Bakery Run #10 – Pat-a-Cake

Pie Buddy: Anton Nortkus

Topic: Christian teaching in High School – A student’s perspective

Anton and I originally intended to meet up at Bakery Girls on Duthy Street, which unfortunately turned out to be closed on Sundays. So instead we drove 1km up the road to Pat-a-Cake. Pat-a-Cake is just a short walk from my work, so I had been there a few times and knew that it delivered the goods. On this occasion, there were only a few pies left (late lunch on a Sunday, so I guess that’s understandable). Anton grabbed a couple of beef mince pies, while I opted for a chunky steak pie and a peanut chocolate brownie. Both hit the spot just nicely. The pies here are among the best I’ve had, and there is normally a good range of all things baked, both sweet and savoury. Perhaps the pies here are a tad heavy on the gravy, but the finished product is highly satisfying. Just like I knew this conversation would be!

Anton and I attended the same Christian high school, and we both felt – looking back on high school after coming to faith – that there were problems with how things were run from a Christian perspective. In a nutshell, it didn’t seem like there actually was a particular or effective focus on Christianity. From all anecdotal accounts, similar problems tend to occur at most Christian schools, so this certainly isn’t intended as an attack on our school. On the whole, the education we received was of a high quality. However, we found ourselves looking back with disappointment on the lack of strong biblical teaching. Given that teenage years have such an impact in shaping a person, we felt it was worth discussing.

“I don’t know if you can really call going to a Christian school a Christian experience,” Anton began. “It depends on the school a bit, but most schools with that Christian label attached to it, which make you think they’re serious about Christianity, seem to be quite nominal.”

“I guess to some extent there’s a sense in which they don’t want to be seen as brainwashing kids to believe what they do,” I suggested. “But then if you send your kids to a Christian school, you should know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I think if you want to send your kid to a school and you don’t believe in their morals and teachings, well, send them somewhere else. I think faith should be the foremost thing. Education is obviously important though still.”

From that point of view, there is an onus on parents to not feel entitled to secular teaching from a Christian school. However, there is equal onus on a Christian school to be, well, Christian.

“I think it’s important for schools that do have strong convictions to hold to those convictions,” Anton continued. “If you’re going to attach a label to yourself like a Lutheran school or an Anglican school, then you should see that through. If you’re not going to bother with that, then lose the title.”

I completely agreed. “It’s a bit like on an individual level, if I was to refer to myself as a Christian, I should be living a life that reflects that. If I don’t do that, then not only am I not a Christian, but I’m rubbishing the Christian name, just making Christianity a joke.” I should point out in saying this that no Christian will ever exhibit perfect behaviour, but to live a deliberately sinful lifestyle is very different to living a life that, while still sinful, is lived with the best intentions of honouring God. I hope that makes sense.

“That’s right,” said Anton. “You could go as far as to say that they’re capitalising off it. One of the main reasons my parents sent me to our school was because they thought it had strong Christian values. And that was a message that was conveyed during the orientation, that it’s a good wholesome Christian school. But that’s not the case at all.”

We then focused on the rationale behind employing non-Christian teachers. “What’s the logic of hiring a teacher who doesn’t agree with the basic principles of Christianity?” Anton asked. “Yes, they might be good teachers, but I find it hard to believe that there are no good teachers with an ethos and mindset closer to what the school’s trying to portray. You can see how many teachers we had that were so far from that. It’s surprising really. And what was even more disappointing was to realise how many teachers we had that were Christian and couldn’t profess their faith.”

That was a good point, I thought. I wonder if there are evangelistically-minded teachers out there who are actively discouraged from sharing their faith in a classroom setting. And as for non-Christian teachers, I have clear memories from high school of seeing a lack of enthusiasm from teachers in how they responded to the idea of faith and worship, which for me downplayed the importance of Christianity.

We then discussed the teaching of Christian Education. “I remember being struck at how little Christian Ed class actually had to do with Christianity,” said Anton.

I agreed. “You could not find a square centimetre of theology in the whole Christian Ed course.”

“I think subliminally it gave the impression that it was ok to be a nominal believer,” Anton said. “Like you can find out about good and evil from the Lion King. That’s what got me. That project where all we did was make a poster about all the good and evil themes in the Lion King, it’s painting Christianity as just a set of morals, and saying that you don’t even need Jesus to recognise the good and evil in the world. It taught us that the morality we should live by is a human based morality. It was a weird concept for a subject called Christian Education.”

“It’s ironic, but I would bet that nobody actually grew in their Christian knowledge from doing Christian Ed,” I concluded. Anton nodded in agreement.  We then proceeded to discuss other projects that did absolutely nothing to teach us about who Jesus was.

“I think it was just to keep us busy,” I said. “We’ve got to keep these kids busy for three hours a week doing this subject under the guise of being a Christian education school.” Cynical maybe, but probably not far off the mark.

I’m currently establishing the high school age youth ministry at my church, and so the teaching of Christianity to teenagers is something I’ve been thinking about a bit of late. “I’m comparing the things I’m thinking about running in youth ministry with the things we learned in Christian Ed, and I reckon if I suggested some of the things we learned in school to my pastor as youth ministry ideas, he’d rip up my contract on the spot and push me down the stairs!”

(** Editor’s note: That last line was purely tongue in cheek. My pastor is a much more restrained man than that! **)

“Yeah, and so he should,” said Anton. “And in hindsight, I think the most important time for a young Christian is their high school years. When you’re in a school where they’re at least supposedly supportive of Christianity, that is a huge pushing factor about how that person develops. It’s where you spend most time, and get most impact.”

The pointlessness of our Christian Ed class was highlighted to me on one occasion when a teacher who I now know to be a Christian told us in our Chemistry class: “Don’t talk in class, that’s what Christian Ed’s for.” Enough said.

We also agreed that having unbelieving teachers preaching out of obligation was extremely unhelpful. “Getting teachers who clearly weren’t Christians to get up and do devotions in chapel and home class, that’s really damaging for the Christian message,” I said. “The school might feel that’s a box they’ve got to tick, but it’s a real step backwards.” I also had clear memories of teachers openly denying Christianity and uttering some pretty heavy blasphemies.

