Since when did Christianity become so cowardly? I was waiting in line at a Southern Baptist Sunday School Training Event and overheard the youth pastors behind me whining about not being able to get into their student's high schools during lunch to meet with the students when I nearly threw up. One of the three said something along the lines of "I'm glad I can't go into the school because it means the Muslims and Mormons and others can't go either". Since when did we become such cowards? It took everything I could muster to not turn right there and rebuke his stupidity or at least lose what was left of my breakfast.
Let me paint a picture for a moment: Say you are accused of a crime, and the trial has come to rest solely upon two points of evidence. The first is that the criminal who committed the crime has a green jacket. The second is that you, the accused, do not and have never owned a green jacket nor have you ever worn one, even a borrowed one, which for the sake of this exercise, can be proven beyond a shadow of doubt. Now suppose your lawyer said, "Let's not introduce that you have never owned or worn a green jacket, that way they won't ask any questions about any other jackets you own." That lawyer would be fired in a heart-beat. No sane person would want a lawyer who could not compete. So why in the world would we think effective Youth Ministry is staying out of schools so the youth won't be exposed to other ideas?
Assuming this was even legal, which it probably isn't (unless the school is doing holding the line absolutely and not letting any outside speakers or leaders to come into the school at all for any club or activity which is unlikely), and assuming that this would even keep them from being exposed to the other ideas by students or faculty, they are definitely going to be exposed to other faiths in other areas of their life. Watching TV or spending any time at all on the internet is enough to expose most kids to at least one other religious faith or tradition.
If that is the case, and any logical thought process would show that it is, then our students already know other religions exist and that they probably know someone who follows another religion at their school. So what are we afraid of? As I have argued many many times in other circumstances, I have to say it again: IN THE FREE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS.....WE WIN! End of story. End of discussion. Quit your whining and put on your big-boy pants, because the truth of the matter is that these other religions are going anywhere, and if we want to have any hope of being relevant to this generation of young people, we have to get WAY more involved in their lives. It's time to stop holding teenagers at arms reach Church. It's time to realize that we lose well over half when they graduate high school, some states/denominations lose as much as 80%, and if we want to try and keep them coming back we have to show them that we are more than their babysitters.
In the final analysis, competition is good for Christianity and Christianity is good for competition. We have the Truth, and nobody else does. They may ridicule us, they may hate us even, but in the end, we win. We always win. So who cares what they think? If you never get out there and try, you have let yourself down, you have let your Youth down, you have let your Church down, and ultimately you have let your Savior down. I don't want to be that guy, and I hope you don't either.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
An Open "Letter" to the Ruling Elite....whoever they are.
Chapter 1 of Tertullian’s Apology, a paraphrase by Ryan Burt:
"You Ruling Elite, sitting in your lofty position, if you cannot investigate whether the charges made against Christianity are true (from fear or shame); if we cannot defend ourselves before you, surely you would allow Truth to reach you by “the secret pathway of a noiseless book”. This book, who makes no appeals, is friendless and among enemies, has no desire of earthly praise, but only heavenly, and desires only “not to be condemned unknown”. What’s the harm in that? If you condemn her after hearing her, it is much more damning, but unheard judgment is unjust and many will suppose you did so purposely to not hear that which you must accept upon hearing. This is why hating the name Christian is unjust as well. How could it be more unfair to condemn something of which you know nothing, even if it deserves hatred? Hatred cannot be deserved until something is known to deserve it. Where would justice come from in such hatred? Without knowledge of what is hated, it could not be defended. If people hate something unknown, how can they know they don’t actually like it? Thus they are ignorant in hating us, and hate us wrongly as they are ignorant, each causing the other. The proof: those that used to hate Christianity, upon learning the Truth of it, stop hating it. Haters became disciples. They now hate what they had been, and to believe what they had hated, and there are a lot of them. Too many cry against Christians for converting so many, yet they don’t see there might be some good they are missing because they are so caught up in complaining. They want to be ignorant, though others have found the knowledge to be blissful. They don’t want to investigate because they cannot win. If Christianity is good, they must stop hating, and if it is bad, they only can continue their hatred. They argue it cannot be good just because they have converts, for many have been deceived to evil results. Yet even those misled into evil would not argue it is good since shame and fear follow closely with all that is truly evil. Criminals will admit in their hearts maybe that they are evil but are reluctant to proclaim it publicly. And yet Christianity is nothing like this. Christians are not afraid of attention but rejoice in it openly. What sort of insanity is this that a Christian would rejoice in being condemned as such if it was truly evil? You who know nothing of it cannot judge it so."
