Re-Visioning Youth Ministry – Part 3

The third part of our presentation was a Q & A Panel discussion.  The delegates and visitors to classis (most of whom came to hear the presentation – thanks!) were given time to discuss Parts 1 and 2 of the presentation and asked to come up with a question for the panel.  Here are the notes from that discussion:

Scott Post – Youth Pastor, CrossPoint CRC(Brampton)

Andrew Nunn – Youth Pastor, Acton CRC

Jason Postma – Youth Pastor, Bethel CRC (Newmarket)

Karen L.  – University Student

Shiao Chong – Moderator

Kevin N. – High school student

1Q.         What would draw or compel you or your friends to be more excited to say “this is my church”?

A.            Karen: gave her “concrete” example, talked about small groups.               Kevin: a place to openly ask questions and not be judged, wanting a “safe place”

2Q.         A question was asked to the pastors on the floor, Is this radical information or new to you       pastors?

A. Consensus, no not radical and they are aware that a change needs to be made, they are looking for help.

3Q.         Sometimes there are barriers (to getting our youth involved) for our church, what are they and what can we do about them?

A.            They asked that we don’t put an unfair burden on them, give them meaningful jobs, not the jobs that no one wants to do. Also Kevin mentioned that space is a huge barrier, students need space (head space). Someone mentioned, “Invite the youth to be actively involved, it’s okay if they fail, we will be there for them.

4Q.         Equipping Parents> what do you see for barriers for parents to disciple their kids?

A.            Parents are busy; they are in the mindset that there are professionals on board to help them through their spiritual journey, namely youth pastors. Also trying to find ways on how to engage parents is a barrier.

5Q.         Should youth group continue to exist? Should they separate from the rest of the congregation?

A.            Maybe the congregation should join the youth in their program instead of the youth joining the congregation. Kevin admitted that he would rather have his own youth group, but learn from each other.

6Q          Could Jesus be the best kept question? Where is Jesus in your programming? Where do we see Jesus working in our congregations?

1. We see people from all race coming in our churches and celebrating what God is doing. Whether in small groups, large groups in service or prayer.
2.  Who is Jesus to the 2 students on the panel? (Kevin) Jesus is my Lord and Saviour and more. (Karen) Jesus is continuing changing for her as she grows and matures in her faith.

7Q.         What is it that draws you to the Christian Reformed Church?

A.            For Kevin it was not a denominational issue, it’s a relational issue. As long as I belong to y church I know that I can be myself there, it’s a safe place for me. It’s the community that matters, as long as Christ is being seen through us.

8Q.         What place do God’s covenantal promises take place in your lives?

A.            Professions of Faith, baptisms are milestones that should always be celebrated. Should we be celebrating “anniversaries” of our baptism and POF days?  We want to make them special and celebrate them.

9Q.         How well are our sermons blessing our young people? What help could you share with pastors to make your sermons more inviting?

A.            Share stories, Kinetics learning/tactile learning, physical engagement (head, hand, and heart). Our youth are visual learners, pictures and power points are a plus.

10Q.       How do we include the congregation in sharing with the youths faith spiritual journey? How can that 56year old share?

A.            Our youth are very relational; many enjoy 1 on 1 discussion. An example was given if there is an older congregant who doesn’t like to pray out loud but will do it with a younger person. We also have to remember that through our baptismal vows, we need to take ownership also. Mentoring is super important. 

Re-Visioning Youth Ministry Part 2

note: for some reason the graphics did not post

The purpose of Part 2 was to spark the imagination for creative and out-of-the-box thinking.  We intentionally chose not to go into great detail about these ideas because we want local youth ministries to explore and take ownership of these ideas themselves in their local context.  However, we are very willing to assist any youth ministry in both the exploration and implementation of these ideas.

PART 2 – AWAKENING THE GIANT

I.  Tradition – from Walls to Wings

The importance of story-telling

– incorporating testimony into worship services and programming; encouraging leaders and parents to be open and vulnerable about their faith and life

- sharing the stories of one’s faith community (congregational & denominational)

Room for exploration

– leaving room for different interpretations of our tradition and encouraging unity in diversity

- creating safe spaces for doubt and wrestling with deep questions – do not impose doctrinal conformity, but leave space for exploration – we both grow out of and into a tradition – this is an organic process; our theological identity is not something that can be forced on us

-  allowing youth to experiment with fresh expressions of our tradition that resonate with our current culture – let them take the lead in exploring what it means to be Reformed in the 21^st century

Worldview formation

- Underline the differences between a Reformed worldview and the kind of “pop-Christianity” found in Christian media; renewed commitment to using Reformed curricula; ongoing teaching and training youth leaders in Reformed theology

Be intentional about reminding the congregation and parents of their baptismal vows

II. Education – from Information to Transformation

- Incorporate mentoring into youth programming (intergenerational mentoring and peer-to-peer mentoring) – one-on-one relationship building as the foundation for youth ministry

- Reevaluate our programs and de-program where necessary

- Evaluate our youth programs in terms of the fruit they bear – are they making disciples?  What kind of disciples are they making?

- Renewed emphasis on discipleship as the purpose of our youth programs – catechesis for the 21^st century that focuses on head, heart, and hands

- Incorporate rites of passage and discipleship milestones beginning in Sunday School

- Equip parents to be the primary disciplers of their children – youth ministry becomes focused on ministry with parents as well as with their children

- Offer Adult “Continuing Education” programs – adults need to model the importance of ongoing faith formation – underlines and models to youth why things like catechism, etc. are important

- Cultivate missional imaginations in our congregations – a passion for making a difference in the local community and the world.  Give youth the opportunity to take the lead in this area.

- Teach biblical exegesis and hermeneutics to youth (Fig. 1) – gradual development of emphasis on biblical stories (Sunday School) to biblical story as a narrative (Jr. High) to “speaking with a Reformed accent” (Profession of Faith) to Reformed theological themes (High school)

- Engaging worship – this doesn’t mean “loud, contemporary music”, rather, it means worship services that prepare everyone, young and old, to worship as a way of life – worship services that engage all learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic) and where the congregation participates as a whole; worship services that prepare people to worship as a way of wife; worship services that cultivate missional imaginations and send people to minister in their communities and spheres of influence

- Create long-term visions for youth ministry – youth ministry begins in Sunday School and extends into early adult years (i.e. youth ministry goes beyond ages 13-18) and is primarily focused on discipleship

- Youth groups need to strike a positive balance between “large group”, “small group”, “missional”, “outreach”, “spiritual formation”, and “community building” events.  We tend to default to one or two of these types of events, depending on the strengths and interests of the leaders and youth.  All of these foci are needed for the holistic formation of disciples.   Change the foundation of youth ministry from large group activities to one-on-one mentoring and build upon that – mentoring, small group activities (Bible discussion, spiritual formation, service projects), large group activities (service projects, etc.), and community building events (congregational events, events with other youth groups, etc.)

