At the heart of God’s show is the cross of Christ (1:23-25). God’s show glorifies what the world is most ashamed of – the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. And, that event obliterates human boasting (1:29), and gives all the glory back to God (1:31). So, this is God’s show! It is show-time at church. But this show isn’t for us to watch with our pop-corn, or sip with our coffee, as we sit comfortably in our seat. It’s not a show, where our children are quietly taken care of, and the parking is easy to find. It’s not where everything is polished, and we slip in and out for the bits of the performance we like.

Some of you will know the internet slang: “TL; DR”. It means “Too long; didn’t read”, and, if we’re honest, it’s how we’ve all found ourselves reacting at times. It’s probably what you’re tempted to do with this piece of writing! I think “TL; DR” illustrates a shift that’s taken place in the 20th C. Entertainment has shifted how our brains react to politics, education and religion. So, today, politicians are forced to offer sound-bites rather than substantial arguments. Children are weaned on a diet of Sesame St or CBeebies, and the one thing they must not experience is boredom. And, likewise, churches feel pressure to put on a good show. This is shown in the architecture of bigger, modern church buildings which are more cinematic – with a stage, lighting, and theatre-style seating. Today, more than ever, we need to grab people’s attention. “There’s no business, like show-business”.
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Like any practice, catechesis can develop in unhealthy directions. It could end up fostering a “worksy” understanding of the gospel, in which you’ve got to be old enough, mature enough, “good enough” to belong to Christ. This is the exact opposite of what the gospel is saying. But if we ignore this category of “the simple”, and don’t learn to call the group to leave this stage behind, we will also face the danger of failing to encourage vibrant faith. According to the Book of Proverbs, the “simple” don’t just need affirming as they are, but instruction in the gospel, to lay hold of Christ, who has laid hold of them in the covenant of grace.

Are you simple? 
Some people identify themselves as “simple”. I have a friend who often quotes Winnie the Pooh to describe herself: “I’m a bear of very little brain”. It’s true that some Christians have a gift of making the Bible complicated. I’m sure I’ve preached sermons which have soared over the heads of the listeners. It’s easy to get our audience wrong. And, in my experience, complexity is usually a sign that you don’t understand a subject very well, rather than that you do. 
What’s more, Jesus delights to bypass the educated; he reveals himself to “little children” (Matt 11:25). God specialises in humbling the wisdom of the wise (1 Cor 1:19). There is a good, healthy kind of simplicity, that looks away from self and casts us completely on Christ. David famously said: “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me” (Psalm 131:1). A key part of God’s grace is that it’s not awarded to intellectual high-achievers. Many godly grannies have understood the Bible much better than clever theologians in university departments. 
But, in the book of Proverbs, “simple” is not an adjective but a noun. The “simple” are a particular group of people, mentioned 14 times. The term doesn’t describe their intellectual capacity; these aren’t people who got “F’s” in their exams. Rather, to be “simple” is a moral term; it’s a spiritual condition, and it’s not healthy. Some translate it “gullible”. It means being easily misled. Bruce Waltke puts it like this:
“Though intellectually flawed, the [simple]… are the mildest sort of fools, for they are malleable, are capable of being shaped and improved by the education process (1:4; 8:5; 12:25; 21:11), and still have hope of joining the company of the wise (cf.1:22; 9:4). Both Wisdom and Folly compete for their allegiance (ch.9). But until they opt no longer to remain uncommitted to wisdom, they are wayward” (Book of Proverbs, chapter 1-15, NICOT, p.111)
So, the “simple” in Proverbs describes the naïve youth, like Simple Simon of the nursery rhyme.
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When the Christian life gets hard, we find God asking us to do things that we think are too hard. “I can’t”, we tell ourselves. “I can’t forgive that person”. “I can’t give God my money this week”. “I can’t submit to my husband’s petty requests”. “I can’t keep the Sabbath today”. “I can’t parent my disobedient child at the moment”. “I can’t deal with this difficult situation at work in a Christ-like way”. “I can’t stop grumbling about that Christian brother”. And Paul says: “yes, you can!”. 

