The importance of balance

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education

While waiting for mechanics to service my car, I found a sports bar to watch what became the last game of the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s finals series. I shared the experience with as many as 30 other fans, including three members of the Australian men’s basketball team, staying nearby during their Olympic training camp. The surprising level of interest, for a weekday morning in the suburbs, reminded me of Bill Simmons.

He is the author of The Book of Basketball, a 700-page history of the NBA I ordered online on the recommendation of a friend. As I neared the end of several weeks in which this had been my primary reading matter, I began to feel uneasy about the mass of material devoted to this subject—and the amount of time I had invested in it. And this is just one book by one person about one league of one sport.

Even good things become too much when out of balance. Our lives can be so filled with stuff we miss out on what’s best. This is the seed “[falling] among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants” in the story Jesus told about the sower in his field (Luke 8:7, NLT). It’s too easy to be distracted and “all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so [we] never grow into maturity” (Luke 8:14, NLT).

A quote in the book from former NBA centre Bill Walton seemed to fit with the choice we need to make to focus on what and Who is most important: “Look at the forces fighting against the choice. Look at the forces pushing you to make the other choice, the wrong choice. It’s all about you. It’s all about material acquisition, physical gratification, stats and highlights. Everywhere you go, you’re bombarded with the opposite message of what really matters.”

It’s probably true for basketball superstars; it’s definitely true for our spiritual lives—Jesus said so.

How the resurrection changes everything

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It’s the central event of Christianity and, as such, is sometimes merely assumed rather than truly celebrated. But we can’t overestimate the significance of what happened that Sunday morning, and we should take every opportunity to remind ourselves of this astounding reality and its implications for everything—all our lives, all our dreams, all our hopes.

We breathe in so many of our worldviews from what others take for granted. This is another reason why celebrating the resurrection is valuable; it’s a story powerful enough to jolt our worldviews, opening us to not just a new way of looking at life but a new kind of life.

Perhaps the resurrection has its most profound effect on how we measure our attitude to winning and losing. Ron Sider puts it like this: “Those who understand the empty tomb can afford to lose now” (I Am Not A Social Activist).

Because of the sacrifice—the loss—of Jesus and His resurrection victory, faithfulness is always more important than success. Not only is what Jesus did the foundation for this reassessment of life, it’s also the model: “He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward” (Hebrews 12:2, NLT).

When “we understand the empty tomb,” we can confront our inevitable disappointments and losses. No longer do we have to win, guard and maintain our image or be a “success” to justify our place in the world or our sense of worth. No longer does our opinion or even belief have to win every argument or have the last word. The last word—or the Word that will be the last word—has already been spoken.

The resurrection must change everything—including our perceptions and preoccupations about winning and losing. If it doesn’t, the resurrection is merely a historical oddity, barely worth remembering at all.

 

Inspiring, encouraging but not living out mission

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

The One Project gathering in Seattle last month may have been the second most inspiring and encouraging event for which I have been privileged to attend. I applaud and support the impulse—Jesus. All.—behind this movement.

The need to refocus on Jesus is a perpetual task—He can so easily be obscured by our arguments, our busyness, our stuff, even our “churchness,” and the day-to-day mechanics of all of these. So, it’s inspiring to be reminded Jesus has been our focus in the past, even amid disappointments and frustrations, and to recognise He’s transforming people’s lives and communities today. And it’s encouraging to gather, to share and to worship with others of like mind.

Two weeks later, in Portland, I and 4500 academics, activists, artists, ministers and students from the US, Canada and 18 other countries attended the Justice Conference. Its focus: the Bible’s call to “do justice” and what this tells us about the nature of God and who we are called to be in His world. The conference may have been the most inspiring, encouraging and challenging event for which I have been privileged to attend. I didn’t just go home changed; I went home to change the world (if you’ll forgive me for being a little grandiose).

The One Project is a step—and a vital, positive, healthy one—but it isn’t the journey. The Justice Conference is a further step and a worthwhile one beyond that of The One Project, but it isn’t the journey either. The journey begins after I leave the hotel ballroom or the convention centre. The journey is me living out the mission of Jesus by working for justice in my community on the other side of the world. And you in yours.

The One Project Sydney, July 28-29, 2012.
Early registration closes March 28.
www.the1project.org

 

The significance of the question of motivation

Nathan Brown
Master of Arts (Research) student
Avondale College of Higher Education

Before Kevin Rudd disappears into obscurity, it’s worth remembering what may have been his most significant achievement as Australia’s foreign minister.

Last year, under Rudd’s leadership, the Department of Foreign Affairs reviewed overseas aid for development and poverty alleviation. Australia has now become a leader in moving toward dedicating 0.5 per cent of its gross national income to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. More important: the profound change in rationale. Instead of furthering Australia’s national interests, “the fundamental purpose of Australian aid”—the new policy reads—“is to help people in developing countries overcome poverty.”

This policy may not look radically different from the previous policy but the question of motivation is significant. An apparently identical act or idea is rendered profoundly different by its why.

The Bible says we should do some things simply because they are the right things to do. As Jesus said, part of living humbly as His disciples is to be “hungry and thirsty for justice” (Matthew 5:6, NLT), to seek goodness in all its forms, including working for more goodness in the world beyond ourselves as agents of God’s kingdom here and now. In theory, it’s straightforward. In practice, it’s more complicated—our motivations get so muddled and muddied.

So, let’s applaud anything that moves our national, corporate and individual actions beyond self-interest. Whether this new policy changes priorities or survives the loss of its political champion remains to be seen, but we can be encouraged by this impulse.

We should also consider our motivations. We might find ourselves doing some things differently and other things similarly but with radically different motives. That will be good for us, as well as for those—and for Him—we seek to serve.

 

Advice for life from the Australian of the Year

Nathan Brown
Book editor
Signs Publishing Company

Australian of the Year Simon McKeon is an advocate of corporate philanthropy and individual giving. His message: where any of us have any capacity for giving, we should consider that as a valid option to make a difference in the lives of those who need it.

McKeon says giving is not just important for the beneficiaries, it is also vital for the giver. As an investment banker, he is attuned to the business realities. He says the most successful organisations are those giving to and working with their communities. “They will be connected with their community, not operating out of an ivory tower, and they will be better for it because they will understand what the community is needing and asking for.”

While the church should be more than a business, McKeon’s insight is helpful to our practice of faith, individually and corporately. However we might judge the success of the church, our connection with the community will be vital.

Church should never be about “ivory towers” or merely looking after ourselves. As Jesus taught, the church should be salt and light in the world. We should give because of what we have received, and we should serve primarily for the benefit of others, but when we do this, we will find we receive more again in return. Perhaps this is one of the meanings of this statement from Jesus: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance” (Matthew 25:29, NLT).

And there is also a personal benefit for those of us who work as a church to connect with and serve the community. Rather than risking becoming “an unnecessarily narrow and unsuccessful person”—as McKeon says—we step into a life of generosity and cooperation, created and creating anew “in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT).

McKeon was talking about business, but his wisdom also reveals a dynamic of life—and even more so of the life of faithfulness.—Adventist News Network