III. Culture – from Consumers to Creators

- Intergenerational Church – worship, leadership, playing and praying together – peer based groups have a time and a place, but they should not be our default position

- Embrace multiculturalism – “outsiders” are welcome – embrace diversity

- Train youth in leadership and allow them to serve in meaningful leadership roles

- Become intergenerational – worship, leadership, service

- Counter-cultural preaching – prophetic preaching that challenges the mores of consumer culture, uses cultural references, etc., social justice issues, etc.

- Leadership training for youth and youth leaders – what does it mean to be a kingdom leader?

- Equipping sessions for parents

Re-visioning Youth Ministry – Part 1

At the May 10, 2012 meeting of Classis Toronto, a group of my youth ministry colleagues and I gave a presentation on youth ministry in the CRC.  Here is part one of that presentation:

Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Re-visioning Youth Ministry in Classis Toronto

In the numerous discussions I’ve had with my colleagues in youth ministry over the years, it became apparent that we were struggling with many of the same issues when it came to youth discipleship.  Through our discussions, we found mutual support and encouragement and shared our hopes and dreams for the future of youth ministry in the CRC, but something kept gnawing at us – many of our congregations and youth ministries seem stuck in a rut, unable, unwilling, or unsure to how to engage our postmodern, postindustrial, multi-ethnic culture.  How were we to communicate our challenges to a wider audience in such a way as to move the conversation forward positively and productively?  This is how the “Re-visioning Youth Ministry” project was born.

Over the past year, CRC youth pastors from across Classis Toronto have been meeting monthly to share our challenges and ideas.  Interest in our project has gone beyond the boundaries of Classis Toronto – including a write-up in the Banner.  Our discussion is resonating with youth workers, parents, and pastors from across the denomination – like us, they are asking similar questions – why are so many youth and young adults leaving the church and walking away from the faith, across all denominations, including the CRC?  Why is denominational loyalty in the CRC at an all-time low?  At what expense are we “toeing the party line” and “maintaining the status quo”, especially when it comes to youth and young adults?

These are difficult questions – they sound negative and alarmist.  These are uncomfortable questions – they force us to realistically examine ourselves, our practices and habits, things that we hold dear.  However, as difficult and uncomfortable as these questions are, we raise them because we remain hopeful – we firmly believe that the church will always have a future, that God has a plan for his church and that he continues, as promised, to do a new thing.  All of us who participated in this project share four things in common – we love Jesus, we love his church, we love youth, and we love the CRC.

To be clear, in talking about youth ministry, we are not talking about what happens on a “youth night” at your church – we are talking about how the CRC ministers to its youth.  Like good doctors, we are interested in making an accurate diagnosis so that we can offer the correct medicine and best rehabilitation.  We believe that the CRC is “sleeping giant” – as a denomination, the Lord has blessed us with many talents and strengths.  However, we are concerned that when it comes to youth ministry in the CRC, these gifts are not being used, or at least not used as well as they could be to foster life-long discipleship.  The questions we are asking today, especially as it relates to youth ministry is why are we a sleeping giant and how do we awaken the sleeping giant?  How can we reform our strengths and use them in service of ministering to our youth?

PART 1 – WHY ARE WE SLEEPING?

THE GIANT OF TRADITION	HOW ARE WE SLEEPING?
We value tradition – history is important to us and we cherish our forbearers and our Reformed identity	How do we understand tradition?  It seems that we understand tradition as something settled in the past and our job is to continue it “as is” with little or no room for innovation – do we allow the past to dictate our current practices as though “this is the way things have always been done”?  Is tradition a script for which we memorize the lines or is there room for improvisation as well?  Are we overlooking our weak-area/blind spots?  Have we turned our creeds and confessions into boundaries/border police rather than starting points/teachers?
We have a high view of Scripture – for us the Bible is more than a “how to book” or a set of moral guidelines.  It is the true story of what God has done and will do, in covenantal partnership with us, to bring about a renewed world	How well are we teaching our youth exegetical tools?  Are we leaving the work of exegesis to the pastor alone?  How well do we teach and engage sensitive exegetical issues (creation & evolution; role of women in ministry; place of LGTBQ people in the church, etc.)?  Are we teaching solid hermeneutical practices that go beyond mere reductionism (proof-texting, etc.)?  Are we teaching students to positively engage with different Christian interpretations of doctrines?
We have a holistic view of worship – true worship engages the heart and mind and prompts us to continue our worship as a way of life	How well are our sermons engaging all learning styles and all generations?  Do we view the sermon as something accessible for everyone or is it for “mature audiences only”?  Does our Sunday worship prepare youth to worship as a way of life – in other words, are they making the connection between Sunday and the rest of the week?
We have a covenantal understanding of baptism that underlines the shared responsibility of the community in growing the faith of the baptized	Have we relied too heavily on “professionals” (Christian school teachers, pastors, youth workers, church programs, etc.) for our discipleship responsibility?  How well are the “professionals” in the church helping parents with their discipleship responsibilities?  Are we truly encouraging and supporting each other in our parenting and discipleship responsibilities?

 

THE GIANT OF EDUCATION	HOW ARE WE SLEEPING?
Christian day schools are very important to us and we continue to support them with our time, energy, and resources.	Are we creating unnecessary division between “Christian school”, “Public school”, and “Home school” youth that leads to relational tensions in our programs?  How can we become more intentional about supporting our youth and parents and teachers in all of the various school systems?
We offer top-notch programming (Cadets, GEMS, Teen Club, Youth Group, Catechism, Profession of Faith)	Are our programs making “CRC Graduates” or are they making disciples?  Why do we stop formal education programming at the end of the high school years?  Are we equipping and releasing people for ministry or do they just not have any time because of church activities?  Are we over-programming in church?  Are we over-programming in life?  Are parents taking on the role as the primary disciplers of their children?
We are theologically rigorous and we emphasize catechism education as an important element in faith formation.	Are we over-intellectualizing the catechism?  Are we integrating the catechism into the contemporary lives of our youth?  Have we made theological discussion into a futile exercise that is only for the elite?  Have we sent the message that schism because of theological disagreements is normative?  Are youth and young adults receiving solid theological teaching that is accessible and relates to their everyday lives at work, school, etc.? In emphasizing the catechism have we overlooked the other elements of the ancient practice of catechesis which was designed for the formation of disciples (head, hearts, hands)?  Have we created an unnecessary divide between Youth Group as “fun stuff” and catechism as “boring stuff”?  Is it time to consider reforming the structure of our youth program

