apologies

hi guys - sorry I haven't been on of late, we got robbed a bit over a week back and so are running on a dial-up connection whilst things get sorted out - be back soon I promise

Why I Hate Eagles...

"These are the birds you are to detest… the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture…” Leviticus 11:13

Ah, the eagle, that magnificent, powerful bird, mascot of the “most powerful” nation in the world. Interestingly enough it was also the mascot of arguably the most evil regime in the world. The Eagle has also been adopted by the church as a symbol. The symbol has predominantly been adopted thanks to the following verse:

But those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

I am always a bit perplexed at the adoption of the eagle as a symbol of Christianity. There are a number of references to eagles in the bible – 29 to be exact – however most of these verses refer to things like dietary restrictions, symbols of judgement and corrupt or ominous nations and characteristics of the creatures who worship god in Revelations… if we look at the bibles reference to eagles in a positive light, there really are only 3 or 4 verses. Yet it seems to me to be the third most popular Christian symbol (at least in the protestant tradition), right after the cross and the fish…

So, what difference does it make? Not a lot really, it is just an interesting observation… The lamb to me seems to be a much more accurate image of how God and the Bible view those that follow Christ, there are certainly more references to us being like sheep, especially when you take into consideration the references to shepherds. It is interesting that we more often than not neglect this fragile, vulnerable and stupid animal to represent us, and opt for the powerful, majestic, independent predator that is the eagle.

The church seems to seek after power, as do many of it’s members, church numbers seem to be the main focus for many, a good church or a blessed church is the church with thousands of people attending, and good or blessed Christian is the one who is financially prosperous. The biggest fear of the church in the west today is that we will fall out of the mainstream, we fear a society that is not Christian, as a result we try to get into politics or align ourselves with political parties. Unfortunately, more often than not this is aligning ourselves with the devil, or the next best thing.

My journey has caused me to strongly believe that the church is not meant to be in the mainstream, the mainstream leads to comfort and ego and laziness and mediocrity. It is those Christians in the margins that are truly powerful although they are often oppressed. Look at the growth of the church in China and other countries where the gospel is banned, in many of these countries the church is growing rapidly, but quietly, the congregations are kept small, running underground in homes, it is these people who are soaring like eagles, it is these people who are attesting to the power of the Lord, the real power that comes out of weakness.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27

We need to embrace our foolishness, our weakness – isn’t it foolish to follow a man who was killed on a cross? Isn’t it foolish to follow a man who tells us to loose our lives, to pick up our own crosses and follow him (to crucifixion, figuratively as well as literally), isn’t it foolish to love our enemy?

True Christianity can never survive in the wisdom and strength of the mainstream, Jesus’ teachings stand in direct opposition to it. The Kingdom of God, that the bible tells us will one day come, yet is already here, operates in contradiction, amongst other things it repays hate with love, and it calls us to freely give instead of building security through wealth. Look at the beatitudes, these values stand in direct opposition to the “Christian” society that we find ourselves in. And somehow, in some wonderfully paradoxical way, the Kingdom of the margins, that can never be mainstream, will one day be victorious.

I do not pretend to understand it, and I think that is part of the beauty of it all, we can only trust in our Lord and follow his ways, and he will look after the rest, we are not to be eagles, we are to be lambs, innocent, trusting, defenseless lambs…

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16

… yet we still have a mission, we are still warriors in the army of the Lord, however we are warriors of peace, this is yet another wonderful paradox of the kingdom… maybe I will explore this later…