March 2010Edition 25

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also inside:

Nick Spencer on what to do in a polling booth

Antony Billington on John Stott’s swan-song

Jason Gardner on young people and purpose

Mark Greene nominates the Bethlehem landowner as his ‘Man of the Decade’

Boaz: Whole-Life Believer

What to doin a Polling Booth

With a General Election imminent, Nick Spencer advances his manifesto of things Christians should

think about when considering how to vote…

The overwhelming enthusiasm that greeted the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009 was both encouraging and worrying. It was heartening to see so many people get so passionate about the potential for politics. By achieving the American dream and by reaching beyond the traditional Democrat vocabulary and deploying what he described as ‘the moral [often religious] language that would help infuse our policies with a larger meaning’, Obama had reignited a political flame. Would that the British were so positive about their politics! But it was also worrying. Obama may not have had the messianic complex that some Republican commercials implied, but there was more than a bit of messianic feeling in the crowds and the rhetoric that greeted him. Change was possible. Things really would be

different. Few would have been so crass as to say it out loud, but there was a widespread feeling that the problems of the past, the problems Obama inherited – a recession, a massive budget deficit, a costly war in Afghanistan, a poisonous relationship with the Muslim world, the absence of healthcare provision for around 4 0 m i l l i on p e op le , unemployment, income inequalities on a vast scale, climate change – these could and would be overcome. A year later the mood was rather different. The President’s popularity rating had fallen precipitously (which was inevitable) and the Democrats lost one of their most iconic seats (which was not). The vast hope people had in

America’s first black president was chastened, expectations were smaller and more fragile. Obama still promises much and may still achieve great things, but the fervour of his election is a thing

of the past. Although British politics could well do with an injection of the passion and optimism that American politics had in 2009, this fading of high hopes may serve to remind us of a fundamental Christian

idea, which we are apt to lose sight of today. The world will not be put right by politics. Instinctively we know this. Indeed, you could argue that the British are the very last people to believe that politicians can provide us with the answer. But the British political cynicism that has reached previously uncharted heights (or depths) over recent years is borne of precisely the same excessive expectations that marked Obama’s campaign. Cynicism is the result of jilted love, not tepid indifference. It is precisely because we expected so much from politics and politicians (not least because they have often promised so much) that we are now so disaffected with the political process. Very different as they appear, the passionate enthusiasm that marked Obama’s election and the wearied cynicism that hangs around British politics are unlikely twins, offspring of the same high political hopes. According to Christian thought, it is right to have hope for politics. It is right to have expectations and it is right to demand good things from it. But it is right to have hopes for politics as politics –

It is right to have hope for

politics

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not as something that has or claims quasi-religious powers. The question of what we should expect from politics is too rarely asked. It is not an easy question to answer, not least because there is no official Christian understanding of the role of government. Christians should, can and do disagree on what government is for. The recent book, God and Government, contains a number of essays from theologians at varying points on the political spectrum, each of which argues for a different function of government. Government should be about pursuing the common good; it should be about providing social infrastructure; it should be about securing equality; it should be about optimising freedom. There is no authorised Christian line on what government should do and so there is no political party for which Christians must vote. Short of voting for a racist, totalitarian or explicitly anti-Christian party, you cannot make the wrong decision in the voting booth. That said, you can make the right decision for the wrong reasons. The fact that there is plenty of legitimate political disagreement between Christians does not mean that there is no consensus. The essays in God and Government agree that government is part of the created order and thus must be ‘read through the wide-angle lens of creation, fall and redemption’. That means that it is good, and capable of discharging successfully important responsibilities that contribute to establishing the kingdom of God. It is also, along with everything else in creation, broken and fallible, liable to corruption, over-ambition, and misguided ends. That is not the final word, however, as government can be redeemed and improved – at least as far as anything in creation fully is – capable of service, justice and generosity, in spite of its failings, and a worthy vocation for Christians to pursue. There is general agreement among Christians that government has a role in restraining sin, disorder and violence and in protecting the weak. At the same time, and in tension with the perpetual

