Guitar Jim

Q1. (1 Corinthians 9:4-12) Why does Paul argue for the right of apostles and other Christian workers to be supported, if he has decided not to exercise this right himself? The Lord Jesus Himself set the example for preachers and missionaries to be supported by the people they're serving. In this context he's arguing that the church in Corinth should recognize his right to material support, even though he was supporting himself. He's contending with people who deny his apostleship. Why would it hinder missionary work for a missionary to expect his new converts to support him? Going somewhere to preach the Gospel and convert people to Christianity would be quickly seen as a rort if missionaries expected the people they'd just signed up to start paying them money and/or supporting them in other material ways. The world at large is quick to condemn Christianity and any religion for that matter as nothing more than a money-spinner. Christianity would be reduced to nothing more than another Amway! Folks would see you coming and shut the doors and turn the lights off!

Q3. (1 Corinthians 10:16-18) What does koinōnia mean? A community of like minded people. Participation in a common activity. What does it mean to “participate” or “share” in the blood of Christ? Or in the body of Christ? By taking communion we share in the sacrifice of Christ made on our behalf. It is an acknowledgement that we accept His sacrifice for our redemption. We are baptized into union with Christ. An outward demonstration of that is to partake in the Lord's Supper.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13) What about our human make-up causes us to face temptation? We're part of fallen humanity. We don't have the ability to just ignore temptation. We're under the power of sin. As Christians we have the Holy Spirit in us who enables us to resist temptation but we still have our human side that wants to give in. That's the way it's gonna be until we die. What does this passage teach about our temptations? Even if we think we're all alone in facing a particular tenmptation we're not. All temptation is common to man. Somewhere in the world another Christian is facing exactly what we're facing. What does it teach us about God’s help in temptation? God provides a way of resisting temptation. However it's not always easy to take the road God provides.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 7:10-16) What do these verses teach about divorce for married believers? If there is no chance for reconcilliation they should remain unmarried if they just divorce because they hate each other's guts. If one spouse has been unfaithful and they separate for that reason and that other spouse is with someone else, my reading of the passage suggests the other party in the divorce can re-marry. What about divorce where one spouse isn’t a believer? If the non-believer is willing to remain married to the believer they should stay together. If the non-believer leaves because he/she can't handle the beliefs of the believing partner, the believer is free to re-marry. What about remarriage? I think I covered that in my previous answers above. I knew a very Godly Christian lady, my best friend's mother, who was married to a drunken non-believer. She never left him. In his old age he mended his ways and became a Christian. She never gave up on him. On the other hand: My own sister's first husband was a pastor's son who'd given up completely on the things of the Lord. In the note he wrote her when he left her he said he'd had enough of her and her religion. I believe God prompted him to include that in the goodbye note so she could find happiness in a second chance, which in fact she did.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 7: 9 and 37) What do verses 9 and 37 teach about sex between couples who are engaged but not married? Paul tells them to marry rather than burn with passion. But if they can control themselves, Paul feels they're better not to marry. This whole section is, by Paul's own admission, his own views. But later in the letter he does say that as one who is in the will of God, he would like people to follow his advice. What counsel does Paul give to engaged couples who do not control themselves sexually? Hurry up and get married!

Q1. (1 Corinthians 7:1-6) Why does Paul concede that “it is good for a man not to touch a woman”? Paul's particular ministry would have been really hard on a wife if he'd had one. Being away all the time, shipwrecked, imprisoned, spending a year at a time in towns while he planted churches there . . . not the ideal way for a marriage to stay strong. Being married brings with it its own set of problems. It's the hardest thing to live with a woman. It's so rare to find one who isn't manipulative and controlling. That kind of woman will definitely hinder a man's ministry. If a man has the necessary self-control it's OK to be celibate. But to force that upon a man who has the natural sexual desires is plainly wrong. The Roman Catholilc Church in their typical mis-reading of the Scriptures won't let priests marry, despite priests in the Bible and the apostles themselves mostly being married men. No wonder they're in such a mess with law suits resulting from sexual abuse of altar boys and foster children etc. Then the Anglican Church allows their priests to marry and they have a problem with homosexually among priests! I got nothin'. . . What does he teach about sexual intercourse within marriage? Sex within marriage should be for the good of both parties, not just to satisfy the husband. They should not withhold from marital sex except for time when they abstain doe spiritual reasons, and only then my mutual consent. How does he teach mutual rights within marriage, not just a man’s right? Paul teaches that a man's body belongs to his wife as much as it does to the man himself and vice versa. What does this passage teach about using sex as a bargaining chip within marriage? Don't do it. Sex should be the physical outpouring of mutual love between a husband and his wife.

