Apologetics and idiot drivers

There's a story behind the latest op-ed piece that I did for the Daily Tele on Paris Hilton.

I e-mailed Justin at the Tele and asked if he wanted a piece on Mohammed Haneef, the cousin of the man involved in the failed Glasgow bombing attempt. Haneef was arrested last month under our new terrorism laws and interrogated for nearly two weeks before being released and deported without being charged.

His e-mail back said, thanks for the offer, but our readers aren't that interested and I wouldn't want you to waste your time. But you could do something on Paris Hilton or idiot drivers.

Hence the Paris Hilton piece.

Now I am a great fan of apologetics and see my writing for the paper in this category—apologetics here defined as using arguments to defend a Christian world view or attack a non-christian world view, with the ultimate intention of winning a better hearing for the gospel. In fact I've just finished a four week session with a group from 5.00 church at St Paul's Carlingford on just this subject (Thanks Chris F and Tracy G for the help!)

But this e-mail exchange with Justin was a good reminder of what I already believe, which is that apologetics is always going to be a handmaiden to evangelism—that is, it should take second place to telling people the gospel. There are a huge number of people out there who just don't have a great interest in the outside world; or at least, not the sort of things that Christian apologists sometimes feel they ought to be interested in. To destroy a person's unsustainable and damaging world view by clever and intelligent argument is a good thing to attempt. But there will be a good proportion of the population who will rise from the ashes to say "Right...so who do you reckon will win the game on Saturday?"

In Romans 1:16 Paul insists "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." [italics mine]

There is a lot to be said for cutting straight to the chase and just telling people the simple, unadorned news that in Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection, the full forgiveness of sin is available to those who repent and trust him as Lord. If Justin at the Tele was a Christian, he would tell you that's pretty much what the readers need to hear (not to mention the rest of us).

Paris Hilton

I wrote an editorial about Paris Hilton for today's Daily Telegraph, here.

THIS morning I was thinking about Paris Hilton when a topless lady stood next to me.

Thinking about Paris Hilton is easy, when you’re in a job like mine.

She’s done time and in the middle of it, professed a religious conversion. Religion is what I do, so when somebody has something to say about it, I want to know what gives.

The topless lady was my six-year-old daughter, and as I was shovelling porridge in my mouth she was looking for her clothes.

Paris and my daughter are related topics, as I hope to show.

Let’s start with Paris. In my opinion and for what it is worth (which is precisely nothing in this case) Paris Hilton’s conversion to Christianity comes across like another makeover job that is all just a part of the Paris entertainment bandwagon.

So convincing me of its actual value in terms of either news or religion is always going to be pushing brown substances uphill with a stick.

I don’t know why the media are interested in it. I don’t know why I’m writing about it. I don’t know why you’re reading about it.

But there is great value in thinking about shame, and even though that is one of my least favourite feelings in the world, I am thankful to Paris and my six-year-old for making me face that terrible emotion once again.

Basically this is the story. If I even for a moment lift my mind’s gaze away from Paris and back onto myself, I’m not pleased by what I find.

Why would I be interested in the latest news of someone like her? Who, if I reflect on it for a moment, seems confused, out of control, and hypnotised by behaviours and a lifestyle that are mainly hurting herself whilst playing up to the voyeur and scandal monger in each of us.

How would I be thinking about it differently if she was my six-year-old daughter, grown up and in the full glare of the publicity machine? I can tell you I wouldn’t be happy.

That’s always assuming that any of the stuff we hear about is actually true. I have a pretty low opinion of people who would report this stuff as news, and my opinion extends even to include their capacity to get the details right and not make stuff up.

My low opinion is really only tempered by the slightly shameful feeling that here I am, writing about Paris as well.

Enough of that then. Here’s how Jesus dealt with people’s shame, especially when he crossed paths with various women who may or may not have said or done things they felt ashamed about.

Without exception he treated them with respect.

He was so respectful that he would’ve treated Pauline Hanson with respect. If he hadn’t been so smart and insightful and compassionate as a human being, his high regard for losers and outcasts would have set him up for regular public mockery.

Well, actually, it did anyway, since his enemies kept trying to link him to the losers and outcasts that he spent time with, and suggest that he was pretty much the same as them.

Jesus, for his part, had quite a lot to say about those hypocrites who wanted to push losers, outcasts and women of questionable reputation and morality across his path and onto centre stage.

None of it was good.

These hypocrites acted for a reason. They wanted to see Jesus’ reaction. They knew that if he was seen to condone immorality, then he was exposed - shown up as being just another of the immoral people he was seen to spend time with.

But if he was seen to condemn it, then he would lose his popular following amongst the crowds quicker than you could say "Brangelina" or "weight loss scandal".

But they missed out on both counts. Because in Jesus, men and women found a man they could depend on to treat them well.

Possibly where they’d never been able to trust someone before.

Paris, I hope you find what you’re looking for. I pray that your trust in Jesus, if real, will grow.

If it’s not real I pray that your contact with the fake and nauseating religion of the American self-help variety won’t put you off the true God. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

The rest of you losers who have taken an interest here.

Can you just leave Paris alone, and while you’re at it, make sure that the world is a place where my six-year-old daughter doesn’t have to face the same treatment.

They allow comments on the article at the Daily Tele, so you might like to have a go.