Episode Details

Perhaps I’m perverse, but I really quite enjoy the first week back at work after holidays. 

I don’t have super high expectations of myself. I know it will take a while to get the brain working, and to remember what it is that I am being paid to do. 

And it’s one of those times of year when you have the excuse (in fact, the obligation) to pause and think about what you should be doing. To strategize a little. To plan and prioritize. 

This is excellent, and definitely more fun than actually working. 

So I’ve pulled open the digital equivalent of the musty manilla folder with all my writing ideas in it, and started to rifle through it. What should I write about this year in The Payneful Truth?

There are digital notes and scraps and half-written ideas on a whole range of subjects: 

* on the wisdom and folly of crowds;

* on the common impulse (including in my own breast) to soft-pedal on fraught moral issues so as not to be hated; 

* on the nature of Christian maturity as growth in faith, love and hope; 

* on the cult of environmentalism, in which everyone educated in the last 20 years has been enlisted as a devotee; 

* on the relationship between preaching and the Bible (amazingly, I have something fresh to say about that); 

* on why Christians can appreciate the good impulses in both progressive and conservative politics, while also seeing the fundamental shortcomings of both;

* on what Titus teaches us about the imperatives of ministry; 

* on whether or why we should keep the livestream going once we’re fully back in church together (if that ever happens!);

* and much, much more. 

It’s a pretty disparate list. 

There are practical ministry ideas, theological issues and discussions about discipleship; but there are also issues that would normally be classified as personal or social ethics. 

Having such a broad range of possible topics is generally a no-no in the world of newsletters and podcasting. Pick your lane and build your audience. That’s the standard advice. Write about ministry or theology or ethics, but don’t try to do all of them at the same time. 

I’ve thought about this more than once over the past 12 months. Should The Payneful Truth be mainly for ‘trellis and vine’ types who want to discuss ministry? Or should it also delve into the ethical complications of living as a Christian in the world? 

Which lane should I pick? 

It seems to me that the road we’re called to walk down as Christian believers has more than one lane, and the dotted line between them isn’t so clear. 

Take the division between ‘ministry’ and ‘ethics’. It’s true that most people tend to be more interested in one or the other, as revealed basically by what they talk about all the time (and the articles or links they share online). It will be about the latest issues in evangelism or preaching or discipleship (on the one hand), or about climate change or US politics or transgenderism (on the other). 

In my own life, there’s some history and heritage here. The evangelical movement I grew up in, swirling around St Matthias and Campus Bible Study, had a reputation for giving a high priority to gospel ministry, to the point where not much else got a look in.

It was a caricature—the reality on the ground was much more nuanced—but most caricatures possess a kernel of truth. In fact, back in the 90s, there was a joke going around that made fun of the differences between well-known churches in Sydney: 

How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at Barnies Broadway? “Well, there are two views about that …” 

How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at Christ Church, St Ives? “We’re not sure; we have people who do that.” 

How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at St Matthias? “We don’t change lightbulbs; it’s not a gospel issue.”