Down-under round-up: 9 September 2015

Issue of the week

The issue of the week is undoubtedly the tidal wave of Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Europe; in particular, the tragic and distributing photos of the body on a Turkish beach of a little Syrian Kurd boy, Alan Kurdi. This informative BBC article explains the difficulty of his family’s situation, and also suggests that Aylan was an incorrect Turkish spelling of his name.

Understandably, there have been emotionally driven reactions to terrible tragedy. But overall I have been unsatisfied with the responses, both secular and Christian. For example, the assertion that people only get on boats if the alternative is unsafe is too simplistic. It neglects the reality that people take risks not just to flee persecution but sometimes for economic aspiration, and the two can intertwine as this article suggests, pushing beyond the photo.

My own ‘gut reactions’ needed correcting. For example, I sympathized with the call for a positive priority for severely persecuted minority Christians from the Middle East in any increased refugee intake program in Australia. But further reflection made me see that a refugee program that discriminated on the basis of religion could be problematic.

I was most moved by Carl Laferton’s ‘Parable you probably won't want to read’, re-appropriating Jesus on the Good Samaritan for refugees. He was absolutely right on our personal response to asylum seekers that we come across. It should also guide us attitudinally in responding to them as a category.

But I think it failed significantly if it intended to imply how refugee social policy ought to be spelled out by western nations.

Yes, if you come across an asylum seeker lost on the seas, of course you must help him, rather than critique the use of people smugglers, etc. But this does not mean that efforts to stop people using a dangerous route are wrong.

Effective, sustainable, compassionate, just social policy is more complex than offering personal help. Compassionate people can truly express the welcoming attitude, and yet genuinely differ on what they think the better policy responses are in regards to the enormous global tides of refugees at present.

For the record, I would be delighted to see Australia double or triple its intake of refugees, especially from countries close to the asylum seeker source nations (like Jordan in regards to Syria). And I’d like to see churches getting yet more involved in the sponsorship and support of such refugees.

Making disciples of Jesus

The story is last month’s. The issue is perennial. Do not dodge it.

• Aussie in Chicago, Con Campbell, writes that Ashley Madison give us a taste of the future, i.e. of the day when all secrets are laid bare.
• And this other TGC article suggests three safeguards in the wake of Ashley Madison.

I enjoyed lunch with a Bible study group of 80 and 90-year-olds last week. The young leader was turning 80! What a privilege it was to be there. Here Stephen Nichols challenges our ‘youth-driven culture’. Key points:

• We need the wisdom of the past and of the elderly.
• Specifically, children and grandchildren need to hear the stories of their parents and grandparents.
• Therefore we all need a church of young and old—and in between—that proclaims and lives the gospel.

By the way, he challenges the older to take the initiative, even if they feel a bit intimidated in trying to reach out to the younger.

Oh, and that 80-year-old Bible study leader? As well as leading those 80 and 90-year-olds, he has attended our night church (predominantly youth and young adults) and served tea and coffee there, with his wife, almost every single Sunday of the last eleven years I’ve been at St Michael’s.

Kevin Vanhoozer recently delivered the annual Moore College Lectures on the reformation solas (you can access audio and video here). I also thought Vanhoozer’s reflection on the pastor as ‘organic intellectual’ worth reading.

‘Think you can outrun a tsunami? Good luck’ is Stephen McAlpine prophesying on the grim future of religious freedom in Australia (with a small ray of hope, and of course, absolute confidence in the mission of Jesus).

Image of the week

I remember how good it was when I realized—experientially—that I could talk to God as Father at all times (still need discipline with set daily prayer times, of course!).

Via Challies.