temptation to over-promise, government is limited in its tasks and abilities. This has been a fundamental insight of Christian theology from its earliest days. Humans exist in a kind of spiritual 3D, rather than just a social, political or economic 2D. Although government does have a vital role to play, ‘the gospel of redemption is not advanced by the “ordinary means of political power” but by the regenerative work of the Spirit’. Government, however well intentioned, however attractive, however staffed by Christians, has only so much it can and should do. Government is also accountable, both to God and to the people. The first of these ideas runs like a spine through the entire biblical narrative. Earthly rulers may be powerful, but they are ultimately under God’s judgment. The mighty need to contend with the Almighty; kings with the King of Kings. Even Paul’s famous treatment of government in Romans chapter 13, which was often used to legitimise absolute, divine-right government (‘Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established’) calls rulers ‘God’s servants’ no less than three times (‘he

is God’s servant to do you good… he is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer… for the authorities are God’s servants’). Paul, like the other New Testament writers, had a high view of temporal rulers, but knew that however important they were, they remained mere servants of God. The idea that rulers should be accountable to their people is a much

more recent idea and one that Christians were often deeply opposed to. However, the fact that rulers were held accountable to God for the extent to which they discharged the duties he placed upon them, not least pursuing the

‘common wealth’ of their people, provided the raw material for what would one day become democratic accountability. Given that the very nature of government was ‘common’ or public, it was a natural, indeed a necessary, step to conclude that ‘the public’ ought to play a role in identifying what the common good actually consisted of and how far their rulers served it. The fact that you are unlikely to be faced with a party that denounces the idea of democratic accountability, or the need for morality in politics, or the importance

You can make the right decision for the wrong reasons

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of religious freedom, underlines the point made above that it is difficult to make the wrong decision in a contemporary British election. (Alas, you may be presented with the opportunity to vote for a racist party, in which case you could make the wrong decision.) However, the fact that so much Christian thought about government underlines the importance of the common good suggests that you can make the right decision for the wrong reason. Government should be oriented to public good not private interests. That is why voters get so angry at the idea that elected officials have either been feathering their own nests (or building

islands for them) or indulging in cronyism. But voters can be guilty of this themselves. The fundamental voting booth question is not necessarily ‘Who am I voting for?’ so much as ‘Why am I voting for them?’ More precisely, ‘Am I casting this vote because I believe that this party will make life better for me or do I think its policies will make life better for us?’ No one imagines that votes should be cast for entirely altruistic reasons, paying no attention to personal needs and circumstances. But if such needs are the only thing on our mind in the polling booth, we end up seeing politics as a personalised and self-oriented

business, its purpose being to improve my lot, rather than serve the public good. However else Christians may disagree on the role of government, Scripture and theological reflection underline the fact that government should be oriented to the public good and not to private interests. We need to bear that in mind when we have a pencil in one hand and a ballot paper in the other.Nick Spencer was formerly Director of Research at LICC. He now works for Theos, the public theology think tank – www.theosthinktank.co.uk

Engaging with Politics: Theos Recommends

nationalism, democracy and socialism. He deals with each ‘ism’ fairly before using the final three chapters to outline a biblical response, and two major Christian theo-political ‘alternatives’, one Catholic, one Protestant. The author writes well and has an enviable ability to describe complex political ideas in simple and succinct phrases (e.g. liberalism is based on ‘the sovereignty of the individual’; conservatism as ‘history as a source of norms’; socialism as ‘common ownership as salvific’).

AdvancedThe Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political TheologyOliver O’Donovan

Cambridge University Press, 1996.

The Desire of the Nations is a major work of political theology, which draws out ‘an earthly political discourse from the political language of religious discourse’. The title of the book reflects the core idea: the desire of the nations is Christ. The book aims to bring to light the roots

of political theology through biblical exegesis, and an examination of the major political elements in the Christian tradition. Although not the easiest of reads, it deserves the effort. Sample it like poetry or a glass of fine wine. Don’t just knock it back; carefully reflect on every mouthful.

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We asked our friends at Theos to recommend three books for those interested in further exploration of Christian engagement with politics. Here are the titles they chose…

Getting StartedVotewise Now! Helping Christians Engage with the IssuesRose Lynas (ed.)

SPCK, 2009

This useful book comprises of ten lean chapters looking at a broad range of policy issues from a biblical perspective. The authors generally don’t allow their brief treatments of complicated policy areas to become superficial, and all conclude with helpful suggestions for

further reading. The book is unlikely to help readers decide who to vote for, but it will be useful to those who want a primer in key issues that will stimulate them to move on in thinking, prayer and action.

