Getting the job done

I had a very interesting conversation this afternoon with a colleague from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. We had been talking about coaching - not sports coaching but coaching leaders in Christian ministries. Someone else in the group had just said that in 'relational societies' (as contrasted with task orientated societies) it is impossible to get leaders to set goals and keep to them. Over coffee afterwards, Ruslan (not his real name for security reasons) suggested to me that that was rubbish - relational people have many goals, they just don't look like goals to task orientated people because they are not 'task' goals, they are 'relational' goals. Interesting!

As we talked we came to agree that in some societies we set our task goals, our speadsheets, our outcomes, etc. and then as we get going in the business venture, or whatever it is, we begin to form relationships which in the end can become very strong relationships. In other societies, however, we set relational goals - I really want to get to know that guy, I would love to spend more time with her, I could learn a lot from that person, etc. and then as we begin to work on the relationships we discover things we could do together, a business (or a mission or a church) is born and before we know it all sorts of 'task goals' have been achieved simply because some folks enjoyed spending time together.

So ... tasks that build relationships, or relationships that get tasks done - does it matter? Either way the job gets done. The question we parted on and did not answer was, "Did Jesus have "realtional" or "task" goals in his ministry?"

Remembering Shahbaz Bhatti

I just arrived in Turkey a few hours ago, tired from an overnigt flight, but happy to be in the sunshine and to be connecting with old friends, a network of Christians concerned for the witness of Christ in the countries of Central Asia. I opened my Facebook, as very self-respecting technocrat has to do these days within a few minutes of arriving anywhere (!), and the first chat message I saw was from Ken Mwangi, in Kenya. (Thank you Ken.) He began, "I weep and mourn for the work here in Africa", and then goes on to remind me of the sacrifice - unto death in many cases - of the missionaries who brought the gospel to his country. We reflected together how the blood of the martyrs has so often been the seed of the church.

Last time I was at this same gathering I shared fellowship with a great Christian leader from Dagestan, Pastor Artur. He is not here today. He was gunned town in his home town over a year ago. One more martyr from a region which has given more blood for the life of the church than any other during the past century. It is hard to be here without Artur, but we rejoice in the church he planted.

These musings are appropriate today, on 2 March. Today it is exactly a year since Shahbaz Bhatti (pictured above), the only Christian serving in the Cabinet of the Government of Pakistan was gunned down - on 2 March 2011 - as he left his mothers house. Today I will not forget Shahbaz Bhatti, Pastor Artur, Bishop Janani Luwum and so many more. We weep but we rejoice in the blood of the martys.

Science Fundamentalists

The choice not being great on TV last night, I ended up watching the Richard Dimbleby lecture, delivered this year by the Nobel Prize winner, Sir Paul Nurse. Talk about evangelism, he was as good as Billy Graham, but no altar (should that be 'test tube') call. As a scientist (at least by training) myself I was encouraged to hear his powerful advocacy for pure science, science for science sake, and to feel his obvious excitement about scientific enquiry.

But then I started to get worried. He crossed the line. I have come across Muslim fundamentalists, Hindu fundamentalists, and a good few Christian fundamentalists but now I found myself being frightened by a science fundamentalist. According to Nurse science has ALL the answers and there is really no place for politics, religion, belief or conviction, in fact they only get in the way and mess things up.

Towards the end he also drifted into a scary nationalism. Science is to be used to advance the cause of Britain, to make Britain great, to overcome our 'competitors' - he used that word a lot. For me that did not even ring true with science because, in my limited experience, many of the great scientific advances of recent years have come from trans-national cooperation.

Amen, we need more good science ... but science which knows how to talk to faith, to politics and to community. I thought we were learning to live in a joined up world. Obviously not Sir Paul Nurse. "Science is great, long live science"!

Why on earth?

I must have read Mark 1:16 hundreds of times, but this week it just struck me how ridiculous it is! I mean the invitation to Simon, Andrew and the rest to become "fishers of men", to have a role in the mission of God. And that realisation has implications for all our mission.

Let me explain. This call makes no sense at all when you read it in context. In the first few verses of what Mark describes as "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ" we see the full reality and power of the Trinity. God the Son is found fully present on earth in the person of Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth. The Spirit of God descends and takes full control of the situation driving Jesus first into the wilderness and then into ministry in Galilee. God the Father speaks - giving his full approval to this amazing expression of the Missio Dei, the outreaching of God in creation. The full relational life of the Trinity is powerfully described in these few verses and the focus of that God-life is made clear - the redemption of all creation, beginning with us.

So why is the call of Simon and his mates so ridiculous? Because it is so unnecessary, it adds nothing at all to the action. Son of God, empowered by the Spirit and approved by the Father needs no assistants! But the amazing thing is that He actually chooses to invite our participation.

If you really grasp the truth of that verse you will never again dare even to think you are doing God a favour by participation in His mission.