Anton agreed, and also pointed out the lack of focus on the cross in our chapel worship services. He recalled a chapel devotion on altruism, where instead of bringing the point of the talk back to the cross (which couldn’t have been hard – can you think of a better example of altruism?), the take-home message was ‘try to do one altruistic thing this week’. We also lamented the lack of an ongoing theme in the devotions. Could they perhaps have instead tried some expository preaching, like going through the book of Romans in a term? Sure, it would have gone over some peoples’ heads, but it would have given the students a better idea of how the Bible fits together. With the disjointed range of talk topics and lack of firm Biblical teaching, Anton eventually got to the point where he realised “This isn’t really chapel, it’s just letters to the editor by the teacher.”

Ultimately though, the big disappointment for both of us was that a school full of teenagers is a harvest field full of people ready to hear the gospel message. It’s a huge evangelistic mission-field that, in our limited experience, hasn’t been capitalised on. “It’s such a great opportunity to evangelise,” I said. “I’d love to have 20 kids in my class and be able to share Jesus with them.”

Jesus made it clear that it was the role of his followers to go out into the world and proclaim the gospel message. He used the image of a harvest field to represent the world full of people who don’t yet believe in him.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Luke 10:3)

High schools are an incredibly vast harvest field. Why allow this opportunity to be wasted?

“Yeah,” Anton agreed. “You can give them both practical teaching and spiritual feeding. Whereas it seems to be more just a case of teach them well, make sure they get good grades, and read them a devotion once a year.”

“ And make sure their diaries are signed.”

“And if they put the same effort that they did checking the diaries into giving their two cents on their Christian walk… It’s just a real waste.”

It’s important in all of this to realise that Christian parents have an important role to play in bringing up their children to know Jesus. They shouldn’t be relying on a Christian education to replace this. “At the end of the day though,” I said, “it’s the parents who have the most important job to do. They’ve got to be discerning in choosing a school, and they’ve got to be setting the groundwork at home.”

We finished off by chatting about how some high schools are quite effective at getting quality Christian teachers, through carefully interviewing applicants to get an idea of their relationship (if any) with God. Hopefully I’ll get the chance soon to rub shoulders and eat pie with someone who can give a bit more insight into this process. In the meantime, it’s definitely worth praying that God will be sending evangelistically-hearted gospel workers into these high school harvest fields.

Bakery Run #9 – Brumby’s, Northgate Village

Pie Buddy: Jack Page

Topic: Music ministry

Music in church can be a bit like the umpire in a football game. Everyone takes it for granted, and it’s often only noticed when it’s bad. For me personally, the impact of music in worship is something I’ve long underestimated, so I thought I’d chat with Jack, who has just finished a music internship in his church, about what music ministry means to him.

Today’s eatery of choice was the Brumby’s Bakery at Northgate. I naturally never expect too much from a bakery chain, so my hopes weren’t exactly sky-high. My pepper steak pie and donut came to just over $6, which was pretty cheap. The pie was on the money – lots of meat, good firm pastry, and just enough spiciness. The donut was slightly below par - not heaps fresh, icing a bit too runny, but still reasonably tasty. Jack gave the nod of approval for his bacon and cheese pie and apricot scroll. All in all a solid effort from Brumby’s, but no threat to the front-runners.

“How long have you been involved in music ministry for?” I asked to begin things.

“My whole life,” Jack replied. “I started playing the drums when I was a young kid, as soon as my feet could reach the pedals. And the guitar. And eventually I got asked to play in church.”

“Has it made a difference to your faith at all?”

“Yeah. Especially in the last few years when I’ve started thinking more and more about music and its place in church. So much of our music comes from God’s word, the lyrics are God’s words, the truth of the Bible that you want to be telling people and having them respond to. It’s had a big impact on my faith, definitely. Especially song-writing – sitting down, reading the bible and writing my response to what I’m reading.”

As part of Jack’s internship, one of his jobs was to choose the songs to play throughout a church service, making sure that the song lyrics connected with the theme of the sermon. We chatted about how that had helped him to think through the meaning of Bible passages a bit more. He spent a lot of one-on-one time with his music mentor, which involved a lot of questioning over Jack’s song choices, and his understanding of what the lyrics meant. He found this questioning quite intimidating, but also invaluable in getting a better understanding of things.

“Does it change the way you read the bible?”

“Yeah definitely,” said Jack. “Whenever I read through a passage now, my brain just automatically thinks of a response song. Reflecting on the song lyrics has definitely helped me grow in my thinking.”

“How much song-writing have you been doing?”

“A lot. I love picking up a guitar and putting some lyrics together. I do it pretty often, just when I’m in the mood. Catching up with Men in Boats (Jack’s band) is really good, we always come away learning more about God because we’ll read a bible passage and think through God’s word together. Whether we come away with a song or not after that really doesn’t matter, we always gain something. But if a song comes out that can be helpful for people and glorify God, then that’s great.”

Having seen Men In Boats perform several times and having heard a few of the songs they’ve written, I can definitely attest that what they’ve done so far as a band has been a huge encouragement and benefit to the Christians around them. But that’s enough shameless plugging from me, back to the discussion.

“As far as a church gathering goes, what impact do you think the music has?” I asked. “For me personally, I think it really changes the atmosphere, gets an emotional response.”

“Yeah, music is an emotional thing. And I think God’s given us this emotional thing to use, to be able to respond to his word. I think music plays a big part in teaching people God’s word. For me, if I’m reading through a bible passage or thinking through something theological, song lyrics often come into my head and help me to remember parts of scripture. It’s also edifying. It builds people up, it builds up the whole congregation, we can use music to encourage and teach one another. Scripture is always useful for teaching. And having over a hundred people around you belting out In Christ Alone definitely gets you excited and emotional. Being able to look around and see people singing about what Christ has done for them, that’s really encouraging. It just makes you want to sing louder!”

I agreed. “I find especially at a wedding or a funeral where emotions already are quite high, music and singing can be quite stirring, it definitely does have that emotional impact on people. It gets God’s word and praise for God inside their head. It’s God’s truth expressed in a sort of poetic, artistic format, that resonates with our artistic nature as humans. It makes a massive difference for me personally having music on a Sunday.”

“Good,” said Jack, “that’s exactly what I want to hear! I think music is something we all respond to, it stirs us all.”

“It’s underrated I reckon,” I said. “If I went along to church and there was no music, it wouldn’t feel right. Not that you couldn’t have church without singing, but it really does get such a response out of people. God tells us to sing songs, sing praises to the Lord, and he’s wired us to respond to the music we hear.” I then switched to the next question. “What are some of the blessings and highlights you’ve had in music ministry?”