Going DeeperPolitical Visions and Illusions David T. Koyzis

IVP, 2003

This book describes itself as ‘a survey and Christian critique of contemporary ideologies’. In 250 readable pages the author examines the concept of ideology (and its relation to idolatry) and then explores liberalism, conservatism,

The Radical Disciple – A Very Special Gift for Friends of LICCTo mark the publication of John Stott’s final book, LICC has partnered with IVP

to produce a special LICC edition of The Radical Disciple, featuring a unique

new cover. By way of expressing our deep gratitude for

their partnership in, and support of, our work, Friends

of LICC will find a copy enclosed with this edition of EG.

If you’re not currently a Friend of LICC, we’d love to

welcome you. Partner with us now and we’ll send you

a free copy of the special LICC edition of The Radical

Disciple as a welcome gift. Simply complete and return

the enclosed form in the envelope provided.

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in mission, persecution and martyrdom, and as we face mortality and the death of our physical body with the promise of resurrection life. Stott himself acknowledges that it is a selective portrait, but it is no less rich for that. Beyond the wisdom of the individual chapters are the threads that run through the whole book. What emerges is a portrayal of discipleship that is rooted in Scripture, focused on Jesus, and earthed in the desire to see Christ formed in the lives of fellow followers. Written with clarity, humility, and an obvious love for God and others, it seems fitting that this modest offering should be his last book. It is striking, but seems wholly appropriate, that the farewell highlights the needs of others – eloquent testimony not just to the integrity of the man himself, but to the Christ he serves. Those who would seek to live as whole-life disciples today will draw much encouragement and inspiration from these pages and from the example of a life lived well.

The Last Word on DiscipleshipThe Radical Disciple: Wholehearted Christian Living by John Stott has

just been published by IVP. Here, Antony Billington provides an extensive review of the book, the last to be written by LICC’s founder…

That this book is a ‘farewell’ to his readers should make us pause. What, we ought to wonder, is on John Stott’s heart? The answer, in a word, is discipleship – of the radical sort. In fact, Stott considers eight ‘often neglected’ characteristics, or marks, of discipleship; the kind of discipleship that is – as the subtitle makes clear – wholehearted, the whole heart affecting the whole of life. The first mark is non-conformity, with radical discipleship involving ‘a call to develop a Christian counterculture, a call to engagement without compromise’, rejecting the pluralism, materialism, ethical relativism, and narcissism so prevalent in contemporary culture. Such a path also involves a call to Christlikeness, being like Christ in his incarnation, service, love, patient endurance, and mission. Then there is maturity – of the kind described in Colossians 1:28-29, rooted in ‘a fresh and true vision of Jesus Christ’ as Lord of creation and Lord of the Church – so that we might grow to maturity ourselves and present others mature as well. Not least since God’s plan for reconciliation embraces all things, creation-care will be a distinguishing mark of the radical disciple. Avoiding both the deification of nature as well as the exploitation of nature, our care for creation will reflect our love for the Creator. Alongside this is the characteristic of simplicity – rooted theologically in creation, stewardship, the new community and the Lord’s return, with implications for everything from personal lifestyle to international development, justice and politics, and evangelism, since ‘the call to a responsible lifestyle must not be divorced from the call to responsible witness’.

The characteristic of balance is shown in an engaging and illuminating treatment of 1 Peter 2:1-17 – the highlight of the book for me – showing how Peter unpacks a series of metaphors, each of which carries an obligation: as newborn babies we are called to growth; as living stones, called to fellowship; as holy priests, called to worship; as God’s own people, called to witness; as aliens and strangers, called to holiness; and as servants of God, called to citizenship. Our ‘comprehensive identity’ as followers of Christ is found in the balance between individual discipleship and corporate fellowship, being called to both worship and work, and to pilgrimage and citizenship. A chapter on dependence offers some insight into the man himself, with a moving personal testimony of his own sense of weakness as well as dependence on the love and care of others, and an encouragement to carry one another’s burdens. All of which serves as a prelude to the final characteristic of death, recognising that the ‘paradoxical principle of life through death’ operates in relation to our salvation and discipleship,

Boaz: Whole-Life BelieverMark Greene looks to the Bethlehem fields in the time of the

judges to find his nomination for ‘Man of the Decade’…

Our culture loves lists: songs of the year, shampoos of the century, top five places to eat sushi in Surbiton… Indeed, as the ‘Noughties’ turned into what will perhaps be dubbed the ‘Teenies’, the people were polled and the pundits pronounced on the men and women of the last ten years. Well, for me, over the last decade, I have found myself more and more inspired by two relatively minor Old Testament figures: Naaman’s unnamed servant girl in 2 Kings 5 – quite definitely my girl/woman of the decade – and Boaz who, like our own Prince Philip, is usually overshadowed by his more famous wife. We first meet Boaz in Ruth chapter 2, as he arrives at his fields. He is the first believer in the one true God that the Bible records using the phrase ‘The Lord be with you’ (v 4). Today it is most often associated with Church of England priests, who say it to their congregation inside a church at the beginning of a service, usually on a Sunday, sometimes wearing robes. Boaz, however, is not a priest; he’s a farmer. And he says it outside, at work, on a working weekday, in his work clothes, and he’s addressing his foreman and the men and women harvesting his crops.

