1 John, Chapter 1: An Old Man's Warnings

By the time John wrote this letter he would have been an old man and probably the last of the apostles to still be alive. His audience, unlike the Pauline letters, was not one specific church, but rather has a much more open feel, and is therefore aimed at a group, if not all the churches.

When John came to write this letter, the church had changed much since the early days that we read about in Acts. It was no longer the small intimate group that had developed in the immediate aftermath of Christ’s ascension, but through the work of Paul and the other apostles, the church had grown to become an international movement of thousands. Paul’s letters alone are written to believers in Turkey, Greece and Rome.
Over that time the nature of the people who made up the church had also evolved from being mainly eyewitnesses and people who were converted by eyewitnesses to a church which had many second, even third generation members. The life of Christ was no longer something which had happened within the lifetime of many in the church. In fact by this point it is believed that John would have been at least in his 80’s.

With the growth of the Christian church, both numerically and geographically, it came more and more into contact with other groups and ideas and was in turn challenged on both theological and philosophical grounds. When Paul preaches to the men in Athens, there is a sense that they are all interested in this new and fresh idea. He is even invited by the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers to go to the Areopagus to present his ideas.

And this in itself begs the question of us; with whom do we engage in debate. Where are those people that we can really engage with in our lives and as a church? One of the main problems I find in being a Christian is that people are not interested. It is not that they try to dissuade you of your beliefs but rather that they do not care what you believe.

Unfortunately with the growth of the church and its geographical spread, it came into contact with other ideas which began to have an impact upon it.
Foremost among these, and the one which John is really focusing on in 1 John is Gnosticism.

Gnosticism was a very complex mixture of different beliefs and philosophies; I am going to attempt a briefly explanation.

It thought that a lesser God created the earth and that as a result the material world was evil. This led to a belief system in which the spirit was seen as entirely good and the body entirely bad. Therefore, it was believed that since matter – rather than the breaking of God’s law – was evil, breaking God’s law was of no spiritual consequence. This way of thinking could in turn give way to an immoral lifestyle in which one’s actions were not important. You could sleep around, steal, fight and treat others as you like because it did not matter.
Another result of this way of looking at the world was the belief that Christ could not have been truly human and therefore part of the physical world since that world was seen as evil. Instead he only appeared human. However this runs contrary to our belief that Christ was both human and God.

And maybe as an aside to this, we should ask ourselves how strongly we actually believe that Jesus was God. Do we really believe that God broke bread with the disciples, or that God was crucified on a rubbish tip outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago?
How much do we believe it?

It was the infiltration of beliefs such as these that we see John reacting aginst in this letter.

Therefore a very old and probably very worried John sat down, pen in hand, and began to write…

John’s introduction begins like a philosophical flying kick in the direction of his opponents. He does not gradually build his argument from a carefully laid introduction. He begins with an attack on the heart of the Gnostic idea of Christ with a very similar introduction to that with which he began the gospel he wrote some years earlier.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the word of life”.

Or as the Message puts it a verse later,

“The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen!”

John is beginning by affirming his authority in writing about Jesus by stating that he is an eyewitness. But also on a more subtle level, by declaring that he had experienced the physical Jesus with his senses. He has seen him, heard him, and touched him. This was no ghostly figure or apparition as some had come to believe. This was God in flesh and blood. The idea that Jesus might not have been truly a human being is being dispelled by one of the last people on earth to have physically known Jesus whilst he was on earth. There was no higher authority on the matter than John. This was what being an apostle was all about!

He is making a statement about someone who is real. He is so insistent on getting this message across that he tells the reader three times that he has seen Jesus during the first 4 verses. This is John on a mission; he has a point to make and he doesn’t mince his words. He goes right to the heart of the matter and in doing so lays the foundations for the rest of the letter.

The Message says,

“And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us”.

In verse three he goes on to add,

“We saw it, we heard it and now we are telling you so that you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ”.

John just does not let up. Having first stated that he has seen Jesus and experienced him, he then moves into basic Christian teaching by arguing that although Christ is not physically with us now, we can still experience him.

