A conversation about a bus.

If you read our recent prayer updates, then you have definitely heard about the atheist bus advertisements in London. Well, a few days after I posted that update I read that a Christian organisation in England has submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority with a demand that the adverts be removed. (read the article here)

Well, in abnormal fashion, I decided to email the organisation to understand why they might take this step. Below is our correspondence (slightly edited for time sake). Thought you might be interested.

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From:Chris
To: Christian Voice

To whom it may concern,

I just read an article on the BBC online about a complaint your organisation made to the ASA about the public transport adverts unveiled on 6 Jan that say "There's probably no God." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7818980.stm)

I have a question and a quick statement:

What do you hope to accomplish with this complaint and how does it increase the glory of God in Britain?

I have spoken with or heard of no less than half a dozen followers of Jesus who have already had positive conversations about God with people not following Jesus solely because of this advertisement campaign. Personally, I am extremely excited about the potential of these adverts to prompt people to think about God. But followers of Jesus MUST respond as Jesus would to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with people who normally don't give the subject much mind. We must listen intently and ask probing questions that provide a canvas on which we can display God's love found in Jesus. I had a conversation with a teenager a few days ago who has seen this potential and taken advantage of the opportunity. He and a mate saw one of the adverts and he just started asking questions of this atheist friend. In the end, his friend was a bit more accepting of the potential for God's existence.

Can God not use what was meant for harm to bring glory to His name? I hope that you do not take this as an attack on you. By no means is it meant that way. I simply hope that the followers of Christ in Britain will take every opportunity to bring glory to the name of Christ.

God bless...

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From: Christian Voice
To: Chris

Hi Chris,

Greeting to you in our Lord's precious name.

I don't know why you are so upset at my reporting the bus adverts to the ASA on grounds of substantiation and truth.

It's really good that conversations have started because of them, but that does not mean Christians should excuse wickedness because some good has come of it. Does Solomon's birth excuse David's adultery?

Read John 7:7 and 8:44 and then tell me that Jesus would not have spoken against this untruthful ad!

Yours sincerely...

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From: Chris
To: Christian Voice

First, please do not hear me to be "upset". I simply hope to have a conversation with a brother and, hopefully, learn from each other.

Both the story of Solomon and John 8:44 are in the context of those who already profess to follow the One God. Scripture is very clear from beginning to end that we are ALL "wicked" and can ONLY overcome that wickedness through faith (since Jesus' resurrection, in Him). I won't quote the scriptures because I'm confident that you know them. I can't recall a single moment which Jesus spoke against Caesar or the Roman government. And by this time Caesar considered himself god. I can't recall a single time that Jesus rebuked a group outside of the Jews. If you can think of one, please share. But for the most part, Jesus only spoke to the Jews (or those closely related), so...

Let's look at Paul for a bit. In Acts 17 we find him in Athens. As I'm sure you are well aware, he looks around and sees the city full of idols. We don't know exactly what the ensuing conversations entailed, first with the Jews and worshipers of God, then with people in the marketplace and philosophers. But we do know that he was "telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection." The next part is the interesting bit. He is taken to the Areopagus to argue his point. There are several views on the function of the Areopagus at this time, but it suffices to say here that they were a recognised council who were looked to for wisdom and discernment. Presumedly, this would be the time when Paul would make a case for the important things. Under the supposition of your response, Paul should have taken this opportunity to request the removal of the idols from the city. But he doesn't. Instead, he uses the idols as a platform to communicate the truth. And even to the end of his dissertation in Athens, we have no record of him even mentioning the removal of these idols.

So, no, i do not believe that Jesus would have taken the time to speak against this untruthful ad. I believe that He would have taken every opportunity to love people and share the truth with people (not entities).

Update

So apparently we are not doing so great at updating this. Perhaps because we get busy. Perhaps because we don't feel we have anything interesting to say - on a regular basis anyway. But I thought I would take this opportunity to write while I sit here drinking my tea trying to stay warm. We had a great Christmas although it felt a bit strange, being our first one with no family. We made an American breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and buscuits and gravy. It was so good! Chris and I had gotten each other gifts so we opened those in the morning while we waited for our families in Texas to wake up.

Chris got an ipod touch, a new scarf, and some su doku books. I got a new ipod and tickets to Royal Albert Hall where they will show the first Lord of the Rings movie with the musical score being played live by the London Philharmonic. Then we started one of my new traditions:



That's right - we watched a Charlie Brown Christmas! I was probably more excited about it than Chris was, but whatever. Then we skyped with our families and opened our gifts from them which was kind of an odd experience, but it worked and it was better than not seeing them at all! So here are some skype pictures:

This is my side of the family: aunt and uncle on the left, granny in the middle, mom and dad on the right, and brother up top.

Mom wearing her Christmas hat while my brother looks on.

Chris with his brother and sister-in-law, Philip and Lacey, and his sister Amber's little boy.
Chris' sister and brother-in-law, Joe and Amber, and their little boy, Ciro.
So we had a really great Christmas and made some great memories. Chris was in Portugal over New Year's Eve, but I watched the countdown on BBC.

So now as we begin the new year, this is the calm before the....well, not storm exactly, but a busy time anyway. We have two interns coming later this month for six months who will be working with us and Chris will also be getting ready for another busy summer. Next Thursday I will start attending a photography class that I am really excited about. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and will give me great opportunities to meet people and hopefully share Christ into their lives. That part makes me a little anxious, knowing that I have a bigger purpose in mind. But it's good to get outside our comfort zones even if it's not always comfortable. So that's what we've been up to and we appreciate your prayers as we continue to speak Jesus into lives here in London.