Is Rugby our new religion?

'Christ the All Black' Artist Don Little

"It's not just a game, it's a religion", is the claim made by Professor Peter Lineham religious historian at Massey University. Despite Christianities historical place as the #1 faith in Aotearoa, it now seems Kiwis have a new God, and a new way of life....Rugby; hallowed be your name. The idea of associating rugby with religion conjures up all sorts of cult like images, but it was remarkable the way the RWC opening had a mystic, creation like story quality to it.  Leading up to the boy finding the saviour (Jonah Lomu), who then pointed the way to the prize trophy? See You Tube clip below...
Logically no one would say that Rugby is an actual, adequate religion. But in terms of its rituals, icons, language and traditions, Peter Lineham points out that it has become a surrogate religion for many Kiwis in the absence of any other belief.
Kim Hill on 'National Radio' recently pointed out that she has an "App called 'Rugby Heaven', but if we lose the RWC we will all be living in Rugby Hell. "
Rugby does seem to have reached incredible heights in New Zealand society. Like religion it offers its believers a great deal of belonging, places of worship, regular services and priests? Like a religion we have also seen in the last few weeks how rugby has a way of pulling people together around a common goal. Rugby also loves to celebrate its historical figures. Rolling out clips and stories of 'The Needle' and 'Pine Tree Meads' or 'The Buck', like Achilles,  Moses, or David and Goliath? Peter Lineham points out that through these historical figures and recollections we are being drawn into the historical narrative, and as New Zealand we begin to find we have an important place in the story which feeds our national identity....heavy stuff.

I feel sorry for All Blacks caught up in the midst of all this. What a lofty height they have reached in our new religion. Not only do they have to be great rugby players with God like bodies but also exceptional moral examples to our children.

One News screened a piece recently about the Wallabies astonishment at the craze and hype around the All Blacks. It has become so familiar to me now that I don't even see it. I have daily devotions on my RWC 'app'. I have even committed to memorising the players names, numbers and stats...hmmm.

Personally I am okay with it. So rugby has reached a religious status, so what?...does it detract from the real God or does it just highlight the innate human desire of needing something to worship, and so actually proves we are created beings? I could be very wrong about that though, I must be a one eyed stage 2 faith rugbyain.

London Riots

"It's the bloody Blacks!" My pommy neighbour told me a couple of weeks ago. "They're always at the heart of this kind of thing".  He was referring to the London riots, after I had asked him what had gone wrong over there. My neighbour is in his 70's, and immigrated to NZ thirty years ago.  "The Blacks huh," I replied.
I don't have any idea who is to blame for the London Riots. The Right "Honourable" Harriet Harman MP blames it all on government "cuts" - cuts that became necessary because of the waste and mismanagement of the spendthrift government.  Some say it is in the nature of a depraved generation and stems from a breakdown in community values, or as the following blog calls it "criminal numb skulls"click here. 
On an interview aired on the National Station recently, the 'nine till noon' programme interviewed an eye witness. When asked why the riots have happened, she replied that "although the shooting was the catalyst, there is a myriad of factors contributing to these riots." Listen here.  I tend to agree, there is many factors, but I believe injustice is at the core. Sometimes enough is enough. When your backs against the wall what else can you do but fight. It doesn't make it right by any means, but sometimes people  have had enough, rightly or wrongly.  I believe many people in London are feeling hard done by and ripped off? I have felt like starting a riot sometimes...some days I want to stick it to 'The Man'. I get sick of seeing injustice and corruption in nearly every level of society. Sometimes I want to throw over a few tables and drive a few people out of the temple!! Don't you? I wonder if Jesus could have been arrested for breaking their stuff?
How should the Christian respond to these riots? Is it okay to join in if you believe in the cause? Is there room for destruction of property to bring about change? Or did these riots start with a frustrated good intention and end with purely criminal intent? It seemed like in the end it was just about getting a new TV and clothes? Not worth throwing over tables for something as petty as that.
Your thoughts?

Pulling down the Church

Last week our lecturer turned our attention to a great article written by Martin Van Beynen regarding the churches that were destroyed in the recent Christchurch earthquakes. Van Beynen a 'devout' atheist has some fascinating insights into the role of the church in today's world, and how the rebuild of Christchurch Churches should be carried out from his perspective. To read Click here
The gist of the article suggests that instead of rebuilding multiple grandiose churches around the city, all of the many denominations (and in fact religious beliefs) should pool their resources to build one giant multipurpose church which would house everyone from Baha'i to Roman Catholic. Sounds like a religion shopping mall right?