As a statement, it’s always stood out to me. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). It’s inspiring. Paul’s got a “can-do” attitude.
But it used to confuse me. There seem to be all kinds of things I can’t do, despite Christ’s strength. I know people sing: “I believe I can fly”, but you can’t, can you? No matter how much faith you have, not one Christian could survive in space without oxygen, or live without eating or drinking. We believe in an all-powerful God, who does miracles; so, in principle, Christ could enable you to do those things, but that doesn’t seem to be Paul’s point. He didn’t write: “I could do all things through him who strengthens me (if God permitted it, but he probably hasn’t it!)”.
What is Paul’s positivity really about? Many Christians read it inspirationally. They treat it as a version of the power of positive thinking.
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The Bible teaches that our current attempts to find happiness are like a bride taking her wedding ring, falling in love with the ring, and ignoring the giver of the ring! Church doesn’t exist to just boost your mental health, or release more happiness hormones. It’s where we can actually encounter God, who has sent Jesus Christ, his Son to be Saviour.

We recently carried out some street interviews on Ilford High Street for our church youtube channel. We asked shoppers: “what brings true happiness?”. People gave a range of off-the-cuff answers – from “going to the gym”, to “helping others”, to “family”, and “job security”. Clearly, all those things can make us happy. Scientists have discovered the hormone Oxytocin, which they called the “love hormone”. Simple activities such as exercise, singing with others, or even touch can release it inside us and give us good feelings.
But, according to Jesus, and (if we’re honest) our own experience, there is something short-lived about these experiences of happiness. They don’t last. Jesus asked the question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). I was particularly struck by one man’s honest answer to our question on the street. “True happiness”, he said, “I don’t know what it is”.
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For Jesus, being a “Christian” isn’t a blob of jelly that can be squished into any shape we want. It’s not a personalised experience, in which you tell “your truth” and create a customised “Jesus”. It’s believing the truth about the real Jesus of history, being changed by him, and belonging to his people. 

It may surprise you to know that the word “Christian” appears in the Bible just three times. The name itself was first coined in Antioch in south east Turkey, years after Jesus had returned to heaven. You can read about it in Acts 11:26. Up until then, Christians went by the name of “disciples”, “believers”, “brothers”, “saints” (which means holy ones), and “followers of the Way”. But a new word was needed to describe this weird new social group, made up of both Jews and non-Jews who followed Jesus. So, the name “Christian” was invented. And it’s stuck!
Today, billions of people claim the label for themselves. Locally, in the recent 2021 census, 36.9% of borough residents ticked the “Christian” box on the form. But, what is a Christian? Is it just an identity label that we get to claim for ourselves? Who gets to decide?
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Sadly, in Britain, it feels like we’re creating “no-go” areas where we’re no longer free to express moral disapproval – in sexual choices, or even religious matters. When Jesus says, “Judge not”, he’s not telling us to stop every kind of criticism, but to do it without a flame-thrower. Why? because, morally speaking, we’re all in the same boat. 