Jack thought about it for a bit. “Seeing how much God does play a part in his church, in his people. A lot of times I’ve been anxious and stressed out, thinking things aren’t going to work out well with music on a particular Sunday because I haven’t done a good job preparing or whatever, rather than just asking to God to help out, and then everything’s just come together and worked. The musos rock up, they’re there because they want to serve God – a lot of the time people will offer to serve in exactly the way that you need people at that moment. It happens so many times, it can’t be coincidence, it’s just God’s helping hand, raising up people to serve him and giving us opportunities to serve him. That’s been a big blessing. Same as any ministry, the second you start thinking the weights on your shoulders rather than God’s, you’ve got it wrong.”

“No one’s dispensable.”

“It’s all God,” Jack agreed. “And that really makes things easy! Another blessing has been reading the bible week after week with a mentor who just knows so much about God, it’s made me so much more disciplined with my bible reading, I was pretty slack before the internship. Getting that discipline to read the bible has been awesome. Just seeing how the people that serve in a church are just one big body, they all work together in the same team.”

“What have been some challenges in music ministry?” I asked.

“I’m not always heaps comfortable being up on stage in front of people, that can be a bit awkward. I was freaked out about that, the prospect of leading people. That pushed me a lot, talking in front of the whole congregation. Also, life gets in the way. When things are stacking up, if you’ve had a bad week, it affects things. I think it affects any ministry. Which is why it’s important to pray, to talk to God as much as you can. The more you do that the more encouraged and content you’ll be, the more strength you’ll have.”

“Are there things that you see done badly in music ministry?”

“I think, as good as music is, people sometimes glorify musicians. It’s hard, because they’re up on stage and they play such a big role, but I think it can be unhealthy both for the individual and the church. It feels good to be told week after week that they’ve done a great job, but it can be damaging in the long run to how people serve. It’s God who’s given the gift, so we can serve and glorify him in a church setting. That’s something I think can be done badly. Also, you hear people talking about using music to get the Spirit’s attention, get the Holy Spirit to be around us, which is rubbish. God’s not someone who you call down. He is here. If you think music is a good way to get his attention, well, you’ve already got his attention, so why not put it to good use?”

I found that to be quite an enlightening chat. As someone with zero music ability and minimal musical knowledge, it’s not often enough that I recognise the huge blessing that music is to Christian worship. Throughout the Bible, God calls us to sing joyful praises to him, not only personally but in fellowship with other Christians:

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. (Psalm 105:2)

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 104:33)

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 6:19)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Music provides us with a means of worshipping God, while also moving us emotionally. Whenever I hear a really stirring rendition of a hymn being sung by hundreds of people together, I can’t help but feel drawn even closer to the God who has wired us to get such a high from singing his praises. I might never be much good at music myself, but it’s a gift God has given to us that I am hugely appreciative of. And I’m thankful that there are people like Jack who have the talent and the generosity of time to honour God and serve the rest of us by taking up the role of music worship.

Bakery Run #8 – Free, Unley

Pie Buddies: Tom Vaughan & Andrew Chan

Topic: Being a Christian in High School

A gluten-free bakery. I never thought I’d find myself in one of these places. But in God’s sovereignty, that’s exactly where I found myself on this particular day. My two guests were Tom and Andrew, who both finished high school just over a year ago. Tom can’t eat gluten, hence the choice of location.

To be fair, this place isn’t exactly a bakery. It’s more like a gluten-free mini-mart that also sells baked goods. There were a few pies, sausage rolls and pasties on display, as well as a few cakes. Not the sort of variety that a normal bakery would have, but enough to have a bit of a choice. All three of us got sausage rolls. I also got a brownie (which was dairy-free too), while Tom got a pastie.

The lady running the shop was delighted to find us saying grace when she brought the food over. “It’s good to see young people doing that these days!” she exclaimed. My sausage roll certainly wasn’t the greatest I’d ever had. It still tasted alright, it was a bit dry and crumbly though. Andrew, an avid gluten consumer, couldn’t finish his. Tom devoured both his pastries and enjoyed them. And the brownie was one of the nicest I’ve had in ages. So while this place certainly won’t top the list, it’s good to know that there are appealing options for people who aren’t able to eat certain foods.

We started the conversation off by chatting generally about their experiences of being Christians in their respective high school environments.

“I probably took on being a Christian about halfway through high school,” Tom began. “It was a bit of a funny situation, because I was at a Catholic school. And a lot of the stuff they believe is similar, but a lot isn’t similar. I found that a lot of the kids were completely turned off by the way they taught Christianity at school, which made it a bit harder for me to connect with them. My friends all knew I was a Christian. I didn’t get many questions about it, but I think I was still able to show my faith the way I did things.”

“Were you the only Christian in your group?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Was that a bit of a challenge for you?”

“It wasn’t too bad,” Tom replied, “my closer group of friends were all cool with it, but the wider circle of friends gave me a bit of flak. Just the odd snide remark, I was able to brush that off pretty easily. I reckon I had a pretty easy time.”

“I went to a non-denominational school,” Andrew began. “In years 8, 9 and 10 it was quite difficult because I often got shut down for believing what I did. But I started sticking up for it, because I realised that it was actually really important. I’d say I took my faith on in high school as well. My school friends gave me a lot of crap for it, but they eventually came to respect me for who I am because I did stick up for it. And we’re still friends, but I don’t really talk to them much anymore, because we’re just different people.”

I had experienced this drifting apart with many of my old school friends. “You really just find that you don’t have anything in common with them,” I agreed.

I was encouraged to hear how these two guys had been able to make a stand for Jesus at such a young age and in such a secular environment. In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains that the gospel is God’s message, and is to be proclaimed, not to be ashamed of:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16)

Tom and Andrew had understood that well.

I then moved on to the next question. “You guys both became Christians during high school. What were the big challenges you then faced?”

“Probably the biggest challenge for me was dispelling all these ideas people have, especially since it was a Catholic school,” Tom answered. “People get a really negative idea of the Catholic faith, and therefore the Christian faith. I’m constantly telling people that we don’t want gay people to burn in hell, not every priest rapes 12 year old boys, that sort of thing. And that I’m not all high and mighty judging them on every little thing they do.”

Andrew’s biggest challenge was the fact that as a Christian in a secular environment, he was fairly isolated. “For me, there were some other people at school that were Christian, not many. And there was a chaplain, but that didn’t really help strengthen me in my faith as a Christian.”

