There is a sizable debate among theologians and preachers (not that a distinction between the two can be made lightly) regarding how the gospel is to be brought to the world in the context of change. Many have likely heard the charge that the bible as we have it has no meaning for me today... that it is outdated, or cannot speak to today's people with today's concerns. The question of the debate is: How do we make the gospel effective in today's context. Hence the word "contextualization".
There are those who feel that there is no need to make any special effort to make the bible 'speak' to this generation. They say that the bible is perfectly effective as it is, and it oes not need any 'help'. If we preach the gospel, the gospel will do the work, we need only to let the lion out of its cage and get out of the way.
Others feel that there is a great need to bring the gospel to every generation in a way that speaks personally to that generation. Perhaps with their own dialects, cultural and intellectual. They want to do whatever it takes to make the gospel speak to everyman at his own level.
As with every theological debate I have ever encountered, the answer is likely to meet somewhere in the middle. Any extreme, in life or doctrine, in my experience has ended up in disaster.
While this is true I would like to take a moment and indulge myself in what some might call an extreme of contextualization, while others would simply say, "right on". I would also like to invite you (whoever 'you' happens to be) to add your own ideas of what may seem like an outrageous example of contextualization, just for fun. Perhaps mine will serve as a good example of what I mean.
In Matthew 16, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ. Then Jesus says "You are Peter, and on this rock I shall build my church"...
Wouldn't it be great if a pastor, preaching on this text, or one of Peter's sermons, at the end of his exposition, would pause and say ...
"Can you smell what the Rock is cookin'?"
Friday, December 31, 2004
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Santa Claus and the cleverness of the Evil One
I was struck yesterday by a theory about Santa Claus that came to me during one of my classic stints in the restroom. It's amazing what comes to you while sitting on the porcelain throne.
Despite the place and activity which wrought this theory I am about to place before you, I think if it has even a thread of truth, which no one will ever know for sure, it is quite brilliant.
Santa Claus. A gracefully benevolent 'man'. Gracefully benevolent because his goodness seems to surpass the bounds of good or evil. There was once talk of a naughty and nice list which he kept to ferret out the bad little boys and girls, who would then receive coal in their stockings instead of the good gifts that the good little boys and girls would receive. It seems in recent years that this has gone out the window, and that it doesn't matter how you behave, Santa will still bring you your list of wants. 'Man' is in quotes because Santa is not entirely human...
Santa is omniscient. He knows if you are sleeping, he knows when your awake. He knows if you've been bad or good... You know the rest. Santa seems to have the power to see everything you do and think from a moral perspective, he knows if you obey your parents (or so they threaten) and sets his 'judgment' of your 'reward' based on said judgments. But this is really nothing new.
Santa is also omnipresent. He has the ability in a 32 hour period to visit every home in the world to gbring his gift rewards for the good behavior of children everywhere. Physicists have actually tried to figure out how fast he would have to move in order to achieve this feat. They concluded that the speed at which Santa would have to travel with his reindeer would be so fast the the energy created would actually cause the reindeer and Santa himself to spontaneously combust in the process of bringing said gifts to said children. Which would also make Santa Omnipotent, because obviously, Santa could not possibly DIE while bringing his gifts. So Santa must also be all powerful. Or at least have a really cool energy forcefield.
All of this has been discussed before by others. The comparisons between Santa and God have long been the center of discussions on the evil of Santa Claus and how allowing children to know and 'believe' in him is a great danger. This aspect of my thinking is not at all new. But there is an aspect that I have not heard spoken of before. Perhaps it has been, but I have not heard it.
What struck me about this whole discussion actually raises the danger of teaching the myth of Santa to Children to an all new level in my mind.
Yes, there is a problem with teaching children about a character who has god-like attributes who achieves god-like feats for what seem like god-like reasons. The fact that these attributes have a thread of truth to them is what makes him so dangerous. But the reason for this is not because children might replace God in their hearts with Santa Claus and worship him instead of the one who gives real gifts of real worth, however true this may be.
The real problem lies in how implausible such a figure is.
We can all think back (those of us who were taught about Santa growing up) about that moment at which Santa went from childhood dream to laughable foolishness. For some it was the trauma of classmates dashing the myth from our fragile minds. Others caught mom and dad sticking presents under the tree while sneaking around one Christmas Eve (My own mother preempted this by having gifts clearly marked both from herself and Santa). Still others just eventually grew out of their belief in the Old Jolly fellow.
The point is that eventually everyone loses their 'faith' in Santa.
We get this character in our heads with god-like qualities and are strung along far enough to where we actually become attached to who he is and what he does. But eventually the truth comes out and the lie is laid bare. This omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent character could not possible exist, and he obviously doesn't.
So what does that do to our belief in God? The real one?
