Life In Wartime

COVID-19 has taught us many lessons about the imperative to evangelise, but also how important it is to adapt our methods to the circumstances of the day.In the final episode of Life In Wartime, David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine discuss what it is to be an evangelist, and what form that evangelism can most helpfully take in a time of world crisis. It seems that the imminent prospect of death by pandemic should be the ideal time for people to hear about eternal life - so why is the Gospel message not cutting through? How is it that the world can be never been more open to, but never more hostile towards what Jesus has to say?

We have been talking about Life in Wartime. But what is this war we're involved in? The war against Covid? The War against racism? Are we social justice warriors? Should we be focussed on the culture wars? Or actual wars? Why would we in the Church use this language of war, and what does it mean for us?

David Robertson and Steve McAlpine look at the shape of political discourse during global crises, beginning with Winston Churchill's encouragement to the British people during World War II.Do we discover in it a unity based on our shared need to get through the crisis? And will it evaporate as soon as the crisis passes?Most importantly, can Christians learn a fundamental truth about unity in politics from the word of God?

David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine take a leap from U2's Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and discuss the basis for lasting unity in a world troubled by division.Then it's time to take out the graphs and discover how communities traditional deal with crisis, and the importance of unity for addressing any threat. But where will lasting unity be found?

David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine discuss The Blessing, the social phenomena that began in the northern hemisphere and has now found its way to Australia.They then push on to ask what it is we're hoping to gain from music as Christians and can there be such a thing as Godly secular music?

The national lock-down abruptly introduced millions of parents to the short-comings of online learning. But it also produced some interesting observations as to what advantages could be gained from home-schooling.Stephen McAlpine and David Robertson question the advantages of a public school education system as they wade into the world of teaching your kids at home.As pupils return to public schools across the nation, they pose the question, 'Is this the best you can do by your children?' And is the church actually a place to teach your children to socialise?

David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine talk through the crash of Australia's foreign student market, following the implementation of travel restrictions worldwide.They wonder aloud if this economic crisis has given us an opportunity to re-evaluate this unquestioned 'good'.What actually qualifies as education, and what should Christians be aiming to gain from it - especially during wartime.

What is entertainment, and when does it slip over into anaesthesia? If you're going to be spending a lot more time in front of your TV during this period of isolation, how can you do it profitably?David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine put our pandemic entertainment habits under the microscope and ask what good they're doing us.At the top of the list, is it possible to laugh appropriately at hard times? From Jojo Rabbit to A Hidden Life, the Life In Wartime team challenges the idea of what can be considered amusing in times of crisis.

Australian surveys reveal that despite this country's relative success in combatting the Corona Virus, we are increasingly worried about the future and driven to drink to try and assuage our fears.David Robertson and Steve McAlpine tackle the elusive idea of peace in wartime, beginning with where it can be found.The world has made many suggestions about the substance and location of peace, but how are they bearing up under the pressures of a pandemic?

Life In Wartime focuses on the effects that the COVID-19 crisis has had on Christianity, and in particular how believers can continue to live a distinctive life under the pressures of a pandemic.David and Steve zero in on how worship can best be expressed in a world where fellowship is being redefined by electronic devices. What is best practise, and what are the pitfalls in thinking as we rush to digitise our faith?