Q4. (1 Corinthians 6:13b-15) What does it mean that “your bodies are members of Christ himself”? We are not our own. We are bought with a price. Jesus' life's blood! We are baptized into union with Him. What are the implications of that with regard to sexual sin? Sexual immorality is taking part of Christ's body and using it for carnal reasons. What are the implications of that with regard to your ministry? Anything we do that is contrary to God's decrees for our lives will adversely affect our ministry.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 6:11) Why is the gospel such good news to those who have been involved in gross sin? The Gospel is the good news because it shows us the way out. Salvation and freedom through faith in Jesus Christ. On what basis can a person be forgiven? If we confess our sins He (God) is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. On what basis can a person be cleansed from sin? The blood of Christ washes away all sins. If we accept Jesus' sacrificial death on our behalf and put our faith in Him we will be cleansed from sin.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) What does the scripture teach here about participating in homosexual acts? The Scripture clearly teaches that it's wrong to engage in homosexual acts. What does the scripture teach about heterosexual immorality? We are to be faithful to our spouses. Why is repentance so important for a believer? Repentance opens the door to God's forgiveness. Repentance involves acknowledging our sin and being sorry for committing that sin.

Q1. (1 Corinthians 6:1-8) How does it hurt the Christian cause when Christians take each other to court? In the eyes of the world we can't run our own affairs if we have to take our internal squabbles to a secular court. A curious set of circumstances comes to mind here. Thirty years ago I received a letter from a fellow who claimed to have had a revelation from God concerning the local churches in our area. He wrote to every denomination that had similar worship practices, i.e. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, AOG CLC etc and revealed what he claimed God had told him. God apparently had appointed him as a watchman to guard against false teachings and other matters of worship and service. He refused to come under the discipline of his denomination, which I think was Christian Life Center but I really can't remember after all this time. Instead he re-doubled his efforts to try and convince everyone that he was a genuine watchman. After a few of these letters, I then received a letter from the head guy at CLC. In desperation he had to take out a legal restraining order to try and stop this lunatic from contacting people. What do we do in a situation like that? How should disputes be settled between believers? The outlines given here suggest that it's the job of the eldership of the local church to settle disputes and to render judgements. If the elders have a bias to one party or the other they should excuse themselves from judging the case and appoint someone else wise enough to do so who is impartial. How might this be instituted in a local congregation? See my answer to the above question. Among churches in a geographical region? If there is a dispute between two local churches of a particular denomination the administrators of the denominaiton need to step in. If the dispute is between two churches of different denominations . . . I got nothin'. ha ha!