The Christian education at Tom’s school (high school Christian education is a subject which I’ll chat about at a bakery near you sometime soon) wasn’t hugely helpful either, it seemed. “We were told to buy Bibles at our school,” Tom said. “And we read a few chapters of Matthew sometime in year 9, but by then half the bibles had been lost and the other half had been completely defaced. There was a complete disregard and almost hatred of Christianity.

“Was that because it was forced on them?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah exactly. Kids just didn’t want to be there.” He went on to talk about how the multicultural nature of the school meant that there were many children coming from different religious backgrounds who didn’t appreciate having Christianity force-fed to them. Having said that, I don’t know what you expect when you attend a Christian school.

“What did you guys find helpful for your faith during high school?” I asked.

“Our youth group at church,” Tom replied, with Andrew nodding in agreement. Just having a bunch of guys the same age going through the same sorts of difficulties and having the chance to encourage one another.”

“Church generally, or mainly the youth group?” I asked.

“Specifically youth, for me anyway,” said Tom. “Just because everybody was our age, so they could see things through the same eyes we did.”

“So youth was probably the main thing for both you guys?”

“Yeah,” they both agreed.

“That’s interesting,” I replied. “I guess it says a lot about the importance of youth group, and what you’re missing out on if you don’t have that.”

“Yeah, and we were lucky too in that we had a lot of guys our age in our group.”

“Any mentors that you looked up to?” I asked.

“Yeah, our youth group leaders for sure,” said Tom. “They all had a massive impact on us.”

Andrew agreed. “It’s definitely good not just having them as leaders, but as friends.”

“If you guys were youth leaders this year,” I asked, “what would be the big life lessons that you’d be trying to impart to the kids, from your own experiences?”

“I’d really encourage honesty,” said Tom.

“Openness,” said Andrew.

“Yeah, said Tom, “and to work hard on strengthening their relationships with each other. That’s what gets you through. Leaders are awesome, but they don’t know exactly what you’re going through.”

“Definitely,” Andrew agreed. “There are things I’d tell Tommy about that I’d never tell any of my leaders, because there just isn’t that relationship.”

“Also, the whole Sunday Christian thing,” said Tom (that is, going to church on Sunday but living an un-Christian life outside of church). “That’s a pretty big thing. You’d want to try and get rid of that. It’s not only bad for the kids  who do it, but it affects the other kids too.”

“It lowers the bar for everyone,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s right. If they see this kid as a Christian doing all these things, they’ll think it’s alright. One kid can drag the group down.”

“And I think the older guys need to be role models,” Andrew added.

“Yeah,” Tom agreed. “Get the older kids to be role models. “Try to actively get them involved in the younger groups. Removing the segregation between the kids of different ages. When we went through fusion, we never interacted with the older kids, whereas there’s a wealth of wisdom with older people.”

From the chat we had, it was evident that the youth group ministry that both lads had been involved with during high school had a massive impact in shaping them as Christians. From my personal experience, having gone through high school believing in God but having no real Christian teaching or Christian fellowship in my life, I can see what a big hole this left in my development as a Christian. Their time at youth group was clearly valuable both in terms of growing their knowledge of what it means to follow Jesus, and also surrounding them with people their own age, at a similar stage in life, asking the same questions and facing the same problems. Neither of these things can be underestimated in terms of their value. Being part of a good youth ministry won’t guarantee that a child will grow into a strong Christian (that’s ultimately up to God’s sovereignty and their own decision), but as Andrew and Tom’s experience shows, it will hold them in good stead for a life of following Jesus.

Bakery Run #7 – Michel’s Patisserie, Central Markets

Pie Buddy: Shane Martin

Topic: Purpose of Life

There’s nothing like a casual Friday lunch chatting about the meaning of life. So that’s exactly what Shane and I decided we’d do. We went to the Adelaide Central Markets and walked around until we found a pie. We ended up at Michel’s. I assume Patisserie is the French word for bakery or pastry shop or something like that, so it’s an eligible contender. I got myself a pepper pie and a chocolate éclair. Shane got a chicken pie, but passed on dessert, being a healthy guy and all (clearly he read my previous blog post). My pie was alright, not amazing, and not particularly large. The éclair was pretty good – fresh, with lots of cream. Michel’s is more of a cake shop than a bakery, so the variety of pies wasn’t huge. There was still an ok selection of pies and sweet pastries though. The Asian couple behind the counter served us with great politeness – certainly no customer service issues here. My order was $8.50 all up – not cheap, but not over the top either. In conclusion, I certainly don’t regret the venue choice, but I don’t think it will get anywhere near number one on my list.

“I’ve been thinking about the purpose of life a fair bit,” Shane began. “Discussing it is a good opportunity to talk to non-Christians about faith. I think a lot of the point of our existence is lost on people today, because people just want to get rich. There’s a big difference between how Christians think about life purpose, and how the rest of the world thinks about it. For Christians, our purpose comes from Christ. He’s our living water. Jesus says that our fulfilment is in him. But then you look at the world today, and most people will say there is no purpose for our lives.”

It’s a fair point. For there to be a purpose in anything, there needed to be some being to come up with that purpose. If there’s a pie sitting on my plate, it’s likely that someone made it with the purpose of selling it and making money (mission accomplished). If humans came into existence not by design but just by sheer coincidence, then there can be no original purpose for our being. Sure, we can each come up with a purpose for the way that we live our lives (helping people, doing well at our jobs etc), but there is nothing we can claim that we were put on Earth to do.

Shane continued. “If there’s no purpose for our lives, I believe we lose the ability to call something good or bad. How do you know that without comparing it to its purpose? If my watch didn’t keep the time properly, you’d say it was a bad watch, because it didn’t do what it was meant to do. But if it couldn’t support the weight of a truck, you couldn’t call it bad, because that’s not what it was intended to do. Was the Holocaust, for example, evil? Pretty much everyone would say yes. But how can we justify that? It’s because the actions that took place didn’t meet the correct purposes of people. And we all recognise the evil that occurred.”

“So essentially then, the whole concept of morality is tied in with our life purpose,” I said. “To act in a way that contradicts our life purpose is immoral.”

“That’s right,” Shane replied. “And as Christians we find our fulfilment in Jesus. Nothing else will satisfy. People who don’t know Jesus are still looking for fulfilment, but they’ll look to other things, like money, sex, stuff like that. And those things will never truly bring them fulfilment. In Christ we’re forgiven, and our purpose is fully realised. And that’s why I think this is such an important thing to talk about with other people.”