After getting our lives and hopes entwined in a lie, we later become trained not to believe the truth that lies behind that lie. Teaching our children about Santa Claus can damage how they look at and see the True God. Because if Santa doesn't exist, how can God?
On one hand we tell them that this Santa figure is not real, but this other guy, who is a whole lot like Santa (generally speaking of course), is real... come on! What could be more confusing to our children?
The key is of course that it is far more important that our children know and understand the true God, who He is and what He has done and can do. So that they are not taken in by cheap red suited imitations which our culture would like to sell them.
Despite the place and activity which wrought this theory I am about to place before you, I think if it has even a thread of truth, which no one will ever know for sure, it is quite brilliant.
Santa Claus. A gracefully benevolent 'man'. Gracefully benevolent because his goodness seems to surpass the bounds of good or evil. There was once talk of a naughty and nice list which he kept to ferret out the bad little boys and girls, who would then receive coal in their stockings instead of the good gifts that the good little boys and girls would receive. It seems in recent years that this has gone out the window, and that it doesn't matter how you behave, Santa will still bring you your list of wants. 'Man' is in quotes because Santa is not entirely human...
Santa is omniscient. He knows if you are sleeping, he knows when your awake. He knows if you've been bad or good... You know the rest. Santa seems to have the power to see everything you do and think from a moral perspective, he knows if you obey your parents (or so they threaten) and sets his 'judgment' of your 'reward' based on said judgments. But this is really nothing new.
Santa is also omnipresent. He has the ability in a 32 hour period to visit every home in the world to gbring his gift rewards for the good behavior of children everywhere. Physicists have actually tried to figure out how fast he would have to move in order to achieve this feat. They concluded that the speed at which Santa would have to travel with his reindeer would be so fast the the energy created would actually cause the reindeer and Santa himself to spontaneously combust in the process of bringing said gifts to said children. Which would also make Santa Omnipotent, because obviously, Santa could not possibly DIE while bringing his gifts. So Santa must also be all powerful. Or at least have a really cool energy forcefield.
All of this has been discussed before by others. The comparisons between Santa and God have long been the center of discussions on the evil of Santa Claus and how allowing children to know and 'believe' in him is a great danger. This aspect of my thinking is not at all new. But there is an aspect that I have not heard spoken of before. Perhaps it has been, but I have not heard it.
What struck me about this whole discussion actually raises the danger of teaching the myth of Santa to Children to an all new level in my mind.
Yes, there is a problem with teaching children about a character who has god-like attributes who achieves god-like feats for what seem like god-like reasons. The fact that these attributes have a thread of truth to them is what makes him so dangerous. But the reason for this is not because children might replace God in their hearts with Santa Claus and worship him instead of the one who gives real gifts of real worth, however true this may be.
The real problem lies in how implausible such a figure is.
We can all think back (those of us who were taught about Santa growing up) about that moment at which Santa went from childhood dream to laughable foolishness. For some it was the trauma of classmates dashing the myth from our fragile minds. Others caught mom and dad sticking presents under the tree while sneaking around one Christmas Eve (My own mother preempted this by having gifts clearly marked both from herself and Santa). Still others just eventually grew out of their belief in the Old Jolly fellow.
The point is that eventually everyone loses their 'faith' in Santa.
We get this character in our heads with god-like qualities and are strung along far enough to where we actually become attached to who he is and what he does. But eventually the truth comes out and the lie is laid bare. This omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent character could not possible exist, and he obviously doesn't.
So what does that do to our belief in God? The real one?
After getting our lives and hopes entwined in a lie, we later become trained not to believe the truth that lies behind that lie. Teaching our children about Santa Claus can damage how they look at and see the True God. Because if Santa doesn't exist, how can God?
On one hand we tell them that this Santa figure is not real, but this other guy, who is a whole lot like Santa (generally speaking of course), is real... come on! What could be more confusing to our children?
The key is of course that it is far more important that our children know and understand the true God, who He is and what He has done and can do. So that they are not taken in by cheap red suited imitations which our culture would like to sell them.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
E-Mail and the Fear of Man
I have a serious problem...
Yesterday I sat down to write an e-mail that should have taken me just a few moments to compose, and it took me nearly an hour to finish.
You may be thinking that it must have been a very long e-mail, which grew as I wrote, one idea piling on top of the next. I have written those e-mails before... This was not one.
It was NINE lines long.
My wife would say that the reason it took so long is because I have the attention span of a dying gnat, but unfortunately I know better. It took me an hour to write an otherwise 1 minute e-mail because I am so afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Some might attribute this to my over exposure to a politically correct world where offending someone is the highest anathema known to mankind. But anyone who knows me would tell you that there are times when I go out of my way to offend those who I know are easily offended by Politically Incorrect nonsense.
I use the word "chick"... But only if I know the lip of whoever is near me will curl when it leaves my lips.
-- my thinking on that has always been, "if you are offended by the word 'chick' - then you are one." That includes men, by the way.