 

THE GIANT OF CULTURE	HOW ARE WE SLEEPING?
Our World Belongs to God – we affirm that there is no sacred/secular divide and that faith is relevant to life beyond the church walls.  We have a deep understanding of the cultural mandate – as humans created in the image of God, we are called to create and cultivate culture	How well are we equipping youth for understanding and engaging diversity in the marketplace?  How well are we modeling cultural discernment?  Are we equipping and releasing people for ministry?  Have we lost sight of what it means to be “culture makers”?  Have we consumed kingdom ethics with consumerism and materialist culture?  Are we teaching cultural discernment – in affirming the goodness of culture, do we end up assuming that all culture is good?  Are we teaching are youth what it means to transform culture?
We emphasize the Priesthood of All Believers – everyone is called to participate in the life of ministry and everyone has a role to play	Are we including youth in meaningful leadership roles?  Are we taking their ideas and opinions seriously?  Have we created a denominational culture of settling to be “good enough Christians” rather than “great” Christians passionate about the kingdom?   How are we modeling the life of discipleship to our youth?
We view the church as a tight-knit family of believers	Are we actively striving to move from being “multi-generational” to becoming “inter-generational”? What about diversity – are we ready, willing, and able to embrace and enfold those who are “different” – ethnically, economically, etc.?
We are gifted in management and administration – as a result, our programs and ministries are very well run and maintained	Do we have a tendency to “discern things to death” to the point of rendering real and meaningful change difficult?  Do we have too many meetings and committees?  Are we developing leaders who exercise Spirit-empowered leadership that is willing to risk going against the status quo in order to follow God’s leading?  Are we training youth how to be kingdom leaders?  Are we sending the message that church leadership is an onerous task rather than a calling and an opportunity to serve?
We are very good at articulating criticisms of ourselves and of others	Of course, this is what we are doing in this presentation.  We felt it necessary to point out this irony ourselves to save you from having to do it for us J.  Have we created a denominational culture of cynicism and finger pointing?  Are we committed to making changes when and where necessary in order to faithfully follow God in our time and place?  Are we reaping what we sow in terms of young adults leaving the church, many of whom articulate Christian “in-fighting” and division as reasons for why they leave the church?

 

Get Wisdom, Go Beyond the Gold

Every year, the GEMS have a theme which guides their discussions and activities.  The theme for GEMS this year is “Get Wisdom, Go Beyond the Gold”.  The GEMS have been learning about what it means to pursue wisdom.  Like the GEMS, wisdom is something that is near and dear to my heart – so it’s no surprise that in grad school I majored in philosophy and that my daughter’s name is Sophie.  The Greek word for wisdom is “sophia” – so, philosophy literally means “the love of wisdom” and the name Sophie is based on the same word.

This theme also reminds me of one of the best scenes in one of my favorite movies – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Who has seen the movie?  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.  And even if you have seen it, you should watch it again.  It’s a great movie.  In the scene Indiana Jones and his nemesis Donovan have discovered the secret location of the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper.  The grail is “protected” by a 700 year old knight who can barely lift his sword.  There is, however, one slight problem – there are dozens of different cups in the room.  No one but the knight knows which cup is the real Grail.  In order to find out, a person must choose one of the cups, fill it in the water basin, and take a drink.  The knight warns both Donavan and Indy that the right choice will lead to everlasting life, but the wrong choice will lead to death.

Donavan, the bad guy of the movie, rushes to go first.  He chooses a very opulent goblet made of pure gold and encrusted with jewels.  It is, he says, a cup for the king of kings.  Kings should drink from the finest cups, cups that display their power and wealth.  What Donavan forgets is that Jesus is a very different kind of king –a king unlike all the kings of the world.  Immediately after drinking from the cup, Donavan dies a horrific death, to which the knight remarks “He chose poorly”.

Indy, on the other hand, remembers that Jesus was a carpenter, so he chooses a very plain wooden cup, the type of cup that a commoner would have used.  Indy nervously drinks from it, not sure if he, like Donavan, has chosen poorly.  We, as the audience, hold our breaths in anticipation.  The knight tells Indy, “You chose wisely”.

This scene paints a great picture of the GEMS theme verse for this year: “How much better to get wisdom than gold”.  Donavan was blinded by gold and the lust for power.  Indy was motivated to save his father and had a clearer head about who Jesus is.  So, as we explore what it means to purse wisdom I want you to keep this scene in your mind.

Before we can go any further, we need to be very clear that there are two kinds of wisdom – the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God.  Not only are these two types of wisdom very different, they are complete opposites of each other.  Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:19: “Do not deceive yourselves…the wisdom of this world is foolishness is God’s sight.”  These are very harsh words, aren’t they?  After all, look at everything humans have accomplished!  We’ve found the cures for diseases, we’ve created marvelous inventions, and we’ve sent people to the moon!  And yet, Paul makes it clear that “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1. Cor. 1:26).

So, what does human wisdom look like?

It all goes back to the Garden of Eden.  After God created everything, he instructed Adam and Eve to take care of everything.  Everything was good – Adam and Eve were cared for and they walked with God in the garden.  But then…

But then the serpent came along and tempted Adam and Eve.  He promised that if Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of life, that they would become wise – they would become like God, knowing good and evil.  Adam and Eve selfishly craved this wisdom for themselves –they saw the fruit, they were tempted, and they ate.  Their disobedience led to their banishment from the Garden.

Adam and Eve were disobedient because they were selfish – they lusted after something that was not theirs; they wanted something they were not allowed to have, at least something they were not allowed to have at that time.  They wanted their own way.  Selfishness is like that – “yes” to my way and, as a result, it says “no” to the way of God.  Selfishness says “it’s all about me!”  – my wants, my desires, my way.    And, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that at the height of our selfishness, we try to make our way appear like God’s way.  Human wisdom is rooted in the selfish pursuit of our own desires and will always lead to disappointment and devastation.