During these sorts of chats, I always try to put myself in the mind-frame of someone who doesn’t believe the things that Christians do. Comparing, for example, Hitler with someone who refused to believe the gospel message, Christians would look at the comparison very differently to non-Christians. A Christian would attest that both people were sinners who stand condemned by God unless they seek forgiveness. A non-Christian would see Hitler’s actions as being morally reprehensible, but would see no issue with the person who rejected God. And the purpose of our life is the key in this comparison. The Christian would see both people as being sinful and separated from God, as they have rejected man’s purpose in life, which is to bring glory to God. An unbeliever, who denies this purpose, would see that one of these people has done a great deal of damage to humanity (immoral) while the other has not, and may well be quite a selfless, kind person (not immoral).

“I guess some people would see it differently to us,” I said. “They would see morality on the basis of doing what we can to further the human race. Hence why treating people well is considered to be morally good, and treating them badly is considered immoral. In that way, our purpose in life is to improve the human race. But then if you took that all the way, then surely it would be logical to kill all disabled, weak people, to kill all old people once they turn 60, get rid of anyone who can’t make a significant contribution to the human race. But anyone would see that as being extreme and incredibly immoral. And that’s because we are made in God’s image, so we are loving beings by nature. And our loving nature causes us to recognise something like that as being evil. Love isn’t rational. It’s not something that we could have obtained through evolution. It’s something God gave us a sense of, to get a greater understanding of him. That’s the way I see it anyway.”

“Yeah, and I just don’t see how people can be happy to have no purpose in life,” Shane said. “People have always looked for purpose in life. The Greeks discussed philosophy, the Romans built bridges. Even the Germans I guess saw it as being their purpose to conquer. Power was their goal.”

“How do you think we best go about communicating our purpose?” I asked.

“We have to be disciples, pick up our cross, follow Jesus. Through him we have redemption, reconciliation, joy, life, satisfaction and ultimate fulfilment. We need to trust Jesus, have a relationship with him – then we’ll have all these things. Everyone’s looking for these things. You look at the woman at the well who meets Jesus in John 4, she’s looking for fulfilment. But she’s trying to use sex to get it, and that won’t work.”

“So ultimately, everyone is looking for fulfilment,” I said. “But so many people are looking for it in the wrong place.”

“Yeah, and I think it’s really important that we communicate that both to Christians and non-Christians,” Shane said. “As Christians, we need to be constantly reminded of what our purpose is, or we become complacent. We need to talk about these sorts of things more often. We need to talk about faith, what it is, what it means. Faith is such an interesting thing – it’s impossible, yet rational. The Bible says that faith is a gift from God. We can’t obtain it on our own. And yet it’s so rational – there’s so much reason and evidence behind it. And yet we can’t see that on our own, just like when Jesus was resurrected, Mary sees him but doesn’t recognise him until he tells her it’s him.”

“Yeah, it’s funny how that works,” I said. “Faith is ours by grace, we don’t achieve it on our own. And yet there is so much weight behind the gospel message. Given the evidence for and against it, it would honestly take more faith for me to be an atheist than a Christian.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t be scared about backing up our claims,” Shane said. “And talking about things like faith helps us to understand God, to praise God and to glorify God, which is our purpose.”

Everyone seeks some sort of fulfilment in their lives. As a Christian, I believe that true fulfilment, true satisfaction in life, can only be found in knowing Jesus. And the reason for that is that it is what I believe we were created to do. Knowing Jesus, bringing glory to God and sharing in eternal life through God’s loving mercy. That is our purpose in life. The Bible is clear about what our purpose is, and why we should take great comfort in this purpose:

We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

As Christians, we won’t always be happy. There will be difficult times, and life will be unenjoyable at times. But we can always be joyful in knowing what is to come, knowing that we are drawing ever closer to the fulfilment of our purpose. For non-Christians, do you ever have a sense of dissatisfaction, as though there was meant to be more to life than what you’re experiencing now? If it happened to be that you were, indeed, created for a purpose, wouldn’t it be worth your while investigating what that purpose is, and perhaps one day enjoying the fulfilment to which it leads?

Bakery Run #6 – O’Connell Street Bakery

Pie Buddy: Ben Harrington

Topic: The sinfulness of unhealthy life choices

Before I begin, let me just say that I do appreciate the irony of discussing this topic while smashing down a two-course bakery dinner. But I think it’s a worthwhile topic to discuss, given how obesity, drunkenness and a whole lot of other physical side-effects of poor health choices are so prevalent in today’s society. Ben being a very switched on, thinking kind of guy, I knew we’d be in for a good chat.

The venue for this evening is the final (are there more? If so, let me know) of the three 24-hour bakeries – O’Connell Street Bakery at North Adelaide. And as usual, it rises to the occasion. My pepper steak pie hits the spot nicely, and the caramel slice scores highly as well (although probably not quite up there with St Georges). Ben gets a giant meringue, which also achieves a high standard. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, a great range of baked goodies, and good service. And the place never closes. I’ve been here after midnight on several occasions, and business still carries on well into the night. Who doesn’t feel like a pie and a berliner at 2am anyway?

I mention the discussion topic to Ben, and he raises his eyebrows, probably because of the pie and caramel slice sitting on the table in front of me waiting to be devoured. “What I’m doing now, for example, is unhealthy,” I say. “When we consider unhealthy eating, drinking, smoking, sedentary lifestyle – where do we draw the line on these unhealthy life choices? When does it become sinful to live this way?”

“I don’t think there is a black and white line,” Ben replied. “There are certainly principles about this in the Bible, but it’s more of a wisdom issue, not so much black and white sin. This topic isn’t addressed specifically. Gluttony is identified as being sinful, but the bible never says how much food we can eat and not be gluttonous.”

To use an example from my own life, I happen to absolutely adore chicken schnitzels and consume them on a frighteningly regular basis. I’ve been starting to question whether this has developed into a sinful habit. I run this thought by Ben. “I guess I see it being a three-part issue,” I explained. “There’s the issue of greed – that is, wanting more than I need. Then there’s the idolatry side of things – am I over-desiring this food and holding it in an exalted position in my life? And then there’s the financial side – I’m spending a fair bit more money than I really need to.”

Ben thought about it for a bit. “Yeah, there’s the idolatry aspect, where you’re loving the creation as opposed to the Creator. And greed is linked to that - the Bible does say that greed is idolatry (Colossians 3:5 for those playing at home). It’s a desire for pleasure. In our pursuit of pleasure we can forget the source of that good gift.”

