Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):35-43 ISSN: 1941-8167
MUSTERION - OUR STORY & GOD’S STORY: JOURNEYING WITH JESUS AND LOVING PAGANS Warwick Saxby
Introduction A few years ago, my wife Dianne, our three children Joshua, Megan and Amalia and myself moved to Nimbin on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Placed in an almost idyllic rural setting, with forests and National Parks to its north and east, Nimbin is well known as Australia’s New Age, Alternate, Hippie capital.1 We went there with the unshakeable conviction that God had called us to be missionaries to a people and culture that defies time and lives by a very different ethos to the predominantly middle class Anglo-Australia. Of course the term missionary can and does bring to mind a variety of images: moralizing preachers come to dress the naked savage, social workers bent on saving people from the confusion of their own lives; health care workers attempting to heal the body and perhaps the mind, but leaving issues of the spirit to someone else. Our aim was less grand than any of these, we simply went there to become as much as possible a fully functioning part of that community and as a part of it share our journey as followers of Jesus, who is called the Christ. Being a Christian and living in the Nimbin valley can be quite challenging, for while the people will accept or at least tolerate almost any form of belief or behavior, the name “Christian” will invite near universal scorn, which may even at times result in abusive behavior. Coupled with a plethora of spiritual beliefs, all of which are held to be true in spite of their obvious contradictions and a wellentrenched drug culture, Nimbin provides many traps for the young or naïve evangelist. It is no wonder then that many enthusiasts, having gone to pluck such a ripe spiritual cherry for God, lasted as little as a few weeks or months in their attempts to convert the
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hippies, thence running from the hills, back to the sanity of the middle class church. Indeed Nimbin has suffered many indignities at the hands of Christians. Regarded as the seat of Satan, it attracts a constant flow of experts in spiritual warfare. Having bound the strongman, cast down the evil principalities and powers, thus creating an open heaven, they then set to work on the human population with much the same passion and zeal. Such a blessed history of Christian contact has left the natives a little gun shy and highly resistant to anything called Gospel. It is a sad indictment that when practitioners of alternate spiritualities call Christians self-righteous, condemning, narrow minded and rude, they often do so as a result of personal experience. St. Francis is quoted as saying that we should preach the gospel at every opportunity and if necessary to use words. My wife Dianne and I had formulated strategies to reach our target group. She worked in cafes as a cook, while I carved wearable items that I sold at the local markets. Many of these had a gospel-based story in symbolic form, which allowed me to share my faith in an inoffensive manner. It was however our lives and the relationships we built that really opened the door to sharing Jesus. I will share some of our experiences to demonstrate my point. Friendship with Jane The house we first rented was very small, so when the opportunity came to move into a four-bedroom house we jumped at it, a house of that size being quite hard to come by. One day, without giving it a thought, the Christian lady who moved into our previous house, dropped off some of our mail to Jane at the cafe where Dianne worked. On the top letter the address read “Pastor Warwick Saxby.� Being a representative of organized religion is almost the worst thing you could do in the eyes of many locals. Needless to say, when Jane gave our letters to Dianne next time she arrived for work, the reception was cold indeed. It was around about this time, that the people who were taking the vegetable scraps from the cafe to make compost for their organic farm decided to go into another line of work. The overabundance of veggie scraps soon became a real problem. Dianne, feeling sympathy for her struggling employer, volunteered me to take the scraps away. She told me this glowing story of the beautiful vegetables we could grow with all this fresh compost. One small problem, I had yet to construct the large compost bins necessary to handle the three or more large garbage bins full of veggie scraps, produced by the cafe each day.