We can see human wisdom work itself out in many different ways.  One of the main things human wisdom desires above all else is wealth – the more money I have, the more comfortable I will be, and the more comfortable I am, the happier I will be, so I’d better do everything I can to get as much money as I can.  So, my primary goal in life is to make lots of money.  I envy those who have more money or success than me and I do what I can to surpass them.  However, Jesus reminds us that whenever we “go for the gold”, we will always turn our backs on God – he says “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Another thing human wisdom desires is fame and popularity – if I am well known, then people will like me, and if people like me, the happier I will be, so I’d better do everything I can to be as popular and famous as possible.  The pursuit of popularity requires putting yourself first, and this almost always means trampling over other people; it means building yourself up at the expense of others, cutting them down to build yourself up.  The pursuit of popularity destroys others so that you can be number one.   However, this goes directly against what Paul tells us in Romans 12: “Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought”; rather, he says, you should “be devoted to one another in love” and “honor one another above yourselves”.   Popularity makes everyone into a potential enemy, someone who is in my way and must be defeated st that I can become top of the heap.  However, Jesus commands us to “Love our enemies” and to “do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:27; 31).

Human wisdom also desires knowledge.  Knowledge itself is not a bad thing – God has blessed us with minds to think and explore his world.  However, our knowledge becomes corrupted when we think that we no longer need God, that because of the power of our own minds, we can do and think as we please.  When we fail to consider our pursuit of knowledge as an act of worship, our intelligence becomes a source of pride and knowledge becomes our idol.  We make the mistake of equating intelligence with wisdom; we think that being smart makes us wise, that having lots of letters and acronyms after your name is an indication of wisdom.  However, Paul tells us that if I “can fathom all mysteries and knowledge…but do not have love, I am nothing” (1. Cor 13:2).  When we pursue knowledge for its own sake, we forget that, as Paul reminds us, “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.  Those who think they know something do not yet know as they out to know.  But whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Cor. 8:1b-3).

The wisdom of the world is foolishness in the eyes of God because it removes love for God from the centre of our lives and replaces it with the love of ourselves.  St. Augustine said it best: “There can only be two basic loves… the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God.”  The root of true wisdom is the love of God.

But what does God’s wisdom look like?

Simple – God’s wisdom looks like Jesus because Jesus is God’s wisdom.

Paul calls Jesus “wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30).  He says that it is in Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).  Jesus is wisdom personified in the flesh.  Human wisdom says “it’s all about me because I’m most important!”  God’s wisdom says “it’s all about Jesus because he is most important”.  Because Jesus is Wisdom, he is the source, the foundation, of all godly wisdom.  Therefore, to be wise is to be Christlike.  To be Christlike is to love unconditionally.

The truly wise person is the one who has a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  This is what Proverbs 9:10 is about when it says “the fear of God is the foundation of wisdom” (NLT).  The type of fear this verse is talking about is not about the way I feel when I’m alone in the dark.  Rather, the fear of the Lord is the realization that God is the source of all things – we stand amazed at who he is and what he has done.  To fear the Lord is to make him the centre of our lives, it means relying on his strength and letting him guide us.  When we fear the Lord, we commit ourselves to his service and to living our whole lives as an act of worship.  This is the beginning of wisdom.

Wisdom is also gift we receive.  One night, God appeared to Solomon and said to him “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (2 Chor. 2:7).  Wow – what an offer!  Solomon could have chosen wealth, fame, or knowledge – but what was his answer to God?  “Give me wisdom”.  God gives Solomon the deepest desire of his heart precisely because he did not ask for worldly things but sought wisdom first and foremost.  James reminds us that God wants to give us wisdom, if we would but ask for it – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).  Likewise, Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus was that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (Eph. 1:17).  Indeed, to receive wisdom is to receive the Holy Spirit – as Paul tells the church in Colassae – “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives”.  To be wise is to receive the Holy Spirit; therefore, we know someone is wise when the fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident in their life.

God’s wisdom is not for “spiritual superstars”, the “perfectly pious” or the “holier-than-thous”.  God’s wisdom is for everyone who asks for it, for those whose hearts and minds are ready to receive it.  We prepare ourselves to receive God’s wisdom when we seek his face and pursue his kingdom before anything else.  God does not give his wisdom to the proud or the selfish; he does not call those who would live by their own devices.  Rather, God gives wisdom to the humble, to those who put God first.  Listen to how Paul explains it to the church in Corinth: “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor.1:26-27).  Wisdom is a gift from the God who loves to turn things upside down, the God who uses the weak to show his strength, and the God whose wisdom the world considers foolishness.

Wisdom is not a gift that once we have it remains in our possession forever.  God’s wisdom is a gift that requires continual nurturing and growth.  We all know the story Jesus tells of the wise man and the foolish man in Matthew 7.  We know that in spite of all the raging storms and rising waters, the house of the wise man stands firm, while the house of the foolish man is destroyed.  However, what we often forget is the introduction to the story where Jesus says “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice…”  The wise person receives wisdom as a gift and puts that gift into use.  Wisdom is both listening and doing.  We cannot be wise if we are doing only one of these things and not the other.  We need both.  Wisdom if, therefore, a way of life.

In one of our Scripture passages for today, James describes what way of wisdom looks like: “Do you wanted to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom?  Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly.  It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.  Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom.  Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom.  Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom.  It’s the furthest thing from wisdom – its animal cunning, devilish conniving.  Whenever you’re trying to letter better than other or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.  Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others.  It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced” (James 3:13-17 MSG).  In other words, wisdom seeks to live life with God and life for God; wisdom is rooted in God’s love and always seeks the good of others.

The wise person heeds the advice of Paul to the church in Philippi: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant…” (Phil. 2:1-7a).

Following the way of wisdom, the way of Jesus Christ, the way of the Holy Spirit, is not an easy task and it is not something we can do in our own strength.  Therefore, a wise person is careful and diligent in developing good habits that help her grow in her relationship with Christ – praying frequently, worshipping with the body of believers regularly, and serving others continually.  A wise person is someone who can make good and godly decisions because they are rooted in God’s love and rely on his strength.  A wise person is motivated by love, desires to live at peace with everyone, actively pursues justice, and seeks to be Christ’s hands and feet.  The way of wisdom is a way of life that the GEMS verse summarizes perfectly – “And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humblywith your God” (Micah 6:8).

The way of wisdom is difficult – it requires total surrender to Christ, a desire to become like him, to live the way he lived, a life of love, of forgiveness, of caring for the underdog, of proclaiming the good news that God is King, a life lived with and for God.  However, we know that this way of life is possible precisely because of what Christ has done for us.  He has redeemed us and saved us from sin.  He has made new life possible – life lived in him; life transformed by his love.  We can walk in the light because Christ is the light that has conquered darkness.  We can become wise because Christ is wisdom.

This puts us in a situation similar to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30, where we are faced with a choice: “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.  But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.   This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”.

How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, then follow him.  If money, or fame, or knowledge is god, then follow them.