“When you break it down, pretty much any sin is a result of idolatry,” I replied. “Every sinful act we commit is a result of us seeking fulfilment in something that doesn’t honour God, that is contrary to his will.”

“Yeah that’s right,” said Ben. “And idolising food and drink is clearly condemned in the Bible. There are references to drunkenness, and to people whose Gods are their stomachs. But then what’s the issue?” he asked.

“Well as I see it, the issue with drunkenness is that it robs us of our self-control and causes us to act in ways that are displeasing to God. It takes away our ability to honour God.”

“Precisely,” Ben replied. “And similarly, the way we eat can demonstrate a lack of self-control and discipline. Gluttony and greed are sins. And so the principle becomes clear: what are we striving for in life? To bring glory to God. Everything needs to be looked at in that framework. Is your diet impacting your bringing glory to God? Is your drinking causing you to lose self-control, or damaging your body, and thereby affecting how you glorify God?”

This principle of glorifying God is seen in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The context in this passage is about eating in a way that doesn’t affect the conscience of other people, but the underlying principle remains the same. It’s a short verse, but a profound reminder of our calling to honour God in all we do:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

“There’s also the importance of honouring your body,” Ben continued. “1 Corinthians talks about your body being a temple of the Holy Spirit, although that is in the context of prostitutes rather than eating.”

“Husbands are called to love their wives as they love their own bodies,” I replied (Ephesians 5.28. Verse 29 then says that we care for our bodies, just as Christ does for the Church). “so there’s clearly an expectation that we will honour the bodies we’ve been given.”

“That’s right. But then on the other hand, there are numerous Biblical passages about the Israelites feasting.”

“Is that prescriptive or descriptive though?” I asked. “Looking at Jesus’ life, you don’t exactly see him queuing up at the smorgasboard.”

“But there are a number of feasts that God tells the Israelites to have, plus a whole lot of animal sacrifices,” Ben replied. “And the Bible does talk about wine gladdening the hearts of men (Ps 104: 15). So food and drink are to be enjoyed.”

“So we’re called to accept these gifts thankfully, but not to elevate them to exalted positions in our life,” I said. “From a practical point of view, what I take that to look like is to enjoy – with a thankful heart- an evening eating and drinking with our friends or whatever, but to take a prudent long-term view. There needs to be self-control on our part. We’re called to enjoy these gifts, but to make too regular a habit of it would be greedy and financially irresponsible. And that’s where financial planning comes into it. If we plan our spending carefully, we can ensure that we don’t spend excessive amounts of money on needless luxuries, so that we can glorify God with our money. Even then though it’s still a bit of a grey area – how much is the right amount of money to be spending on food, wine, cigarettes etc? It’ll be different for each person. What are your thoughts on cigarettes anyway,” I asked. “Do you think smoking is a sin?”

“Cigarettes are an interesting one,” Ben replied. “They are kind of culturally taboo. They’re not directly biblically condemned, but because of the health risks, the addictive nature, the loss of self-control and the cost, it seems unwise. It’s not a direct sin, it’s more a wisdom issue. Consequently, I’d be reluctant to judge someone for smoking. We need to be careful not to extend the Bible beyond what it actually says. I know a number of Christians who smoke.”

“I think the addiction aspect of it changes how we look at it,” I said. “Addiction is essentially an illness, not a choice. And a lot of people addicted may be from previous generations, who wouldn’t have known the health risks when they started. They may well have prayed to be released from the addiction, but God has decided to use it for his purposes instead. That said, I think choosing to smoke in this day and age, with all the knowledge we have about the harm of smoking, is an unwise and sinful choice. Even with gluttony, there’s at least the argument that we need to eat to live. We certainly don’t need durries to live. From the financial side of things, I think it’s justifiable. Person A might spend $50 a week on movies for personal leisure, while person B spends his $50 on cigarettes. But from a health perspective, I think it contradicts God’s will for us. But then again I’ve just polished off a pie and a caramel slice, so there’s a bit of a double standard going on here.”

Ben launches into his conclusion. “The Bible calls us to strive for wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom is a virtue. That’s what the whole book of Proverbs is about. Being unwise contradicts with the way God calls us to live. We’re in a relationship with God, and our purpose in life is to bring honour and glory to God. We’re called to live wisely, to build that relationship, to honour God. And the health-related decisions we make should reflect that calling.”

That seemed like a pretty good way to wrap up the chat. At the end of the day, we are called to pursue wisdom, to seek God’s guidance, and to live prudently, using the common sense with which we have been gifted. The sole purpose of our life, the reason we are alive, is to bring honour and glory to God. Everything we do is to be done in a way that is pleasing to God. We should at all times be looking to serve him with all that we have. And so it makes sense that the decisions we make that affect the health of our body should reflect this calling. If what we are eating, drinking or smoking is affecting our ability (short-term and long-term) to serve and honour God, then it is something we must address. If we’re overweight and it’s affecting our ability to serve God, then we need to start jogging around the block. I know there are areas of my life that I need to change to improve on this, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. How are the decisions you are making affecting the way God is honoured in your life?

Bakery Run #5 – Café de Villis

Pie Buddy: Lawson Hannaford

Topic: Work & Christianity

Tonight’s venue was my second of Adelaide’s three 24-hour bakeries. My pie partner was Lawson, and we got chatting about a Christian perspective on work. Lawson currently works as a landscaper, and also ministers in a church that he began with his father-in-law a couple of years ago, so he has good insight into both secular and church work. At the time of our chat he was reading Every Good Endeavour by Tim Keller, a book about serving God through secular work, which got us on to the topic.

The Villis café, located just off South Road at Mile End, has a decent amount of seating both indoors and outdoors (although it’s a little cramped) and a solid range of Villis products on the menu, as well as milkshakes, ice cream and a whole lot of other stuff. My pie and donut both hit the spot nicely, although it’s nothing spectacular – pretty much the same as a Villis pie and donut that you could buy at Foodland, just a bit fresher. Lawson gets a pie floater, which looks outstanding, and makes it disappear in quick time. The food gets brought out to us on plates, which adds a bit of class to this place. I’m fairly confident I’ll be back here again one day (or night).

