Looking for answers in the London riots

The recent London riots raise the question of how can we motivate young people to do the right thing? We all know that stealing is wrong. We all know that destroying other people’s property is wrong. But given half a chance, thousands of school aged children joined the rioting and the looting. Many were middle class, university educated who couldn’t resist the temptation of getting a new pair of shoes or a plasma TV for free.

The mother of a young woman filmed looting, spoke of her shame and despair at her daughter's lawless actions. The daughter was seen on TV brazenly trying on training shoes taken from a sports shop in Tottenham, North London. She made no attempt to hide her identity as she joined others rifling through stock.

You may be worried about the behaviour of your own teenage children (or future teenage children)? Do you really know what they get up to on Saturday nights? Are they involved in stealing, graffiti or other anti-social behaviour? What can you do?

How can we motivate a young person (or in fact any person) to be a peaceful and productive member of society?

David Cameron the British Prime Minister proposed two solutions “to mend our broken society”. 1. Getting tough 2. Changing government policies.

Getting tough
Cameron said he hoped courts would use exemplary sentences to deter future riots. He praised the sentencing of two people to four years jail for inciting riots on Facebook – riots that never took place. Cameron has backed calls to withdraw welfare benefits from rioters and to evict those who live in government housing. He also floated the idea of restricting the use of services such as Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger.

Government policies
Cameron also said that “our security fight back must be matched by a social fight back. We must fight against the attitudes and assumptions that have bought parts of our society to this shocking state.” He went on … “it’s about parenting, it’s about discipline in schools, it’s about making sure we have a welfare system that doesn’t reward idleness.” The government plans to review whether current government programs are strong enough to address the underlying problems.

Prince Charles proposed a more simple solution …. “what rioters really needed was to be tired out with extra-curricular activities such as sport at school.”

Do we really think that government policies and school sports are going to motivate our young people to do the right thing? Anyone with teenage children will know that the problem is more complex and deeply rooted.

A better solution
I’m now going to be radical and propose a solution you might laugh at or may never have considered.

Introduce your children to Jesus Christ in the Bible. The Bible makes a big claim which is also testified to by the experience of many. The Bible claims that getting to know Jesus Christ and learning about his grace (generosity to us) will transform even the most obstinate and selfish person. The apostle Paul wrote: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."(Titus 2:11-14 NIV)

You want to motivate people to be eager to do good? Introduce them to Jesus Christ. There’s only one way to find out whether this will work or not …..

How one person can affect so many

Last weekend an over height truck carrying an excavator plunged into the entrance of the M5 motorway tunnel near Bexley. The driver ignored the flashing signs triggered by lasers. The M5 East was closed for most of the weekend creating havoc for thousands of people. I was one of them, being stuck in traffic three times over the weekend because of this accident. How the actions of just one person can affect thousands of others in a city like Sydney.

"No man is an island". We are interconnected. Some people justify their selfish behaviour by saying "I can do what I want as long as it doesn't affect others". That's fine but it's often not as simple as that. I can't always see what the affects of my actions will be, in the present and the future. Even our secret sins affect relationships with those around us.

There's a part of the Bible which speaks of our inter connectedness. It's in Romans 5:12-21. It basically says: there are two men whose actions have affected the futures of every other human being - Adam and Jesus Christ. Adam's action caused sin, death and God's judgement to enter the world. Jesus action bought justification (forgiveness) before God and eternal life.

We don't have a choice about suffering the consequences of Adam's actions .... in our humanity we are connected to him. We are born into it. But we do have a choice of whether to receive the benefits of what Christ did for us. Get connected to Christ today!

Why Cheat? Because everyone else does.

That was the reason former Melbourne Storm chief executive Brian Waldron gave the club's chairman Dr Rob Moodie when questioned about why he had orchestrated the blatant salary cap cheating that has cost the club two premierships. (SMH 23/04/10)

Raises the question of: Where do people get their ethics of decision making.

For Brian Waldron its "follow the herd."

Everyone else is doing it (ie. cheating) ... so why shouldn't I? This works well for issues which are seemingly innocuous eg. downloading music off the web. But doesn't sound as plausable when speaking to your teenage son or daughter about why they follow their peers in taking heavy drugs at a party. Or if you're a shopkeeper being looted during a power outage. ie. Just because "Everyone else is doing it" doesn't make it right.