So, the choice is yours – will you choose the way of death, the way of selfishness, the way of human wisdom or will you choose the way of life, the way of God, the way of wisdom?

May you choose wisely.

Amen.

A Recipe for Splitting a Church

Want to know how to split a church?  According to Jude, it’s really quite easy.

Jude reminds the church that there are “ungodly people” who have “slipped in among you” (v.4).  This should be no surprise to us – there are always wolves in sheep’s clothing in our midst.  Even Jesus had to rebuke one of his closest disciples as a pawn of Satan (cf.  Matthew 16:23 – “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”)

Jude doesn’t mince words in describing those who would seek to plant seeds of disunity and destruction in the church – he identifies them as those who “reject authority” (v.8); they are “blemishes at your love feasts” and “shepherds who feed only themselves” (v.12).  They are “clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted – twice dead” (v.12).  These people are “grumblers and faultfindersl they follow their own evil desires” (v.16).  They are “scoffers who follow their own ungodly desires” (v.18).

Jude makes it very clear that these are the people we need if we want to divide a church because they are the ones who “follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.” (v.19).  Harsh words, to the point of suggesting that the Holy Spirit is not even present in hearts and minds of these people.

So, if you want to split a church, Jude has the recipe:

- listen to those who are ungodly
- listen to those who follow their own desires
- listen to those who do are not growing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5 – “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.)

However, if you want to pursue unity in the church, Jude has the receipe for that as well:

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourseves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (v.20-21).

Jude echoes the words of Paul in Ephesians 4: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Posts of the Week

Some great articles on the interwebs that you should probably check out this weekend…

N.T. Wright explains the meaning of the resurrection

Sarah Coakley explores how God transforms gender

Peter Enns wonders if we are worshiping the same God

Scot McKnight deconstructs the gospel of the Gospel Coalition (gospel demolition?)

Amy VanderVliet wonders what it would be like for the Church to fight as a family

And, in an article from a few months ago, Richard Beck outlines the “bait and switch” of the contemporary church – best line in the article: Many churches are jerk factories.

Blessed Easter to everyone – may you bask in the power of the resurrection now and every day.

Curb Your Appetite

A sermon given at Bethel CRC on March 28, 2012.  The text is Matthew 6:1-21

Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent.  As you know, Lent is the 40 Days, excluding Sundays, before Easter.  Because Lent is a time of reflection and repentance as we anticipate the celebration of Easter Sunday, traditionally fasting has always been part of Lent.

However, it seems that many Protestant Christians have stopped observing Lent – isn’t it something that only Catholics do?  Moreover, it seems like many Christians have given up the practice of fasting altogether – after all, it’s a form of “works righteousness” isn’t it?

Today we are going to explore why fasting is an important discipline in our relationship with God.  Let’s get started by watching a short video.

When it comes to fasting, I’m a combination of all these guys – I’ll find every excuse not to fast and then if I actually do fast, I’ll create a bunch of loopholes to make it a little bit easier and less uncomfortable.  By doing this, I completely undermine the purpose of fasting and give up on the practice altogether.

So, what is fasting all about?  Why does it even matter?

When I think about fasting, I think of food, or rather, the lack of food.  When I think of the lack of food, I think about hunger.  And when I think about hunger, I think about the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is a best-selling trilogy of books.  Who has read the books?  By now you’ve probably also seen commercials and posters advertising the movie based on these books – it is in theaters this Friday. The Hunger Games tells the story of 16 year-old Katniss Everdeen.  When her father died in a mining accident, Katniss became the sole-provider for her mother and younger sister by hunting in the restricted zone and selling the meat and pelts at her local market.  While she enjoys spending time in the woods, overall her life is very bleak.

Katniss lives in an area called District 12 in the country of Panem.  Panem was created when Canada and the United States were amalgamated following a global war.  Panem is divided into 12 Districts.  Each District has a very specific industry for which they are responsible; District 12 is in charge of mining.  Panem is controlled by a ruthless totalitarian government from a city called the Capitol; every District is kept in abject poverty and in near-starvation while the citizens of the Capitol enjoy extravagant wealth and luxury.

One of the ways the Capitol controls the Districts is through the annual Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games is a gladiator tournament fought in an outdoor arena and broadcast across Panem.  Each District must send two teenaged contestants – one male and one female – to fight in the Hunger Games.  The contestants, or “tributes”, are chosen by lottery, unless someone is willing to volunteer.  However, because the Hunger Games are a fight to the death, where the winner is the last person alive, volunteers are rare.  Katniss’ younger sister is chosen to be the female contestant from District 12 for the 74^th Hunger Games.  In order to save her sister from certain death at the Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place as tribute.

As you can imagine, Katniss’ already difficult life has become even more so.  She lives in a world where fear, poverty, and injustice are the norm.  And now she is being taken from her family to become a spectacle in a blood-soaked game designed to pacify the masses.  Katniss longs for her family to be restored and she desires freedom from this vicious civilization, but she sees no hope for the future.

You’re probably wondering – what does the Hunger Games have to do with fasting?  Sure, the citizens of Panem, which is Latin for bread, are starving and the contestants of the Hunger Games are fighting to win a life of luxury, but how does this connect to fasting?

Let me read to you from Isaiah 58:6-11.

If we think about it, the world of Panem is not too different from today’s world.  We live in a world where over 1 billion people are forced to live on less than $1 per day, where 1 in 7 people goes without food every day,  where 15 million children die every year because of hunger, where every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger and malnutrition, where global military spending is over 1.5 trillion dollars every year, where for the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years, and where billions upon billions are spent on entertainment and personal luxury items every year.

Neither Panem nor today’s world are the way God wills things to be.  Both are worlds of starvation and spectacle where suffering and death are rampant.  So the words of Isaiah 58 remind us of the purpose of fasting and why it is important.

We know fasting is important because Jesus himself fasted – in Matthew 4:2 we read that Jesus fasted for 40 Days and 40 nights.  Jesus was continuing an ancient spiritual discipline that was practiced throughout the Old Testament and it was something that he expected his followers to continue as well.  In our text for today, Jesus doesn’t say “if you fast” to his followers, he says “when you fast”.  For Jesus, fasting is an important practice in our relationship with God because it helps shift our hunger for temporary things to a hunger for God and his Kingdom.

Fasting helps us reconnect with God by abstaining from the things that compete for his attention and allegiance.  Fasting helps me learn “to live without what I assumed I could not live without” (Hauerwas).  In other words, when I fast, I am saying, God I’ve got my priorities mixed up so I’m putting aside those things in my life that are taking me away from you.  God created all things good; however, we so quickly make these good things into gods.  This is the root of what the Bible calls idolatry.  This is why fasting is important – because it reminds us of our sin and prompts us to confession.