‘The Lord be with you.’ It’s a prayer that God might show them favour in this ordinary labour, on this ordinary harvest day under the hot Bethlehem sun. ‘The Lord be with you in your accounting’; ‘the Lord be with you as you make an arrest’; ‘the Lord be with you in this meeting’; ‘the Lord be with you as you change a nappy’; ‘the Lord be with you as you serve someone coffee’.

Of course, it might just have been a conversational convention, just a way that people greeted one another, but there are clues in the text to suggest that, in Boaz’s case, it’s a greeting that reveals a genuine concern for his employees, and a radical God-ward orientation. Indeed, Boaz is introduced as ‘a man of standing’. It’s the same Hebrew word Boaz himself uses to describe the communal perception of Ruth (3:16), so here it is not so much a

reference to high status but to godly character.

Furthermore, Boaz has clearly empowered his foreman to allow the poor to glean in his fields, as

God had stipulated in Leviticus 23:22, long before the Israelites entered the Promised Land: ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.’ Boaz, then, was a business owner who wasn’t trying to gather every last grain, screw down every last penny of profit for himself, without any concern for the wider community. No, built into the very fabric of his business was a concern for the poor – even though he hadn’t heard terms like ‘corporate social responsibility’ or ‘business in the community’. Similarly, Boaz maintains a certain set of values that his men, he knows, will abide by – even though he doesn’t have an ‘Investor in People’ kite mark. His corporate ethos works its way into his employees’ behaviour.

So, for example, Boaz tells Ruth not to glean in other people’s fields because in those fields she might be sexually harassed. In his fields, however, she will be safe: ‘I have told the young men to leave you alone.’ In Boaz’s workplace, biblical truth is obeyed and the way walked. This would be commendable in any era but, despite the idyllic lenses through which we may sometimes view the book of Ruth, the narrator has clarified that the story takes place in the period of the judges (1:1). Given that David’s

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birth is only three generations away, it’s clear that Israel had already seen several generations of the spiral of radical spiritual decline that was to lead to civil war. In addition, the memory of the famine that had led Naomi’s husband to leave Israel for Moab would still have been fresh in the memory – how much easier to collect the grain for oneself. In such a context, Boaz’s generosity shines out. The gleaning law was an expression of God’s love and had been given before the people entered the land in anticipation of the poverty that God foresaw both the Israelites and the aliens in their midst would suffer. Still, whilst the gleaning law expresses God’s love it certainly does not define love’s limits. Indeed, Boaz’s generosity goes far beyond what is required. He recognises that Ruth probably would not have been able to bring enough water with her to slake the thirst generated by a long working day under the hot Judean sun, so he encourages her to drink from the jars his harvesters had brought. He recognises that, poor as she was, she might not have any prepared food to bring with her and so he invites her to join his workers for bread dipped in vinegar and offers her some parched grain. Beyond that he tells the harvesters to pull out some stalks for her and leave them for her, increasing her harvest at his expense, but at no cost to her dignity. Furthermore, Boaz prays for her:

‘May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge’ (2:12).

So Boaz permits Ruth to glean, he provides for her, he protects her as a vulnerable female in a foreign land and he prays for her. Boaz is impressive at work but he is also impressive at play. He knows how to have a good time. After the barley harvest is in, he joins the party and is wise enough not to drink and ride his donkey, but kips down in the barn and sleeps it off.

Boaz is also remarkably self-controlled. Indeed, on several occasions the text makes it clear that he is significantly older than Ruth. Certainly, he is old enough to recognise that such a young woman might well not be interested in him, but still young enough to jump at the chance when it is clear that she is. In contemporary Britain, that would make him somewhere between 30 and 87 years old! Nevertheless, despite his long bachelorhood, Boaz does not rush in to clinch the deal but respects the biblical law and ensures that the relative with a prior claim has first right of refusal. And he does this in a public place, in the presence of the elders of the village, so that there can be no dispute about whether right has, or has not been done. It’s important to see that legally Boaz doesn’t have to do any of these things – except allow Ruth to glean. He certainly did not have to take any initiative to marry Ruth. He could have laid low and left the kinsman redeemer with a prior claim to find out about Ruth in his own good time. No, it’s clear that Boaz wanted to marry Ruth. He is a willing redeemer, a man for whom love and obedience are intertwined. Similarly, God did not have to rescue his people in the days when the

judges ruled, and did not have to send his Son, but did so because he wanted to. Does Boaz, I wonder, have anything to teach us about the scope and character of whole-life discipleship? Here was a man:

v Dependent on God

v Caring for employees

v Concerned for the poor

v Protecting the vulnerable

v Generous

v Joyous in celebration

v Redemptive

v Sexually pure

v Community-minded

Indeed, Boaz shows us that being a disciple at work, as indeed elsewhere, is more than being ‘a good egg’, more than showing integrity, more than speaking out the gospel as the Spirit leads; it is about concern for the poor and the marginalised, about godly structures and practices, about demonstrating that putting the values of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus at the heart of a workplace or a life might actually be good news. As indeed it is. The Lord be with you.

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ContactTop titles for gaining insight into the world

To mark the dawning of the new decade, EG invited LICC Faculty and Staff to identify their stand out books of the last ten years – both those relating to the Institute’s core areas of engagement, and those that provide illuminating insight into our culture…

Our Books of the Decade

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The English Novel: An IntroductionTerry Eagleton

Blackwell, 2004

This book will transform the way you read. How? By enriching your understanding of the novel’s historical relationship with culture, and by probing the implications of what, and how you read as a purposeful, whole-life disciple. Written from Eagleton’s openly Marxist-Postmodern worldview, I found myself challenged by the extent to which fiction draws you into its own moral, socio-economic and political agenda; what are my assumptions about truth, reality, value, morality and fictional form? How does this interact with a Christian worldview? Interestingly, Eagleton dismisses Christian values in Defoe’s work as ‘exist[ing] in a realm of their own, which may be real enough but which has little impact on one’s actual conduct’; challenging both how we read and how we live. Naomi Carle

Gilead/HomeMarilynne Robinson

Virago, 2006 & 2009

In Gilead, an ageing pastor in a small conservative town in the Mid-West writes a diary for his young son, reflecting on his life, his faith, his doubts, his regrets, his hopes and fears. His sense of failure crystallises in his relationship with Jack, the misfit son of

his oldest friend. With painful honesty he recognises how he has failed a young man in crisis. Robinson’s sequel, Home, tells Jack’s side of the story. Brought up in a strict Christian family, Jack ‘went to the bad’, but now returns home, in search of acceptance, of forgiveness, perhaps of a true understanding of the faith. Read both novels, in the right order. Then recommend them to all your friends, of any religion or none. HeleN Parry

The Language of GodFrancis S. Collins

Pocket Books, 2007

In all the welter of books on creation, origins of the universe and life in all its forms, Darwin and his impact, what could be picked out as the book for, well, anyone… I would nominate Francis Collins’ The Language of God as required reading for Christians of all kinds, as well as humanists, scientists, teachers, those who think they know exactly how everything happened and those who wish they did. It’s an honest autobiography of a prominent scientist, a surprisingly lucid account of human origins by the head of the Human Genome Project, and a persuasive challenge to some cherished opinions. margaret KilliNgray

The Power of NowEckhart Tolle

Hodder & Stoughton, 2001

This isn’t just the best ‘secular’ book – it’s the best book I’ve read in the last ten years, full stop. Tolle shines light on scriptural truth – he helped me, for example, to see better how to die to myself so I might live, and to become fully present in the here and now. It’s helped

me to see faith through fresh eyes and to become more fully human/Christian. That’s not bad for £7.99. BriaN DraPer

The Time Traveler’s WifeAudrey Niffenegger

Vintage, 2004

In an age of weary cynicism, at the core of The Time Traveler’s Wife is a deep and passionate love that cannot be shaken. This is a love story for the 21st century that transcends the boundaries of romance or science fiction. It explores the impact and influence we have on other people and raises issues such as determinism versus free will. With a realism that avoids trite sentiment, the reader is drawn irresistibly into the world of ‘chrono-displacement’ and the relationships that endure despite the unsettling of time and space. A captivating read that is unexpectedly profound. CHristiNe HugHes

ChoiceTop titles for growing in the Way

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The Church and Whole-life Discipleship

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand PlacesEugene Peterson

Hodder & Stoughton, 2005

For many, Eugene Peterson has been a touchstone for their vocation. Christ Plays… helps you to understand what he’s always been about. Through poetic style, robust argument, all drenched in Scripture, he pulls you to see the world through different eyes – to understand your part in God’s history, and the central role that a church community has to play in forming disciples. A million miles away from a ‘Five Steps to Growth’ book, it calls you to go back to the Bible with prayerful eyes, to take notice of what God is doing in the lives of so-called ‘ordinary’ people. And it calls us to be churches that live this out thoughtfully and authentically. Neil HuDsoN

Engaging with the Bible

The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen

SPCK, 2006

Here is a powerful and persuasive reminder that the whole of life is shaped by the whole of Scripture, that in a culture where many ‘stories’ compete to describe the nature of reality, it is the biblical story that should be central to the formation of a Christian

worldview. Tracing the biblical account from beginning to end, using the ‘kingdom of God’ as an organising motif, and stressing the comprehensive scope of God’s redemptive work for the whole of creation, the authors encourage us to find our place in the story of the Bible so that we begin to think and live out its perspective. aNtoNy BilliNgtoN

Engaging with Culture

The Sacred JourneyMike Riddell

Lion, 2000

I have always thanked God for Mike Riddell. Our Christian subculture can be so shallow, yet Mike has drawn us into deeper waters with his artistic, writerly presence, his poetic theology and his sheer presence. This book distils the essence of all that’s so engaging

about him: it is artful, soulful, wise, intelligent, inspiring, challenging, and soul-expanding. It’s wisdom for the narrow Way, in a short book that you should read yesterday. BriaN DraPer

Engaging with Work

The Heavenly Good of Earthly WorkDarrell Cosden

Paternoster, 2006

Get a LifePaul Valler

IVP, 2008

Cosden’s book is a tightly argued theological exploration of the eternal value of daily work, and deals with the nagging question that flawed understandings of the new heaven and the new earth lead to: why bother if it’s all going to burn? Get a Life takes two of

the key pathologies of our age – exhaustion and stress – but firmly locates our corrective decision-making in biblical values, identity in Christ, calling from God and a glorious vision of the whole-life shalom to which we are called. marK greeNe

Engaging with Youth

Reality Bites WebsiteHow do you talk about big ideas like ‘worldview’ and ‘whole-life discipleship’ to young people? How do you help them develop ways to understand and critique the varying approaches people have to life? And, more importantly, how do you help students think clearly about how God says you should approach every area of life: school, work and leisure? Mark Roques’ answer is to help youth workers and church leaders present a series of stories of real life heroes. People like George Cadbury and William Carey, Christian giants who transformed culture around them according to their belief in Christ’s lordship over all of creation. This is an innovative and refreshing approach to getting across the whole-life discipleship message. Find a list of resources and book workshops at www.realitybites.org.uk JasoN garDNer

Stop the DriftHaving drifted into his present occupation, Jason Gardner

issues a plea for purposeful careers advice to be offered to young people as part of their Christian discipleship

Purple paisley boxer shorts. No, not the latest merchandising venture from LICC – they’d have to be red paisley – but the product that was going to launch my career as a budding young entrepreneur. Well, my career and that of several others; the venture was part of a Youth Enterprise scheme we undertook during our A-levels. The idea of Youth Enterprise was, and still is, to plant a seed of inspiration to help young people plot a course along the distinctly ill-defined path that leads to a future career. Anything would have helped. I don’t remember the careers advice I received at school as being particularly illuminating. It ran along the lines of something like: ‘What job do you want to do?’ ‘Dunno.’ ‘So, what subjects are you good at?’ And, as English seemed to be a favourite, the prospect of becoming a journalist emerged. Since you’re now reading what I’m writing, perhaps it wasn’t too far off the mark. But, if I’m honest, my career path wasn’t charted so much as stumbled along. Why do GCSEs? I had to. A-levels? They were the next thing to do. Degree? The next thing to do after A-levels. Effectively, I drifted, occasionally steered by the little ‘rudder’ of those subjects for which I showed some degree of natural aptitude. Chatting to my peers, it seems that many shared a similar experience. Having no clear idea

about vocational choices in their teens, they too were guided by the ‘rudder’ of aptitude, along with certain other ‘rudders’ – parental expectations, MTV, the lure of financial security, and the odd influential role model. And in chatting to young people recently, it doesn’t seem that careers advice has evolved much since then.

Young people are still ‘drifting’ into careers rather than receiving clear guidance.

Choices, ChoicesIt’s not surprising that young people are flummoxed by the choices forced upon them. Three things in particular make decisions difficult – the culture of

choice, the role models on show, and young people’s physical development. Taking the culture first, LICC Associate Workplace Speaker, Paul Valler, points out in his bestselling book Get a Life that we’re at a unique point in history. We get to choose a career. This isn’t commensurate with the experience of 99 percent of our forebears – they simply did what class or parental profession dictated. Now, the choice for young people when it comes to vocation is overwhelming to the point of paralysis. Then there are the role models. The careers market is swamped with young people who want to do media or a performance arts course. Why? Because no matter what our schools whisper regarding careers, in an age of 24/7 media the gods of leisure and entertainment will always boom louder. Next up, the physical development of teens. We’re now privy to more information about how the brain develops during the teenage years than ever before. So we now know that one of the reasons why teens aren’t necessarily concerned with choices that affect them

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long term is because – and I’m sure you suspected this – an important part of their brain is still missing. The reason people have a habit of doing rash and risky things after consuming alcohol is because the first part of your brain the alcohol hits is the pre-frontal cortex – the bit at the front that controls judgment and decision-making. It’s also the bit that doesn’t develop until later teens. Small wonder then that young people find it difficult to make a decision based on potential consequences way down the line.

PathfindingAccording to a recent US study into the ‘drift’ of young people through further education and careers, part of the solution lies in helping young people to find not only a career goal, but also a purpose in achieving that goal. William Damon, a psychologist and instigator of the study, describes the ‘drift’ among youth as a ‘pattern’ of procrastination: ‘The postponements of many young people today have taken on a troubling set of characteristics, and chief among them is that so many youth do not seem to be moving toward any resolution. Their delay is characterised more by indecision than by motivated reflection, more by confusion than by the pursuit of clear goals, more by ambivalence than by determination.’ As you might guess from a report entitled Path to Purpose, Damon attributes this period of forestalling to a lack of a sense of direction: ‘what is too often missing – not altogether absent but evident only in a minority of today’s youth – is the kind of wholehearted dedication to an activity or interest that stems from a serious purpose, a purpose that can give meaning and direction to life.’ Damon is careful not to tar all young people with the same brush. Clearly, there are many young people who choose a career path out of a deep sense of personal mission and calling. Nevertheless, there are also clearly many who don’t.

What, then, are we to do? Should we strive to create more resilience in our young people, so that they can find meaning – a purpose – in any job that they do, or can at least persevere? Or do we have to admit that the rapid increase in industrialisation in the West and focus on mass consumption has simply created too many meaningless jobs? Perhaps we would do better to confront the lie that secretly drives much of our young people’s education – namely, that financial security is the sole goal of the good life. After all, if that’s the subliminal message being drip-fed to

them through their learning, is it any wonder that they aspire to those roles in society that will seemingly allow them to amass all the wealth and possessions they could ever want?

It’s not what you do…Certainly, a biblical understanding of purpose challenges the presumptions of our materialistic culture. Purposeful work is to be found in God’s original intentions for humanity. Just as God takes on the role of stewarding and caring for humankind, ensuring that they flourish, so he expects humankind to care and steward his good creation (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15). We exercise our stewardship by showing exemplary care for each other, and for the planet and all its creatures. According to biblical careers advice, any work that benefits our relationships with each other, or with the planet, can be deemed good, purposeful work. Damon’s definition of purpose concurs with that of the biblical worldview, regarding service of others as a liberating

act: ‘purpose is a stable and generalised intention to accomplish something that is at the same time meaningful to the self and consequential for the world beyond the self.’ When we locate our purpose in bettering ourselves and serving others, then both menial and complex tasks can yield genuine satisfaction. This is why the adoption of a whole-life approach to discipleship is crucial. Only then can we help young people see that work done outside the four walls of the church, that enables people and planet to flourish, is just as much a fulfilment of our divine purpose as the work done within them. So, to misquote Bananarama, it’s not necessarily what you do, it’s why you do it, and the way you do it – and that’s what gets results. Rather than continuing to haunt our children with the question, ‘what do you want to do in life?’ let’s instead ask, ‘where do we find God’s purposes played out in our work?’ And when we’ve found an answer, let’s look at how we pass on that sense of purpose to our young people. For instance, in summer 2009 LICC partnered with St George’s church in Leeds to pilot a work shadow project. Three groups of teenagers visited adults from the church in their place of work to ask them about their career paths and how being a Christian impacts their choice of job and the decisions they make in the workplace. A simple idea, but one that sparked some fantastic inter-generational wisdom sharing. Adults in church may not think they have much that connects them with young Christians, but the fact is we have all the experience necessary to help prepare young people for what they’ll spend the bulk of their life doing – working. Every church has exactly what it takes to achieve the discipling goal of stopping the drift.

A biblical understanding of purpose challenges

the presumptions of our materialistic culture

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Coming Up @ LICCThe 2010 Youth Culture and Missions Lectures

March 18, 9.00am, at LICC

LICC plays host to the annual Youth Culture and Missions Lectures, which, this year, address the provocative topic ‘Gender’. Lecturers include Dr Elaine Storkey, Dr Kristin Aune, Paul Fenton and Lois Gallagher.

Cost: £30 including lunch (concessions available)

Booking: www.ycml.org.uk

Young Disciples: Cross-Cultural Mission

May 19, 10.30am, at LICC

Dr Andrew Smith offers insight into working with young people of different faith backgrounds – with a particular emphasis on Islam.

Cost: £10 (concessions available)

Booking: mail@licc.org.uk, or call 020 7399 9555

21st-Century Disciples

June 19, 9.30am, at Renfield St Stephen’s Church, Glasgow

The third ‘21st-Century Disciples’ event, organised by Mission Scotland in partnership with LICC, provides another opportunity for Christians and church leaders to explore the challenges of whole-life discipleship in today’s world with Bishop Graham Cray.

Cost: £20 including lunch

Booking: sarahjane.biggart@missionscotland.org.uk, or call 07734 101358

Young Disciples: From the Streets to the Church?June 23, 10.30am, at LICC

Richard Passmore of Frontier Youth Trust leads a half-day session exploring good principles and practice of detached youth work, but also asking ‘what next?’ How do we create faith communities with young people on the edge?

Cost: £10 (concessions available)

Booking: mail@licc.org.uk, or call 020 7399 9555

Coming Up @ LICC ManchesterThe Joy of Work: Encountering and Responding to God in the Whole of Life With Peter Sinclair, Dr Shirley Jenner and others

April 24, 9.30am, Warrington Collegiate, Winwick Road, Warrington, WA2 8QA

Whatever work you do, whether you are employed, self- employed, seeking work, volunteering, home working, a student, retired etc then you will find something in this day to encourage and inspire you, as we explore the significance of our work to God.

Cost: £10

Booking: Email ratterh@aol.com, or call Henry Ratter on 01244 380 827 by April 16.

New on the Web On the BibleAntony Billington regularly uploads new articles on engaging with the Bible, including a growing series of essays in understanding the Bible by Helen Parry.

Visit: licc.org.uk/engaging-with-the-bible/articles

On CultureWant to know what Mark Greene made of Avatar, or why he believes ours is the age of rage, or why he’s not so sure about postmodernity anymore?

Visit: licc.org.uk/engaging-with-culture/theology-of-culture/articles

On ChurchYou can now watch a 3-minute film in which Imagine Team member, Chick Yuill, shares his hopes and vision for LICC’s second Imagine Church Pilot Project, just kicking off in the North West. And you can download the full report on LICC’s discipleship survey with Spring Harvest, giving extensive information on the issues Christians face on their ‘frontlines’.

Visit: licc.org.uk/imagine/latest

On WorkAssociate Workplace Speaker, Curt Hopkins, has recently reviewed Alain de Botton’s The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. His reflections on the bestselling book are on the website now.

Visit: licc.org.uk/engaging-with-work/worker/articles

New in the PodLICC now produces a monthly Podcast. Featuring a mix of conversation, reflection, information and debate, each Podcast is usually uploaded to our website on the first Monday of each month. Recent highlights include Professor John Wyatt on the redemption of suffering; Mark Greene and others debating political correctness; and Antony Billington’s continuing series on biblical themes.

Podcasts can be downloaded from licc.org.uk or via iTunes.

Connecting to LICCIf you would like to find out more about LICC – how to become a Friend of LICC; receiving our mailings or our ever-popular weekly emails, please call 020 7399 9555, email mail@licc.org.uk or write to us at the address below.

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