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Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):35-43 ISSN: 1941-8167 The days and weeks went by, each and every afternoon I would drop off three empty clean garbage bins and take away three full ones. Every day that Jane was working I would greet her with a smile and a cheery hello, despite the fact that she would usually ignore me and offered only the barest of communication to Dianne when they worked together. Mind you, many of the folk I met, as I moved my cargo of scraps to our station wagon, congratulated me on how I was doing my part to help the environment, taking rubbish and recycling it into vegetables. Nearly five months had passed, with no sign of our relationship with Jane defrosting, when one afternoon she stopped me and said that it had been good since I had been taking the compost scraps, because I always brought the bins back clean. I was completely taken aback, not only had Jane spoken to me, she had chosen to compliment me. All I could think of to say was, “What else would I do? It was a food shop. Of course I would bring them back clean.” She then told me, the previous people used to wash out the bins at the back of the shop, which made the place stink. We parted with an awkward kind of friendliness. Life went on as normal, actually a little bit better than normal, for two more weeks. Then one day Dianne, eager to get home after a long day at work was waiting in the car. I was on my way out of the cafe, having dropped off the last of the clean bins, when Jane stopped me to talk. She told me about life in Nimbin. She told me about her own personal struggles, her relationship with her husband, the fears they had for their son and the devastation wrought upon her daughter when she was sexually abused by a local businessman. Jane told me, a relative stranger, who only recently she could barely bring herself to acknowledge, things you would only tell the closest of confidants. The only conclusion I can reach is that Jane was watching to see if we were real, if what we said we represented was genuinely a part of who we were. 2 Dianne’s Ministry Not long after this Dianne began working at the world renowned Rainbow Cafe. For 25 years the Rainbow had been the lounge room and cultural icon of the alternate community. Dianne’s excellent cooking and my regularly setting up a space to carve and sell my work within the cafe gave us a level of credibility that we otherwise could not have hoped to achieve. At this point in time Dianne and I had been married for 17 years, we had three children all fathered by me, both of which being a source of amazement to the young women with whom she worked. As they watched our relationship they began to ask questions, Dianne soon became their confidant and mentor,
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giving godly biblical advice on a range of relationship based issues. The trust they had in Dianne allowed for a greater openness about who and what we were, now knowing that I was a pastor they began to come to me with the spiritual questions, just to test me at first I think, but then with a genuine desire to know. At the same time the young men (boys) who sold “pot� on the street outside, began to take an interest in my carvings. I was soon doing a booming trade in one off pieces commissioned as gifts for their partners, family, and friends. This led to introductions and an openness that replaced the usual reclusive, macho paranoia. So successful had my trade become, that at one time it was suggested to me that I was in fact laundering drug money. A door of communication was open into what many experienced as hostile territory. Markets & Story-telling Markets in the Rainbow region are very different from the ones you will encounter in mainstream Australia. They are as much, if not more, about social interaction as they are about people selling things: food, bands, buskers, acrobats, organic produce, camel rides, psychics, Raelians, candle making, and of course every kind of locally made art and craft you can imagine. People whom you will rarely see away from their home somewhere up in the hills, will come out to their local market to see and be seen by their friends. A warm camaraderie also exists between the stallholders, which at the larger markets can number in the hundreds. I chose the Channon and Nimbin markets to ply my wares, and tell stories about Jesus. Some days were great, my work sold well, people listened and asked questions about my god. Other days you just sat there, watching the passing parade of hippies, ferals, and would be alternate travelers. One Nimbin market immediately before Christmas, not only did I not sell a thing, but Dianne became so dehydrated by the heat that she required hospitalization. In the midst of this roller coaster ride my friendship with Andy, an expatriate New Zealander bone carver grew. Each month at the Channon he would come over from his stall to mine, to inspect my progress as a bone carver and to ask with an interest that surprised me, if I had any new stories. Andy shared a stall site with Annie who made masks from found objects, leather, and road kill, often Andie the schoolteacher would be there with them as well. They would sell their wares, talk and at times become progressively stoned as the day went by. All were avowed Pagans, none came to faith in Jesus and yet one day as we sat together in the cool of their shady stall talking, Annie said something that proved to me that my time there was not a waste. They were, let us say, a bit relaxed, it being late in the
