ARTICLES Number Five

ARTICLES

SHARE WHAT YOU SEE -

co-mission.org/articles

COMISSIONLDN

CONTENTS 2. The Power of the cross Richard Coekin 8. Serious youth violence Jason Roach “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians echo throughout this edition of ARTICLES - as Christians our worldview is shaped by the cross. We may feel that the opposition we face by holding on to this message is something new, but the Apostle Paul was preparing the first Christians for the same kind of hostility.

12. Faithfulness in a sexually fluid world Matt Fuller 16. Sexuality and the school run Juliet Allcock 1 8 . Wo r k p l a c e w i t n e s s

In this edition we look at youth violence, medical ethics, sexuality, money and workplace witness. Each issue is explosive, and we are thankful to the writers for their prayerful approach to each topic. None of these articles are the final word, but they hold up the issue to the cross and look to the wisdom of God, no matter how far it is from the wisdom of the world.

2 0. H o l d i n g o u t C h r i s t i a n h o p e i n c o n t r o v e r s i a l

So please read, pray and talk about these ARTICLES - and as you do, remember our brothers and sisters in Corinth, and our brothers and sisters across the world today. As we contend for the Gospel, and contend for the truth, remember that it was God himself who chose the things the world thinks are foolish to shame the wise. And God himself chose the things that are weak to shame the strong. God chose the things that people hate, the things they think are nothing, at all - and He used them to bring to nothing things that seem so much.

28. How do we reach London for Christ?

healthcare issues Felicia Wong & Rachel Owusu-Ankomah 24. Love and money Alex Lyell

Richard Perkins 31. North East London Rick & Esther Raja 32. Queen’s Park T h o m a s We s t & D a n i e l E v a n s 33. Midweek lunchtime workplace ministries Jimmy Bell 34. When evangelism feels impossible Jonty Allcock

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved.

‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica UK trademark number 1448790.

ARTICLES

1

“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” 1 COR.1:22- 24

The Apostle Paul’s preaching and ministry were dominated by one theme:

CHRISTCRUCIFIED In the first century, putting these two words together sounded absurd: “Christ” (or “Messiah”) means chosen one and refers to God’s chosen saviour king, long promised by his Old Testament prophets, and expected to arrive with irresistible power and glory. But “crucified” refers to Jesus suffering the Roman punishment of death by crucifixion - designed to be the most hideously cruel and obscenely humiliating death imaginable!

To proclaim “Christ crucified” was ridiculous: like proclaiming “dry water” or “fried ice”.

Indeed, Paul says the message of the cross was a “stumbling block” (something disgusting) to those from his own Jewish background and “foolishness” (something insane) to those from other nations.

You see back then, Paul says, “Jews demand signs” because they respected impressive power and influence – they longed for liberation from Roman occupation and loved spectacular temple religion. It’s similar in London today. We respect impressive people who have wealth (people are ranked by what they earn and own) and celebrity (Graham Norton interviews people because they’re famous not because they’re righteous).

Those from religious backgrounds will respect a teacher who is powerful and popular – like the Pope. But apart from Christians, no-one admires Jesus for volunteering to suffer in such dreadful agony, degradation and weakness on a cross.

Neither do they admire the churches who proclaim him!

Moreover, Paul says, “Greeks look for wisdom” because they respected impressive learning that resulted in successful living and religious teachers who were entertaining orators and scholars. So, in London today we’re obsessed with education and qualifications and prefer our religious gurus to be witty writers of best-selling books that don’t challenge our behaviour – like the Dalai Lama! We find it hard to respect a despised tradesman from Galilee who challenged and offended people. He said that we’re all so sinful that we deserve eternal torment in the fires of hell. Yet he also proclaimed that he loves us enough to suffer on the cross in our place, taking the pain and shame and hell we deserve. In this way he saved his people to live in heaven with him forever - if we turn from our sin and follow him. This sounds as foolish in today’s world as it did then. In his best-selling book, The God Delusion the secular atheist, Richard Dawkins, wrote of Jesus’ death on the cross in these scornful terms: “I’ve described atonement, the central doctrine of Christianity, as vicious, sado-masochistic and repellent. We should also dismiss it as barking mad.” He just couldn’t see that this divine “madness” is really God’s passionate love – for us!

Paul goes on to explain that God has deliberately chosen the cross as his means of salvation to contradict and shame worldly notions of power and wisdom. He wanted to reveal his divine power and wisdom through a salvation that seems weak and stupid to us. He did this so that we have to abandon our confidence in human religious ideologies and trust him instead.

For Christians, called to God by his Spirit speaking through his Word, “Christ crucified” is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” for our salvation – his effective and coherent way to save guilty sinners without compromising his holy justice. Although the cross will always be a “stumbling block” and “foolishness” to religious and secular Londoners alike, scandalous and ridiculous to the wealthy and educated, pathetic and stupid to our sceptical friends and family, this message of the cross is what our city needs to hear more than anything else.

3

Our Co-Mission churches are united in our determination to bring this message of “Christ crucified” to as many communities in our city as we can, by planting and strengthening churches that proclaim this gospel. So this year, REVIVE - Co-Mission’s annual festival - was dedicated to exploring “the Power of the Cross” in the Scriptures. Here we find that “Christ crucified” is central to everything: the purpose of creation and fulcrum of history, the climax of scripture and heart of our faith, the highest revelation of God’s glory and the deepest joy of eternity, forever our tree of life and lamb of God. The cross is not just important but central to the gospel that unites us.

The Bible reveals that to glorify his Father’s sovereign grace Christ’s achievements in his death include: 1.

2.

3.

Completing an exemplary Christian life of learned obedience in self-less love to qualify us for heaven. Therefore we want to learn from him to live in sacrificial holiness – not in pointless self-denial but in becoming selfless like Jesus, for the salvation of the lost.

Disarming Satan’s claims upon us under God’s law, to ensure our resurrection from the dead and so remove our fear of dying.

Therefore we want to learn from him to live in confidence, unafraid of our vicious spiritual enemy who fuels discouraging lies and divisive slander, because his power over us was broken on the cross And, supremely, satisfying God’s holiness to save sinners from all nations through the gospel into a new humanity, which is being gathered into his heavenly church as his purified bride.

The satisfying of God’s holiness was our particular focus at REVIVE, where we studied Bible passages that helped us to understand how the following accomplishment is developed across scripture in three crimson threads:

4

REDEMPTION •

• • • •

From slavery to the sins of our flesh, the lies of Satan and the judgement we deserve by payment of a ransom in blood upon the cross for the joy of freedom from the guilt and power of sin to serve God as his purified people, eager to do what is good as explained by the Passover sacrifice in Exodus 12

CLEANSING • •

•

• •

From the corruption of our sin By the propitiation (satisfaction) of God’s holy wrath through the blood of Jesus For the joy of access to the presence of God in prayer now and in heaven one day To enjoy the jaw-dropping glory of God forever As explained by the Day of Atonement sacrifice in Leviticus 16

JUSTIFICATION • • • • •

ARTICLES

From guilt under God’s law By the righteousness of Jesus’ perfect Christian life counted and imputed to us For the joy of being qualified already for heaven To live with the Father as his beloved children and with Jesus as his beloved bride As explained by the Suffering Servant sacrifice in Isaiah 53

5

CHRIST BECAME ONE OF US In all these aspects of satisfying God’s holiness there’s a glorious exchange a simple swap: Christ became one of us in order to swap places with us. He was treated as if he were us, suffering on the cross the punishment of pain, shame and hell we deserve so that we can be treated as if we were him, acceptable in heaven as God’s holy children.

Let me illustrate with the extraordinary heroism of Bill Deacon, the winchman of an Air-Sea Rescue helicopter operating out of Bristow in the Shetland Islands, northeast of the Scottish mainland. In November 1997, the Green Lily cargo vessel was grounded on rocks and breaking up in mountainous waves. The lifeboats could no longer get to the stricken vessel to save the crew trapped on board. Bill Deacon realised the only hope of saving the men was to descend from the helicopter himself onto the ship. Once on the deck, in cyclonic conditions, he attached each of the ten crew to his winch and, in his place, they were raised to safety in the helicopter.

But as the last man was rescued, Bill Deacon himself was swept off the ship by a wave and his body washed up a few days later.

He was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his courage.

In the same way, Christ came down from heaven to rescue his people in peril.