I must be honest and say that I am not comfortable with the idea of sharing a worship and meeting place with religions which do not share the same view of Christ that I do. But wouldn't it be an amazing demonstration of love and acceptance if we did? On the other side it could also be an amazing demonstration of compromise on our view of Jesus...maybe? There are many denominations who do hold Christ in the same place as I do, and we could easily pool our resources and share a space....well not easily, but it could be done. 

A great example of this already in action is the Dream Centre  in Manukau. A single community trust purchased and old movie theatre in Manukau with five cinema rooms. The building is now used by six different church families all meeting in different cinemas in the same building, often simultaneously. It must be great when a sermon is too boring as you could shift to another church service with a mere walk across the hall....?


I am a committed follower of Jesus and I gotta say I am not against some parts of Van Beyen's idea, and I think Van Beyen makes some great suggestions. This comment in particular really made got me thinking...
 
"The churches might not know it but they have a wonderful opportunity. They could bury the hatred and discord which started 400 years ago and pool their money to build one building to serve all the needs of their parishioners."
 
I would go one step further and say they could pool their money and serve the needs not only of their parishioners but of their whole community. It is time to rebuild the image of the church and the building is a good place to demonstrate a new way of operating.


I can understand if not all denominations want to use the same space, but in Christchurch city there are four Anglican churches all within ten minutes walk of each other who should definitely combine for one set of services and probably one large dynamic building?


I come from the Baptist tribe. My bapo brothers at Oxford Terrace Baptist are in the same predicament as many Churches in Christchurch as their old 'Baptist Tabernacle' style building has been destroyed. They will rebuild however, and if it was me I would do things differently. Most churches love their communities and are striving to serve and love like Jesus taught. So why not have a building that backs that up? I would build a community centre. There are many 'not for profit' community organisations looking for affordable and professional office space. Groups like 'budgeting services' and 'Younglife'...why not provide some high quality, low cost space for them? I would build a Gymnasium as part of my building and open it to community groups, youth work service providers, and sports teams. Build modern meeting rooms and conference facilities. It's the garden city so why not a beautiful garden where people could stop, reflect, eat their lunch and enjoy the feeling of grass on their toes when surrounded by concrete. The list is endless and very exciting. A state of the art, classy and yet practical building for the community that still provides room for church services etc.

Martin Van Beyen's article misses a big point about the need for Church communities, one that Christ followers understand. But despite that he has made some great insights and I think we as 'church folk' should lend him an ear...perhaps he will lend one back?


Here are a few thoughts about the relevance of Church in today's culture.... sorry that this stuff is always American...

I think what we need now are buildings and spaces that reflect the true heart and mission of the church. One which our communities will always need, buildings that express the unstoppable love of Jesus

Norwegian shooter is a Christian??

I just finished reading an article about how Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect of the Norwegian massacre that killed 76 people identified himself with extreme right wing Christians in the US.
click here for article
The article claims 32 year old Breivik left a 1500 page manifesto explaining his political  and religious views.... I wonder if your everyday committed Christ follower would read this 1500 page manifesto and conclude that Breivik was a Christian at the end of it? Is this man a Christian? What is an extreme Christian?
I find it interesting that Christians face a similar dilemma as many Islamic people when something as extreme as this occurs in the name of Christ. Everyday Muslims are often tarnished with the same brush as the extremist Islamic terrorists when something like the trade towers occurs and yet Muslims exclaim that not all followers of Islam are capable of something like this. But underneath the surface I think many people suspect that perhaps they could be. As a follower of Jesus myself I would hate to think that anyone would associate this disturbed psychopath with me and what I believe, and even more horrified that anyone could suspect that I might be capable of such an atrocity in the name of faith. Makes me think twice about judging Muslim people based on their extremist connections. The nagging question still remains for me though, can someone do something as extreme as this and still be classified as a Christian? What makes a person a Christian? Are the Islamic extremists who commit diabolical acts of terrorism still considered Muslims? Fox news is pretty clear on what they think in the following video, it's a good example of hard right Christians responding...

Your thoughts??