Author Archives: geoffsnook77

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The gospel according to the Hatfields and McCoys

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Before I went on vacation in June, I had the chance to watch the very well done History Channel original mini-series The Hatfields and the McCoys. A city slicker (although that’s a bit of a stretch coming from Bradenton) from FL, I knew next to nothing about this deadly feud. Well other than it was a feud, and was quite deadly. 
I was astounded at the quality of acting and writing for a production like this. I did find myself changing sides every few commercial breaks. At the end, it wasn’t so much a “side” I took, but which family elicited the most pity in me. The pity “ESPY” went to the Kentucky based McCoy’s, primarily due to the fact that the patriarch Randall McCoy lost more than 5 kids, plus a beaten up spouse who never recovered.
The Hatfield patriarch, Devil Anse (not sure where that name came from), ended up losing a brother and extended family. No kids. So to me that’s probably less of a blow.
But what saddened me the most was not only the loss of life, but the loss of faith. The very religious Randall McCoy ended up losing his faith when God didn’t answer his prayer to deliver he and his family from the marauding McCoy clan. After he prayer for deliverance, he lost two kids and a spouse. That was the final straw.
And so this religious man, who told others that they needed simply to have faith, in the end, lost the only thing that ultimately mattered. 
But the opposite was true with Devil Anse Hatfield. At the end of the mini-series, this very irreligious man was baptized. The one who deserted the army, blasphemed regularly, and even told Randall not to mention “God” around him or he would shoot him on the spot, became a Christian.
Sound familiar? It should. It’s just the Prodigal Son story told all over again. McCoy never deserted the army; in fact he stayed and he was the lone survivor in the prison camp. Hatfield left him high and dry. When the two saw each other in church, the religious McCoy wouldn’t even talk to the irreligious Hatfield.
Yet the old son who never seemingly left, who did the right things and encouraged others to be religious as well, missed Jesus. That was the saddest part for me. And the irreligious one found Him, or rather was found by Him. 
Shouldn’t surprise us. We’ve seen it before. And we’ll keep seeing it. Both types of people are just as lost, they just don’t look as lost to the untrained eye. But they are, and that’s why neither type will “ask for directions” until moved by the Spirit. The beauty of such “lostness,” is is that neither one is beyond God’s reach.

So there was in fact redemption at the end of this bloody feud, just not how one might have expected it to come. But maybe we should have.

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Knowing those inside your church but outside your generation

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This is simply a continuation of the previous post on exegesis. The pastor, teacher, parent, friend, evangelist’s primary object of exegesis is the scriptures. If we don’t have that, we only have opinions. But as I’ve argued already, you will limit your effectiveness in applying and connecting the scriptures (their commands and promises) to people without also exegeting your culture and yourself. 
But there are a few more categories I head posited to me while at General Assembly a few weeks ago.
Exegete your church
Each church is different. They really are. I preached at a PCA church in Barboursville, WV last week. I’ll be tweaking it and re-preaching the same sermon this week. My exegesis of scriptures will be very similar, just some minor changes here and there. However, my application section is very different. We have different people who struggle with different idols. The church’s look different, music is different, and the people are just different. So my application section is being re-worked based upon my exegesis of this particular church: its idols, its issues, its sufferings. I’m aware of some of the struggles people face because I know them personally. Therefore I try to think through what people need to hear as well as how they will hear it. Any improving teacher is aware of what is going on not only in the culture of what his students, kids, are facing, but specifically aware of the lives of his/her students in his/her church.
Exegete the generation. 
I’m well versed on the need to exegete the culture in order to best apply the bible, but this was something I hadn’t necessarily thought too much about. Mike Ross, pastor Christ Covenant in Charlotte, NC, discussed the need to think through how different generations see things differently. Sometimes these differences are not even sinful differences; they are just different. 
Younger people tend to take more risk, older folks tend to take fewer and focus on maintaining. The “greatest” generation is very loyal, and duty and commitment are important. My generation doesn’t think too highly about either. Sadly. Can you guess which one tends toward legalism and which one tends toward license (though obviously not across the board)? Not only that, but you have the middle school generation which is prone to moralize things and thus miss Jesus. Can’t forget them!
You have college students, you have singles, young families, empty nesters, you have retirees, and whatever is the next stage after that, etc..
When we preach, teach, direct, encourage, admonish, its best to think through the question: how would this person best “hear” what is being said?
Sound like a lot of work? Teaching, preaching, parenting, discipling, shepherding is. Of course most of this takes place organically in the context of relationships and not through extra study time. Knowing the bible, knowing yourself, knowing your church, and knowing your people will help them and you better know your Savior.
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Before you accuse/teach me, take a look at yourself: exegeting yourself

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Yesterday’s post on choosing “fan” over “follower,” or at least not throwing out the word “fan” was basically an exercise in exegesis.