So a good question to gently ask people when discussing the Storm scandal is: Where do you get your sense of right and wrong from?

For Christian's, we believe in a God who made the world and us ....and has lovingly given us guidance for life and human relationships ... in the Bible. Christians don't follow the herd they follow God's good word. Don't want to follow God's way? .... then who do you follow?

Where is our moral compass when it comes to pedophilia?

The media reporting of the unhappy residents of Ryde protesting about convicted pedophile Dennis Ferguson setting up home in their suburb has raised many interesting ethical issues. For example: 1. Should society forgive Dennis Ferugson? He's done his time and paid his dues. Why is pedophilia the unforgivable sin and where does the moral basis to make this decision come from? What about our moral failings? 2. Is morality relative to time and culture? 50 years ago homosexuality was considered a sin and a crime, but today it's just a lifestyle choice. Maybe in 50 years time pedophilia will be accepted as OK as moral values become more liberal. Are there such things as 'moral absolutes' that are wrong in every generation? And who decides? 3. Are humans good and able to improve? Is it possible to rehabilitate a pedophile? Or are we slaves to our foibles and unable to change? The Bible's view is that God is the ultimate determiner of good and evil. He made us and he makes the rules of what is right and wrong (see Genesis 1-3). So there are absolutes in every generation. Secondly the Bible teaches that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In the eyes of a Holy God, pedophilia is no worse than lusting in your heart after someone elses husband or wife (Mark 7:20-23). Thirdly, the Bible recognises the reality that people are slaves to sin (Romans 7:14). Yes we should be worried about someone with a history of pedophilia living in our suburb. But the Bible also gives hope that we can be freed from the power of sin through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25). So if you're looking for some moral certainty, some real forgiveness for your sins and some power to overcome evil desires, read the Bible and find our more about Jesus Christ. The Bible is our compass guiding us on hard ethical issues and showing the path to being in right standing with our holy maker.

Should we worry about politicians private lives?

I heard a NSW Greens senator on radio 702 yesterday commenting on the Della Bosca affair. She dragged out the old line that a politicians private life has nothing do with how they perform their public duties and that it's none of our business what goes on behind closed doors.

But the Sydney Morning Herald today quoted the woman involved in the affair (Kate) as saying: ''If he is capable of lying to his wife and children … why wouldn't he do that in other aspects of his career?''

The logic is inescapable!

Comparing Michael Jackson to Jesus Christ

Same
1. Both destined to become more famous after their deaths than while living.
2. Both misunderstood and ostracised while they lived. In Mark 3:21 JC's family came to take him home because they thought he was "out of his mind". The media branded MJ as "Wacko Jacko".
3. Both claimed to be innocent when charges were brought against them (MJ for child molestation, JC for blasphemy - both seen as the worst category of crimes in their day).
4. Both 'living on' after their deaths. MJ through archives of unreleased songs and video footage. Jesus Christ through a physical resurrection (John 20:21-31).

Different
1. MJ will be forgotten in 50 years time. JC has been popular for 2000 years.
2. MJ died from drugs. JC died for the sins of others (Mark 10:45).
3. MJ's comeback tour will never happen. JC's comeback tour is a certainty (Acts 1:1-11).

The Spiritual side of Transformers 2 Movie

Warning: If you plan to see the movie 'Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen' and don't want to know part of the ending then DON'T read on.

I went to the movies yesterday to watch Transformers 2 - Revenge of the Fallen with my son Simon. I was going for his sake of course ;) The movie was fast and furious for most of the 2 1/2 hours of fast cars, fast planes and fast robots ..... except ...... when the human star of the movie Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is killed by an exploding misile while running to save the day. CPR fails to revive him and he is given up as dead. That is until the next scene where we are taken into ... Transformer heaven. Here the 'Ancient of Days' of Transformers declares to Sam that it has always been Sam's destiny to be a great leader and to save the day and that he must go back. Whoosh!! Sam's 'dead' body jerks, his eyes open and he's back on the battlefield, full of life and vitality. A little later the leader of the Autobots (good Transformers) Optimus Prime, the only hope of winning the battle, is resurrected by a magical key.

I find it amazing that in a movie where science and technology are 'God' the movie writers still feel the need to inject a spiritual dimension - a greater Spiritual power, beyond this world which controls peoples' destinies, life and death. Is it just that we can't cope living in a mechanistic world where this world is all there is and where death has the final say (c/c to 1 Corinthians 15).