{"id":5509,"date":"2014-09-15T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T08:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=5509"},"modified":"2014-09-12T12:24:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T12:24:33","slug":"youre-the-voice-sharing-the-saviour-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/youre-the-voice-sharing-the-saviour-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You\u2019re the voice,\u2019 Sharing the Saviour. Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using films, books, culture and sport as we tell others about Jesus.<\/p>\n

This is the first part in a series on what it means to share our faith, and therefore what \u2018Jesus Saves Racing<\/a>\u2019 is about at its core. In essence the series will focus on what we as Christians aim to be talking about and how we go about saying it when we share Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

\"23-996\"I love music and enjoy playing guitar and writing songs a bit. Although I have a broad taste in music, ranging from rock to rap and from metal to folk, I would say that primarily I\u2019m most inspired by the singer-songwriter. A guy or gal with a guitar, in a subway, with a message. A voice crying out into my town or city, into my life.<\/p>\n

“You\u2019re the voice, try and understand it, make a noise and make it clear\u2026 We\u2019re not gonna live in silence, we\u2019re not gonna live in fear\u2026” \u2013 John Farnham.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Woody Guthrie to Dylan and from Tom Petty to Jack Johnson I\u2019m lovin\u2019 the message in the music. The Streets, Arctic Monkeys and Eminem spoke to me because they had something gritty to say. They had observation and a certain critique of our culture. They spoke into a society that they really resonated with. They had a voice with an edge, rather than being a bubblegum-gobbledygook-voice that goes pop. Don\u2019t get me wrong I like pop, but for what it is \u2013 surface pop, fizz and bang! But, as a \u2018speaker of truth to all mankind\u2019 (as Martin Smith\/\u2018Delirious?\u2019 sang) I want be a voice. I want a message. I want to be Bob Dylan with \u2018Blowin\u2019 in the Wind\u2019 and not Aqua with \u2018Barbie Girl.\u2019 I don\u2019t want to share \u2018plastic life\u2019 with a \u2018Barbie world,\u2019 I want to share Jesus Christ with a needy, gritty real world.<\/p>\n

Sharing the Saviour<\/h2>\n

So how do we speak into what is increasingly called a \u2018post-Christian\u2019 culture – where references to God are scant and confused? We will be looking at a number of ideas, but this time around we are going to get into what it means to say to someone \u201cyou can be saved.\u201d It\u2019s such an important thing to grasp and share.
\nRecently it was suggested to me that the idea of being \u2018saved,\u2019 or someone \u2018dying for us,\u2019 is alien to our society\u2026 Is it? What do you think? Is that a true statement, or is that just an assumption we\u2019ve been told to believe?<\/p>\n

I argued back, \u201cIt\u2019s just not an alien idea!\u201d<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s tease out this \u2018substitution\u2019 thing, this \u2018dying for\u2019 saving idea, in our culture (not in our faith, for the moment, we\u2019ll do that later).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a substitute for another guy\u201d \u2013 The Who<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let\u2019s look at a few cultural examples:<\/p>\n

\u2018Dying for us\u2019 is the central thing that speaks to us from those that have laid their lives down for their country (\u2018They shall not grow old, as we that are left to grow old\u2019<\/em>). The two minutes\u2019 silence on \u2018Remembrance Day\u2019 is a sombre, serious and profound moment when we remember those that died fighting in wars so we can live. We also find many films that have this theme running through them. They range from \u2018The Matrix\u2019 to \u2018The Way the West Was Won,\u2019 and include movies such as \u2018Gran Torino,\u2019 \u2018The Guardian,\u2019 \u2018Seven Pounds\u2019 and \u2018Armageddon\u2019 along the way (with just about every super hero film chucked into the bargain, in some sense).<\/p>\n

If we think about songs, we find the concept of dying for someone is the ultimate expression of love, e.g. Bon Jovi \u2013 \u2018Baby I\u2019d die for you, I\u2019d die for you, I\u2019d cry for you, If it came right down to me and you, You know it\u2019s true, Baby I\u2019d die for you\u2019<\/em>. We even have a messed up version of \u2018dying for\u2019 in Shakespeare\u2019s \u2018Romeo and Juliet\u2019 (and thus \u2018The Cutting Crewe\u2019s\u2019 song \u2018I just died in your arms tonight\u2019 \u2013 an \u201880s special!) In sport we have the concept of a \u2018substitution\u2019 \u2013 the player who takes the place of the tired, the poor performing and the injured.<\/p>\n

So we see, \u2018dying to save\u2019 is not so alien. In fact it\u2019s very central. The thing that is difficult for us believers to convey is that it is God who is doing the dying for us. Talking about a defined God is increasingly alien (but certainly not extinct) in our \u2018post-Christian\u2019 society. Whether you talk of God\u2019s love, God\u2019s existence, faith and science, or being saved by God dying, the challenge is the same \u2013 God. (We will return to this difficulty in a couple of blogs time).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a changing man, built of shifting sands\u201d \u2013 Paul Weller<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Alex-wing-mirror\"But there is hope and a way of sharing that message \u2018Jesus Saves,\u2019 if we can get to grips with current culture, its history and its mindset.<\/p>\n

We do not live in a society with no Christian reference at all. What we live in is a postmodern society that needs to be able to re-link its current ways and attitudes back to their biblical\/cultural origins. For, although we lack direct references to the Christian faith (they are a dying breed) we still have the lasting effects of those lost references alive in our culture.<\/p>\n

When talking with people we find many Christian concepts and phrases are alive and well, but we do need to do the re-linking work. This gives a wonderful array of illustrations for the Gospel that are easy to grasp and we find we have a lot more to go on than we thought. (It also sometimes mercifully spares us having to tackle some embarrassing so-called \u2018Christian\u2019 moments and attitudes from history too\u2026 though not always.)<\/p>\n

So, we can re-link \u2018substitution\u2019 (\u2018Jesus died in my place\u2019) using films, books, culture and sport as we tell others about Jesus the God\/man who died so we might live. We can ask: Why does Remembrance Sunday move us? Is dying for someone the ultimate expression of love? Why does the sacrifice that Bruce Willis makes for his daughter leave us with such admiration in Armageddon? And do we ever feel like that footballer who is \u2018played out\u2019 in life and needs someone to step into the breach? – because, as U2 sang, \u2018Sometimes You Can\u2019t Make it on Your Own\u2019?<\/p>\n

… And that\u2019s another one \u2013 \u2018stepping into the breach,\u2019 someone who takes the helm from us\u2026 and another\u2026<\/p>\n

Keep on twanging\u2026 keep on singing\u2026 \u2018You\u2019re the Voice\u2019<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Next blog, more tools for sharing faith in \u2018The Main Message\u2019<\/em>.
\nAlvin is part of the Jesus Saves Racing Team<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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