Why would he do such a crazy thing?

Because, despite everything, he loves us! He LOVES you and he LOVES me. For God to allow such a sacrifice is grace, for God to provide such a sacrifice is amazing grace, but for God to become such a sacrifice is grace beyond our wildest dreams.

As Christians we are seeking to love the people of London in every way we can - resisting injustice, prejudice and ecological irresponsibility; seeking relief for victims of knife crime, poverty, homelessness, trafficking and mental illness; contending for freedom of speech, protection of the unborn and the reformation of denominations. But we know that the most precious gift we have for London is the gospel of “Christ crucified” - the power of God to save sinners from the horrors of hell for the happiness of heaven forever.

RICHARD COEKIN is CEO of Co-Mission and Senior Pastor of Dundonald Church, Raynes Park. This article is adapted from Richard’s opening talk at REVIVE 2019.

Listen to it on the Co-Mission podcast. co-mission.org/podcast

IN ORDER TO SWAP PLACES WITH US 6

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’

A film based on this passage was made for REVIVE 2019 - watch it online at facebook.com/comissionldn

In the last two years, two young people have been stabbed and killed on the Surrey Lane Estate. Here is how the Bridge Battersea has been seeking to make a difference: Seven years ago The Bridge Battersea, a church plant in partnership with London City Mission, launched RISE Academy. The aim was to try and serve the young black boys on the estate where I lived by providing after school tuition, mentoring and building networks of support between families. Many of the young people involved with this scheme have not been directly involved in serious youth violence. A few have. I want to share what I’ve learnt about seeking to make an impact on this issue through the story of RISE.

It would be easy to assume at this point that I think that youth violence is a “black” problem.

It isn’t. In fact in recent years, the highest rates of knife crime in the UK have been in Glasgow. So high that the United Nations declared Scotland the most violent country in the developed world. The significance of this is that only 2.4% of the population there is black. This means that the causes of youth violence are not fundamentally about race.

Having said this, serious youth violence seems to disproportionately affect black and minority ethnic background youth in London. In other words, the complex web of factors that cause youth violence anywhere, disproportionately affect ethnic minority groups in London. It is out of this sad reality that RISE was born.

8

Like all Co-Mission churches, we were keen to love our neighbours the way that our Father in heaven does. In part, that looked like finding ways to show mercy in our community (Matthew 5:43-47). One of the groups most in need of that mercy were our young people. Here’s how that worked out for us: INSTILLING PURPOSE Our aim was to offer young people an attractive new purpose - to be an ambassador for God (Genesis 1:26-28). Unfortunately, the circumstances, experiences and culture of the boys who were referred to us through schools and youth groups often nudged them in a very different direction. Their life circumstances were sometimes very stable but in other cases explosive. Their experiences were sometimes mostly of the Disney variety - being told “to be true to what they feel.” For others, police cordons were second nature and spoke of troubling tension in their streets. Their cultural influences sometimes included drill music but for others just run of the mill, individualistic, materialistic pop. All of these influences could nudge them to rewrite the story of our lives with God far from the centre. So in our weekly evening meetings, we sought to communicate something of the Bible’s big story - that we were made to love, the way that God loves us.

ARTICLES

TEACHING AMBASSADORS With this as our aim, it was clear to us that we would not excite the next generation with this vision merely through correction (e.g. the strict code of respect in our meetings or tougher sentencing in the courts). Nor would mere containment do the job (e.g. our programming skills courses that kept them off the streets or more council youth provision that did the same). We knew that we needed to do these things, but that they were never designed to thrill us with new purpose.

They needed the story of the Bible.

The tough part was communicating this story well. Often we spoke a vastly different language to the young people we served. So to communicate this vision in language they could understand, in ways that addressed their questions and fears, we needed to know where they are coming from.

This wasn’t about wearing the same trainers but about taking the time to listen to them. It’s been crucial. Eating together every week meant that there was really time to do that.

We listened to their music and introduced them to some Christian hip hop artists too. We heard about the places in school and on the estate where they feel scared. Because we heard them, we could then begin to communicate this new vision to them in ways that connect and find practical ways to support them. I wish I could say we were now experts. It is still very much a work in progress.

9

LIVING AS AMBASSADORS Perhaps the biggest challenge has been finding ways of demonstrating that this new vision was a credible alternative. In other words, showing what it actually looks like in daily life. Just like putting on a new school uniform doesn’t instantly transform a child, so being told that you are made in the image of God does not instantly change a child either.

We found that we could engagingly communicate a new purpose during our two hours together during the week, but as soon as they walked out the door they reverted to street psychology. The fact was that some would walk through the doors of their homes and be confronted with scenarios that they found tough to reconcile with the neat and tidy teaching that they’d just heard. Even for those under the influence of Christ, old patterns of behaviour could be difficult to shake. I remember one boy giving his life to Christ on a weekend away, only to be arrested a few days later for armed robbery.

This is not a new problem. Despite being under the influence of Jesus for three years, Peter’s first instinct in the Garden of Gethsemane was to wield a blade inappropriately under pressure (John 18:10-11). To meet violence with violence.

In school, how people behave around you begins to teach you what it means to wear the uniform. In the same way, we tried as a church to show what it means to live as one of God’s children. We set up something called “RISE Sunday” where every term, children and parents would join our normal Sunday service to experience God’s new community. More recently we have replaced this with a termly dinner, where some of our congregation and RISE parents meet and chat more informally, as well as celebrating their children’s work and the work of Christ that they have been hearing about.

We hope ideally to get the after-school element of RISE running on more days during the week too. All of this is about providing space for young people to see this way of life as a credible alternative to the sense of belonging and culture they get elsewhere.

10

To learn new ways to deal with images sent to their phones to ridicule others in their class. A place where being a man doesn’t simply mean being macho or a woman being a sex symbol. A community where they can be honest and vulnerable without being mocked. A community that embodies a new purpose.

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR YOU? • What are the hopes and fears of young people in your community? Where are the places that they feel fear?

• How could you find out and support them?

• How could you tell stories that show them how a Christian worldview works out at street level?

• What could your Church do to demonstrate to young people that it is a credible alternative community?

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP We realised pretty quickly that we couldn’t do this alone. As wonderful as this vision of purpose sounds, it was difficult to put into practice as consistently or coherently as we would like. It was resource intensive. Many young people were not yet professing faith and there were few others their age that they could connect with. There were also few older black Christians who could mentor them. So we enrolled partners from across our town and city.

I visited other churches, within our network and beyond, to recruit mentors. I used my contacts in Westminster to organise tours and audiences with MPs. I collared friends who were teachers and consultants from anywhere I could. We worked with another local youth club to facilitate trips to the country. In other words, we realised that if we were serious about making a difference, then we needed to explore how we could work in partnership with other groups. We needed to harness the resources of the whole city. Perhaps an advantage of being a small church was that our inadequacy was obvious. But whatever our church context, the challenge we face in our city is too big for any one group to transform alone.

What could this mean for you?

• How could you support other churches or local groups in envisioning young people?

• Is there someone you know who could train as an Ascension Trust Schools Pastor?

• Could you arrange work experience or a tour of your place of work to give some young people in London a taste of different opportunities available to them?

LOOKING TO CHRIST’S POWER Christine Goodall is a surgeon who founded “Medics against violence” in 2008. They campaigned really hard to get the legislation around knife crime changed so people would be more likely to get a mandatory sentence. There was also, at the outset, a lot of stop and search. But ten years later she said: “You can arrest as many people as you like. You can search as many people as you like. You can throw away the key if you want to. It just won’t solve the problem.” It takes something far more powerful. The great thing is that God has given us two powerful weapons to wage war with: prayer and the good news of Jesus Christ.

THE POWER OF PRAYER Prayer can stop battles and change the outcome of conflict. Asa prayed “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army” (2 Chronicles 14:11). It can certainly feel like we face a vast youth army issued with knives. We have found ourselves sustained by God’s help.

We don’t presume to know the Lord’s will. But we realise that it would be foolish not to trust the promise of Christ that when we pray, he can change history. He can cause the army of young people carrying knives to cease and desist. Our experience is that we pray and plan. Then people emerge to be part of RISE, keep coming back and have been changed. Since we started RISE seven years ago with three kids, two whole families have become part of the church and ten teenagers went along to a Christian summer camp last year. Only one boy, out of the many who have been involved in the scheme, has been caught up in serious youth violence. We are grateful for God’s mercy in response to our prayers.

