Ministries I serve in

Jason serves with the following ministries

• South Australian Baptist Youth Ministries http://sabaptistyouth.net
• Baptist Churches of South Australia http://sabaptist.asn.au
• Australian Baptist Ministries http://www.baptist.org.au/
• Big Week Out http://bigweekout.org.au
• Encounter Youth http://encounteryouth.com.au/

Ordination Statement

On 8 August 2010 I got ordained as a Baptist Minister at Unley Park Baptist Church into my current ministry context with the Baptist Churches of South Australia. Here is my statement of ordination from that day.

Becoming a Baptist 'Rev' is not what I expected.  I was formed in faith in a pentecostal tradition, was profoundly influenced by my parents' ministry among indigenous communities and marginalised peoples, studied to be an Engineer and have spent a good portion of my life flying under the Denominational radar in the name of Mission agencies and youth ministry.  I have also spent my life avoiding my graduation ceremonies and official titles.  Call me small, but it makes me awkward and embarrassed.  Especially the 'style' Reverend.  Given this, becoming a Baptist 'Rev' is certainly not what I expected.

This is not because I haven't seen how God has shaped me for Pastoral Leadership.  While studying or working, most of my time, money and passion was elsewhere – in mission and ministry.  Eventually I was given an opportunity to make this passion my day job.  It has been an unbelievable privilege to participate over the past 16 years in what God is doing on uni campuses, in schools, camps, youth ministries, festivals, Churches.  I have been stunned at the transformative difference the Gospel makes in me, in communities and people's lives.  I am thankful for the people and communities who gave me these opportunities.  May I do the same for others.

It seems my skills and passion in life revolve around Jesus and his Church: being part of empowering God's people to be and bring His good news to His world.  While I could do other things, this is what God has wired me for.  Thank God others affirm the same, that calling is not apprehended through my intuition alone!  Our ordination process (PLT) has affirmed this sense of vocation as it invited others into the discernment process.  At a personal level the past 2 ½ years have been seriously challenging.  Life has taken me apart and in God's grace I am being reformed into a better man and minister of the Gospel.  For this I am thankful.  I am also deeply thankful to those who have been part of this process for their generosity of time, heart and most of all honest and prayerful discernment.

This is probably what my wife Ann expected.  She married a young man full of dreams, heavily involved in full time mission and ministry.  Through the joys and challenges of Pastoral leadership, Ann has been significant in sustaining and focussing these dreams.  The Baptist 'Rev' thing may have raised an eyebrow but I am certain she is not surprised!  I thank Ann for her support and affirmation.  With our already full life of 3 children and another on the way there is yet much more of the adventure to come!

Becoming a Baptist 'Rev' may not be what I expected but it is where God has lead us.  To my surprise I find I am more theologically Baptist than I realised (or maybe the Baptist's are more pentecostal than they realise!) but this is not primarily why I am being 'ordained'.  At a local Church level I believe becoming a member says that you are binding yourself to that Church's present and future.  You own being part of that Church and the Church owns you being part of her.  In a similar way, through Ordination I am binding myself to our family of Churches present and future.  Today is not just about having a Denominational process affirm training and call, it is also my affirmation that I want to follow God amongst these Churches, serving His people, for His world, to His glory.  This is a high privilege and a real joy and honestly, far more than I ever expected.

to devo or not to devo

Interesting discussion over the last couple of days in different youth ministries on whether or not to have 'devotions' (short message about something to do with Christianity and/or hopefully Jesus) at events/'fun' orientated nights or not.

The logic goes something like this:

• we want young people to bring their friends along
• so we won't do anything dorky which might damage their cred in front of their friends
• 'devotions' are dorky and all kinds of awkward
• ipso facto we won't do devo's.

There is a logic to it. And I want to argue with it.

Granted saying anything religious is awkward in Aussie culture - religion in Australia is a private matter, we all feel that. But when we buy into this cultural awkwardness we concur with the sentiment that our faith is private and is not worthy of having a public voice. When we do this we leave the public sphere to pop icons, marketing, secular voices and status updates. This is not a lesson our young people need to learn from us.

I believe the lesson we need to teach is the Gospel is a public matter, it has a compelling voice and offers profoundly valid alternatives to contemporary wisdom. So do devo's. The logic could go something like this:

• We  want young people to bring their friends along
• We want young people to be confident that when they bring their friends along they will not only have a great time but their friends will hear something from Jesus that is interesting, engaging and could change their lives for the better
• we agree bad and poorly prepared 'devotions' are dorky and all kinds of awkward
• so we will prepare and offer not only our best efforts for events but our best efforts for 'devotions'

My first observation is this. For the young person who attends youth group for the first time, "devo's" are awkward. The second time, they are used to it...this is what these people do here.

Second, what's next after the event nights? What is the next thing a young person is to attend...Church services, Camps or home/bible study groups. I certainly hope Jesus gear/bible is spoken out plainly in these spaces. So get the awkwardness out early.

Finally, in doing this we teach our young people that faith is worth talking about, publicly. Because it is.

Applying the biblical text

Haddon Robinson makes a very real point - “the great heresies are not primarily in the doctrine – though they can be there – but in the application.” [Long, 111] Application is a vital component to a sermon, it is the 'so what?' or the 'yes but how' element which embeds biblical truth into lived out lives. Too often it seems this is where the Preacher comes unstuck.

Robinson notes the danger is in bringing the authority of the Scriptures in behind the application.  The danger is compounded when moving from ancient near eastern biblical culture to our contemporary world.  Given this can we still hear this application as “Thus saith the Lord” ie a necessary implication to heed?  Or does it fit within the other possible ranges of implication Robinson outlines: probable, possible , improbable and finally impossible.

