and crowd pleasing, but it will fail to be challenging. There is a very famous saying... God loves us as we are but refuses to leave us that way. If we broaden the boundaries of what is acceptable in God’s site, without his consent... how will people be convicted? How will they be able to sense their personal hunger and thirst for righteousness?

I’ve always favoured an alternate view... but it is not centrist, or at least I do not consider it to be, Rather than mix conservatism or liberalism together, I prefer to take the best from both camps.

Righteousness might be our protection, but it is love that is the soft cutting edge, it is love that is our offensive weapon... and what a weapon.

I prefer to try and live my own personal life along the lines of a fairly conservative outlook (and I am by no means a success at this).

With regard to others, I try to use every opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and grace in a liberal way ( I am by no means a great success at this either).

I think I’m right in saying that Jesus always demonstrated his love, always fulfilled a need, always forgave... before telling any person not to sin any more.

And this is my point. If we aren’t liberally loving people (irrespective of what we might think of what they do), we are shutting the door to the Kingdom of Heaven in their face. Likewise if we aren’t at least trying to live our own lives in a way that aims to be pleasing to God... we fail as Christ’s ambassadors to let our light shine before men.

We should preach the good news, we should preach salvation... and demonstrate the fruits and benefits of righteousness by living in the Spirit... but there’s a catch there isn’t there? It is far, far easier to tell someone how to live... than it is to demonstrate through your own life; which is precisely why Jesus taught us the importance of removing logs from our own eyes before removing the specks from others.

Our priority should be introducing people to God - the Holy Spirit is a far better force for conviction than you or I. Sure, people will always need strong pastorship... but we need to make sure they have a relationship that warrants pastorship before we dare encumber them with attitudes and principles that we know are impossible to live by without the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me put the attitude I think we should be demonstrating another way. The French playwright Albert Camus once described friendship in these terms:

“Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

I think that’s my attitude to faith and evangelism. We don’t boss people about and forcibly lead them where they will not go by choice, nor do we compromise on what we believe God lays on our hearts in terms of righteousness and lag behind.

No.

We owe people our honesty and we owe them God’s love.

We need to have the assertiveness of Joshua that says you can go your own way, but I’m going to serve God... and then we love them regardless of who they are, where they’ve been, or what our own prejudices tell us about them. We don’t just need to love people; we need to genuinely love them with abundance.

I think one of the best summaries I have ever heard for living with a Christian attitude, is a phrase uttered by the American preacher Tony Campolo who has stated that he believes we should be as conservative as God’s Law and as liberal as God’s love.

I could go on with regard to some of the issues raised at the moment, my feelings towards what I regard as inadequate descriptions by the media of where various groups stand... or even a cautionary tale about what happens when people from any particular camp start imposing their own will on God’s church... but I’ve said quite enough and do not wish to detract from anything that has gone before.