Q4. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) According to this passage, with which sinners should we be willing to associate? Any and all in the work-a-day world, but in our private lives we need to keep our distance from unbelievers and back-slidden Christians. I have a real problem with that. Why make a distinction between unbelievers and believers? If we shun unbelievers we'll never reach them for Jesus. But we're told in this passage that we shouldn't "hang out" with unrepentant Crhistian sinners. What are the dangers of associating with unbelievers? We could become too involved in what they do and start doing it ourselves. Like I said, I have a huge problem with that. The many para-church organizations such as Christian Boardriders and the God Squad MC are a real light in the black when it comes to reaching the lost in those respective cultures. BUt I can see the merits of close fellowship with your own band of believers in private. What are the dangers of associating with unrepentant believers? The danger of associating with unrepentant believers is that according to this lesson we could become corrupted along with them. Here is where I have the biggest problem. My marriage broke up in 2007. My old drummer, who was also my former training partner when I did Powerlifting is now an internet cable technician. I asked him to come and cable my new address for the internet and he did. But he nearly flipped the van on the first corner trying to get away from me once he'd done the job. We hadn't seen each other in a while and as is often the case with close friends, whenever we got together it used to seem like it'd just been a few weeks when it had actually been a year or more. With my being so flat out gigging and touring and him being busy at work and at his church, we hadn't even spoken for quite a while. I told him I'd like to re-establish closer contact now that I was on my own and he flat out didn't want to know. Told me in those exact words, too. He shunned his best mate. I've seen this happen heaps of times. "Jim's getting divorced, My marriage isn't the best either. I'd better not hang out with him in case I catch divorce too." When folks go through a marriage separation they need support and understanding, not the contempt and suspicion of Christian friends. We're not interested in racing off your missus! When a marriage breaks up very often lies are told by either or both parties about the other party. In my case my ex told anyone who'd listen that I was extremely violent. Someone had told her to do that in case our asset split went to the Family Court. In Australia the Family Court is all about the wife. ALL husbands are regarded as violent sex offenders unless we can prove otherwise. As it happened we didn't need to go to court and she eventually stopped making that stuff up and telling everyone, but the damage to my reputation has already been done and I have NO friends from before 2007. My girlfriend sometimes asks me about my ex and I try not to slam her the way she slammed me. I prefer not to speak that much about her.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 5:6-7) How does the presence of openly sinning members affect others in the body? Firstly, the more we see sin, the less we fear it. If flagrant sin is present in the church and people tolerate that and condone it, before long more and more people in the church will beging to believe it's OK. I know we're talking about sexual sin here, but that principle also holds true for many other sins. See a church member cheating in his business? Then it must be OK, right? See a church member harming his or her body . . which is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . by drinking to excess and smoking and partaking in drug use? Then it must be OK, right? No it's not! We might use the analogy of a “bad apple.” What in Paul’s background might explain his use of “getting rid of yeast”? Paul was a Pharisee and was well acquainted with the practice of removing yeast from the home at cerimonial times. Although a necessary ingredient in the making of bread, yeast was a symbol of sin in the Old Testament. When they removed the yeast from their homes at Passover and the Feast of Unleaven Bread, they were symbolically removing sin from their lives. The baking of bread without yeast for the ceremonies was a symbol of moving forward in their lives without the burden of sin.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 5:2b-5) What are levels of correction and discipline short of excommunication? Talk to the offender privately first. If that doesn't lead to repentance, take two or three others and try again. If the person sees reason then that's what you need. If the person still won't repent, take the matter to the church body. If the person STILL won't repent, excommunicate them. Who should exercise that kind of correction? Pastors and elders. Those mature in the faith. What do we do when a sinning member repents? Welcome them back into fellowship and love them. Don't hold what they've done over them. Why is excommunication sometimes necessary? Better that an unrepentant sinning person leaves the church than to allow them to stay and ruin the church's reputation. Why are we so unwilling to exercise it in our day? Any number of reasons. The person may be a generous giver and donate a lot to the church. To kick them out would hurt the financial planning of the ministry. They may be a personal friend to many and it would destroy that friendship to excommunicate them. Also, if the matter was publicly known the world at large may condemn the church for doing that and the church's reputation would suffer. There have been a few instances where really high profile pastors have been guilty of adultery. They are all still ministering, some still on TV. We had a homosexual paedophile at our church and he wouldn't repent. He didn't see anything wrong with being a practicing homosexual and being a Christian about it. He preyed on young teenage boys and two of them had committed suicide years later from the never ending trauma in their minds and hearts. This man was confronted about it and he refused to repent. The pastor was in favor of excommunication while the members . . . at least quite a few of them . . . favored continuing intense counselling unto repentance. The pastor resigned his commission over that issue. The paedophile went to prison, but was out on parole before you knew it . . . most likely for good behavior. After all there weren't any young boys in jail. I'd see him around and wondered why he wasn't still in jail. This is a prime example of not being tough enough to make the hard decision the situation required. No doubt his membership in the church contributed to his early release. If he'd been excommunicated in the first place he couldn't have used that as a ticket back out into the community. Those type of people never truly change of their own volition. They believe they're OK and that homosexuality is a normal thing and just another way of having sex. It takes the Holy Spirit, and He alone, to fully convict and cleanse someone from that.