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL It was as the gospel took deeper root in the Apostle Peter’s life, that his attitude to conflict was transformed. He wrote: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23-24)

We often want to talk about purely human solutions: Why don’t the council keep them occupied? Why don’t the police crack down? These are important questions. London youth often believe that carrying a knife makes them safer. In fact they need to know that the opposite is true. The bottom line, however, is that more youth funding, more stop-and-search, tougher sentencing or clearer statistics will never solve the fundamental problem – that the “heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). The problem is not merely social, it is spiritual too.

The devil was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). So he rejoices to see young people lashing out in anger and death rates rising. Since he’s also a liar, it pleases him for Christians to believe the lie that the weapons God gives us are ineffective in the war against knife crime.

Only Christ transforms hearts from war makers to peace makers, because it’s his gospel that “teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:12). Only Christ guarantees a day when swords will be beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4). Only Christ gives us the promise that he will relieve our mourning and comfort us in our sorrow (Revelation 21:4).

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR YOU? • Do you pray as a church pro-actively about the issue of youth violence?

• Are you still convinced that the gospel can change hearts?

• Are you equipping your children, godchildren and church youth to share Christ with their friends?

WHERE NEXT? I have only been able to scratch the surface of our journey these last seven years. Instilling purpose and working in partnership summarise the long term strategies that are widely agreed necessary to stem the tide of serious youth violence. I praise God for the hard-working volunteers who have made it happen. But above all, we’ve learnt to keep looking to Christ for help and hope.

If I were to point you to one resource to understand these issues better, it would be the videos and training available through p o w e r t h e f i g h t . o r g . u k JASON ROACH is the Pastor of The Bridge Church Battersea (@bridgebattersea) and the Founder of RISE Academy (@RISELeaders)

ARTICLES

11

Many will have noticed the media fuss caused by an Instagram post by Israel Folau, the Australian rugby international. He posted on his public Instagram account:

You may well question the wisdom of posting something like that on social media, but it was one word that caused him to be sacked. It was not the adulterers nor the atheists who were outraged. It was his mentioning of homosexuality that was the source of fury. Why is this?

ARTICLES

13

Being true to our feelings is viewed as essential to human flourishing in the 21st century. Denying ourselves is seen as bad. Looking within to discover who we are is good. This is true even in the magical world. Back in 2007 the final Harry Potter book was published and Harry’s heroism was seen in dying at the hands of a dark lord in order to save the lives of others. By 2018, in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the tragic boy, Credence, is forced by his mother to deny who he is. Yet suppressing his true magical self causes him and others devastating harm, in the form of an ‘Obscurus’. It’s a very modern message – you have to be true to your feelings; to deny them is outrageous!

Consequently, anyone who prevents someone expressing themselves is evil. It’s important to recognise the power of this message – to declare that people with same sex attraction should not indulge in gay sex is now viewed as an oppressive and evil opinion.

So, how can Christians speak about this topic? It’s no good stating that “homosexual practice is wrong”. The vast majority of a younger generation will think you’re mad. Some will have friends who are same sex attracted and enjoy committed and fulfilling relationships. I don’t think communicating on this topic on social media enables Christians to relate to others with kindness, dignity and respect. I don’t think it’s wise or persuasive to a world which assumes we must be bigots. However, we do need to remember that for all his mistaken tone and poor use of media, Israel Folau is theologically correct. He was only paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves, nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” This is an issue upon which salvation can turn. The apostle Paul is clear that you cannot be a Christian and practice unrepentant gay sex.

Now I think it unlikely that we would want to engage on specific Bible passages, in an initial conversation with an unbeliever, on issues of sexuality (even if we desire to open a Bible with them at some stage). What can we usefully say? Let me suggest three things:

14

The purpose of marriage

The Bible begins with a marriage in Genesis 2 and ends with a marriage in Revelation 19. It is one of the dominant metaphors of the Bible for how God relates to his people.

God loves us faithfully and will never let us go and human marriage is meant to demonstrate that. This is why adultery is viewed as the worst of sexual sins (it features in the 10 Commandments and in Deuteronomy 22 it is worse than sex outside of marriage). Adultery is a denial that God is faithful to us. The longest reflection on this theme is in Ephesians 5 where Paul declares that marriage between a man and a woman is a picture of Christ and his church. But you cannot replace husband-wife with husband-husband or wife-wife, otherwise you’re saying that Christ is the same as his church or that the two are interchangeable and we are the ones who make him holy. You cannot swap them around!

I don’t think this will persuade a non-Christian to change their mind, but it is perhaps an explanation, which can make sense to people, of why it matters to us Christians.

The importance of sex

Perhaps we might ask a question: “Do you think someone can only be fulfilled if they are sexually active?” Modern culture is a little divided on how to view sex. For some it is a mere appetite like hunger or a recreational activity like swimming.

Yet for others it can be exalted as the source of relational intimacy. The assumption is that without consensual sex you cannot be fulfilled. It’s worth questioning that. Does it mean that every unmarried person is emotionally unfulfilled?

I don’t think many would put things that strongly. I would want to talk about the church family and the quality of friendships that people find there. In a healthy church there will be plenty of single people – be they never-married, divorced or widows – who can say that they have a number of fulfilling relationships amongst their friends. In many of our churches will be people who are same-sex attracted yet say they are not defined by their sexual desires. They choose to follow Jesus and place great value upon their friends. I would want to gently suggest that the view that “You can only be happy if you’re having sex” is a weird one. Hopefully our church families model that there are plenty of people of different ages and sexual inclinations who are very happy living celibate lives due to the friendship of others.

Can our friends and colleagues see that we value the friendship of Jesus above all else?

Standing firm in loyalty to Jesus, may cost us in a world which is sexually confused. We must ensure that our conversation is respectful, thoughtful and kind.

Communicating on this issue in emails, texts and on social media is probably unwise. But if we treat all others with respect and dignity in our personal conversations, yet still suffer mockery, exclusion or a warning from HR, then we need to remember that standing with Jesus is worth it. He did warn us that we would not always be popular, but he also tells us that we cannot really lose: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke 9:23

The friendship of Jesus

I think it’s worth being frank and telling people that they’re unlikely to understand the Bible’s view on this unless they grasp how wonderful Christians think Jesus is. A friend of mine is a senior executive in the fashion industry. Many of the people he worked with and loved described themselves as gay and sometimes would ask him, as he was known as a Christian, what he thought about their sexuality. He always answered the same way: i) The Bible teaches that every man and woman is made in God’s image and he loves all of us – whatever our age, race, nationality and sexual inclination. He made us all and he loves each one. ii) Jesus is clear that marriage is designed to be between a man and a woman. It’s meant to teach us of his commitment to us. iii) You know that I care for you as a friend, but if you think I can’t work for this organisation holding the personal views that I do then I shall have to resign. I don’t want to do that because I love working here. But if I’m forced to resign, I’ll do it because I don’t want to cause you distress and it’s a faint echo of Jesus’ sacrificial love. He was willing to die unjustly for the people he loved, so I think I can resign so that you know that following Jesus is so great that it’s worth giving up everything to know him.

He’s challenging, isn’t he? In the end, I wonder if what we say may be less important than how we live, and what people see that we love. Can our friends and colleagues see that we value the friendship of Jesus above all else?

M AT T F U L L E R

is Senior Pastor at Christ Church Mayfair. Matt explores these ideas in more detail in his forthcoming book Be True To Yourself (The Good Book Company, January 2020).

having “the talk”

With sexuality and gender hitting the headlines on a weekly basis, and with shifting attitudes towards people who hold “traditional” and “progressive” views towards these issues, we asked two members of Co-Mission churches to write about what we can do to represent our faith in a world that is ever increasingly hostile towards Christianity and its social and moral implications.

These articles are a starting point. With all conversations there is nuance, and there is a relationship behind it, but we hope the following case studies will give us room to think, pray, and encourage us to stand firm in our faith, and speak out for Christ in our daily lives.

ARTICLES

15

SEXUALITY AND THE SCHOOL RUN 16

From 2020, the government is proposing compulsory ‘Relationships Education’ to be taught in all primary schools. Children will be taught a positive view of non-traditional families, relationships and sexual identities.