We live in a culture where concepts like sin and evil are considered archaic and where the idea of confessing our shortcomings to a “higher being” is beneath us, after all, morals are relative – I’m the one who determines what is right and wrong for me, right?  And no one really likes to admit when they’re at fault and so often we’re in denial about the implications our actions can have.  We’ve mastered the art of avoiding of personal responsibility – I didn’t really mean it; I couldn’t help myself; I wasn’t in my right mind; no one was really hurt.  Fasting puts the brakes on our self-justification and helps us reflect on the reality of sin, the havoc it wreaks in our world, and our shared responsibility for it.  In this way, fasting helps us realize our need for God’s grace and forgiveness.   When we fast we are turning our hearts toward God in repentance and asking that God would restore our relationship with him and help us do the same with others.

Fasting also reminds us of our dependence on God as the giver of all good things.  God has given us everything we need to live life abundantly.  Yes, fasting is difficult, but it will always lead to joy because it forces to rely entirely on God’s providence.  In learning to fully trust God, our hearts will inevitably overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.  Our world is driven by the fear of scarcity and the assumption that there is never enough for everyone, so I’d better get as much as I can for myself.  Fasting reminds us that God will provide for us, indeed he has provided all of creation for us, and that because he has done so, it is our responsibility to ensure that the gift of creation is properly cared for so that all can blessed by God’s abundant generosity.  Fasting, therefore, is truly a countercultural activity that fundamentally undermines the assumption of our culture that “more is better” and that our goal in life is to continually acquire more.  Fasting questions the belief that our worth and identity as humans is determined by the things we buy and reminds us that we are created in the image of God; that it is in him that “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

In the Beatitudes, Jesus says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled”.  Fasting itself does not make us righteous; fasting is a way of showing our desire to receive God’s righteousness because it focuses our hunger on God and his Kingdom.  In our text for today, Jesus is addressing the misconception that fasting is an outward sign of inner righteousness.  Many people assumed that fasting was a way of showing others their piety and holiness – “Look at me and my fasting – I must be a very righteous person and therefore God will look upon me with favour”.  Jesus says absolutely not – you are completely missing the point of fasting.  Fasting, he says, is meant to deepen your relationship with God; it is not about trying to win God’s attention or the approval of others.  It is a private act of devotion.

However, Jesus is not suggesting that fasting is something that has no outward implications.  Another way of translating the Greek word for “righteousness” is “justice”.  This means that Jesus is also saying “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice”.  Fasting is one way of seeking God’s kingdom and we know that God’s kingdom is about shalom – redeeming the universe from sin and death and restoring it to its original goodness.  When we link these words of the Beatitudes and our text for today with Isaiah 58, it becomes clear that fasting is directed toward the injustices of the world.  When we fast we are saying –“Oh Lord, sin and evil are real and they are destroying your creation.  This is not good.  This is not right.”  When we fast, we are lamenting our fallen world and we are longing for God’s justice and peace to break into the present.  We echo the words of David in Psalm 69 when he says “I wept while I fasted”.

But fasting is not passive, sitting around with a sad face.  Fasting is meant to prompt us toward action – to seeking a renewed life with God in order to faithfully fulfill our mission as his people.  When we fast, we are preparing ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit by setting aside those things that so easily prevent him from working in our lives.  When we direct ourselves toward God, we find God directing us toward others, reminding us of our responsibility to be Christ’s hands and feet in our broken world.  This is what Jesus is getting at in our text – fasting is not about looking good in front of God and others – it is meant to prepare us to do good for others in God’s name because we realize our shared need for grace and restoration.  Stuart Murray says it well: “Fasting helps us to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves, to attain the Kingdom of God”.  Fasting prepares us by focusing on God and his Kingdom and is therefore an outward sign that we are willing to serve.

Now that we understand why it is important to fast – the question is how do we fast?

As we’ve already seen, Jesus makes it very clear that fasting should never be done for show – “hey everyone, I’m fasting, I must be a really spiritual person!”  This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tell anyone that you are fasting – it is always good to have someone who can hold you accountable and make sure that you aren’t overdoing things or becoming legalistic.  When we start broadcasting that we are fasting, we are missing the point of what it is about.  This means that we need to be clear about the reason for why we are fasting – we don’t do it to gain attention or because it’s trendy or because we want to lose weight – we fast in order to connect with God, to confess our sin, and to be moved to acts of compassion.

Fasting should always be accompanied by prayer because prayer is the fundamental element of our relationship with God.  John Calvin said that whenever Christians pray for an important matter it is essential to fast because it will “render [us] more eager and unencumbered for prayer…with a full stomach our mind is not so lifted up to God”.  In other words, Calvin is saying that fasting helps us to be more focused when we pray and when we are focused we are better able to hear God’s voice.  In our 24/7 constantly on the go and continually plugged in culture, it is so easy to get distracted.  And when we are distracted, often the first thing to fall to the wayside is prayer.  Fasting is a way to help us refocus our busy and distracted lives.

We need to re-focus ourselves because the stories that our culture tells are so often at odds with the story God tells.  Fasting helps us to attune our imaginations to God’s story of redemption, a story where justice and peace, blessing and restoration are normative.  However, this requires a prophetic indignation against the suffering and injustice in our world and a deep hope that God will fulfill his promise to renew all things.  This promise is rooted in Christ’s resurrection and it is a promise we are called to help bring to fruition through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Fasting helps us to remember this promise and re-orient our lives to align with God’s Kingdom purposes.  Ultimately, fasting is about our freedom in Christ.  We don’t fast out of duty or obligation, but because we are starving to see God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Fasting should always remind us of the grace Christ extends to us and the way his grace transforms our lives and our world.

This means we are faced with a number of challenging questions that God continually asks of each and every one of us:

-  Are you hungering for righteousness and justice?  Are you hungering for a world that knows Christ’s love?

- Where do you need to curb appetite so that you may hunger more deeply for the Kingdom of God?

- What are hungry for?

Amen

 

Heroes and Monsters: A Review

When I am struggling with my faith, I often turn to spiritual autobiographies as a source of comfort and strength.  Comfort knowing that I am not alone in my struggle and strength knowing that there is hope for the future.  When I was a teenager, a pastor strongly recommended that I read Augustine’s Confessions for its theological depth and, more importantly, for its honest account of the struggles inherit in a life of faith.