In fact the very reason for writing is so that his audience is not mislead by other teachings but that “you also may have fellowship with us”. John does not want people to be led astray into wrong thinking that might mean that they no longer experience fellowship with God. Instead he wants them to share his experience of knowing Christ.

Following this blistering introduction he begins to move into the message that Christ brought with him and to tackle another Gnostic untruth. Having presented his personal life experience as evidence that Christ was a physical human being he moves on to argue that living a godly life is a central part of being a Christian. One cannot just accept Christ and then live one’s life however one wants to.

The Message:

“This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the darkness we’re obviously lying through our teeth – we’re not living what we claim”.

This is a hard-hitting message. Clearly certain elements within the church had adopted the view that they could both have a relationship with God and also completely disregard his moral commands. ‘Stop fooling yourselves’ is his basic message. God is good and therefore for us to believe that it does not matter how we behave is to put our faith on the line and to walk on very thin ice. Latter on in verse 8 he argues that,

“If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand if we admit our sins…He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing”.

Amidst this focus on sin comes a reminder of how wonderful and full of grace God is. Sin does not have the last word if we are prepared to confess our sins to him.

This is an encouragement to those who may have fallen away as a result of this kind of thinking. He is calling them back with the promise that if they repent Christ will forgive them.

In this first chapter of 1 John, we have seen that John was responding to a particular ideology, which was beginning to appear within the church and to threaten the truth of the gospel. It claimed that Christ was not truly a real person and that it did not matter how one lived one’s life. John has responded in his introduction by stating that he himself knew Jesus as a real human being and that his continuing relationship with him almost 50 years later was evidence of the truth of the Christian gospel.

So, how is this letter, which was written to confront a specific problem at a specific time relevant to us today?

I think that there are a number of both warnings and encouragements within this letter.

Warnings!!!

The early church was in danger because it began to take on the ideas of other groups within its society. This had led to the development of a heresy within some parts of the church. And we, both on a personal and universal level need to be very careful of the influence that we allow wider society and its ideas to have on our lives. Just as we heard last week, what influences do we allow within our own lives? Personally we need to be careful of the websites we visit, the TV programmes we watch and the places that we go. This is not a call to withdraw from society, but a warning that in engaging with society we must be on our guard. Christ himself warned us in Matthew 10: 16.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves”.

Walking the line of being a Christian in society is a very difficult one.

And in going back to my introduction in which I talked about the dangers of the church becoming an international organisation, what are the dangers of the newly global church. In the last 100 years the church has reached virtually every corner of the globe, which presents its own challenges and dangers. We need to be aware of those and try to confront them.

Also, on a much smaller level, what are the groups within my life that are challenging me? What issues and ideas within our society are challenging us as Christians?

And on the flip side of the influence that society has on us is how we influence those around us. In 1 John, the Christians had been influenced by non-Christian ideas and had begun to live immoral lives. The outside world influences our own ideas and feelings about life. We must be weary that it does not influence our morals as well. For if we compromise the way we live our lives then the most powerful witness that we can have (that of our actions and how we treat others) will be lost.
In my own life I have found that it is the way we live our lives rather than any clever argument that I can come up with that is the most powerful witness to those around me.


Encouragements!!!

In spite of the warnings there are numerous encouragements that can be drawn from this chapter. The first and most important I think is the reminder that our faith is not built on interesting ideas or philosophical concepts, but on real people, on eyewitness accounts of real events. We do not cling to an idea but to a person, Jesus the Christ. As John encouraged those of his own generation with a reminder that he had personally witnessed the events recorded in the gospels, so we too should remember that fact. And John’s words that he had a personal relationship with God through Christ, echo down the past two thousand years and are mirrored in our own experiences.
Secondly we have the encouragement that God is always willing to welcome us back. As the NIV version puts it

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness”.

But that that forgiveness rests on our acceptance of our own sinfulness and faith that God will forgive us.

Ø If John were alive today and knew us individually, as a church , what would his reaction be?
Ø Would he be encouraged by the church, which he saw before him?
Ø Would he smile to himself, and be pleased with the way the church was going?

Or with a worried look on his face, would he reach for the nearest pen and paper and start writing?