I read this first chapter again tonight and just couldn't help but wonder, if cleaned up and modernized a bit, could Tertullian speak to any of us today? So I had to try it. I think it works, as far as a paraphrase can anyway. Smart guys this Tertullian.
"You Ruling Elite, sitting in your lofty position, if you cannot investigate whether the charges made against Christianity are true (from fear or shame); if we cannot defend ourselves before you, surely you would allow Truth to reach you by “the secret pathway of a noiseless book”. This book, who makes no appeals, is friendless and among enemies, has no desire of earthly praise, but only heavenly, and desires only “not to be condemned unknown”. What’s the harm in that? If you condemn her after hearing her, it is much more damning, but unheard judgment is unjust and many will suppose you did so purposely to not hear that which you must accept upon hearing. This is why hating the name Christian is unjust as well. How could it be more unfair to condemn something of which you know nothing, even if it deserves hatred? Hatred cannot be deserved until something is known to deserve it. Where would justice come from in such hatred? Without knowledge of what is hated, it could not be defended. If people hate something unknown, how can they know they don’t actually like it? Thus they are ignorant in hating us, and hate us wrongly as they are ignorant, each causing the other. The proof: those that used to hate Christianity, upon learning the Truth of it, stop hating it. Haters became disciples. They now hate what they had been, and to believe what they had hated, and there are a lot of them. Too many cry against Christians for converting so many, yet they don’t see there might be some good they are missing because they are so caught up in complaining. They want to be ignorant, though others have found the knowledge to be blissful. They don’t want to investigate because they cannot win. If Christianity is good, they must stop hating, and if it is bad, they only can continue their hatred. They argue it cannot be good just because they have converts, for many have been deceived to evil results. Yet even those misled into evil would not argue it is good since shame and fear follow closely with all that is truly evil. Criminals will admit in their hearts maybe that they are evil but are reluctant to proclaim it publicly. And yet Christianity is nothing like this. Christians are not afraid of attention but rejoice in it openly. What sort of insanity is this that a Christian would rejoice in being condemned as such if it was truly evil? You who know nothing of it cannot judge it so."
I read this first chapter again tonight and just couldn't help but wonder, if cleaned up and modernized a bit, could Tertullian speak to any of us today? So I had to try it. I think it works, as far as a paraphrase can anyway. Smart guys this Tertullian.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Church attendence....to go or not to go?
As President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Dr. Al Mohler gave two addresses to the seminary community:
Don’t Just Do Something: Stand There!
And
Don’t Just Stand There: Do Something!
The first, whether you agree with him or the politics within the denomination that put him there or not, was to a community greatly divided by ideals and principles.
It was a time of great chaos within the Southern Baptist Convention and the Seminary.
Sit-ins around the campus, death threats against Dr. Mohler, some so credible that his bodyguards were rumored to be armed in case some tried to make good on their threats, and students and professors refusing to continue with the regular business of the school due to their convictions.
That first address, in 1993, was about standing firm in the nonnegotiable principles that the Seminary was founded on—he didn’t condemn anyone, but encouraged ALL those listening to stand up for the principles the Seminary had followed since the beginning as contained in the Abstract of Principles, and not rush into action before they resolved the foundation for their beliefs.
The second address, 10 years later, was given to remind those present that Seminary is not just about “religious” things and “religious” education, but that it was there to “do something”. We were to do something with all that we learned. We are called to be “an active people”. It’s not just about the believing, but also about the doing.
