Political correctness doesn't go far enough

Puffin Books has edited Roald Dahl’s children’s stories, which are to be offered as an alternative to the original versions. References to greedy Augustus Gloop as being ‘fat’ and Mrs Twit as ‘ugly’ have gone; the BFG’s coat is no longer ‘black’, while Mary now goes ‘still as a statue’ instead of ‘white as a sheet’.

Some may consider it laudable to revise books of earlier decades by editing what may be considered offensive literary material. Whatever view we take on such moves, which seek to sanitise society, I will be bold and suggest it is superficial, failing to get to the root of our problem.

Jesus was scathing of those in his society (mainly religious leaders) who were keen to be seen as being squeaky clean and living in a sanitised bubble. This is what he said:

‘Woe to you…, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.’ Lest his listeners didn’t get it, he followed up with ‘...you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.’

What is Jesus saying? We may try to clean up society by tinkering around at the edges (Jesus calls ‘it straining out gnats’), but things like unkindness, racism, spitefulness, bullying and cruelty actually reside in the human heart. These ugly traits will not be removed from us by publishers, pressure groups, public bodies or politicians.

Easter is about God inaugurating a promise (covenant) in which he will clean up our inner-heart so that we may get to shine on the outside. This is that promise: ‘I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ And what of our own hard-heartedness? God’s promise continues, ‘…for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

These promises of God are for anyone who wants them. Wholehearted trust in Jesus Christ is the way to be a recipient.

'Christianity' does not appear in the Bible

Did you know that the word Christianity does not appear in the Bible and Christian is there just three times? Early on, ‘Christian’ was a nickname applied in a somewhat derogatory manner to a person who was a member of an offshoot of Judaism called ‘The Way’. So who were these ‘Christians’ that, for a number of years, were viewed as a sect?

They were men and women of conviction who had come to believe and trust that the man Jesus was in fact the Christ (Messiah) of God. This Christ, the Jews believed, would bring God’s salvation to his people. When Jesus the Christ did appear, it turned out that their notion of the expected salvation was wide of the mark. Jews were thinking in terms of Israel’s freedom from foreign occupation - both politically and militarily. This was to be followed, they thought, by a stable future under the governance of a king in the line of King David who had ruled in the nation’s Golden Years.

Many Jews, especially the religious leaders, rejected Jesus because he was on a different page altogether. His Kingdom, he said, was not of this world but of a different order. The salvation he brought with him would free men and women from what ruled and bound them on the inside. His purpose was to remove the barrier which existed between them and God by forgiving them the wrongs they’d done to others, which were actually, first and foremost, wrongs being committed against God himself. These sins (to use biblical language), if not addressed, would ultimately bring a guilty verdict in the high court of Heaven.

So, a Christian is a person who will believe that the Jesus presented in the Bible is the promised Christ; that he has the authority to forgive offences committed against God. What’s more, he is willing and able to be King of their hearts and renew their mindset in such a way that they may be described as a new creation, living a new life under God.

What was experienced by those early Christians during the first century is available to us in the 21st. We can make it ours by faith which, in this case, means trust in Jesus.

Search and rescue

The year - 1979; the place - RAF Valley on Anglesey; the occasion - the bi-annual airshow. As a member of the aviation press, and together with six other colleagues, I was given a flight aboard a yellow-painted Wessex helicopter of the RAF Air Sea Rescue. We’d had the briefest of instructions as to what we should do if, in an emergency, we came down in the sea. Then we were given help to fasten our harnesses. I had a prime position being situated adjacent to the large open doorway. We flew around for about 10 minutes but then there was a minor malfunction with the intercom so that the crewman in the main cabin with us could not communicate with the flight deck up above. Because of this, we had to land prematurely.

When I came to undo my harness, I discovered that it was not securely buckled. Perhaps it is just as well that we didn’t linger around, as I had been turned into the open doorway so as to take photographs and I don’t believe the harness would have held me if put under any strain.

Two years later, the International Air Tattoo at Greenham Common chose a theme that included Air Sea Rescue. Amongst the many ground attractions was a presentation by a local Christian group who took the opportunity to present Jesus as the great rescuer.

Now that may sound a little twee but not from God’s perspective. He sees men and women as being adrift, lost and in danger of ultimately perishing. The coming of Jesus is actually God on a rescue mission. As with a yellow helicopter hovering over a floundering person in the water, Jesus is at hand. Think of that sense of security and comfort a bedraggled person must feel once hoisted into a rescue helicopter. Jesus too is both willing and able to take us into himself and expertly attend to our true needs. He said that his mission was to, ‘Seek and to save what was lost’.

In Jesus, the doorway remains open so others can come in. However, unlike my own less-than-secure helicopter flight, Jesus harnesses those in Him with faithfulness, kindness and love, even when that harness is put under strain.