I reckon the best-known verse in the Bible today is “Judge not”. It’s a nifty, two-word response to almost any moral criticism. Are you meant to be on a diet and your friend sees you tucking in to a big bag of crisps? “Judge not”, you say. The church minister preaches a sermon from the Bible about a common sin in society; at the door, on the way out, an upset listener collars him: “doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Judge not’? A politician is explaining the damage that extra marital affairs do to society: “Judge not” the newspaper columnists say. These two words serve as a convenient moral force-field, which shield us from anybody’s disapproval.
It is, of course, a rather silly mis-use of the verse. Try putting it on the lips of a war criminal. “You’ve just killed innocent Syrian civilians” says the judge. “Judge not!”, says the army officer!
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Lots of us struggle to concentrate when we read our Bibles. What can we do about it?
– sharpen your resolve. Do you believe this book is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10)? Do you want to hear the voice of your good Shepherd (John 10:3)? Has God attached the promise of his blessing when you read any other book or website (Rev 1:3)?
– keep track of your progress. The Bible is a big book, and the goal has got to be to read the whole thing. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16). If we just treat the Bible like a lucky dip, and only ever flick to our favourite verses, we’re not really listening to our Shepherd. So, record what you have and haven’t read. You could write the date you finished a Bible book on the contents page. There are tons of Bible reading plans online; you can print one out and tick off when you’ve read a particular book. However, you do it, plan to work through the whole Bible.
– start small. Don’t be too ambitious. You don’t need to study the Bible for ages. If you think you’re going to be able to concentrate for 30 minutes on a Bible study when you’ve never done it before, it’s probably not realistic. If you focus for 5-minutes to start with, that’s great! Remember, the tortoise and the hare. Better to read 12 verses a day and work through the Bible in 7 years, than to monster through half the Old Testament in a month, and then quit. As it becomes more of a rhythm, you can get more ambitious.
– use a paper copy. If you’re not concentrating when you read your Bible, this is a no-brainer. Screens are good for skimming the surface of text, but not for scuba diving and getting below the surface.
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The end of our love affair with sin doesn’t happen in one, sudden moment. This divine “take away” is a long, drawn-out goodbye that only finishes at death. We love the idea of spiritual short-cuts. We love the idea that holiness involves a technique. If there was a daily sanctification pill we could take, it’d be a huge hit. But instead, this line is a prayer the 80-year old saint needs to sing as heartily as the freshly-converted pagan. 

“Take away the loving of sinning”
That line always stood out and stuck in my head as a teen. It comes from the second verse of Charles Wesley’s famous hymn, “Love divine, all loves excelling”. I think I was particularly struck by its honesty. It was strange to think that all the smart, suit-wearing men, and prim, proper women surrounding me at church were people who loved sinning! But, at the same time, it encouraged me to hear us all long for “Love divine” to rip that sinful love out of our hearts.
I think it’s a particularly helpful line for us at the moment:
a) It reminds us that life is filled with love for unlovely things. The slogan: “Love is love” is lazy, nonsense. No one holding such a sign believes loving Hitler, and loving Martin Luther King are moral equivalents. Jesus explains that “people loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19). With a “conversion therapy” ban in the pipeline, the government wants to give a particular sin a very special form of legal protection. There’s to be no questioning that sin, or naming that sin as sin.
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It is important that whoever is administering the Lord’s Supper recognises what they’re doing. They’re holding a set of keys, which need to be used carefully. To simply leave all questions of admission down to the individual’s choice is irresponsible, like leaving the front door to your house wide open. But Jesus calls us to use the keys so that his Table is both opened wide to citizens of his kingdom, and closed shut to the spiritual DIY-ers, lone rangers, and the ignorant.

Does your church practice “open” communion or “closed” communion?
That’s not an unusual question for people to ask. The terminology isn’t completely clear, but by “open” communion, people usually mean that all believers are invited to partake of the Lord’s Supper. “Closed” communion usually means that only members of that local church can partake. Sometimes there’s a middle position called “close communion”, where people who are church members in similar churches may partake. It gets at a very practical issue, and one of some importance to the life of a congregation. Advocates of “closed” communion often fear that “open” communion lends itself to consumer Christianity. Advocates of “open” communion often fear that “closed” communion leads to a narrow, sectarian mindset. I think both concerns are valid.
But more basically, I think the question itself is unhelpful. Rather than bringing clarity, it reveals a basic confusion about the Lord’s Table. It’s like asking: “should your front door be open or closed?”. The whole point of a door is that it does both: it opens and closes! A door that doesn’t open is a wall, and a door that doesn’t close is a hole. The same is true of the Lord’s Table. It’s not an either/or choice, but a both/and.
In other words, the Lord’s Table is to be “open” and “closed” at the same time.
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