According to Wikipedia, which as Micheal Scott points out, “Anyone can put anything up there, and change things at any time, so you know you’re only getting the best information,” here is a working definition:

Exegesis (from the Greek ἐξήγησις from ἐξηγεῖσθαι ‘to lead out’) is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term “Biblical exegesis” is used for greater specificity. The goal of Biblical exegesis is to explore the meaning of the text which then leads to discovering its significance or relevance.

Typically when religious folks like myself think of exegesis, they think about examining the bible to determine exactly what it means so that they can apply the passage to life. But I would argue that my favor of “fan” is an exercise in exegesis as well. And even a much needed one.

A recent discussion on sanctification at General Assembly only confirmed my thoughts and even added a new categorie to my thinking. If one is going to exegete the scriptures and teach them to others, he/she must not stop at biblical exegesis, or his/her teaching and application will actually fall short. Exegesis of scripture without exegeting other factors will limit your effectiveness as a teacher, pastor, parent, friend hoping to pass on the gospel and its depth to both Christians and non-Christians.

Here are several categories that Bryan Chappell and Mike Ross put forth as exegetical necessities if we are to properly exegete and apply the scriptures. They were directed primarily to pastors and elders, but they are apropos for anyone seeking to share and/or apply the gospel.

1.)  Exegete yourself. You have to take a look within yourself. You have to know yourself if you are going to “get out” from the text what God intended, and what God intends to be applied today. When you teach others, you cannot simply assume your experience with a particular issue is universal. For instance, if your parents made you go to church as a child and you didn’t want to, and it made you not want to go as an adult, you cannot assume that experience is universal. My parents made me go, and I only missed a few Sundays when I was in college. Same with my wife.  In other words, you might be prone to legalism and hate it, but your kids, neighbors, students, might be prone to thinking the gospel promotes freedom to ignore and discard God’s law. We have to understand ourselves to understand and apply the scriptures. To borrow from Eric Clapton, “Before you accuse me (or teach me-my addition obviously), take a look at yourself.”

2.) Exegete your culture. You have to know your culture in order to teach to those within your culture (you are also within that culture-we can’t escape!). That’s why I think the word “fan” means something here that it might not somewhere else.  I’ve already illustrated this exegesis of culture in my previous post.

Since I dislike, and don’t read long blog posts, I’ll stop here and post a few more exegetical categories tomorrow and the next day.

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Fan Vs. Follower: I may go with "fan" in West Virginia

