I'm preaching at the first meeting of the Lent course next Wednesday - kicking off the study of Isaiah 58 and the nature of true fasting. It's been quite a challenge preparing what I am going to say!
One thing that worries me is the erosion of an understanding of personal holiness in the Church today. We have allowed the intimate link between what we believe and how we live as Christians to be broken. 'See how these Christians love one another' is the banner under which others should come to see the love of God expressed tangibly. Fairly or unfairly, it's more likely that outsiders today think 'see how these Christians despise one another' as we find ways to tear strips off the way other Christians believe. We also sometimes justify ways of living which are incompatible with our calling simply because in a post-modern age it doesn't really matter how consistent you are in what you think and how you act.
I think what we are doing at this Lent course is all about re-establishing the biblical link between faith and conduct. As Micah said: 'what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?'
Come and debate these things....
See you on the thirteenth!
Simon
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