The Lost Message of Jesus London Oct 2004

The Lost Message of Jesus

Steve Chalke

I attended what was jokingly referred to as ‘Chalke-gate’. Put on by the Evangelical Alliance at Emmanuel Evangelical Church in Marsham Street (London SW1), it was a “public debate on the issues raised by Steve Chalke’s controversial book, ‘The lost message of Jesus’ ”

Joel Edwards; chairs the Evangelical Alliance (EA) and like me is an ex-Probation Officer. He set some helpful ground rules for the evening, as he called for ‘robust love; truth and grace’. The format was simple enough (if somewhat lengthy). Opening statements from each side, Steve Chalke vs. Simon Gatherall with responses and then further statements from 2 other guest speakers: Stuart Murray Williams vs. Anna Robbins. A break and then questions from Joe Public, closing statements, conclusion and prayer. It was chaired by Derek Tidball of LBC Steve Chalke is the founder of the charity Oasis and a popular broadcaster. He is able to communicate with passion and conviction. His theology is forged in everyday encounters with people on the margins. He is a practitioner who gets his hands dirty and has to find answers to the man in the street who questions the very roots and foundations of our faith.

His emphasis on ‘original goodness’ rather than ‘original sin’, on orthodoxy and ortho-praxis together - His is an 'applied theology', not just an academic one, although he is well read.
The bone of contention is what has been academically termed ‘penal substitution’, which has become the dominant evangelical understanding for the cross. Chalke has termed it a form of ‘’cosmic child abuse’, which he claims is a popular accusation found in any pub discussion on Christianity. This is what has riled so many, causing accusations of heresy and withdrawal of support for his projects.

Karl Barth once accused British Christianity, with its emphasis on God’s creation, man’s freedom of choice and a practical faith, of being "incurably Pelagian”. I wondered if PELAGIUS 355-435  had had similar treatment as he was accused of heresy, by Augustine and others. 

Stuart Murray Williams, author of ‘Post-Christendom’, and a Mennonite, summarised part of his book. Christians were initially a powerless deviant minority, a counter-cultural community, which concentrated on the incarnation and living out the message of Jesus. Post-Constantine the Church became the centre of power, ‘Christendom’. It became violent, coercive, more doctrinal (cf. ecumenical creeds), and the emphasis became ‘the birth to death of Christ with nothing in between’. Christ's life had become disturbing, pushed to the margins by the empire. The radical message of Jesus was lost 400 AD and needs to be recovered. Amen to that!
(Stuart Murray William’s statement)

I was left with a question. Does an emphasis on ‘penal substitution’ lead to an evangelical jugmentalism? This has been evident in a lot of what has been written in the Christian press, as well as some of the comments in the hall. A form of graceless Christianity.

Steve was awarded an MBE for ‘services to social inclusion’ His theology also seems more socially inclusive than most.

I noticed two scripture texts above the stage:

John 10:10 ‘I have come that they may have life’

Matt 1: 23 ‘Emmanuel, God with us’.

Maybe God was trying to tell us something.

On pyramids October 2003

Police Camel 

Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World the great Pyramids of Giza are possibly the most visited monuments of Egypt… The pyramids of Sheops and Chephren have stood for 46 centuries … before them lies the Sphinx .. mystery surrounds the meaning of this feline character.

lonely planet guide

‘It was not an obsession with death, or a fear of it, on the part of the ancient Egyptians that led to the construction of these incredible mausoleums , it was their belief in the eternal life and their desire to be at one with the cosmos.’

lonely planet guide

I finally made it to the Pyramids, on this my 3rd trip to Egypt. I was travelling with Leslie, a CMS colleague (Interchange advisor). We were on our way to youth conference in Pakistan via Egypt and were given an afternoon off from the ISAACS programme to explore Egypt’s heritage.

On close examination I managed to work out that pyramids have four sides, not three!  This helped me expand my definition of mission. I had often described it as a triangle, but now there were further possibilities !

They are after all full of religious meaning, so lend themselves to spiritual analogies.


At the Pakistani Youth Peace Conference in Karachi I was able to share these new insights into the work of CMS as “A movement of people in mission”.

Mission is like a pyramid with different sides: 

The 3 bits I have often emphasised in the past are: 

Proclamation, kerygma, speaking the Word of God 

Praxis, diakonia doing the Works of God 

Presence koinonia being a Witness as the People of God 

 And I suppose I have tried to live out the middle of these three through my own involvement in social development.  But I recognise how important being an authentic witness is through simply being who we are and also the necessity of being willing to answer peoples questions, which involves speaking  about what we believe in.  

But there is a hidden dimension to this pyramid -  which represent dealing with issues of Power and (Spiritual) Warfare, fighting evil structures, not people.

And I would put Praise & Worship of God is at the heart of the pyramid, at the centre of it all. 

And I suppose you could say that the the pinnacle of the Pyramid, the outworking, is the Way of Peace and Discipleship, the lifestyle of the follower of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

from your own correspondent 

Cairo October  2003