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At my four year old’s preschool, I noticed a sign for a some sort of study or sermon series called “Fan or Follower?” I think this has become popular as I’ve seen it elsewhere. While I didn’t go to the sermon or study for obvious reasons (kind of busy at my own church!), I wondered whether the terms were the best suited for the distinction, at least in my area.
I get the reason for the question-are you a fan of Jesus or are you a follower (the latter is supposedly the committed one)-but found it a little ironic, if not out of place in West Virginia.
I even the get the answer: Jesus calls us to follow Him. He is not just someone we root for and then go back to doing whatever we were doing: work, play, school, etc…
However I wonder if the term “fan” actually connotes something even more committed than the term follower, at least how we think of the term.
I’m really not belittling the church for using this designation, I just wonder if these are the right terms to use here.
For instance, a fan to most of us in this area isn’t someone that “likes” something on facebook, it is someone who is passionate about his team. In a culture driven by sports-either watching them, expecting your kid to get a scholarship from them, following them on internet discussion boards-the fan is much more than just someone who watches a team and then goes about his business. He takes that passion with him where he goes. He/she, as I should say, gets angry when his/her team lose, elated when they win. He/she think about the next time his/her team will play. The team’s performance often determines his attitude. There is no offseason for a true fan. 
And I’m not dogging much of this behavior. I check the Bucs website several times a day, even in the off season. But what I’m saying is a “fan” is pretty darn involved, committed, and can even be obsessed. It can be a greater passion than anything else.
When you think of a “committed” (to those who don’t share the same team the term is obnoxious) fan, you have to think of a West Virginia University Mountaineer fan. The fans are so committed-or some would argue obnoxious-that one of my friends stopped going to home games because he almost got into a fight with a fellow Mountaineer fan; he wasn’t “in” to the game enough, apparently, from what I remember of the conversation.
3. West Virginia University. The school led the nation in intentionally set street fires from 1997 to 2003, lighting up an unmatchable 1,120 blazes. That includes 120 in a single night to celebrate a football win over Virginia Tech in 2003 and sixty infernos set to celebrate advancing to the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament in 2005.
Now setting fire to things is certainly going beyond what it means to be a fan, or at least what it means to break the law (I think couch burning is now a felony).
But consider that the term “fan” for many means someone who is passionate, who puts all his eggs in one basket, who is loyal, who follows a team whether at work or at play, who talks about his team to others and wants to hear others talk about his team, who’s emotional state rests not on what is going on around him but what is happening in the game, who can’t see how others could be divided in their “fan-ship.” 
All that stuff, if applied to Jesus, seems pretty good. To learn about Jesus through other people, to think about him, to use the web to learn and share about him, to put all your eggs in his basket, to have your emotional state driven by His victory instead of your situations.
If I could be more of a West Virginia type fan for Jesus, I think I’d take that. That seems to me, in every sense of the cultural definition of a fan, to mean just as much, if not more, than a “follower.”
Jesus did say, though not in English, “Come follow me.” And in Greek, he predominantly, though not entirely, is recorded (he spoke Aramaic) to have use one term. But I wonder if in West Virginia 2012 if we wouldn’t have said, “Come be the fan of me that you are for West Virginia football.” 

I think fan is probably as good a term as follower. Maybe in a lot of places outside this state as well. Soccer-in any country but this one-anyone?

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People are God’s letters too

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While on vacation, on my way to and from a fishing trip, I listened to a sermon by Martin Ban out of Christ Church Santa Fe, NM . He unashamedly proclaimed that God’s people, were indeed God’s first letters of the New Testament. His text came from Acts 2, the story of Pentecost, but he also referenced Paul’s 2nd letter to Corinth to borrow some of the same terminology.
“2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.  3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” -II Cor 3:2-3
Paul describes the believers at Corinth as God’s letters. But of course the only reason this can happen is if God puts His Spirit inside of them-and that of course made possible by Pentecost, hence the connection. If that is true, then we can be confident we can hear God speak to us through other believers. While this sounds a bit on the charismatic side of things, we probably shouldn’t be uncomfortable with this type of thinking. 
God does speak to us through other people. Ban challenged us to think through the great number of times when we learned something not simply from reading the bible, but by hearing instruction from another Christian. Now of course when people say things that aren’t consistent with the scriptures, we know their words clearly aren’t from God. But sometimes such words can actually clarify, and help us apply God’s words.
Let me give you a recent example. 
I have been pondering the words in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians during my devotion time. They have been helpful in thinking through evangelism, and the suffering it may take to minister the word or even to receive the word. I was further reminded of the incarnational component to ministry and evangelism where Paul and his team loved, labored, and lived among the people. Great stuff, but theoretical until applied.
Last night one of my neighbors came by at the usual undesired time at 7 pm (right when the boys were getting ready for bed). He rang the door bell to drop off some popsicles: the kind that you buy by the 100’s. But there were only 4 of them. Connar was hoping for more. 
I told Amy, “Why would someone want to bring by 4 popsicles? And during the kids bed time? How dare he?” 
Amy responded, “Geoff, because he just wants to spend time with us.” 
I responded, “Oh….”
God spoke to me through Amy. God was telling me about incarnational living, and loving, and spending time-when it wasn’t necessarily convenient. He spoke to me that I needed TO do it in my time in the Word. But he spoke to me WHO I needed to apply this passage to THROUGH Amy. For some reason it just didn’t click until God spoke through her.
Don’t ignore God’s written Word. But don’t forget that we ourselves are His letters which need to be read by His people in relationships. If you do ignore God speaking to you THROUGH others, you’ll miss out on following and experiencing the Living Word made flesh: Jesus.
 