We begin by chatting about the upcoming season for Lawson’s football team, and what a good witness opportunity it is for a Christian to be involved in such a secular environment as a football club. He talks about how he used to pray before games, and how others gradually joined in as the year went on, even the coach. It’s encouraging to hear how God is using the workers in his harvest field. The conversation then transitions to the Christian perspective of work. “People think of work as being a curse,” Lawson said. “It’s a calling from God. We were called to work in the garden, right from the start. The Bible describes work as having a curse over it from the fall, which means that it can seem unproductive and meaningless at times. That’s what Ecclesiastes is on about. So while work – like everything else – is under the curse, it’s still a calling from God. People see work as being a negative thing, a necessary evil, they see the whole ‘live to work or work to live’ thing. And many people definitely do live to work.”

This reminded me a bit of the conversation I had with Nath the other day, where we had talked about how easy it is to idolise and worship our careers.

“It’s also important to remember that God values all work equally if that’s your calling, if you’re doing what he has willed for you to do,” Lawson continued. “Doctors, for example, have a high status in society, and it’s a role that people naturally aspire to. But God equally values the guy that served us at Villis just then, provided he is doing his work for God’s glory. And that’s something that’s challenged me in terms of doing both landscaping and church work. You tend to elevate one. Christians focus on full time ministry, but the secular work that we do can glorify God just as much. Look at history – Christians have been at the forefront of scientific and medical advances, cultural development, policy-making, all that sort of thing. Christians made it happen. I think Christians today tend to idolise church-based work. Previous generations had a better understanding of Scriptures.”

“Do you think Christians are more ignorant today, or is it more just a case of their being a smaller proportion of people in the world today who identify themselves as born-again Christians?” I asked. “I’m not a cultural expert by any stretch, but it seems that in the western world at least, identifying yourself as being a Christian has gone from being the default to being unusual in the last 100 years or so. You look at how Australia started, and our origins are rooted in Christian values. Now we’re essentially a secular nation.”

“Yeah, pop culture has definitely shifted away from Christianity, and people’s values and habits are for the most part dictated by pop culture. That’s something we’re called to resist as we live our lives for God.”

Lawson then turned his focus to what working to glorify God looks like. “Before I began to consider ministry, I wanted to be the best at my job. I believe God wants excellence from us in our work. It’s a means of worshiping him, provided we are working hard to honour him, not ourselves. We also worship him by resting. God demonstrated working six days and resting one day when he created the universe. My philosophy is that you should work hard when you’re working, and make sure you rest well too. God designed us in his image, and he rested.”

“And Jesus rested when he was tired from his hard work,” I said. “Before he calmed the storm, he was sleeping after days of ministering to the people around him. The Bible gives accounts of him working hard during his ministry, but also resting.”

“Yeah, and it’s interesting, when he fed the 5000 people, he was actually trying to get away from the people and have a rest, but crowds of people came after him,” Lawson replied. “And he didn’t just leave them, he pushed through the tiredness and kept on going. It’s a great example of God’s calling for Christians to give their all. He calls us to rest well and to work hard. We’ve got to be always willing to do God’s work. Whether that’s digging a hole or preparing a Bible study, they’re both equally valuable in God’s sight if that’s his will for you at that moment.”

That was a bit of a mind-blowing realisation for me. I find – and I’m sure I’m not the only one – that I have a constant desire to be productive. I want to see tangible results for every bit of effort I put into something. And so from a Christian perspective, every second where I’m not doing something that is bringing noticeable glory to God feels like a second wasted. But Lawson is right, I realise. Even the things we do that don’t seem to be building up God’s kingdom can still be honouring God. Take secular work for example. God can be at work in so many ways through our work. Like through our witness to non-Christian workmates and the way we conduct ourselves in front of them. Who are we to limit in our minds what God might be doing in their hearts. As we work, God is enabling us to develop character, patience, perseverance, experience and skills that we can use to serve him in a variety of ways down the track. And as we make our own contribution to the way the world runs, God is using us to shape a world in which he promises to be lovingly and sovereignly at work. In the book of Colossians, Paul makes it clear that the purpose of our work is to reverently serve God:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:22-24)

“What do you think are some things that Christians to badly in regards to work?” I asked.

“Firstly, when people compartmentalise, when they separate their secular work from their serving of God,” Lawson replied thoughtfully. “I think that’s unhealthy and unbiblical. It leads to people looking down on others for doing certain things. It leads to sin in the church. And it personifies the Sunday Christian. I think also laziness is a big one.”

I had to agree with that one. “It’s a poor witness, isn’t it?”

“It’s a terrible witness. Work is one of your greatest witness opportunities, why would you waste that by being lazy at your job? And then on the flip-side, being a workaholic is bad as well. Idolising work. God wants us to give our best while we’re at work, but to worship him first and foremost. I see God as being my number one priority, then family, then church and ministry, then work. And I make sure my prayer life matches that. When I pray, I’ll focus firstly on God – like saying the Lord’s prayer or something similar – then pray for my family, then for ministry stuff – discipling, that sort of thing – then about work and evangelism. I find it definitely makes me think about what I value, and helps me to prioritise stuff.”

He also sees a Sabbath day as being something that has helped him. “I don’t see Christians as being under law and required to take a Sabbath, I see it more as being under wisdom. God has created us to work and rest, so I see a Sabbath as being a time for rest and recreation. I generally wouldn’t do any sermon prep, church stuff, work or anything like that.”

And of course, prayer and Bible reading is an essential part of any Christian’s life. “Spending time with God is the most valuable time of day.” And while this may not seem directly related to the topic of work, there is no way you will focus on God and seek to glorify him in your work if you don’t have a solid relationship with him. And a solid relationship with God comes through spending time reading his word and making it a priority to spend time with him in prayer. Make prayer and Bible reading a top priority in your life, and it will help you to focus better on serving God throughout the day, not just on the odd occasion. I know this, and yet Lawson’s words still remind me that I need to make these things a more urgent priority.

I came away from today’s discussion firmly reminded of how God can use people in all circumstances for his glory. God has placed each Christian person (every person in fact) in particular circumstances for particular reasons. Our jobs have huge value in terms of honouring God. It’s a reminder for each of us – no matter what we do for a living, if we are fortunate enough to have work – to do our task to the best of our ability, for God’s glory. Given that Christians will (hopefully) not worship our jobs and live for them, we should be prepared to accept that we may never be the best in our field. But we can be sure that God will be working through our efforts and bringing about his purposes through our work. Work isn’t a curse. Futility is a curse. God created us to work well, to rest well, and to do it all to honour him.