We all have a story to tell – indeed our lives are best understood in terms of narrative.  It is the truly bold among us that are willing to share their stories and, in so doing, themselves.  Indeed, we are the stories we tell.  Writing a spiritual autobiography is not an easy task – it requires the willingness to be publically vulnerable, the ability to patiently reflect upon and dissect one’s life, and the wherewithal to be brutally honest about one’s failings and weaknesses.  I have a great deal of respect for those who’ve publically shared their faith stories, whether orally or written.  Their courage in sharing and their willingness to lay themselves bare so that others may grow is exemplary.

I share this respect for Josh Riebock and his book Heroes and Monsters.

It is very difficult to write a review of someone’s spiritual autobiography – it is their story, not mine and there is the danger that any criticisms could be mistaken for personal attacks.  However, such is the nature of the genre.

Throughout Heroes and Monsters, Riebock creates some great turns of phrase – “we all want the possibility of not being alone” (50); “grief is a kleptomaniac” (146); “…filled with the special kind of hollowness that comes only when we’re missing out on the important things of life” (189).  In addition, the artwork was a welcome addition.  It was well-drawn and added depth to the narrative.

However, there were some things that made the book very difficult to read.  First of all, Riebock’s using “Jack” to refer to Jesus.  This is less an issue of reverence and more one of annoyance because there is no apparent reason as to why Riebock refers to Jesus this way.  This leads to very distracted reading and makes it difficult to engage the story.

Furthermore, the book required further editing.  Riebock never met an exclamation point he didn’t like(!)  In many cases, rather than carefully crafting a sentence to convey his desired emphasis, he relies on strings of synonyms which cause the sentence to read more like a thesaurus entry than as self-reflective prose.  What was meant to be a soul-searching narrative ends as the rambling inner monologue of an introvert (as an INTJ myself, I know what the monologue of an introvert sounds like, both internally and when it spills out orally).  This leant to what I felt was an overly whiny and mopey tone of the book – Riebock came across in my mind a bit neurotic – less in the befuddled Woody Allen way and more in the fastidious George Canstanza way – which made the book difficult to read to the point where I found myself having to put it down repeatedly and, in some instances, skimming over sections.

As a result, I found myself uninterested in Riebock’s story – and for a spiritual autobiography, like any book, this is not a good thing.  What initially drew me to the book was Josh’s perspective on life and faith since there is only one year age difference between us.  I was looking for wisdom from one-millennial-to-another.  I came to the book ready and willing to enter into Riebock’s story.  However, what I found was the story of someone with whom I had difficulty relating.

While this book didn’t resonate with me, but that doesn’t mean his story won’t for others, and for that reason I encourage others to “take and read” for themselves and enter into a conversation with Riebock’s life, looking for those shared echoes of the divine.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller.

Mere Apologetics: A Review

Alister McGrath is a prodigious author – not a year goes by without him publishing at least two books.  Thankfully, unlike other authors with similar output, McGrath’s books always make important contributions to the discussion at the intersection of theology, history, and science.  McGrath’s recent book Mere Apologetics is no exception.  It is both a crash course in Christian apologetics and a sorely needed tune-up of the practice.  It is accessible to both pastors and lay people alike and at 208 pages, it is a relatively short, yet engaging, read.

This is no faint praise – I am not a fan of apologetics.  Like many young adults, during my time at university I underwent a period of putting my faith under close scrutiny, nearly to the breaking point.  I needed to see if my faith held up in the world of ideas.  Naturally, I turned to the field of apologetics to see whether or not my Christian beliefs were believable and defensible.  I read Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, and C.S. Lewis.  I was excited to learn that “pre-suppositionalist apologetics” grew out the theological soil in which I was raised.  However, the more I read these authors, their intellectual pedigree notwithstanding, the more I became convinced that apologetics was less an exercise of convincing people of the truth of Christianity and more a practice of preaching to the choir.  Even as a Christian, their arguments failed to resonate with me; to my ears, they ended up ringing hollow and even futile at times.

To my mind then and, for the most part, now, apologetics is overly rationalistic and ends up reducing faith to mere intellectual assent (I say this coming from a confessional tradition that it overly prone to this same kind of reductionism).  There is no sense of the divine mystery who is both known and unknown, revealed yet hidden, immanent and transcendent.  While it is true that those who practice apologetics are passionate about their pursuits, on the whole apologetics seems to be a completely heartless affair.  The mind reigns supreme.  As a result, ironically, many apologists end up echoing their Enlightenment forbearers who saw the supremacy of the human mind(albeit, they also saw the power of human reason as the reason to eschew all religious belief).  Thus, apologetics becomes a mere game between two players who, although they agree on the rules, continually refer to their own different rule books and rather than play the game, they end up engaging in what amounts to endless rounds of shadow boxing to the delight of those in their corner – every perceived hit receives a raucous response even though no knockout punch is ever landed.

To be sure, most Christian apologists are excellent rhetoricians and have exceptionally keen minds.  However, for all their debates with non-Christians, it seems that the only fruit to come from these debates is the “cheerleaders” of both sides smugly affirming that their guy won.  If apologetics truly worked, than would it be trust that at the end of the debate, there would be a conversion at some point?   (In my opinion, Richard Dawkins’ recent claim that there is a slight possibility that there might be a God and Anthony Flew’s openness to a creator God cannot be seen as “wins” for Christian apologetics).

In a postmodern culture, isn’t a better approach to Christian apologetics is to do away with apologetics, at least in its modernist manifestation, altogether?  It would seem that the art of giving testimony is a much better approach in today’s world.  Postmodernism reminds us that at root humans are story-tellers – we structure reality and personal experiences in terms of narrative and articulate meaning and value via stories.  If we were brains on a stick, then apologetics would be the default way of articulating our faith.  However, we are embodied creatures with minds and hearts, with reasons and emotions.  Moreover, we now know that attempts to pit reason against emotion is a futile endeavor because they are not opposed (indeed, as Antonio Damasio’s work has shown, not only do reason and emotion work together, emotion is often the heart of reason!)  It would seem that the main problem at the heart of apologetics is a faulty anthropology that smacks of Cartesian dualism.

Therefore, Christians are better served by learning how to winsomely articulate their faith story, both personally and in terms of the larger Christian community of which they are a part.  In other words, before we even get to the content of the story, we had better have a solid understanding of the story itself.  Unfortunately, it would seem that many Christians today have lost sight of the larger Christian story of which they are apart – they are unable to articulate the themes of the Biblical narrative and how these themes inform our life and mission in God’s world.  What is more important – the ability to articulate what we believe and to live it out or the aptitude to make a clever intellectual argument in order to defend what you believe?  Won’t the ability to defend the faith come simply from the ability to embody God’s story in and through our own life stories, to articulate a lived theology as it were?