Secondary school children will have compulsory ‘Relationships and Sexuality Education’. Parents will not have the right to withdraw children and may even be fined for keeping children off school on days when these are taught.

Opposition from the world is normal for the church and our children are not protected from this. As parents, Sunday school teachers and youth group leaders we can help children to know truth in order to develop healthy identities and relationships themselves. We can also encourage and equip them to engage compassionately and courageously in this world and not retreat in fear from it.

First, we must build relationships with our children in which we can discuss truth. There are errors about God, his world and how we are to live already ingrained within science, geography, history, religious education and English literature curriculums. Children primarily go to school to learn how to think and we must nurture in them the ability to critically question the things that they are taught, in all subjects, against the unchanging truths of the Bible. This is harder when children become teenagers and talk less with their parents, and so youth leaders must serve families and help teens to question

and think deeply about what is true and wise, versus what is popular and culturally accepted.

In doing so, we raise children to become adults who will live as ‘sheep among wolves’, but who are ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’.

Second, it is important that Christians have the missionary vision to consider becoming part of school communities. It is vital that Christians join PTAs, attend Parent Forums and most crucially, become governors; Christians who will have a voice to influence schools and build positive relationships with teachers that will challenge their perception of Christians as bigots and intolerant. It is crucial that Christian teachers adopt PSHE leadership roles and so shape the pastoral curriculum, and influence which guest speakers and outside agencies are coming into schools for PSHE lessons and assemblies. Christian teachers should be ambitious to become head teachers or join senior leadership teams in order to be a voice for gospel truth within schools and to protect Christian freedoms.

Third, as parents, Sunday school teachers and youth leaders, we must work hard to ensure our children treat all other children with dignity and kindness. Children use the word ‘gay’ as a pejorative and we must teach against this. We must encourage them to love the child who is seen as ‘different’ or the teen who ‘comes out’ as homosexual. We must raise them to know that Jesus has come so that all sinners, gay

and straight, can be his and can be forgiven to love and enjoy God forever. We must also show them how to discuss and disagree graciously and not seek to win or put-down.

Finally, we must ourselves build friendships with parents from all kinds of family set-ups. We must open up our homes to welcome in those who think very differently to us in all areas of life, including sexual ethics, the people outside our normal circle of friends. We should regularly have people like this at our dinner tables. Our children must see us welcome them in, listen to them and love them well. This hospitality will open doors to discipleship in a culture that is hostile, intolerant and suspicious of Christians.

It reflects the truth that God is hospitable and as image-bearers, we too are to seek out and welcome in all people.

The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation and people are still dying in their sins and in desperate need of truth. No matter the cultural pressures we feel, or the labels of intolerance or bigotry that get applied to us, we must not flinch at proclaiming the absolutes of Scripture in a way that is kind and apologetically winsome but also faithful and confident; and we must disciple our children to do likewise through compassionate engagement, not fearful withdrawal.

JULIETTE ALLCOCK

is part of Christ Church Mayfair

Schools are changing and it is easy to become anxious for our children. However, the greatest things have not changed. God is still sovereign. Christ is still a reigning, allsufficient, and global Saviour. The Holy Spirit is still active, omnipotent, and faith-creating.

The Bible is still wholly true and ever relevant.

ARTICLES

17

What does UK employment law say?

WORKPLACE WITNESS

Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. What an opportunity God has given us to do this in our secular workplaces in the diverse city of London. But what protections and constraints does the law place on us as we witness?

THE LAW This is a complex area, and what follows is only a high-level summary.

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

This includes the freedom to manifest that religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance in the workplace. Good news so far. However, this freedom is subject to limitations including the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The upshot is that both European and domestic UK caselaw make a distinction between bearing Christian witness and “improper proselytism”.

Things get more complicated because of the UK’s definition of harassment. In the workplace context harassment is: “unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating environment”.

The unwanted conduct has to relate to a protected characteristic. Any religion or belief, including unbelief, is a protected characteristic.

There are broadly seven further protected characteristics including sexual orientation.

18

Given this, it is relatively easy to inadvertently trip into unwanted conduct territory with a non-believing colleague, or a colleague of a different religion or sexual orientation when discussing religious belief. If a conversation went badly wrong, this could result in being on the wrong side of an internal grievance by the colleague alleging they felt harassed by the Christian colleague. It does not matter that our intent was to lovingly hold out Jesus. What matters is how our intended loving actions are received.

If an internal grievance found that an employee has harassed another, an employer is likely to invoke their disciplinary policy. A Christian employee could find themselves subject to a disciplinary process for being in breach of its employer’s equality and diversity policy for “harassment”. Generally speaking, if an employee has been employed for two years they have protection from being unfairly dismissed and it is likely to be unfair to dismiss an employee for a first offence without warning them first. Dismissing for a first “offence” may well be religious discrimination against a Christian employee if they have not previously been told to stop their actions.

The test for justifying discrimination in these circumstances is whether the employer is following its legitimate aims proportionately and it’s arguably not proportionate to dismiss for a first offence.

However, the law is also clear that an employee will not succeed in a claim for religious discrimination where they have been instructed to stop proselytising, but continue to do so during their employment. What constitutes during employment is very wide: it includes work drinks, socials, conferences, and social media usage (including on one’s own device outside of working hours), where the relationship has some connection to the workplace. The suggestion you are friends, as well as colleagues, and the conversation was in that context is not a total defence.

•

PRACTICAL IDEAS So where does this leave us? Should we stop talking to our colleagues about Jesus? Of course not! However, it’s wise to:

•

•

Finally: pray, pray, pray, being watchful and thankful, that God may open a door for our message so we may proclaim Christ.

•

Give colleagues a clear choice when inviting them to events/into further discussion about our beliefs: “You may/ may not wish to come/be interested in this which is fine, but….” If they say no respect that.

Remember that a drink after work, or a comment on a WhatsApp group with colleagues, will be covered by an employer’s equality and diversity policy: be loving and careful in what you say.

•

•

If following up on a conversation with a link to an invite, use words like “here’s the invite you wanted/asked me to send on”.

Claim the protection we are afforded under our employer’s equality and diversity policies. Ask colleagues not to use Jesus Christ as swear words. Tell them any other swear word is fine. They might ask why Remember that if asked to participate in “diversity” initiatives, such as LGBT support days, you can say no: explain your position carefully and lovingly.

Think about how anything you write down might be construed, without any context, by a third party applying the definition of harassment.

ARTICLES

19

HO L DI N G OU T CH R IS TI A N H OPE IN CONTROVERSIAL HEALTHCARE ISSUES Almost every day in the media we hear of a new and shiny medical development that promises to bring hope and happiness to the world we live in. From gene therapy to saviour siblings, it can be easy to only see the end result of these advances and the potential alleviation of a particular form of human suffering, but not look at how we got there or the potential implications.

ABORTION It is estimated that 1 in 4 women will undergo an abortion in their lifetime. Abortion was legalised in the UK in 1967 and is permitted if two doctors agree that one of five specified grounds have been met. For example, it is legal if before 24 weeks, the risk of injury to the mother’s physical or mental health is greater than that of the abortion.

In 1 Corinthians 10:23, we read that many things are possible but not everything is beneficial and constructive. How do we navigate the array of issues in a way that honours God and his word and is worthy of the calling we have received?

The main arguments for abortion are: ‘my body, my choice’ (autonomy), ‘it’s just a bunch of cells’ (what constitutes a person) and preventing suffering of the child, mother or family as a result of the pregnancy (compassion).

As Christians we need to be equipped to engage well with medical ethical issues and in so doing point to Christ.

There is evidence linking abortions with detrimental mental health consequences and prematurity in subsequent pregnancies.

A BIBLICAL FRAMEWORK The morality behind our ethics is dependent on our worldview. One helpful framework is to look at an ethical issue through the lens of the global story of the Bible - creation, fall, redemption and restoration.

The abortion debate is emotive and polarising and we need to be aware that there are those among us who may be personally affected.

For instance, DNA is not specifically mentioned in the pre-industrial, agricultural narrative of the Bible. But understanding that God is the creator and sustainer of all life may help inform our response to new advances.

Alongside a biblical perspective, let us remember that all truth is God’s truth and that there are also “non-religious” arguments from specialists which can be compelling.

20

Jesus was sent into this world through an unmarried teenager. He was a 16-cell embryo and a 12-week old foetus and even in this small and vulnerable state was recognisable as our Lord and Saviour. As we respond let us first listen well, and then speak truth, full of grace and seasoned with salt.

TRANSGENDER Last year over 2500 children and young people were referred to the UK Gender Identity Development Service, up 25% from the previous year.

Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity/expression differs from that typically associated with their biological sex. Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.

There is an increasing push to make changing one’s gender a streamlined and de-medicalised process based on selfdeclaration.

This is grounded in the arguments of relieving the distress caused by the conflict (compassion) and allowing for self-definition based on a person’s own self-defined truth (autonomy).

Some with gender identity incongruence experience real distress from this and evidence also suggests that these individuals are more likely to have other psychological conditions. De-medicalising this complex condition could deprive these individuals of crucial assessment and advice from mental health professionals. One study found that thirty years after undergoing medical transition, the suicide rate was 19 times higher among transgender adults than among the non-transgender population.

We should be questioning whether pubertyblockers, hormones and irreversible surgery are the most beneficial way to address gender dysphoria.

God created us male and female but we live in a broken world filled with disease, distress and disorder.

What hope can the gospel provide to those affected as we sensitively engage? Let’s speak of the real hope in the face of suffering and brokenness offered by Jesus Christ.

EUTHANASIA Euthanasia is where someone intentionally kills a person whose life is felt not to be worth living. Although illegal in the UK, there has been increasing pressure from various groups to change the law. The main arguments are: “It’s my choice” (autonomy), “my suffering is unbearable” (compassion) and “care costs too much” (economics). The prominent cases in the media are often complex and do not represent the average dying patient.

As Christians, we are to uphold the sanctity of human life made in God’s image, and to have Christ-like compassion for those who suffer.

Suppose your grandmother was diagnosed with a terminal illness such as cancer. The law currently protects those who are vulnerable (such as the elderly, the disabled, and those unable to speak for themselves), but if the law was changed to legalise euthanasia, there could be undue pressure on your grandmother and the family to hasten death.

Employing faith-based arguments with non-Christians is often not immediately effective. Nevertheless, we can still talk about (on terms they might accept) the excellent provision of palliative care (‘killing the pain, not the patient’) and the current protection of the law for the vulnerable.

In our conversations, we can with joy and conviction point to a creator God who made us in his image and values life; a God of justice who cares for the weak and vulnerable; a relational God who loves us and gave his only Son for us.

Jesus came to reconcile us to God, empathise with our sufferings, comfort us through the Holy Spirit and point to the glorious future hope we have where there will be no more pain or suffering.

How can I be better equipped to engage?

Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) unites and equips Christian doctors, nurses and midwives to live and speak for Jesus Christ.

CMF gives a united, powerful and credible voice for Christians in healthcare to speak out in society. If you work in healthcare, CMF can help you serve your church by equipping you to explain these issues overcoming any fear or anxiety in engaging in these conversations for the sake of the Gospel.

CMF also produces an excellent range of easily accessible online and print resources for all ranging from contraception, infertility and abortion to transgender and euthanasia c m f.org. uk

Opinion polls suggest that many are unsure about this issue and so may be persuaded once they’ve heard these arguments – so let’s be encouraged to speak out credibly as Christians for those who can’t speak for themselves.

POINTING TO JESUS With advances in healthcare and medical technology, we are coming across more ethical issues. The prevailing secular principles (to the exclusion of all others) of individualism and autonomy mean that we cannot ignore these conversations as followers of Christ.

Although living in an increasingly hostile and Godless culture, we should not despair and withdraw but rather welcome these as incredible opportunities to speak into our society with words of wisdom and hope, with graciousness and pastoral sensitivity, remembering that people may be personally affected by these issues.

22

D R . R AC H E L OW U S U -A N KO M A H

is a Surgical Doctor, CMF Head of Student Ministries and part of Brixton Local Church

DR. FELICIA WONG

is a General Practitioner, CMF Head of Graduate Ministries and part of Christ Church Earlsfield

REVIVE MAIN SESSION AND S E M I N A R R E P L AY S

S P E N D Y O U R S U M M E R B A C K AT C O - M I S S I O N ’ S A N N U A L B I B L E F E S T I VA L WITH THE NEW SEASON OF THE CO-MISSION PODCAST

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS & SPOTIFY

CO-MISSION.ORG/PODCAST

L

A

O

V

N

E

D

M O N E Y

“The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is worldly with very little will also be worldly with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

24

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

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

LUKE 16:8- 15

What I’m about to write is pointless and unhelpful unless it’s from the Lord. So stop for a moment and meditate on these words of the Lord Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you and change you to be like Jesus in your heart for the lost and your attitude to money.

Go on, pause, re-read and pray!

RADICAL GENEROSITY IN PRINCIPLE Maybe you’re wondering why I’m connecting your heart for the lost and your attitude to money. That’s because Luke 15 is all about God’s heart for the lost (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son), and now Jesus is saying ‘prove you have God’s heart for the lost, by the way you use your money’ When I preached on this passage I summarised it with the title See the future, act now! and then broke it down into 3 points: 1.

2.

3.

Money is a tool for eternity (v8-9) Money is a test of trustworthiness (v10-12) Money reveals your heart’s desire! (v13-15)

Then I concluded by saying “Teach your money a lesson: give it away!”

Basically, money used with worldly motivation is detestable to God (v15), but money given for eternal purposes is a wonderfully liberating gift from God! Jesus says God will entrust you with more and more (money and other responsibility) if you trust him enough to give it away.

You can be just as worldly with “very little” (v10) as you can with “much”. Jesus is not only calling the wealthy in the church to radical, entrepreneurial generosity, but also those living on the poverty line, or living on student loans.

If we highly value worldly wealth by hoarding or craving it then, according to verse 15, we are detestable to God. We are self-justifying, self-reliant sinners who are so spiritually poor that we need to be rescued. But if we realise that the Lord Jesus Christ poured out his wealth to pay the price for our poverty and to make us spiritually rich (2 Corinthians 8:9) then we can commit to giving away the money we have (and even the money he hasn’t yet given us) for the sake of winning other lost sinners to that amazing gospel.

Jesus challenges us to see if we can out-give God. Be as shrewd as you can to live on less, so that you can give away more. Then you can begin to experience the joy of verse 9: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” For example, you give money to buy Bibles for missionaries to distribute in Burundi and when you enter eternity you’ll be greeted by Burundians who thank you that your money played a key part in them coming to know Jesus – what a joy!

IT’S NOT JUST THEORY - IT WORKS One of the reasons I’m writing this article is because the Lord has made giving a source of great joy for me and I want to share the love! He did that by getting people to speak into my life about radical generosity at a young age and then giving me a diverse range of opportunities to put it into practice. Over the last 20 years, I’ve been able to see what it’s like to apply these principles in almost every wealth bracket (except super-rich and extreme poverty).

As a 17 year old, I read a testimony about a young student who found that as he gave 10% of his miniscule income he went from always drifting into debt to finding that he had money left over each month which he could give away. I tried it out and found exactly the same thing happened as I lived on £6000 (actually £5,400!) a year as a student.

Then I moved to London in 2003 and visited a big city church one Sunday hoping to meet some bankers who could help me find a job quickly. I met a guy from Merrill Lynch – I can’t remember his name or what he looked like, but he said something that changed my life. He said, “You don’t need my help finding a job, but what you do need is to know that a graduate salary is enough to live on for the rest of your life, so start by giving a good chunk and then as your salary increases, give it all away”. At a similar time, I heard a talk to workers by a non-pastor who said, “A Pastor earns £X, so if you earn more than that, give all the extra to gospel work, and if you’re left with too little then make sure your church pays your pastor more!”.

As I started living by these principles, like many others I’ve spoken to, I found that as I gave money away more came into my account unexpectedly, enabling me to give even more. I have also experienced times when the Lord has withheld more money but the general trend didn’t stop when I left my well-paid city job to train for ministry. By then I was married and we had more than we needed to self-fund the next couple of years, so we got rid of the excess. Yet after two years of self-funding we had the same savings we started with – which I really can’t explain! Now that we’ve got three kids, living on a pastors’ salary means we’re treated by the government as if we’re below the poverty line. That means we can apply for tax credits so that when we give more away, the government tops it back up to the tune of £10,000/ year! This is an area where wealthier church members could team up with poorer families to provide a safety net if they ended up accidentally giving too much away. This is part of living out biblical church life: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)

ARTICLES

25

nd.

weeke is th 0 0 ,0 0 2 £ g to raise in im a e r a e w , ays: w o tw t li p s With your help e b ill These funds w

PRACTICAL IDEAS Here are some other entrepreneurial suggestions to consider: •

• •

•

•

Try spending no more than £1 on lunch when at work. Compared to the £5+ that many workers spend you could save up to £1000 a year to give away. Use Gift Aid and it will be worth even more. (Don’t do this if it stops you making friends with colleagues you could be witnessing to!)