Q1. (1 Corinthians 5:1-2a) Why do you think the Corinthians were so proud of their tolerance of immorality? What does this say about their value system? The Corinthians were proud of their love for their fellow man. That included tolerance of any sins they were committing. I suppose that could be understandable. Paul had taught them about the love of God and they, in their mistaken ways, were trying to practice that love. But also the very culture in which they lived was all about sexual freedom and immorality wasn't regarded as immoral in a culture that promoted and encouraged it.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5) Why doesn’t Paul care how others judge him? Why doesn’t Paul judge himself? Paul is so mature in the faith that he is only concerned what God thinks of him. He is also so secure in his relationship with Jesus that he doesn't even judge himself. That level of faith and commitment to God is something we all need to work at attaining. I used to think Paul was really conceited when he admonished his readers to be imitators of him as he was an imitator of Christ. Now I know better. Why are our motives so important in God’s judgment process? God looks past the outward appearance of people and their actions and examines their hearts, their motives for doing what they do. Do we tithe because we love God or because we want the material blessing that's promised? Do we serve our church out of love or to shame someone else whom we want to out-do in the eyes of our fellow parishoners? Jesus warns us that at the final judgement He will say to some who think they've a shoe-in at the Feast of Heaven: Depart from me; I never knew you. I don't know about anyone else, but that sure scares me! Do you see God as a harsh judge? An easy judge? Why? I gonna go with harsh. I'm not an orphan. I had a father and mother who brought me up. But I had NO father-son relationship of any kind with my old man. I never felt any love from him and we never did anything together as father and son, not once. I have no experience at all in what it's like to have a loving father. He told me many times how much he hated my guts. Therefore I tend to view God in the same way. Step out of line and God will crush me. All the preaching and Bible study in the world can't convince me in the matter of God's unconditional love. I've been a born again Christian since 1982, and before that actually. In 1971 I accepted Christ as my savior but I could'nt seem to do anything right, in my own sight at least. I realize it was Satan ruining my chances of serving God, but the fact still remains that I failed God miserably. I had long hair back then and the establishment (that's what we called the older generation) Christians at my church wanted me to get my hair cut short to fit in and when I didn't they washed their hands of me. So in 1982 when I again gave my life to Christ, I received better counselling . . . ironically from one of my chief detractors ten years earlier . . . and I've stuck with it ever since. In the time I've been a follower of Jesus I have: Developed agorphobia which totally ruined my life in so many ways and has seen me dependent on medication because God won't heal me. I'm heaps better than I was but still not out of the woods completely, Had my job and my ability to do it taken away with work injuries, Had my marriage disintegrate, Been rendered sterile by chemical exposure at work, Been forced to eke out a living as a musician after all other avenues of work weren't an option any more, Been put out of business FIVE times in the last 17 years, Seen my life's savings cut in half by circumstances beyond my control . . . the GFC. Been reduced to having nothing at all in the bank and having to borrow money from my mother to move into one room at my brother's house (her old house before she went into aged care) Seen my daughter whom I love with all my heart and over whom I prayed as she grew up, become a drug user and cover herself in tattoos and flirt with lesbianism. I know there are plenty of people worse off than I am, but that list of things all happened to me AFTER I began worshipping God. Do I view them as punishments from God for whatever I may have done in this life? Given my complete ignorance of what a loving father is like, the answer is yes. I commit a sin and I cower in fear waiting for the axe to fall