A well told story will captivate everyone; a well crafted argument will appeal to a much smaller audience.  Thus, apologetics is less important than the ability to articulate the Christian story in a captivating way that resonates with today’s culture.  Punctiliousness has a place, but it is not what wins the hearts and minds of people.  Yes, the mind may be intrigued, but it will not guarantee that the heart will follow.  I can easily read and be engaged by the clever arguments and rhetorical fireworks of Nietzsche – his writing it definitely food for the mind (and it also has a way of stirring the passions).  Although my mind may be nourished and challenged by reading, because my heart remains captive to Christ, I cannot change my mind simply because my heart refuses to change.  Where the heart is, the mind will follow.   And even then, sometimes the heart has a mind of its own, the will of the mind notwithstanding, as St. Paul knew so well (cf. Romans 7).  Or, in the words of Woody Allen – “the heart wants what it wants”.

However, all this being said, McGrath does a solid job of outlining the various angles, components, and method of apologetics.  In doing so, he goes beyond apologetics as usual.  This is refreshing because it refuses to reduce apologetics to intellectual arguments.  He includes works of fiction as part of the apologetic canon.  And yet, what about other forms of art – visual, music, etc. – why does McGrath not include them as apologetic resources?  Is it because they are considered too “emotional” and therefore too subjective?

Despite the tendency of “traditional” apologetics to over emphasize the mind, McGrath’s emphasis on the importance of developing the intellect is nevertheless an important reminder to evangelicalism that they need to be intentional about academic formation that goes beyond sectarianism and fighting the “culture wars” to developing a robust Christian worldview that is capable of engaging our culture both critically and appreciatively.

McGrath’s emphasis on taking a gracious and listening approach is also a welcome alternative to the typical modus operandi of Christian apologetics – no holds barred intellectual pummeling.  For McGrath, a gracious apologetic means that there is no such thing as a “one-size –fits-all” approach.  Rather than the “plug-and-play” approach where the apologist simply memorizes a response to a particular issue or problem, the apologist’s first responsibility is to be a dialogue partner rather than an opponent looking for the jugular.  Such a move necessitates moving from anti-thetical critique (you’re wrong because your view is different than mine and therefore inadequate) toward transformational/irenic critique (here is how my viewpoint contributes to the discussion and illuminates potential weaknesses in your position; but I am also open to how your viewpoint challenges/corrects my own).  The latter approach, I believe, is the most charitable approach.  I suppose there is a place for polemics, but it has a tendency to turn nasty quite quickly and ends up amounting to a game of rhetorical brinksmanship that runs counter to Jesus’ wisdom to avoid eye-for-an-eye confrontations.  Rather than revealing Christ, the end game of apologetics is an apology for reason itself.

Ultimately, what draws me to the Christian faith is not its reasonableness.  First and foremost, it is the person of Christ – who he is, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he promises to do.  Secondly, it is the unreasonableness of Christian claims that captivate my heart and mind –God becoming human, God dying, the resurrection, radical grace, complete forgiveness, the restoration of all things, the hope for the joining of heaven and earth.   What drew and continues to draw people to Christ is not his flashy rhetorical arguments or his intellectual prowess – rather it was who he is and how we was able to show and explain what God’s kingdom is like.  And, I might add, one of the main ways he did this was through story-telling.  The good news of Christ establishing God’s kingdom is what people need to hear and this is a story that any and every Christian needs to be able to tell.  This is what will win peoples’ hearts and minds because it is not an intellectual game played by Christian elites; rather it is a story that promises to fulfill the yearning of every restless heart.

There are two quibbles I have with Mere Apologetics.  The first is the “for further reading” lists and the end of each chapter.  While additional reading lists are always helpful, I am puzzled by the very strange bedfellows that McGrath mentions in some of his lists – David Bentley Hart and Rick Warren in the same list?  John Polkinghorne, an evolutionist, and John Piper, a creationist?  While it is possible that McGrath is encouraging his audience to read widely, without annotations to the list, it is difficult to understand why he would recommend such a disparate list of authors who, in many cases, would strongly disagree on many points.  But perhaps that Is his goal.

The second quibble is how McGrath over does it with C.S. Lewis – even the title is an homage to Jack.  I suppose my sensitivity to this is that I’ve never really resonated with Lewis’ work beyond the Chronicles of Narnia.  I realize that I am treading on very thin ice here considering that Lewis is basically a Protestant saint, but I must he honest – I was surprised by how boring Surprised By Joy really was; I didn’t resonate with A Grief Observed; I didn’t even finish The Screwtape Letters; and Mere Christianity put me to sleep every time I read it (I did manage to muscle my way through and complete it).  Even though I was underwhelmed, I was pushed through with my reading of them simply because everyone else around me was so enthusiastic about Lewis.  However, I suppose this is less a criticism of McGrath’s book and more an unresolved personal struggle with Lewis.

Overall, Mere Apologetics is a solid book worth reading for those who are interesting in pursuing the practice of apologetics.   While I am still too much of a postmodernist to believe that apologetics is a worthwhile activity (and I would strongly argue that Anselm’s Proslogion is more doxological than ontological), McGrath leaves me wondering about the impossible possibility of a “postmodern apologetics”.  Perhaps Mere Apologetics is the first step in that direction.

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.

The Voice New Testament: A Review

As a youth pastor, I’m always searching for practical tools to help students engage with Scripture.  To this end, I am very pleased with The Voice, a new translation put together by the Ecclesia Bible Society.  Although it is only currently available in a New Testament version, the strengths of this translation are clear and I eagerly await the full version.

What I appreciate about The Voice is first and foremost its narrative approach to Scripture.  After all, the Bible is a story book, so it only seems appropriate that we approach it as such.  It is God’s true story of creation and redemption.  This narrative approach comes through clearly in the choice of the translators to write it as a dramatic script.  Written in this way with the text divided into the various parts (or voices) of the biblical characters makes the story come alive.  As a youth pastor, The Voice is a wonderful resource for engaging students because it is a readymade script – students are not merely reading through verses, they are performing scripture.  It is a highly readable translation which makes it very accessible.  Whether in group or individual reading, the characters of the story come alive making Bible reading less a laborious task.

Like production notes and director cues, the introductory notes at the beginning of each book and the “sidebars” added to the text help provide valuable background information.

The Voice is truly an asset to any Bible reader looking for a fresh way of engaging scripture and it will certainly become one of my most used tools in my youth ministry tool-kit.

New Testament has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson