Last Monday night my new local member; Joe Hockey gave a fascinating address (at the Sydney Institute, http://www.thesydneyinstitute.com.au/ ) Describing his view on how faith and politcs relate. Read it here.
One of the things he said which intrigued me was that the "Christian pie is not getting bigger; rather how it is sliced up is changing". I am intrigued why some the churches that are growing - what characteristics do they have.. The two reasons which quite often come to my mind are the community aspect; maybe tied to community is belonging. (and I'm always wondering how much church growth is believers "shopping around", and how many 'believers' chose not to identify as part of "a church" ). I have read somewhere (but can't recall where) that the Evangelical churchs are growing.
The other point made by Hockey which resonated with me, was his view leaders who are fake; will be shown to be without values.
While I wasn't in agreement with all of his views, it was interesting hearing another one of our politicians talk about 'their faith'.
Update: Interesting to read this article by the Dean of Sydney about Hockey's speech.
I found Hockey's speech mostly vague and, where he was clear, trite. How can religious experience be "fundamentally a personal one" in the light of the Great Commission? He appears to be first and foremost wedded to that Australian brand of small-l liberalism rather than Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing about his speech was, if it was part of an application for the leadership, I'm not sure that it would have pleased anybody.
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