It could be the Preacher is applying Hebrews 10:24 - 25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

In doing so they call the congregation to step up in their commitments to their Church programs – throwing in the need for more Sunday school teachers, people to move chairs and so on.  The recruitment drive for Church rosters now has the authority and power of the Scripture to propel it forward.  Does it deserve it?  At best this is a mild and possibly unintentional form of manipulation and 'guilt tripping', at worst it is legalism.

It is interesting to test a Sermon application by asking what assumptions are behind the application?  In the case of Church rosters is the assumption that the Congregation is full of lazy consumers? In compelling us to evangelise our neighbours is the assumption that we do not currently evangelise our neighbours – and how would the preacher know?  An application makes for an interesting statement on what a Preacher thinks of the people who are listening.

Does the congregation notice these implicit assumptions?  For many the Preacher has become the “sage on the stage” - an authority on the Scripture, its interpretation and application.  The real work has been done and a packaged conclusion is dropped onto the listener.  The slight relief and deep concern is that few take the sermon's application seriously enough for it to be transformative come Tuesday. Or is that just me?

Preaching to secular audiences

I am doing a preaching course atm. So will be running loose on a few preaching thoughts over the next few weeks.

Over the past 16 years I have worked with young people both in and out of Church and have noted biblical literacy and familiarity with Church cultural norms diminish among both groups.  This certainly raises challenges for preaching.  The back story to most texts is unknown, core beliefs are not shared, values can clash.  Take preaching the Cross.  Behind this crux of Christian faith are assumptions such as:

1. Belief in a theistic, personal, relational God
2. Understanding God requires something of us in attitude and action
3. Understanding what attitudes and actions are required.
4. A sense of accountability to this despite unbelief
5. Understanding something can be done about it, not just relying on our own efforts
6. That this something is the death of incarnate Son of God on a Roman Cross 2000 years ago
7. ...on we could go...?!

Simply understanding 'content' gives a preacher challenges with contemporary secular audiences.  My own personal response has been to assume the audience has limited biblical literacy.  This translates to avoiding religious terminology, limiting the amount of biblical text I work with when preaching,1 and by preference preaching gospel stories or narratives as contained units.

Haddon Robinson perceptively notes those that are raised in religious cultures will struggle to communicate with secular audiences.[Expository Preaching in a narrative world, 159]  Is it vital that preachers move from religious cloisters and be present in the secular world.  Living with my neighbours, spending time with Parents at school, exercising with the bike club, rock climbing with unchurched young adults or teenagers helps me 'get' life from another point of view.  As I prepare my sermons I wonder how my non-Christian friends might hear this, where they would tune out and why, if there ways of communicating which might serve them in engaging what God could be saying to them.

What about preaching material which people perfectly understand but deeply disagree with because of the clash of worldview?  It is fascinating to read the comments made on Greg Clarke and John Dickson's article, “Gays and Jesus: The Gospel According to Elton John.”  Clarke and Dickson tackle Biblical historicity, the Church's response to homosexuality, Christianity holding its integrity in a pluralistic democracy.  They have a great crack at it but who is really listening?  Bill Hybels proposes that preachers understand the way non-Christians think and genuinely like them.  Preachers can be noted for polarising language, 'us' versus 'the world'! It is great advice for a preacher to remember to love the people they are preaching too.  This certainly shapes attitude and consequently tone, but it also shapes the manner in which material is approached.

Personally this has meant I in my material and presentation seek to treat people with respect and dignity, give people space to disagree with me, work hard at demonstrating it is 'our problem' rather than 'your problem'.  I have not taken as a staple diet the topical or 'felt needs' approach to sermon themes of Hybels or Rick Warren.  This is primarily because I believe this approach teaches people that we go to God to meet our needs.  Faith is this, but more.  When does God come to us and address areas we feel completely comfortable with? For this reason I prefer systematic, 'work through a book of the bible' series.  While the issues raised are often current and real, the agenda and timetable is set by the passage rather than the preacher.  More importantly issues can be raised which both preacher and audience might be completely uncomfortable with but because of their commitment to progression through the text they find themselves wrestling over. Finally this staple diet of reading and preaching through the bible addresses the 'back story' problem for many Christians as gradually the blanks are filled in, books are treated as books, texts as texts within a context of a book within history.

The 'medium' is a challenge.  How many contemporary secular audiences experience anything quite like the average Sunday morning sermon?  If the preacher is charismatic and interesting then it seems they may have a chance. Unfortunately the preacher is often compared against the world's best communicators and media: Politicians, Sound bites, Actors, movies, Oprah, televangelists, pod casts, to name a few.  From a medium point of view the bar has been raised!  Preachers today are required to bring creativity and freshness to the congregation's engagement with the sermon.  In many ways there is little excuse not too.  While modern media seeds congregations with an impatience for dull sermonising, it also resources the preacher with rich media, provocative discussion starters, things to inspire the imagination.  We also have a better understanding of the process of learning, many books have been written on transformative practices.  The preacher is better resourced to best communicate to their audiences.

Finally, I find it important to be reminded that “a shepherd knows their sheep”.  At the end of a show the lights go up, the makeup comes off and the audience is reminded that they were only an audience.  While the preacher may not have the goods to outperform the theatre of modern media they have significant influence as they step from the platform and know people from front row to back by name.  A congregation will forgive a preacher's many sins when they are known and valued.