Life in 2D

Over the past couple of months I've kept a record of my trip across Africa and the subsequent proposal. Unfortunately I'm now back working in the office and the contrast couldn't have been greater.
From looking out a train window across the savannah grassland of central Tanzania and walking through the genocide memorial in Kigali and being reminded of my own personal memories of the event, I have been dropped back into the monotony and normality of selling tickets for rock concerts and dealing with complaints because fans' favourite bands are charging too much money for tickets. The feeling that this life is less real than the one that I have just left is difficult to shake.
However, for those of you who followed my trip and took the time to read my blog (and I thank you very much) I will be posting my photos from the trip in the next couple of weeks.
I also hope to keep a rough diary of how the preparations for the wedding will be progressing and the ups and downs of the next couple of months.
For the moment I must get back to selling tickets and dream of one day heading back to Rwanda, to a life more real than the one I am now trying to get back into.

"If I don't meet you no more in this world, I'll meet you in the next one and don't be late..."
Jimi Hendrix

Proposals and thunderstorms

Hi all. Thanks for all the notes you’ve left, although I can’t work out who Ntwari is!?!? I have spent the last week living in a grass hut on the shores of Lake Kivu. There is a peninsula that is used by many of the missionaries in the region for one week per year, and they all get together for a holiday. This year it was dad’s turn to organise it, so we arrived 3 days before it all began, arriving on the Thursday 27th.
For a number of years now I had thought that this peninsula would be a lovely place to propose to my girlfriend Angela. And since Christmas, when we decided to visit Rwanda I had been planning to propose this summer. I had talked it over with my brother Nick and my parents and decided that this would be a good time to do it. Especially since Ange has got a job in Cardiff for the next two years and I have recently got a full time job. So on Friday (everyone else was arriving on the Saturday) at 4:30 I asked Ange whether she wanted to go for a walk down to the beach before it got dark. So walked down to the beach and I sat down with her on the rocks. In front of us the lake was spread out, calm and dark blue in the afternoon light. In the distance the occasional dugout canoe was moving slowly across the water. To our left the afternoon sun painted a sparkling golden path over the water towards us.
So we sat down and chatted for a couple of minutes while I tried to work out exactly how to say this without sounding cheesy or corny. However to my horror as I was just about to ask the big question Angela suddenly started complaining about “The beasties” (a couple of flies which had decided to join us), took off her shoe and began to try and hit them. Was my potential fiancee aware of my plans and trying to stop me before I began, or just mad? Well, after a couple of minutes she sat back down and I was able to continue.
So I asked her whether she loved me and she said yes. And so I said, in a very shaky voice “Will you marry me”. To which she replied “Yes”. We then watched a very red sun sink behind the hills.
Over the next couple of days the other people began to arrive and set up camp. Whilst there you can live in a small cottage, a grass hut or a tent. We chose the grass hut. Unfortunately while there we had a tremendous thunder storm come in off the lake one night. For about four hours we had thunder, lightning and about four inches worth of tropical rain. My hut was the first to suffer because it was built on a slight slope and the water began to go down the hill and into my hut. So I went across to see how Ange was doing, dodging the holes in the tarpaulin through which water was beginning to pour. Her hut, being on level ground was doing better than mine, but water was beginning to come through the roof. We gathered up our sleeping bags and pillows, wrapped ourselves in our waterproofs and made a sprint for the car. Which was where we spent the next couple of hours until the rain abated and we were able to go back to our slightly soggy huts.
Anyone who has seen a tropical rain storm will know what I mean here. The first signs of rain were the increase in wind as the storm approached and the gradual darkening of the sky as the clouds began to merge into a dark mass. Every thunder clap seemed to increase in volume as the storm approached and was preceded by lightning which lit the sky from horizon to horizon.
However most of the week went really well. We had lovely hot days and and cool nights. It was also really fun to meet up with people that I hadn’t seen for over 13 years and find that we all got on really well. I also had to re-learn how to light a charcoal fire with only grass and twigs and a soggy box of matches. Luckily this year nobody saw any snakes and the week passed without incident. We got back to Kigali last night.