Use an accountant. For under £200 I have someone who can answer my questions to make my giving and expenditure £1000s more efficient and tax effective.

When a church needs a house for the Pastor I’ve seen people increase the % mortgage on their own house to lend the money to the church at an interest rate much lower than church could borrow. This makes it far cheaper for the church to buy than to rent.

Insure your life. I realised that giving all our savings away might leave my family destitute if I died, so I’ve insured my life for £450k at a cost of £14/month until our youngest is 21. Now we can get rid of the burden of more worldly wealth without being irresponsible!

Give radically into a new ‘shrewd dealing’ gospel fund. My sermon in Luke 16 happened just as I came into some inheritance – so in application the Lord promted me to set up a Charitable Fund designed to invest assets entrepreneurially for kingdom purposes; a kind of gospel hedge fund.

Normally these funds are exclusive to the super-rich, but my aim is that anyone with a windfall, some inheritance or excess savings (however small or large) can give into it. You can give cash, shares, a garage or a plot of land etc into this Fund and the trustees will use their financial expertise to invest it profitably. You maintain ongoing influence on which charities/gospel projects the profit goes to, including your local church (which should be your first priority).

If you’re interested in finding out more about this Fund or want to talk through how to be more entrepreneurial with your own money, email me via giving-article@co-mission.org - Acts 4:32-35 is possible!

A L E X LY E L L

is Senior Pastor at Streatham Central Church

26

Co-Mission is about reaching London for Christ. It’s why we exist. We desperately want to reach the wonderful diversity of contemporary Londoners with the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

N

F

R

EA

LOND H O C

R

W DO W O H

E

O CHRIST?

We’d love for them to know who Christ is, what he’s done and why he matters. We’d love them to put their faith in him and experience the forgiveness of their sins. We’d love them to follow him as Lord and discover for themselves his liberating way of life. And we’d love to do that together, rather than as independent, disconnected churches.

But how are we going to do that? It’s a good question.

The simple answer is ‘planting churches’. But that’s a ‘tip of the iceberg’ answer. There’s more that needs to be said: How are we going to plant? Which type of churches are we going to plant? Where and when are we going to plant?

These are the kinds of questions that land on my desk. We want to be responsible stewards of the people, money, time, energy and opportunities that God has entrusted to us.

In the past, our church planting has been primarily organic and opportunistic. God has presented us with gift horse opportunities. And wonderfully he’s given us the faith not to look them in the mouth. Recently, we’ve made concerted efforts to be organised in our church planting.

Let me explain what I mean: ORGANIC Our organic church planting has come through the numerical growth that God has given to some of our ministries. For example, planting Fairfield Community Church (that went on to be renamed Cornerstone Church Kingston) from Dundonald Church in Wimbledon. A significant crowd of people travelled to Dundonald from the other side of the A3, largely from New Malden and beyond. So it made good sense to start a new congregation in the Kingston area.

We continue to help church leadership teams think through opportunities both for internal multiplication of congregations and for planting into areas untouched by gospel ministries. Some of my time is spent working with Senior Pastors and local church elders as they consider nearby opportunities to plant new congregations.

Obviously, if this were our only model of church planting then the rate at which we could plant would be limited by the growth of individual churches.

OPPORTUNISTIC Our opportunistic church planting has taken the form of revitalizing churches and pioneering planting. Revitalization has been especially fruitful in the Church of England through the Diocese of London. For example, Rupert Standring and a team from Emmanuel Church Fulham were sent to revitalize St Peter’s Fulham. We continue to liaise with organisations like the Church of England, the FIEC and the Grace Baptist Association to identify and act on opportunities. Increasingly, such organisations are approaching us to ask for our help.

Pioneering planting is the adventurous, high risk but potentially high reward church planting trialled in the Antioch Plan project launched in 2014. Pioneering planting is really congregation planting in embryonic form. Usually, we’re talking about an entrepreneurially minded planter with a willing and able wife who seek to recruit a launch team from their existing networks and evangelistic activity.

It’s bold. BLoC epitomises this approach. Jay and Julie Marriner were willing and able to plant a church in Brixton, and were convinced that God would provide them with the resources to do so.

ORGANISED In addition to growing organic church plants and grasping opportunities, we also want to be getting more organised.

Co-Mission is a network co-operating together to plant churches rather than simply a collection of churches who once were planted. Therefore, we co-ordinate our resources and think about how to launch plants collaboratively. For example, Christ Church Earlsfield was planted by Christ Church Mayfair, Dundonald and Christ Church Balham working together. We’re currently involved in a consultation with a handful of churches in South East London to try to plant a new church in a significant Greater London suburban town.

OBSTACLES As you might expect, there are many obstacles to our planting endeavours. Church planting on paper is very easy. But church planting in practice is a very different beast, and not only because it involves people! There are things that make starting new churches difficult to do, and we’re working together on trying to overcome those difficulties.

For example, church planting costs money. There are always two questions to answer and we’re keen to distinguish them. First, what will it cost to plant this church?

Secondly, how are we going to pay for it? The answer to the first question is well established and understood.

Assuming a planter earns the average national wage, has a pension and rents a three-bedroom house then there is little change from £60,000 a year. We can tweak the arrangements but that won’t fundamentally alter the costs.

The answer to the second question has many forms, but the issue is one of fundraising. And God has been consistently good to us through the sacrificial generosity of many who’ve contributed their financial resources.

29

Church plants need pastors who can get churches up and running and are willing to live with the uncertainty involved in planting. That’s a different skillset to being a church pastor. And so we need to keep recruiting men who have the ability and capacity to survive and thrive under a different set of pressures to a more predictable pattern of ministry.

Finally, church plants need church planting teams. If we are to extend our activities beyond the neighbouring suburbs of our existing churches, we need people who are willing to be enterprising, and willing to move. That’s going to be easier for those who rent and who’ve yet to put down roots in a local community. But hopefully the gospel needs of our city will make some of us face the possibility of relocating to help get a new church up and running.

These are some of the obstacles we face. There are others. But let’s move on to the outcomes of our prayerful deliberations.

OUTCOMES What’s happening behind the scenes? As you might expect, it’s an ongoing conversation. We’ve learnt lots over the last 15 years and continue to learn. Whilst we’re not quite yet in possession of a faultless grand plan, we’ve moved beyond the back of a paper napkin with which Jay Mariner and I sketched out a five-year plan for BLoC. There have been some encouraging outcomes from our prayerful consideration and ongoing discussion, including: 1.

We’re paying renewed attention to our training pipeline. We want to keep encouraging men and women to consider our Ministry Training Scheme.

We’re hoping that from within this group some will emerge who are keen to be involved in planting. In addition, Andy Harker has been beavering away behind the scenes planning the launch of a London Church Planting Academy which will build on our collaboration with existing church planting partners and foster greater coordination and cross-fertilisation of best practice.

2.

3.

We’re identifying potential locations that could become church planting hubs, much as Raynes Park has in South West London. And so we’re doing what we can to understand the social geography of our city. We want to build up a picture not simply of which churches are where, but who is where, how long they’re there for, where they go next and so on. For example, a central London church like Christ Church Mayfair can plant, every few years, into a zone 2 or 3 suburb 20 minutes tube journey away. They’ve done that in Haringey in the North East and they’re planning to do it again in a different location in 2-3 years’ time.

We’re working with like-minded, Bible-believing churches and organisations to deepen our gospel partnerships. I spent a very enjoyable morning in April with a group of church leaders in a Co-Mission regional cluster exploring possibilities in their patch of London. We’re liaising with organisations like the FIEC, the Church of England and London City Mission to open up opportunities. It may be that the churches we help plant aren’t Co-Mission churches. That’s alright. But some choose to be so. We’re helping to plant new churches in a couple of London locations right now with church leadership teams who are on the same page as us (theologically speaking) and who would like the church to be a part of our network of churches. That’s exciting.

Our tagline is A Passion, for Planting, for London, for Christ.

We know why we’re planting churches: for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know where we’re doing it: this great diverse and densely populated capital city of ours. And we’re getting better at how we’re doing it: we’re focussed on planting because although we’ve got lots to learn, we’re aware that the Lord has already given us experience and expertise in developing successful strategies for planting.

We’re asking people to hang around and be part of something bigger than their own Christian lives, than even the life of their local church. And for that to be a credible ask we’ve got to show them the plan. This brief article can only scratch the surface of what’s going on behind the scenes. I hope it’s encouraging. Please pray for us as we work on planting

RICHARD PERKINS

is Director of Church Planting for Co-Mission and lead planter at Bridge Church Peckham.

30

R

K, IC

ESTH

ER

A

OSH RA D J JA N

Rick is married to Esther and they have a 6-month old son, Joshua. Rick and Esther first met at a Co-Mission Mission Breakfast in October 2013 with a joint desire to share the gospel with those who haven’t heard.

Rick became a Christian in 2007 from a Hindu background at Christ Church Balham. Having practised as a medical doctor for a number of years and having worked in a mission hospital in Madagascar, he saw the desperate and urgent need for people to hear the good news of Jesus.

He completed a ministry apprenticeship, the Cornhill training course and studied theology at London Seminary.

Esther grew up being taught about Jesus by her parents and grew to love him for herself as a child. She worked as a PE teacher for 12 years, served as a missionary in Ethiopia for 3 years, completed the Cornhill training course and is currently on maternity leave from being the Youth and Children’s Worker at Grace Church Worcester Park.

Rick is currently doing a part-time masters in theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, USA and working as a doctor. Both are getting their heads around parenting whilst preparing to plant a church in North East London.

A meeting with London City Mission (LCM) identified Clayhall and Barkingside in North East London as high priority: It is culturally and ethnically diverse but a spiritual desert. The 2011 census revealed 61.1% Asian/Asian British make up with 21.5% Hindu, 25.7% Muslim, 10% Sikh, 9.2% Jewish.

A group of four churches (Woodford Evangelical, Grove Hill Evangelical, Salway Evangelical and Grace Church Wanstead) who have worked together in mission for many years have been praying for a new work to be established in the same area. Rick and Esther have been in discussions with these four churches, Co-Mission and LCM about how they could work together to establish a culturally diverse church plant in Clayhall and Barkingside. A church that will glorify God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, train up leaders, send out gospel workers and, God willing, plant more churches.

They are looking to move in January 2020, to connect with people and the communities there, to establish a leadership team and recruit a core team from the four partnership churches. Weekly meetings would begin at their house as a “house church” as they study God’s Word together, pray and plan. Members of the core team would be looking to get involved in community activities as a means of establishing and growing relationships within the local area. This is all with a view to launching a public Sunday gathering within 12 months. You have read the desperate need and overwhelming passion for the gospel but their ultimate motivation is to obey the Lord Jesus’ command to “Go and make disciples of all nations”. For Rick and Esther that starts with our own nation and our own city of London.

ARTICLES

31

MAS WE O ST TH “Our families met through our common church home: Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. We have become good family friends over the last five years and enjoy watching our kids be rambunctious together. Our families dreamed up the idea of planting together three years ago while on a short-term mission trip in Canada. God has worked in our hearts and everyday circumstances to lead us to this point where we are en route to London. We are excited about the potential of London. As well as being one of our favourite cities in the world, London is uniquely poised as a place of global influence.

“We are heading to Queen’s Park with the hope of planting a new church. The Borough of Brent is the most ethnically diverse Borough in all of England - the nations are here. Queen’s Park is a neighbourhood full of families and young working professionals. We are eager to reach the unreached and make disciples.

“While we are Southern Baptists by tradition, we simply hope to plant a church rooted in the gospel, founded upon the authority of the Word of God, focused on the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all of life, and committed to multiplying disciples.

32

S

“We are the West and the Evans families and we’re moving to London to join the church planting efforts of Co-Mission. We look forward to learning from the Co-Mission family and working together to reach the unreached living in London.

Quite simply, Jesus has made all the difference in our families and we look forward to sharing the transforming story of the Gospel with Londoners in the years ahead.

N

NIEL E A D VA &

“Leaving home, friends, and family is no easy task. There is so much that we love about life in Raleigh. God has been very kind to us there and we have so many memories of how God has worked among us so graciously. Yet there are times when God leads us to let go of some things we love in order to take up other things we love even more. In this new season, we set aside certain comforts and conveniences to embrace a new way of life among people we are quite excited to be with.

“For some family and friends this seems like a foolish decision. Yet, we believe God sent his Son to be our Saviour so we gladly pack up and move.

The cross is our motivation in moving to London.

God’s commitment to getting glory for his name is our assurance as we dig in with this new work.

“We are so grateful for the leadership and hospitality of Co-Mission. We connected with Richard and Perks over a year and a half ago and have found them to be two of the kindest, most challenging, and most encouraging men we know. We love the work of Co-Mission, the heart to reach the unreached and make disciples, and steadfast commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission. We are looking forward to learning from the good work that is being done within the network and doing our best to join the cause. We look forward to getting stuck in with you.”

MIDWEEK LUNCHTIME WORKPLACE MINISTRIES JIMMY BELL

From my little pocket of South West London I’ve noticed something: Men and women seem disaffected. Whatever the reason, they’re just not sure that life is working out as they expected.

Perhaps they’d been told that they could achieve anything with enough effort (the ‘Olympic promise’: what elite athletes say when they’ve just won a medal). Perhaps they’ve been lead to believe that they’re the most special person who ever lived, and they just have to stay alive for total success to occur (the ‘X Factor syndrome’).

Or perhaps they’ve given life their best crack and now find that they’re less...less...well, just less!

Whatever one’s experience and stage of life, there comes a time when one reflects and asks questions of one’s own worldview. Whether we are just starting out or retiring, our worldview matters because our life adorns it or hangs off it. For some, a significant life event brings them abruptly to a place of questioning, for others it’s just the passage of time that prompts them to rethink. Sadly, some carry on defiantly, without questioning their worldview, even when it’s clearly not living up to expectations.

As Christians, we already know that it’s not about us. Our unbelieving friends may also know that.

However, the massive thing that sets us apart from them is not our particular ‘take on things’ but the gospel. It’s the gospel that has informed us of our true identity (forgiven sinners) and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves (Colossians 1:13).

It’s the gospel, therefore, that gives and maintains a right perspective on the things of this life.

ARTICLES

Whilst some of our friends may be pondering whether their worldview is one worth keeping, they don’t know the gospel yet and so can’t choose it. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). They may tweak things, see a Life Coach, ‘take ownership’ etc. but not even really, really clever folk can work out for themselves that they need the gospel. How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? (Romans 10:14b).

The gospel message is simple and unchanging.

The challenge for believers is to work out how our friends can hear it. One of our aims must be to give everyone (school gate parents, sports club friends, work colleagues, clients, contemporaries, family members and neighbours) an opportunity to hear the gospel.

We, as Christians, can serve our friends by enabling them to hear the gospel. That may be in a 1:1 setting, a community forum like church or (for workers in Central London) through a midweek lunchtime workplace ministry. There are initiatives happening throughout London, many of which are affiliated to Gospel at Work; a group of (currently 19) lunchtime talks, providing a platform for public gospel proclamation and encouraging gospel ministry in the workplaces of central London.

The really terrific thing about these initiatives is that, whilst being united in the gospel, the individual groups are free to adjust to their immediate culture (Farringdon is different to Mayfair, for example). Gospel at Work also helps to stage a mission fortnight each year, called Questions for Life, where Christian workers can bring their friends to a variety of weekly and oneoff events across London.

Midweek lunchtime ministries don’t only provide gospel proclamation. They can also offer training, discipling, 1:1s (using Word121 or A Better Hero, etc.), prayer groups, Christianity Explored courses, group bible studies and the superlative joy that is fellowship.

Find your nearest midweek ministry at gospel atwork .org. uk

33

WHEN EVANGELISM FEELS IMPOSSIBLE COMING TO JESUS BEFORE GOING TO MAKE DISCIPLES

Imagine giving a child a bucket and commanding them to empty the ocean.

It’s a ridiculous request and way beyond the realms of possibility. But if the child is young enough they’ll get started with a joyful enthusiasm and give it a go. But that won’t last long. They’ll soon get tired and realise that the work is futile. And give up.

Jesus gives a command to his disciples that sounds equally improbable. The sheer scale of what Jesus demands is breathtaking in its scope. Jesus is about to leave the earth and return to heaven. He is standing on a mountain with his disciples. There are only eleven of them left, and they are still psychologically reeling from watching their friend be arrested, crucified, and now be alive again. Some are doubting, most are confused, some are worshipping. Hardly the sort who can change the world. But Jesus looks at this unlikely bunch and says:

Go and make disciples of all nations MATTHEW 28 V 19 The sheer enormity of the command is staggering. He isn’t asking them to simply go to their family, or village or even their country. He is talking about nations that they don’t even know exist. By any stretch of the imagination, this is not possible. But this is the plan. And it has always been the plan. Right from the beginning God’s intention was to bring his blessing to the whole world. All of it.

Jesus understands that plan and so he issues the command.

I

DAUNTED That command continues to ring out to this day. Down through the centuries Jesus commands his followers to:

Go and make disciples of all nations.

When I hear that from the lips of Jesus, I feel just as weak and overwhelmed as the first eleven disciples standing on the mountain.

I’m daunted as I look at the sheer numbers of people who have never heard about Jesus in our world. In fact, come to that, I’m daunted by the number of people who live on my street. The task feels too big. Some people are really good at doing that, we think, but not me. Added to that I have another problem. Often I don’t feel very excited about the task of making disciples. I know I’m supposed to be doing it but I find it is really hard to speak about Jesus to my friends. I feel constantly guilty that I should be doing more. And even if I manage to reach one or two, it is hardly reaching “the nations”. It can seem fairly futile and pointless.

Like emptying the ocean with a bucket… I think lots of Christians find themselves in a similar situation and the guilt goes on increasing. We think we must have gone wrong somewhere. Is it really supposed to feel like such a burden?

LET’S GO BACK A BIT The last command Jesus gave his disciples was to GO. But what was the first command Jesus gives them in Matthew’s Gospel?

Come follow me ... and to fish for people

I

will

send

you

out

MATTHEW 4 V 19 His final command was to GO. But his first command was to COME. This is essential for us to understand if we are ever going to be the joyful disciple-makers that Jesus is calling us to be. The relationship that exists between coming to Jesus and going out from Jesus is critical.

The plan to reach the nations does not rest on our shoulders but on his. It isn’t me and my bucket. It is Jesus and his great power. And that changes everything.

ARTICLES

35

COME AND JOIN ME So when Jesus calls his first disciples to come to him, he is calling them to come and join in this great mission. Jesus clearly thinks that being involved in this mission is a great, great privilege.

That is why he doesn’t bury disciple-making somewhere deep in the small print of following him. Rather he starts with that as the number one reason why his disciples should come and follow him in Matthew 4 v 19. It is so striking. I think if I was trying to persuade people to leave their livelihoods and their homes then I would think long and hard about what I was offering. I would want to make sure that they could see all the benefits that were in store for them. So we might expect Jesus to say, “Come follow me and I will… forgive your sin. Or I will… give you life. Or I will… take you to heaven”. But instead Jesus says,

Come follow me ... and I will send you out to fish for people.

In the way that Jesus sees the world, disciplemaking is not the downside of being a Christian; it is the great privilege. Perhaps we need to ask God to change our perspective on evangelism…

So when Jesus issues the command to “go and make disciples” it is wrapped up with great statements about the nature of Jesus.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

MATTHEW 28 V 18 Jesus is the rightful King. We do not need to feel as if we are trying to persuade people to join a club, or change their lifestyle a bit. We are calling people to leave one kingdom and be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. It could not be more significant.

Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

MATTHEW 28 V 20 As we engage in making disciples, we know that Jesus is with us, equipping us and fishing through us. This really is a privilege.

36

COME TO ME There is a relationship to be cultivated, there is a King to be followed, there is a rest to be found, before we ever run off to get on with obeying.

Jesus is not raising an army of activists. He is calling an army of disciples who will delight to follow him. You see exactly the same thing in Matthew 11:

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 V 28-30 Jesus is contrasting himself to the religious leaders of the day. They loaded people up with heavy burdens that they could not carry and then refused to lift a finger to help them. They told people to Go and do. The result was that people were left defeated and crushed. Jesus hated that attitude. So it would be extremely strange, and frankly wrong, to imagine that as Jesus left this earth his final command was designed to burden his disciples with a crushing weight that they had to carry. There must be more going on. The reason that we come to him is that his shoulders are broad enough to carry the burden. He is able to take responsibility. The task that is impossible for us is absolutely possible for him.

JONTY ALLCOCK

is Senior Pastor at The Globe Church, Southbank. This article was first published online

by The Good Book Company.

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN GOD’S COMMANDS SOUND IMPOSSIBLE? Most of us find opt-outs and excuses, or pretend we’re doing better than we are.

But what if obedience could be a life-giving joy rather than a job, a delight instead of duty?

“This uplifting and challenging book will liberate believers from the despair and frustration of feeling that God asks us to do the impossible. Whilst God does give us humanly “impossible” commands, the glorious good news is that he makes it possible for us to obey them!”

JOHN STEVENS National Director, FIEC

“Here is an encouraging and digestible book about obedience! Grounded in Bible truth, these chapters give not just an argument but a call that’s clear and full of hope.”

K AT H L E E N N I E L S O N Author, speaker

“Writing with the same thrilling clarity as in his preaching, Jonty offers us a fresh and exciting perspective upon the apparently impossible commands of God, giving us real hope of experiencing the joy of obedience that Christians long for. ” RICHARD COEKIN CEO, Co-Mission & Senior Pastor, Dundonald Church, Raynes Park

A PA S S I O N F O R P L A N T I N G , F O R LO N D O N , F O R C H R I S T

16 22

28

17

A

13 10 4

27

B

21

23

20

14

9

24 8

6

18 11

1

26

15 19

7 25

3 5 2

38

12

LU

OUR CHURCHES & PLANTS ESTABLISHED CHURCHES

PIONEER PLANTS & REVITALISATIONS

1

ST MICHAEL'S FULWELL

16

GRACE CHURCH, MUSWELL HILL

2

KING'S CHURCH WALTON

17

CHRIST CHURCH MAYFAIR

3

CORNERSTONE CHURCH KINGSTON

18

BRIXTON LOCAL CHURCH

4

KEW BAPTIST CHURCH

19

STREATHAM CENTRAL CHURCH

5

GRACE CHURCH WORCESTER PARK

20 HOPE CHURCH VAUXHALL

6

ROEHAMPTON STUDENT CHURCH

7

DUNDONALD CHURCH, RAYNES PARK

22 ST PAUL’S HARRINGAY

8

THE BOATHOUSE CHURCH, PUTNEY

23 THE GLOBE CHURCH, SOUTHBANK

9

ST PETER’S FULHAM

24 BRIDGE CHURCH PECKHAM

10

ST JOHN’S CHELSEA

25 LONGHEATH CHURCH, CROYDON

11

CHRIST CHURCH EARLSFIELD

26 NEW LIFE CHURCH, CATFORD

12

HOPE CHURCH SUTTON

27 LONDON SLAVIC FELLOWSHIP, SILVERTOWN

13

ST ANDREW’S CHELSEA

28 BECONTREE CHURCH, DAGENHAM

14

THE BRIDGE, BATTERSEA

15

CHRIST CHURCH BALHAM

21

MOSAIC MULTICULTURAL CHURCH, ELEPHANT & CASTLE

LUNCHTIME MINISTRIES A

WESTMINSTER @ ONE

B

MIDWEEK IN MAYFAIR

LE

ARTICLES

39

A

W

B

M

EVENTS CALENDAR

2 8 J U LY - 9 A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 Contagious Camps contagious.org.uk

5 JANUARY 2020 Co-Mission Sunday

25 JANUARY 2020 Co-Mission Women's Day

29 FEBRUARY 2020 Co-Mission Men’s Day

19-21 JUNE 2020 REVIVE at The University of Kent in Canterbury

Keep up to date with Co-Mission events co-mission.org/events

40

THIS MAGAZINE, BUT ON THE INTERNET co-mission.org/articles COMISSIONLDN

co-mission.org COMISSIONLDN