26 March 2002

An Easter Message from the President of Australian Christian Churches, Pastor Philip Baker

I’m not sure whether it was the media advisors or the public relations firm but whoever was responsible for the public launch of Christianity obviously got it wrong.

If you are going to start a world impacting religion then it makes sense to do the market research, pick the right representatives, and the most suitable launch venue.

Christianity messed it up from the beginning. I agree the idea of a great moral teacher is a good one. However, to place him in a small town, in a situation where the political and religious leaders don’t like him, guarantees an uphill battle from the start.

If you can get through these challenges, it’s important to ensure our great moral teacher doesn’t go around saying stuff that is going to cause problems later on. Certainly, don’t claim you are God or predict your own death and resurrection.

Astute people will quickly leave the camp and your credibility will vanish when your predictions don’t come to pass. Okay, dying young is achievable, but resurrection scores a lot higher in the degree of difficulty stakes.

Next, if you persist with a death and resurrection theme, utilise it as an example of a life robbed of its potential by sinister forces. Whatever you do, don’t try and turn it into some kind of theological point where you claim your death is that of a Saviour, not dying simply as an example but dying in the place of all those who place their trust in you.

Our post-modern world does not smile kindly on antiquated ideas of sacrifice, sin and punishment. Although Emmanuel Kant declared we are cut from crooked timber, the “I’m OK, You’re OK” mantra has drowned out such negative, medieval nonsense.

Lastly, if you do somehow manage to work your way through such impossibilities long enough to establish a small beachhead of believers, at least make sure you have among them men and women of stature, prominence, political savvy and, of course, financial resource. If you only have a struggling band of fisherman and tax collectors, untrained and uneducated, who are trying to survive in the midst of life threatening persecution, then it is simply a matter of time before your new religion crashes.

Certainly, any dreams you may have of giving humanity a hope beyond death and a good news that points to purpose and meaning in our lives will have to be abandoned .Only God could be successful under such great odds!