Have you ever seen the healthy eating pyramid on the wall of your local doctor? If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, the healthy eating pyramid is a simple diagram created by nutritionists to help us achieve a balanced diet. The idea is that to maintain a good diet, you need to eat some types of food more than others. The foods to be eaten most (such as vegetables and cereals) are at the bottom of the pyramid, foods to be eaten moderately (such as meat and dairy) are in the middle, while foods to be eaten least (such as fats and sugars) are at the top. See, for example, the pyramid published by Nutrition Australia.

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In April last year I underwent a profound conversion experience. Prior to April 2008, I was stressed—very stressed. I had many different spheres of life that seemed to be conflicting and drowning me; my family, my work and my friendships were full of what seemed like an endless array of commitments, requirements and open loops. It was causing sleeplessness and a general overall anxiety that was difficult to pin down, but that was very draining.

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This is a public health warning for the attention of all those involved in the cure of souls (here’s a representative list). A particularly insidious threat to spiritual wellbeing has been identified, and we need your help in eradicating it. The phenomenon has been dubbed ‘Bible Resistance’. The group in society most at risk from Bible Resistance are Christians who identify themselves as members of ‘good’, ‘faithful’ or ‘Bible-believing’ congregations.

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Church as we know it can sometimes be a bit weird and jarring. A few weeks ago at church, we heard an encouraging sermon on the second commandment (Exod 20:4-6). We heard that God cannot and must not be represented by or worshipped through images because images can only ever distort and misrepresent God. Yet the sermon was preached in a 150-year-old Cathedral building containing a plethora of accumulated religious imagery. As we listened to the sermon with our ears, our eyes were easily drawn towards a wooden statue of St Michael the archangel holding a gilded Bible, numerous large stained-glass windows depicting Jesus, a banner sewn with Mary and the baby Jesus, various crosses, and other striking images. Understandably, a few questions were raised after the sermon about the seeming disparity between what was heard and what was seen by the congregation.

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One of the most confronting sayings by Jesus can be found in Luke 9:57-62:

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus [1] said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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Sometimes we all need a little bit of comfort. Comfort comes in all shapes and sizes for different people. Where do you find comfort in life? In playing a sport? In getting a hug? In eating a particular food? In the presence of friends and family? In drinking a cup of coffee? In your relationship with your spouse (Gen 24:67)? In receiving forgiveness from a brother (Gen 50:21)? In a good long sleep (cf. Job 7:13)? In a tidy house?

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In the last few weeks, the world has witnessed a rather extreme example of what may be dubbed ‘social justice’—an attempt to make the world a better place for all (or, at least, an attempt to prevent the world from being quite so bad a place as it might be). Following the lead of the USA, many world governments have made bipartisan decisions to pledge billions of taxpayer dollars to prevent the collapse of major financial institutions. This will, it is argued, prevent serious damage to national and international economies, and so will protect individuals in society (particularly those who are weak and vulnerable) against the serious consequences of economic collapse. It seems that most (but not all) economic commentators agree that this sort of intervention is required, and that it will be effective, at least, to some extent.

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Many errors in Christianity arise because people identify a legitimate problem, but provide the wrong solution. This is often a recipe for disaster for (as any doctor will tell you) the wrong solution to a legitimate problem often makes things worse.

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In our congregation, there are quite a few university college students. One of the students asked me the question, “Society today is very party-oriented. Is it a sin to get drunk?”. My friend Rob (a chaplain on the uni campus) is preaching through Isaiah at the moment, and he had some very helpful insights for me as I answered this question. I thought it might be helpful to share with you the answer.

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One of the quirks of being a Christian minister associated with an historic building like St Michael’s Wollongong is that I end up officiating a lot of weddings. But occasionally I also get to attend weddings which others officiate. Not long ago, I attended a wedding at another church. It was a great wedding, full of joy and wonderful testimonies to the grace and love of God through his Son Jesus. However, I did notice something that I thought was very strange: throughout the wedding, from the processional to the final speech at the reception, no mention was made of children at all. Not once.

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