Anyway, the point here is that when writing to certain people over e-mail, I am cryptically fearful of how my typed words are going to be received.
One explanation of this could be the many examples of times my e-mails or Instant messages have been taken the wrong way and the recipient has stopped talking to me for a given period of time. You know, the lack of supersegmentals (tone of voice, facial expressions) in e-mail makes true communication difficult at times... Sarcasm is very difficult to translate if you don't really know the person. But again, I am getting distracted...
The reason I know this is not the case is, I think, mostly because of who I am writing to when this happens. It is usually when writing to a clergy person... One of my mentors, or even some of my soon to be (Lord willing) colleagues.
I can sit there with something almost meaningless to type and it will take me forever because I am writing and rewriting until I can't even remember why I am sending the e-mail to begin with.
Bottom line is I have a serious Fear of Man issue...
Fear of man is when our fellow man becomes bigger in our hearts and minds than God. We begin to fear those who can kill the body (or reputation, or chances at good jobs, etc..) instead of the one who can kill the body and then throw both body and soul into hell.
I always knew I had this problem to a certain extent, but I don't ever think I realized the depths of it, and maybe it is not as bad as I think... But If my experience is any indicator, it's usually worse than I think it is.
Thing is, it doesn't seem to effect me in the important things, like sharing faith, or speaking the truth without compromise. But it finds its way to creep into the most seemingly meaningless minutiae of life, like silly e-mails. I know this is not the only place where I have seen this, but it is a place to start. A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
There is something to be said for being thoughtful, being fearful of men is foolishness.
Book to read: When People are Big and God is Small -- Ed Welch
Yesterday I sat down to write an e-mail that should have taken me just a few moments to compose, and it took me nearly an hour to finish.
You may be thinking that it must have been a very long e-mail, which grew as I wrote, one idea piling on top of the next. I have written those e-mails before... This was not one.
It was NINE lines long.
My wife would say that the reason it took so long is because I have the attention span of a dying gnat, but unfortunately I know better. It took me an hour to write an otherwise 1 minute e-mail because I am so afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Some might attribute this to my over exposure to a politically correct world where offending someone is the highest anathema known to mankind. But anyone who knows me would tell you that there are times when I go out of my way to offend those who I know are easily offended by Politically Incorrect nonsense.
I use the word "chick"... But only if I know the lip of whoever is near me will curl when it leaves my lips.
-- my thinking on that has always been, "if you are offended by the word 'chick' - then you are one." That includes men, by the way.
Anyway, the point here is that when writing to certain people over e-mail, I am cryptically fearful of how my typed words are going to be received.
One explanation of this could be the many examples of times my e-mails or Instant messages have been taken the wrong way and the recipient has stopped talking to me for a given period of time. You know, the lack of supersegmentals (tone of voice, facial expressions) in e-mail makes true communication difficult at times... Sarcasm is very difficult to translate if you don't really know the person. But again, I am getting distracted...
The reason I know this is not the case is, I think, mostly because of who I am writing to when this happens. It is usually when writing to a clergy person... One of my mentors, or even some of my soon to be (Lord willing) colleagues.
I can sit there with something almost meaningless to type and it will take me forever because I am writing and rewriting until I can't even remember why I am sending the e-mail to begin with.
Bottom line is I have a serious Fear of Man issue...
Fear of man is when our fellow man becomes bigger in our hearts and minds than God. We begin to fear those who can kill the body (or reputation, or chances at good jobs, etc..) instead of the one who can kill the body and then throw both body and soul into hell.
I always knew I had this problem to a certain extent, but I don't ever think I realized the depths of it, and maybe it is not as bad as I think... But If my experience is any indicator, it's usually worse than I think it is.
Thing is, it doesn't seem to effect me in the important things, like sharing faith, or speaking the truth without compromise. But it finds its way to creep into the most seemingly meaningless minutiae of life, like silly e-mails. I know this is not the only place where I have seen this, but it is a place to start. A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
There is something to be said for being thoughtful, being fearful of men is foolishness.
Book to read: When People are Big and God is Small -- Ed Welch
Out of the Dark
I've been inspired to actually sit down and write something here, but it has yet to occur to me what it is I should be writing.
I am always so impressed by a particular friend who has a gift for this, and I can see him one day collecting his blog posts and writing a book.
I do not have such aspirations, but I can see how this medium would be great practice for sermon writing. Not to mention a great place to hold your ideas until you may have a use for them later.
I do not have in inspirational idea to write just now, but perhaps when I do I will take advantage...
I am always so impressed by a particular friend who has a gift for this, and I can see him one day collecting his blog posts and writing a book.
I do not have such aspirations, but I can see how this medium would be great practice for sermon writing. Not to mention a great place to hold your ideas until you may have a use for them later.
I do not have in inspirational idea to write just now, but perhaps when I do I will take advantage...
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