As poignant and relevant as this is for seminary students and professors, it is all the more relevant for every Christian. How often do we get kicked in the shins by circumstances or the Enemy, or our own sinful nature, and instead of getting back up, and resuming the fight we sit back and relax, putting life on autopilot? In this politically charged time our lives ought not be about just “attending” church as though this exercise is somehow important and useful in and of itself.
Church has two purposes. That’s it. The first, is serving as a place to learn and grow, to figure out what we believe. It is the place where we learn what is worth standing for as a Christian. It is where we develop, in the safety of friends and family, a firmness of character necessary to stand up for our beliefs in a world that is often hostile towards us. The second, and most important, is providing an association of believers for the working out in the lives of others those beliefs we have come to hold. It is a fellowship of workers acting together in accordance with our convictions. That’s it. Everything the Church does should fall under one of those purposes, and if it doesn’t, it shouldn’t happen.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t be coming to church for any other reasons. So you need to be there for one of two reasons. Either you don’t know what you believe and want to find out if this might be it, and are willing to learn and grow and participate, OR you are there because you know what you believe and are looking for a place to put your convictions into practice and you believe that church is the place to do it and you are willing to participate, grow, and learn. If those two don’t apply to you, then you really need to think about why you are attending church. Maybe you need to adjust your motives or maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t be going to church at all. If you are going to be a vibrant part of the community, then by all means, go to church. If you are just going to be dead weight that doesn’t contribute, then don’t go. It’s that simple.
Don’t Just Do Something: Stand There!
And
Don’t Just Stand There: Do Something!
The first, whether you agree with him or the politics within the denomination that put him there or not, was to a community greatly divided by ideals and principles.
It was a time of great chaos within the Southern Baptist Convention and the Seminary.
Sit-ins around the campus, death threats against Dr. Mohler, some so credible that his bodyguards were rumored to be armed in case some tried to make good on their threats, and students and professors refusing to continue with the regular business of the school due to their convictions.
That first address, in 1993, was about standing firm in the nonnegotiable principles that the Seminary was founded on—he didn’t condemn anyone, but encouraged ALL those listening to stand up for the principles the Seminary had followed since the beginning as contained in the Abstract of Principles, and not rush into action before they resolved the foundation for their beliefs.
The second address, 10 years later, was given to remind those present that Seminary is not just about “religious” things and “religious” education, but that it was there to “do something”. We were to do something with all that we learned. We are called to be “an active people”. It’s not just about the believing, but also about the doing.
As poignant and relevant as this is for seminary students and professors, it is all the more relevant for every Christian. How often do we get kicked in the shins by circumstances or the Enemy, or our own sinful nature, and instead of getting back up, and resuming the fight we sit back and relax, putting life on autopilot? In this politically charged time our lives ought not be about just “attending” church as though this exercise is somehow important and useful in and of itself.
Church has two purposes. That’s it. The first, is serving as a place to learn and grow, to figure out what we believe. It is the place where we learn what is worth standing for as a Christian. It is where we develop, in the safety of friends and family, a firmness of character necessary to stand up for our beliefs in a world that is often hostile towards us. The second, and most important, is providing an association of believers for the working out in the lives of others those beliefs we have come to hold. It is a fellowship of workers acting together in accordance with our convictions. That’s it. Everything the Church does should fall under one of those purposes, and if it doesn’t, it shouldn’t happen.
Furthermore, we shouldn’t be coming to church for any other reasons. So you need to be there for one of two reasons. Either you don’t know what you believe and want to find out if this might be it, and are willing to learn and grow and participate, OR you are there because you know what you believe and are looking for a place to put your convictions into practice and you believe that church is the place to do it and you are willing to participate, grow, and learn. If those two don’t apply to you, then you really need to think about why you are attending church. Maybe you need to adjust your motives or maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t be going to church at all. If you are going to be a vibrant part of the community, then by all means, go to church. If you are just going to be dead weight that doesn’t contribute, then don’t go. It’s that simple.
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