And finally Kigali

Thankfully monday night in Bujumbura passed wtithout incident from either gunfire or artillery and we were able to sleep till 5:30. Our plan for the final leg of our trip was to head north on the Kigali-Bujumbura road in a taxi. we spoke to our hosts about this idea because a british girl was killed doing the same trip several years ago. We were assured that there hadn't been any ambushes on that road for about year now and that it should be safe enough. however they did warn us that there had been rumours of a rebel offensive in the coming weeks and that the bus went right through the heart of the rebel stronghold.
In spite of this everyone agreed that we were unlikely to be attacked on the road, so we boarded a taxi and headed north. As we soon discovered, a rebel attack would have been the least of our problems, since our taxi driver seemed to have a death wish. it was the most scary drive of my life. He drove so fast that our tires screeched, he overtook on blind corners and at one point he was so busy texting that he drove right through a police check point. Something that could end in the police opening fire on us. Purely by the grace of God we reached the border with Rwanda at about 11. We then had to queue for an hour to get our passports stamped, during which time I was taken out of the line and taken to the back by a Burundi police officer for no reason!!!
Once our passports were stamped, we then sat down beneath some trees and listened to the people around talk about us (since there are so few westerners who speak Kirundi/Ikinyarwanda, most people assume that you do not understand them). Eventually dad turned around and we chatted to them for about half an hour, suring which time I had a number of marriage proposals. None of which I accepted.
We then crossed the border to the rwanda side, got through customs and once everything was sorted jumped back onto the taxi for part 2 of our drive in the taxi from hell. Luckily it seems that our driver had heard that rwandan police do crack down on speeding, so the drive up to Kigali was far less eventful.
We finally arrived in Kigali at around 2, to be met by a number of close friends.
Well, the actual trip has finally come to a exhauting end. However I will try to post some more news whenever anything eventful happens. Thanks to all who have taken the time to rad it.
Take care
Chris

Bujumbura

Following a number of days rest in Kigoma dad and I then change course from heading due west, to heading north. Our next trip would take us out of tanzania for the first time and into Burundi. Our last stop before reaching Kigali. This was always going to be the most dangerous and nerve wracking part of the trip as we did not know how we would get to burundi nor what the security was like there. However we borded a taxi at 7:30, having woken up at 5:30 (3:30 UK time), and heading off towards the border. Unfortunately, almost immedeatly after leaving the taxi started to judder and after travelling about 10 km we turned back and jumped in a new taxi. This one, an 18 seater managed to hold 26 people (not very comfortably) including 2 outside on the bumper. And to be honest it was a death trap. Metal bars had been put over the windows to give people a handhold, but also meant that in case of an accident there was only one way out of the taxi and that was through the door, through all the other passengers.
The road was more of a track which snaked its way across northern tanzania up into the mountains and away from the lake. Our driver drove too fast and we almost toppled onto our side several times. we could also feel the back fishtaling with every turn. However the nearest miss was when we were heading down a hill and skidded to avoid a bike. The driver managed to keep control and we skidded to a halt. At which point two men on the back jumped off and started to hit the man on the bike. they then jumped back on and off we went.
The trip to the border was all on a dirt track and took about 3 hours to get there. We arrived at the border town and had to put all our stuff on bikes so that we could be taken the last two kilometers.
There were no problems at the border and we jumped back onto the bikes for another ride dow to a taxi stop. There we borded a taxi to a town 20 km into Burundi, where our passports were stamped. We then got into another taxi which took us to Bujumbura. We stayed there for 1 night with some friends. When asking about security we were told that that district had been shelled 3 weeks before and that if we heard gunfire it was most likely thieves shooting and being shot at.

Since I have so much to write I will post my trip from Bujumbura to Kigali tomorrow night.

Ujiji at last

Following my last post at Dodoma, dad and I spent the rest of the day with the German missionaries until about six o clock. We then got our bags and headed down to the station wo catch the all night train from Dodoma to Kigoma. We got to the station only to find that the train was delayed until 10. This wasn't the greatest news because train stations aren't the safest places anyway. So instead of hanging around there we went across the road to a hotel and had a drink until 8. We then decided that it was probably best to try and get to our carriage as soon as possible. So we loaded all our stuff up and headed as fast as possible through the crowds of people. (Dad had been told earlier by the station manager that it was best that we got into our carriage as soon as possible and then lock the doors to stop anyone breaking in and sealing our stuff). We kept moving until we got to our carriage, where we managed to find out room. we locked ourselves in and waited in the dark (the lights don't start working until the train is moving). I stood at the door and dad stood at the window.
After about an hour the train started to move and we were able to relaxe a little. However we were reminded of the risk of theft when one of the train conductors came in and jammed the windows shut to stop people from getting in while we were asleep.
We both finally got to bed (two bunks) without insident about an hour later.
I was woken at two in the morning by the sound of a woman screaming and crying hysterically. This was then joined by shouting. A little disconcerted and still half asleep I got out of bed and into the corridor and pocked my head out of the window. We had stopped at a station and a group of men had gathered at the door of the next carriage along. Some police soon arrived and also the station night guards and started to threaten a man. Gradually the lady stopped crying and everyone got back onto the train and off we went again. I never worked out what the problem was.
Dad and I woke up at 5 the next morning in order to film the sunrise, before going back to bed. The train took the best part of the next 17 hours to get to the shores of lake tanganyika. it was a nice trip, although the toilets were a hole in the ground through which you could see the tracks and there were no facilities for washing. During the whole 24 hours that I was on the train I only ate a little bit of rice. Partly because I saw at least 5 cockroaches leaving the kitchen of the train and partly so as to avoid needing to use the toilet.
The view from the train was of savannah grass land and small forests, intersperced with villages and the occasional hill. The part of tanzania that we went through was very flat and we saw no animals. We got to Kigoma at about 10 on friday night (8 british time) and have been spending the last couple of days staying on the house of some friends who are away at the moment.
Yesterday we went down to the beach with some missionaries and were assured that despite there being snakes, crocodiles and hippos in the lake, none had been seen there for a while. In the evening we were then invited back to house of some missionaries for a barbeque of Kudu meat. While we looked at some hunting rifles and had a good time just relaxing and chating.
Today we have been to see the Livingstone memorial in Ujiji just down the coast from where we are now. We went to the spot where Livingstone and Stanley met and had a guided tour of some of the buildings.
Our plans at the moment are still not fully formed. We are hoping to up to Bujumbura tomorrow, but we are not sure how to get there. We will either go by boat or by taxi, although I'm not too sure that either are particularly safe. Other than that we are trying to find out if anyone isstravelling up to Burundi in the next couple of days.
Well, unfortunately I must go as the counter is running down and I will have to go in a minute. My next post should be from Bujumbura if all goes well. We have taken plenty of pictures and video so when I get back to Britain I can put some images to these words for you all.
Until next time...!

Distance travelled: 1500 km
Mosquitos killed: 10
Days in Africa: 8

Livingstone and Stanley

Well, our trip to Africa got off to a slightly slow start when our plane was cancelled. Instead of leaving at 5:00 in the morning we ended up going at 5 in the evening, spending a night in Amsterdam and then flying to Dar es Salaam in money morning. However there was one upside, in that we were ugraded to first class and so had steak for lunch.
We arrived in Tanzania at 10:30 and had to batter a taxi ride from the airport to where we were staying. A place called the Luther Guest house. Unfortunately on getting onto the taxi, the driver was unable to start it and we had to have a push so that he could jump start the car. Welcome back to Africa.
Our room was small with two beds, a desk and a wardrobe. We also had an onswuit toilet and shower, although the only thing separating them from the room was frosted glass. So you could see everything in outline.
On wednesday we boarded the Scandinavia bus which took us on an eight hour ride from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, where we are staying with some German missionaries. Yesterday we went for a walk through the bush on the outskirts of town and were told that a hyena had been seen there recently. needless to say, dad and I decided that, since it was getting dark, it was probably best to head back to the house.
Today we are resting in Dodoma before boarding the train tonight across Tanzania to Kigoma on lake Tanganyika.
Unfotunately my timer in the internet cafe is running out so I'll have to go. I'll come back and tidy up this post in a couple of days, and hopefully give more info then.

Facts so far:
Distance travelled - 600 km
Mosquitos killed - 2 (+1 bedbug)
Hot showers had - 0