Q1. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) In what sense is a Christian worker a “steward”? We are slaves of Christ . . . willing slaves, but according to the Bible we've come out of slavery to the world's values system and come under the yoke of Jesus. So a pastor, elder, or deacon, whatever, is still in the same category as those they minister to. But the Christian leader is a steward, looking after and administering the flock. Have you ever met a Christian worker who wasn’t faithful? What effect did this have on the church? On this person’s witness. Can't say as I have. What are the reasons we are sometimes unfaithful in our area of ministry? What can we do to remedy that? We should procede with caution and be careful not to get ahead of God's timetable. Sometimes our own eagerness works against us. We also need to keep constantly in mind that we're servants of God, and not the other way around.

Q4. (1 Corinthians 3:17) Division and church splits injure people, especially tender new believers. Why do you think there is such a harsh punishment for those involved in hurting Christ’s church? The Church is the earthly bride of Christ Himself. It is the bride being prepared for her Husband at the wedding feast of the Lamb. God takes a very dim view of people who would by their actions harm the bride of His Son. What are better ways to deal with differences in the church? That's the hard question. If talking things out fails, if both parties believe so strongly that they are the ones in the right and in the will of God . . and don't forget: both side have probably prayed earnestly to God about whatever matter is bothering them . . there's not much that can be done. In such a situation it could be better to leave the church and worship somewhere else than to hang around and make things worse. With the plethora of different denominations and non-denominational churches these days, surely there'd be one that would accommodate any believer's disparate beliefs. Better to go there than to continue to disrupt the harmony of the church with which you have a disagreement that can't be solved.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 3:9-13) In terms of building congregations in our day, how would you assess quality vs. slip-shod building materials and methods? How important is improving your ministry skills through training? Prayer? Practice? Diligence? Faithfulness? Doctrinal accuracy? Devotional life? Openness to spiritual gifts? Etc. When we talk about building congregations we have to remember that it's God's timetable that matters. One church I attended for years split in two over the pastor's constant preaching about the need for revival. He couldn't preach revival into happening. That has to come from God. He arrived after having been called, as much out of desperation as anything else since we hadn't had a full-time senior pastor there for over two years, and set up shop with the notion that no one in the congregation was right with the Lord. If anything, the corollary was true. The membership numbers had fallen and the faithful remnant hung in there. They were strong Christians who were going along in the faith. To assume otherwise was the wrong path to take, but the new pastor took it anyway. The congregation split down the middle along doctrinal lines that weren't there before his arrival. He actually quit mid-sermon one Sunday morning. Turned the page in his sermon notes and just dropped his head and said: What's the use? But the damage had been done. He returned to a teaching ministry, which was where his real gifting lay anyway, and the church was left the task of re-building their whole ministry structure. We need to do all the things Pastor Ralph listed above. We also need to be mindful that God has His agenda and we can't rush him. If we charge ahead we're doing so in our own strength. Quality is indeed the key to building a good congregation. It may take a bit longer to wait on the Lord but that's what we need to do as much as preparing ourselves for His work.

Q2. (1 Corinthians 3:4-9) In what ways do denominations encourage Christian unity? Very often we see dnominations of similar beliefs working together in youth rally projects and things like that. I used to be the lead guitarist in a Christian band back in 1992/93 and we had a Bretheren, an Anglican, two Baptists, two Presbyterians, and a Uniting Church member, in our band. As such we used to get work at ALL the above denominations' youth rallies and we'd see the same faces show up at a few of them. There aren't really much doctrinal differences between Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Uniting Church, Church of Christ, Open Bretheren, Salvation Army, and Congregational denominations. There would be nothing really stopping someone from one of them from worshipping at any of them. There'd be no glaring doctrinal issues. Same goes for the Anglicans, Catholics, etc. I went to a high Anglican funeral recently and thought I was in a Catholic church! Then there are the Christadephians, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc, who all believe similar things. We also have a plethora of full Gospel denominations, Assembly of God, Christian Outreach Center, Christian Life Center, Church of God of Prophecy, etc, who are all basically the same. There seems to be groups of denominations that only differ slightly from each other, but who differ markedly from the other groups of denominations. In what ways do they foster disunity? By basing their denominations on small points of Scripture that in the larger scheme of things don't matter. Does belonging a “non-denominational” church make any difference regarding unity throughout the body? To be honest, most “non-denominational” churches are based in the main on the previous affiliation of the pastors. Dig around a bit and you might (make that probably WILL) find that the pastor had problems with his denomination and broke away, forming his own non-denominational church that is in fact a non-afilliated stand-alone church no different to where he used to minister. How can we tear down the barriers that divide us? By focusing on our similarities rather than our differences. I mess with the heads of the Jehovahs Witnesses when they come around ready to argue, by focusing on the similarities. They want to beat to death the differences that make their religion the only true faith and are ill-prepared to talk about the things we all have in common, like Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

Q1. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3) In behavioral terms according to these verses, how would you classify yourself in terms of hunger for the Word? In terms of jealousy and quarreling? – infant, child, teenager, adult? In terms of hunger for the Word? Teenager, I'm afraid. In terms of jealousy and quarreling? At the moment I don't go to church so there's no one to quarrel with. I don't really get jealous all that much so I'll say: Adult in that category. What will it take for you to grow to the next stage? Time.

Q5. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). Explain how we can “have the mind of Christ.” How does this work, according to these verses? We can only have the mind of Christ if the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, indwells us. There's no other way. We read the Bible and the words there come alive through the Holy Spirit making that happen. The more we study it, the more closely our thinking aligns with God's thoughts. How does having the Holy Spirit “circulating” through our minds explain spiritual gifts working through us? We manifest the gifts according to the need for them. The Holy Spirit is the One determining that need. For example, when someone is in need of an encouraging word, they need to hear it in their language . . . not in tongues. So the gift of encourgement is the one the Spirit provides. The person in need doesn't need to hear someone reciting the chorus to My Friend The Witchdoctor! Look that one up.

Q4. (1 Corinthians 2:1-6) Why didn’t Paul conform to the rhetorical standards of his day in order to communicate more clearly? He wanted to be perceived as radically different to the philosophers of the day. The message Paul had to give wasn't merely a new way of thinking about life and death, but a renewing and re-birth in the Holy Spirit. So he left it to the Holy Spirit to convict and change people rather than trying to win them over to his way of thinking, as was the norm for philosophers of that time. What is the danger of “repackaging” the message? If we repackage the Gospel we risk diluting both the message and its power to save. To adapt the Gospel to today's standards of morality and today's sensibilities of right and wrong is to preach a "different Jesus and a different gospel". The Bible warns us about that. Peter Paul and John caution against accepting a different gospel to the one true gospel and woe to the person preaching it in the first place! What does it mean that Paul relied on a demonstration of the Spirit’s power? Paul was on the right track! Rememeber when Peter spoke to the household of Cornelius? The Bible doesn't even record Peter's words. The important thing was that when God knew the people were accepting and believing Peter's words, He blessed them with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the same way, Paul relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to reinforce his preaching. Therefore he didn't need to be a fancy speaker. The signs and miracles the Holy Spirit empowered Paul to perform would have been all the proof anyone needed that Paul's words were the very words of life eternal.

Q3. (1 Corinthians 1:30-31) In what way does Christ represent God’s wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption? How far do these go to lay the basis of a truly Christian philosophical system? It's all tied up in Christ. Without Him there is only human wisdom, which God considers foolishness anyway. Without Christ there is no righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Before Jesus came to earth and fullfilled His mission man's attempts at attaining righteousness, holiness, and redemption were temporary at best. Sin was still there. God chose to overlook it for the sake of His people but that could not be the way it would be for all eternity. "The blood of goats and bulls can never take away sin" as the Bible says. All that could provide was a temporary atonement. It's like paying rent. Pay a month's rent and you can keep living there for another month. When that time is up you have to pay again. Jesus bought our dwelling place in Heaven for us and we don't have to pay rent to Him in terms of sacrifices to keep our address. Those four above mentioned topics encompass the entire Christian philosophical system. It's God-based, not man-based. God's wisdom confounds the worldly wise. The righteousness from God is the only righteousness. Man's best attempt at achieving righteousness is like filthy rags to God. There is no holiness apart from God's holiness. There is no redemption except through Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. What else do we need apart from that to form the basis of our belief system?

