March 09 +James LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS
I've been struck by a recent plethora of articles in the media about the alleged ‘benefits' of having some sort of religious faith. Apparently church-goers tend to live longer; achieve more, especially at school; enjoy better physical and mental health, and get divorced less.
Obviously there are plenty of exceptions to prove the rule, but those are the conclusions drawn from eighty years of research on religion in the areas of neuroscience, economics, psychology and sociology. It's good for you to believe in God - not only because of your heavenly prospects, but also because of your earthly well-being.
So is that what Jesus meant when he said he had come to bring ‘life in all its fullness'? I think not. Just before the Lambeth Conference last summer we held a fascinating seminar at Rydal Hall with some of our visiting bishops, who were asked to comment on what ‘life in all its fullness' implies in their cultural context.
We heard that in the Philippines it means engaging in social justice programmes among the poorest of the poor. ‘Incarnating the gospel' there is a transformational process which shows up excess, corruption and an obese bureaucracy for what they really are.
In Burundi, for many years the context has been civil war. ‘Life in all its fullness' means the offer of love, security and hope against a backdrop of violence and hatred. As in the Philippines, those who reach out with that offer - which is the gospel in practice - frequently do so at considerable personal cost.
In the USA there is also a sacrificial element in the service ministers are providing to local communities and disadvantaged groups (such as the victims of human trafficking). The same applies here in England. Those leading the fullest and most abundant lives are the ones who give themselves most generously to others - in their relationships, in their work and in their communities. Whether it's in unconditional commitment to a spouse; or sacrificial loyalty to a colleague; or time-consuming effort as a school governor, they find what nowadays we call ‘fulfilment' as a by-product of service and a gift from God rather than as something they set out to achieve.
That is what makes Christianity so compelling and attractive. As the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests in his recent book on Dostoevsky, the real question to be addressed is not whether God exists (the ‘Dawkins' debate) - but rather ‘what it might be like to live a life of faith' which is an abundant life - life in all its fullness. It's in that sort of life we begin to sense the possibility of a God of Love; the sort of life Jesus lived, forgiving his tormentors; the sort of life he calls us to live as his followers and citizens of his kingdom.
Intriguingly the journalist and former MP Matthew Parris, well-known as an atheist, comments on this in a recent ‘Times' article. Talking about Malawi, he says ‘I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa... Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spark of transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good... It would suit me to believe that the honesty, diligence and optimism in the work of... the most impressive Africans there... was unconnected with personal faith... but it was surely affected by what they were. What they were was, in turn, influenced by a conception of man's place in the universe that Christianity had taught.'
That is what Jesus meant by ‘life in all its fullness'. Not a new car - but a new mindset, rooted firmly in relationship with him.James Newcome