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Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):35-43 ISSN: 1941-8167 afternoon. The conversation had drifted into things spiritually Pagan in nature, Annie suddenly realizing that not all present were of the same faith, turning to me said “Oh, Warwick you’re a Christian, but we know you’re OK.” Now this might not seem much, but to receive such a resounding vote of confidence and acceptance, proved that I had really connected with these people. I could, without fear of contradiction, call them my friends. Attitudes & Priorities What life in Nimbin has burned into my brain is this, nothing of any value occurs in a relational vacuum. Coming to faith in Christ is not an event; it is a process, a journey. That journey does not stop at the sinner’s prayer. Such a moment, if you have one, is only part of that continuum, which means to be conformed to the image of Christ. This I believe, being God’s ultimate goal in the life of the individual believer. This is why I have such a hard time with the spiritual warfare paradigm. Regardless of its biblical basis, which is dubious at best, or its efficacy in clearing the area of demons thus allowing the entrance of God’s kingdom, which I have yet to see, this mindset puts people into two opposing camps. The saved and those under the control of Satan. It is not that I don’t believe in Satan or the demonic inspiration of false belief systems, it is just that in the arena of Christian witness it pits believer against unbeliever. Well meaning Christians who visited Nimbin to witness, only managed to make my Pagan friends feel like they were the enemy. After all, they were on the enemy’s side. Needless to say, any meaningful dialogue between these two groups was non-existent. All hope of winning the lost, was lost. While those of us who lived in the valley were left to pick up the pieces. I firmly believe that we must take our lead from the Master himself. Jesus is recorded as spending long hours in prayer hearing what the Father says, so that he could do what the Father does. A neglected aspect of Jesus’ involvement in spiritual warfare is that which he practiced while he was on his knees, alone. While he was with or even near people he faultlessly demonstrated the Father’s compassion, love and holiness. He spoke the truth with sincerity and humility to those who would listen, with authority and boldness to those who would not. He allowed his betrayer to greet him with a kiss and called him friend. Now this is spiritual warfare: being a living contradiction to the powers and principalities, be they human or those whom many regard as gods. Of course Jesus did encounter and cast out demons, if you are doing God’s work you too will
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inevitably bump into a few, as I have. Again the spiritual warriors have a problem, they rely upon what they see as God’s power to cast out the demonic, it almost becomes a case of “my god is bigger than your god.” Jesus on the other hand walked in the authority of God, that is why he needed only to speak and the demons would leave. Another area that needs to be discussed is that of knowledge. An old experienced pastor once said to me, “you don’t have to know everything they believe, you just have to know Jesus.” Now I think he is largely correct, nevertheless ignorance and fear of others beliefs is a sure recipe for failure, that is, if your aim is to be an evangelist in this spiritual supermarket of the western world. I remember one man who was forever quoting the Dead Sea Scrolls as a way of trying to diminish the validity of my biblical faith. Over time I got sick of this, so I went to the new age book shop in Lismore and bought the latest English translation by Geza Vermes and read it. You can imagine his surprise when next time we talked I asked him if he had read the scrolls, he confessed that he had not, but had only read about them in other books. I informed him that I had and that what he claimed was written in the scrolls in fact was not so; he spoke to me with much more respect from then on. He had been guilty of what many Christians make a career of, failing to read the primary source documents. If we are to be taken seriously we must be either conversant with the philosophy in question or be prepared to spend much time listening and learning from the person we hope to introduce to Jesus, or preferably both! Because everyone has their own slant on even the historical faiths such as Buddhism, listening is the first and foremost skill we need to learn. It is no mistake that we were given two ears but only one mouth. Motivation is another issue that each would-be evangelist must confront. It is common today to hear preachers urge their congregations to be witnesses for Christ, I have done so myself. Unfortunately, many of the few who answer the challenge do so out of a sense of obligation, either to God, Christ or their church. Being convinced in our minds that we should witness does not in itself equip us for the task ahead. Only Christ’s love can do this, by this I mean to be possessed of the same love for people that Jesus has. This is a love that loves regardless of whether a person comes to faith or not. What people want to know is, will you still be my friend regardless of my faith or lack of it, or will you move on to another if you don't get the desired result? Jesus wept for the people who were soon to crucify him, not because he felt rejected, but because they were lost and only he knew the way.