Bakery Run #4 – St Peters Bakery

Pie Buddy: Nathan Eardley-Harris

Topic: Being a Christian and a doctor

I’ve been hearing good things about St Peters Bakery for a while now, and the day had finally come to see if the hype was justified. To be fair, most of the hype I had heard was from Nathan, who lives just a few hundred metres away from the place. With that in mind, who could be a better bakery buddy for today? That’s right, nobody. Nath has just finished his medical degree and begun working as an intern at a hospital, meaning that he can now officially be called ‘doctor’. I thought it would be interesting to get his perspective on how his Christian faith impacts his thinking as a doctor.

But such a deep conversation would be impossible on an empty stomach. We arrived at the bakery late Sunday afternoon, by which stage they had run out of steak and pepper pies. Understandable, I guess. We both opted for the vindaloo beef pie, which turns out to be a very worthy substitute. I can’t fault the quality of my donut, and Nath chooses one of the cheesecakes on display, which hits the spot just nicely. Lots of indoor and outdoor seating, lots of food options both sweet and savoury, good portion sizes, not too expensive, friendly staff (who allow us to stay and chat well after closing time) – this bakery gets two thumbs up for sure.

“In your experience,” I ask Nath to kick things off, “what are the implications of living by Christian ethics as a doctor?”

“I’ve been thinking about that a fair bit,” he replied. “To start with, what do Christian ethics imply? Caring for your neighbour and looking out for others. Praying for patients and evangelism. Most doctors would do the first bit of that regardless of their beliefs. But evangelism as a doctor is hard, and I’ve never really seen it done well.”

He then takes a few moments to consider Christianity from a doctor’s point of view. “As a doctor, I see God’s creation every day. And as a medical student, we were all taught to ask questions – most of my friends find it hard to have faith in what they can’t see and touch. I believe faith and science work hand in hand. But people seem to think it’s a case of faith versus evidence.”

“Have you met many Christian doctors?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ve seen pretty much the full spectrum of Christian doctors. Some of them openly exhibit everything and more that you would expect in a Christian.” He recounts an experience of meeting a doctor in Papua New Guinea who would pray with each of his patients. “You could tell that he cared for them both medically and pastorally. But then I’ve met a lot of other doctors – Christian and non-Christian – who have a complete lack of respect for patients. And it’s hard to find the right balance between caring for your patients on a pastoral level – like praying for them – and on a professional level – like giving advice, treating them, that sort of thing. If you were always praying for your patients, I think that would be quite unwelcome in general - most people wouldn’t appreciate it.”

I can completely understand his point. I can imagine that if I didn’t believe in God and was wanting a doctor to find a cure for my sickness, I’d be pretty keen for him to crack out the stethoscope rather than the prayer book. But God can reveal himself to people in all sorts of ways, it seems. “During placement a few years ago, I met a guy who was dying,” Nath said. “We had a bit of a chat and he said he had lived a bad life – he had treated people badly, and everything he’d done had been out of pure selfishness. But then he got given a Bible, discovered God’s truth and realised life’s meaning and his own sinfulness. He wanted to talk to me about Jesus. We prayed together, then I left, and when I came back to see him the next week, he was gone.”

It’s always incredible hearing stories like that, and being constantly reminded that it’s never too late for someone to give their life to Jesus and be saved.

“I think the time factor is something that makes it hard to be a doctor and a Christian,” said Nath. “The busyness of it can sometimes stop people from going to Church. It becomes not just a job, but a lifestyle. You become career minded. It’s the one thing they think will make them happy.”

Although I’m not a doctor, I’ve seen enough of this in my own working experience to know that he is absolutely right. Finding a work/faith balance is a huge task, and something I’m sure I’ll chat to someone (while eating a pie) about sooner rather than later. “Yeah, I’ve definitely seen people who live for their careers,” I agreed. “We all worship something in our lives. For some people it’s God, for some it’s the gym, for some it’s their work.”

“Yeah, and I have to feel sorry for them,” Nath said. “It’s just such a hollow way to live.”

I’m interested to hear Nath’s thoughts on abortion and euthaniasia, which are two medically related topics in which his Christian perspective is sure to be in opposition to that of many of his colleagues.

“As far as abortion goes, I never thought I’d have a choice,” he said. “I assumed it was kind of like being in the army and having to go to war – it just comes with the territory. But now I’ve come to see that I do have a choice. I can disagree. If someone asks me to perform an abortion, I can point them to someone who is willing to do it, but I can choose not to do it. I remember a non-Christian obstetrician I met in Port Pirie, who said: ‘I refuse to do that. I’m not here to kill.’ It’s such a gray area. Many people will ask ‘what if the mother was raped?’ or ‘what if the mother is sick and the birth will endanger her?’. And I think you do have to look after the mother’s wellbeing. The doctor in Port Pirie used to say ‘God looks after the babies, we look after the mother’, which I thought was interesting. Personally, as a Christian I disagree with abortion and I definitely wouldn’t want to perform one. But I don’t think it’s my place to judge others with a different worldview who do choose to have one.

“As far as euthanasia goes, I see it as taking a life, just like suicide. And I don’t think family members should have a say in whether someone is euthanized. If a person isn’t competent to make a decision, then a decision shouldn’t be made. Living isn’t a decision, it should be the default option. I think if someone states in their will that they don’t want to be kept alive if they’re in a vegetated state, then that’s a different matter.”

“There’s a difference between ceasing to keep someone alive and causing a person to die, isn’t there.” I said. From my personal point of view, if I was in a comatose state, being kept alive by a machine, with no hope of recovery, I would much prefer them to pull the plug rather than prolong the pain for my family. “Have you been challenged on your views by other people you’ve come across in the profession?” I asked.

“Not really. My views on abortion have never really been held against me. And from my experience, euthanasia really isn’t that popular. People have more pressing issues against Christianity, like gay marriage for example.”

I found it quite interesting that most of the things he was challenged on didn’t seem to be medical related. Overall, it was fascinating to get a perspective of life from the point of view of someone doing such a sensitive, people-focussed role in the secular world, while seeking to obey and honour God in everything. Following Jesus means not just to obey him when it suits us, but to honour him in all that we do:

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

That’s a big ask for any person in any job, and it’s encouraging to see that Nath is thinking through what that looks like in his role. Medicine is a field of work that will produce situations of great biological and moral complexity. Many issues that arise – such as abortion – are extremely difficult to deal with, due to the often complicated circumstances and, of course, the impact on human lives involved. Christian doctors may at times differ with each other in their opinions on such issues, but my prayer is that they would be trusting in God to give them discernment in the decisions they make, and strength to stand firm in their faith as they carry out their work.