Q2. (1 Corinthians 1:21-25) In what areas do non-Christians in our culture stumble over the basic gospel of Christ? From my experience, it would seem that non-Christians view believing in God and Jesus as being too simple and easy. Can't adequately explain evolution? Then believe God created everything. That's what they think of us. A close friend of mine prides himself on his intellect. He reads The Scientific American from cover to cover and among his many skewed beliefs is that we hiccup because we originally evolved from fish! No, really. You can't make this stuff up. He'd rather believe in compete hogwash than acknowledge that Jesus loves him and died and rose again for him. I think the average non-Christian won't accept the Gospel because if they become Christians they won't be able to have any more fun. People gasp in horror when I tell them I don't drink, smoke or use narcotics. "How do you have any fun?" To what degree can we help bridge this gap through careful and creative presentation? I don't believe we should be creative and try to alter the basic Gospel message. If it was good enough for St Paul, then it should be good enough for us! We need to take the message to the people, though, and not just expect them to come to Church all of a sudden. There are plenty of para-church groups around trying to do just that. Meeting people where they live. I used to hang with and surf with the Christian Boardriders back in the early 1970s. There are Christian motorcycle clubs, Christian hotrod clubs, etc. Then there are all the Christian bands trying to get the Gospel across to their unsaved audience. How can we help? Support them instead of knocking them for having long hair, and/or tattoos for starters. While it's OK to support missionaries in other countries, don't forget those working right here in our own cities and towns. Would YOU like to go into a biker gathering and try your hand at reaching those heavy-duty dudes for Christ? Didn't thnk so. Then support the guys who do go in there among all the violence, drugs, alcohol, crime, etc, and witness for Jesus. To what degree might that be “watering down” the gospel? It's easy to muddy the water when it comes to presenting the fact that "You're a sinner and you're gonna go to hell unless you follow Jesus and accept him as your Savior". When folks say they're good people and that you don't need to go to church to be a good Christian, and that there are better Christians at the bar than at Church, we're tempted to water down our message to placate them. Mad Dog Mudford, a very well-known Christian biker here in Australia, is the straightest-talking guy I ever heard. He lays it down with no frills. To those who may think he'd led a pretty cool life prior to becoming a Christian he tells them his life was utter garbage and that he was hell-bound and in a hurry before he met Jesus, who completely changed his life around. Why can’t we escape the tension between culturally-relevant communication and changing the essence of the message? The answer to that is in the passage we're studying. On the surface it seems too easy. "Just believe in Jesus and I'll be saved? Where's the catch? There has to be something I need to do myself, surely?" Well, no. God already did that. All people need to do is accept and believe. Of course sticking to your beliefs in an unbelieving world often becomes quite hard. But that was the problem Paul faced. Preaching the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified was far too simple for people looking for some complex belief system.

It is difficult for us within a cultural system to see it clearly, since we take it for granted. It is also difficult to discern the difference between Western culture and Christian values, since Western culture has been so strongly influenced historically by Christianity. But let’s try. Q1. Name four value differences between Christian teaching and the values you see pushed to us on television. Example: Sex between consenting adults is okay, vs. sex belongs in marriage. Now name four more. 1. It's OK to cheat, just don't get caught . . vs . . Do everything you do as though you are working for the Lord. 2. It's OK to push people aside and badmouth them to get ahead . . vs . . Love your neighbor as yourself. 3. It's OK to use magic to achieve your ends as long as it's white magic . . vs . . All magic is bad. 4. It's OK to consult your horoscope each day . . vs . . Don't go to fortune tellers.