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Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):35-43 ISSN: 1941-8167 Even though I had been involved in pastoral and evangelistic ministry for a number of years, it was not until going to Nimbin that the question, “Why was I doing this anyway?,” occurred to me. It was a real wake up call that stopped me in my tracks. Only after reevaluating myself and my motives before God did I find this answer. What Jesus has given me is so good that I want other people to have it too. To keep it to myself would be a sin; it would be criminal. As you may realize, this answer has continuing ramifications for my spiritual journey. Sacred Art So, what of the present? Our youngest daughter developed a lifethreatening allergy to the ticks that are endemic to the Nimbin region. This brought about an unexpected end to our career in the area, with many a tearful farewell. We then relocated, for a short time, in the Blue Mountains, at Katoomba, 100 km west of Sydney, where the arts and alternate spiritualities thrive. Our journey with Jesus continues: Dianne is completing her master chefs certificate at technical college; our children are at various stages in high school and university, while I have made the change from craftsman/storyteller to sculptor/storyteller. Being so close to Australia’s largest population center allowed for the building of a number of networks in and around the Christian community. It is through these, that we hope to use the arts as a tool to introduce the gospel to people in a more intuitive, experiential way, better suited to the postmodern paradigm. Our first serious foray into this area is the annual art exhibition, ICON - Images of the Sacred. For ICON, artists are asked to express their spiritual path or journey through their art. All forms of belief are welcome, allowing everyone a voice. It is my firm conviction, that when the life and teachings of Jesus are placed up against the Babel of alternatives, Jesus shines like a star in the midst of darkness and confusion. This proved to be the case with ICON. Outside of the four Christians who made up the organizing committee, there was no prearranged Christian content, we simply asked God to send us quality Christian art. The final result was fantastic. Our Pagan friends were pleased and excited to participate, grateful for being able to have their voice heard and feeling perhaps for the first time welcome and included by the church. And yes, the gospel was preached, many people commenting on the size and strength of the Christian content, despite it being a small minority of the works on show. Icon also had
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the effect of challenging the preconceptions of many Christians who attended the exhibition, introducing a new way of looking at nonbelievers and evangelism. ICON has opened up other opportunities. Three other Christian artists, having participated in ICON and seeing for themselves the powerful communication medium their art could be, have asked me to join them in what we hope will become a series of art shows designed to share our faith in Jesus. Two other believing artists organized their own show called, “Strongholds of the Mind”, asking me to speak at the opening. To quote David, the driving force behind the exhibition, “The whole show was put on so that Warwick could speak to the artists that came to the opening.” This demonstrates a real commitment to the gospel, weeks of work completed in order to provide a 15-minute speaking opportunity, so that people who have no Christian witness in their lives could hear and see a presentation of the gospel that they could relate to. And so on it goes. Our circumstances at the end of 2002 led us to relocate to yet another beautiful part of Australia, namely a town called Cradoc in Tasmania. The Huon valley and channel country south of Hobart is very pretty. Tall mountains, forest, farms, the river and beaches. All this and more less than an hour’s drive from what passes for the big smoke in Tasmania. Dianne now works at “Petty Sessions” Gourmet Café and Gallery, Franklin, which is pretty much straight across the Huon River from us. I decided to enter the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, a government incentive designed to get new businesses off the ground. It provides both advice and training on the management/marketing end of things as well as some financial assistance, which has been very helpful in the establishment of my new workshop.3 Lastly, it seems a reasonable assumption to me, that anyone reading an article like this is interested in evangelism. The challenge or question is, does the way you do evangelism stimulate interest in your message, or does it continue to alienate or simply bore the vast majority of people who are yet to become Jesus’ disciples?
1
Readers who want to delve into the emergence of the alternate culture in Nimbin should start with Alan Dearling & Brendan Hanley (Mook Bahloo) (Eds) Alternative Australia: Celebrating Cultural Diversity (Lyme Regis: Enabler Publications, 2000). Bill Metcalf, From Utopian Dreaming to Communal Reality: Co-Operative Lifestyles in Australia (Kensington: University of New South Wales Press, 1995). Two videos provide insiders’ views of alternate culture and spirituality in Nimbin. One is “Nearly Normal Nimbin” available
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Sacred Tribes Journal Volume 2 Number 1 (2005):35-43 ISSN: 1941-8167
from Gaia Films, RMB 116 Blue Knob Road, Nimbin NSW 2480 Australia. The other is “Going Tribal” available from Light Source Films Pty Ltd, PO Box 3040 Murrumbeena Victoria 3163 Australia or see www.lightsource.com.au/ 2
This particular anecdote has also been presented in Warwick Saxby, “The Little Things,” in Australian Stories for the Heart (Sydney: Strand Publishing, 2002), pp. 21-24. 3
Samples of Warwick’s artwork can be viewed on-line, see http://users.bigpond.com/warwicksaxby/musterion/main.html
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