Homosexuality

Yesterday I returned from Spring Harvest, where the theme was 'Different Eyes' - all about Biblical ethics and ethical living. One issue under discussion was homosexuality. On night 4 there was a debate about homosexuality. On nights 3 and 5 there were other debates - on War and Peace, and Money.
The homosexuality debate attracted about 3 times as many people as the money debate (I'm not sure about the War one, I wasn't there). This is interesting, given that homosexuality is mentioned 6 times in the Bible, while money comes up, on average, every 8 verses. Discrepancy?

There are a few brief points to make:
1. Christians blow homosexuality out of proportaion compared to other sins, as if it is the worst sin and/or as if it is worse than any other sexual sin. This is not true. Look at the biblical time given to it, compared to pride/greed/selfishness/dishonesty/expolitaiton etc.
2. Homosexuality seems to be a very emotive issue. People think they have a right to sexual activity, and don't like being told that they can't have sex. This is a wrong assumption - not everyone gets to have sex - some are physically incapable, some choose to abstain, some don't find a suitable partner, either as single heterosexuals or homosuxuals.
3. Homosexuality, while getting big press in the media, isn't discussed enough in the local church/small group. It becomes a massive issue, with an element of taboo, and therefore as soon as Spring Harvest offer a debate, it is three times as full as other debates!
4. Homosexuality is treated as a person's identity rather than what it really is - their sexuality. Homosexuals often define themselves as 'gay' and it becomes a central part of their identity. Sexuality should not equal identity. Doing so makes it into a bigger 'issue' than it should be.

Disgustingly lucky

A year ago, I returned from Spring Harvest and wrote a blog about worship

I have just returned from Spring Harvest 2010. Again, I was very critical of the worship during the week. I think part of the problem is that I am dissgustingly lucky to be at a church where the main two worship leaders are superb, and they are just the tip of the worshsip-leading iceberg.

I was also disappointed with the teaching at Spring Harevst this year - again, I am disgustingly lucky to have some amazing teachers at my church.

Neon Planet

I heard a poem read at Spring Harvest by Richard Hasnip from Saltmine Theatre Company. He literally wrote it just before performing it - it was on the back of an envelope!

Here it is:

Neon Planet, by Richard Hasnip

This neon planet’s strange, I find
It frightens me
This pluralistic, hedonistic, shark-infested fantasy
This ‘tolerance’ this sugar-coated poison dressed as openness
That revels and rejoices in a Harlequin caress

This modern planet’s strange I find
There is no real value
But plastic preachers sermonise to sell, to sell, to sell to you
And Bibles black with certainty are stacked beside Da Vinci Codes
What’s true, what’s false, what’s fantasy?
No-one cares and no-one knows

And can eternal wisdom thrive
In a polystyrene time?
Can God compete in cyberspace?
Does he play dice online?

This neon planet’s strange, I find
It frightens me
I’d rather shelter in a cave of unanimity
I’d rather not confront this hall of mirrors
Twisting private truths
Creating hateful, ugly things distorted and confused.

And yet I know I have to venture
From this cosy sanctuary
Into a blinded neon world that will not welcome me
But I will reach through televisions
And I’ll stretch through computer screens
And I will sing through amplifiers
What forgiveness means
And I’ll become a laughing stock
If that’s what I need to do
To tell a modern plastic planet
Something true

Boring Christians

I was sitting in the Spring Harvest big top last week, looking around at the people in there.
Most of them just looked very boring and out of touch with reality. They looked uninteresting, soppy, week and disillusioned. Now, this is not a judgement about these people, just a comment on how they appear.
The scariest thing about what I was thinking was ‘I wouldn’t join this!’ If I wasn’t already a Christian, on the basis of what I saw at Spring Harvest (generally considered to be a large, exciting, contemporary festival), I wouldn’t be interested in finding out more about Jesus.
In terms of what I heard in the teaching, and the experience of Spring Harvest, I would want to find out more. But just on the basis of how people appeared, which is likely to be the first judgement people make, I wouldn’t be interested.
I think it was partly the age range, partly the hair and clothing styles, and partly the general behaviour that combined to the overall look of boringness. Also, they didn't look excited to be there. They looked indifferent - massive turn-off. It’s hard to describe in words, but it scared me.

N. B. If you were there, this isn’t intended as a dig at you – you may have been one of the interesting-looking ones!

Worship Snobbery

I’m one of the setup teams at my church, which means one of my responsibilities is making sure there are enough chairs for people to sit on. This involves staying at the back of church for the first half hour or so of the service, putting out extra chairs as they’re needed. This means I don’t have much opportunity to engage in the first worship set. I don’t mind this at all but it does mean I don’t get much chance to participate in congregational worship.
One of the times I get a massive chance to do this is at Spring Harvest every Easter. I was there last week. However, I couldn’t engage with the worship, either in the big top or in iScape, the youth session. This got me thinking about my opinions on worship, and I think I might be what I call a Worship Snob. I seem to be very fussy about worship experiences and am rarely happy with them. I think this is probably not a good thing.

Here are some things that annoy or frustrate me on this topic.

‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ songs. These are just very very incorrect. Jesus is not your boyfriend! So stop singing like he is!
Lame or uninspired music, with no inventiveness – something you would never ever listen to
Lame or uninspired lyrics that say nothing and just seem there to fit the tune
Soppy songs, such as ‘All I once held dear’, except on very rare occasions (actually, the verses of All I once held dear are quite good, but the chorus lyrics and music are very soppy)
Lack of sequence in a worship set (e.g. at Spring Harvest: Dancing Generation into Let me be broken (even if you don’t know the songs, the titles alone should show the incongruity of this transition))
Over-repetition (e.g. Lord I lift your name on high, seven times, including four key changes – another from Spring Harvest this year)
Lack of oomph or passion, which is often in the soppy songs
Worship leader/band shown on the screen – this is very distracting

I think quite a lot of these things tie into two larger themes:
1. Worship, however contemporary, is a strange thing to a non-believer. Churches MUST make it as accessible as possible. A lot of the above things are very ‘Christian’ things to do and are not that accessible to non-believers.

2. Men hardly ever sing. When they do it is in sports, when supporting a team. Hardly any worship songs are sung in this way. And people wonder why there aren’t many men in the church! A lot of the above things are very unmanly (and this is coming from a man who isn’t even particularly manly!)

Another point may be that I am generally fussy about music, and I think this leads into worship music too. Maybe I have too high standards, I don’t know.

One might say that these things shouldn’t inhibit worship, but I just find myself distracted or annoyed, as if trying to worship while a fire alarm is going off.

Either I’ve got a point, that worship music is inaccessible to a lot of people, especially men, or I’m a worship snob. Or maybe both, or somewhere in between.