among whom we live and work, and indeed on ourselves too. I choose these three; there are no doubt many others. And I shall then argue, on the basis of the New Testament, that to follow the living Jesus gives us the resources both to face these challenges for ourselves and to enable the work of the gospel and of God’s kingdom to go ahead, to get back on track, to find the way to health and life. The three challenges are the contemporary versions of Gnosticism and imperialism, and then the apparently