 

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Thoughts from the Outage

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In case you didn’t hear about the massive power outages across West Va, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, well, we had them. A majority of West Va was actually without power because of a devastating storm that somehow managed to sneak up and do quite a bit of damage. Sunday morning power was restored at Redeemer, and the Henderson’s got it on Sunday night. Almost exactly 48 hours after it went out.
After sitting in air conditioning all day, here are some thoughts about this ordeal.
1.) Thankful. I will try not to complain about power bills. I usually don’t (I complain about water bills because I think I have a leak but can’t prove it-how else would my water be as high as a neighbor with 3 daughters!), but now you could probably put me down in the happy-to-pay-the-power-bill category for at least 4 months. I won’t take power for granted, at least not for a few months (I know myself).
2.) Need for community.  When you don’t have power, your need for others is exposed and increased. Someone gave me a car charger for my I-Phone and it worked. For 5 minutes and then my phone realized it doesn’t recognize knock-off I-phone chargers from Walmart. So I had to go to my neighbor and ask if I could plug my phone into his generator. I’m glad I did because it gave us a chance to catch up. But I wanted to take care of it myself, and would have, if I could have done it alone. Then while Cade lay fast asleep in our basement, Amy, Connar, and I got locked out of our house due to a broken door knob (courtesy of our boys).  We had to run to different neighbors this time. After library cards couldn’t pick the lock, we borrowed some wire cutters, cut the screen and then slid Connar into the window for him to unlock the door. I might have been too big to climb (or do it comfortably) through the window over the deck, so the 4 year old came to the rescue. And it was Amy’s idea to use Connar that way. We needed everyone.
3.) Need for worship. We got power on at the church Sunday morning. Whether we had to meet in the parking lot, we were going to gather. I needed it. I needed the rhythm of the weekly sabbath to gather for hearing God’s word (whether planned or extemporaneously preached), the singing of songs, confession of sins, hearing the assurance of grace. I needed to hear about others hardships with the power outage. I needed to hear that as Christians we don’t have to act as the rest of the world does and freak out when things like this happen. I was thankful to meet indoors in the cool of the sanctuary, but it was Christ who I think I would have found regardless. It was he who calmed and refreshed my weary soul. We need Him each week, and we have the opportunity to find Him in a special way when we gather for worship.
4.) Lack of power is a great equalizer. I waited in line for about 30-40 minutes for coffee the first morning of the power outage. I was standing behind some carnies, who were trying to grab a cup of joe before heading back to fix the carnival stuff at the high school. Behind me was a church member. Beside me were wealthy and lower income. We were all without power. Regardless of class, smell, number of teeth, skin color, appearance, we were all helpless and in need. It reminded me of another great equalizer: God’s law. It reveals to us how we are ALL powerless to measure up or keep it. One of the purposes of God’s Law is to remind is to lay us low. But being laid low helps us identify and humble ourselves with fellow sinners all around us. And being laid low makes the good news of a complete pardon and perfect record that much greater. Fortunately we don’t have to wait 48 hours after a look at God’s law for relief! Both Jesus and electricity are much more precious to me after this trial. Even Connar told me, “Daddy, I like electricity.” Hopefully he’ll have an appreciation for both kinds of power for a while.
And please don’t forget to keep praying for those who won’t get power on for a few more days. Thanks.

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My Thoughts on PCA’s General Assembly

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Back to the blog. Not necessarily “Back in Black” like AC/DC, but just, well, back to the bog. It’s been the longest drought of my blogging activity since I started it. Much like I thought it would, the world continued to spend, Jesus’ church continued to move forward, and God’s will still came to Earth as it is in heaven. But I’m back now, at least for a bit, partly because of brain constipation (I get uncomfortable holding in ideas and thoughts which could be helpful to others to think about, agree with, disagree with, or wrestle with) and partly because I’m often encouraged by what I read on other blogs. I don’t follow the angry, divisive guys. And there’s a bunch of other “partly’s” of why I blog that I need not go into now.
After vacationing in FL, I had the opportunity to go to General Assembly in Louisville, KY. If you are unfamiliar with it, its simply our denominational gathering. It is different than the Southern Baptist Convention, in that it’s Presbyterian. That sounds like one of those “duh” statements, but it’s really not. At least I don’t think.
Presbyterians are different in their form of church government in that we don’t believe in the autonomy of the local church. We are are both representational (its leaders are elected from among the congregation and not appointed) as well as connectional to other P.C.A. churches. Now our connectionalism is voluntary and the local church can at any time pull out of the presbytery if it believes the presbytery has seriously erred. But the relationship is one of accountability. At Redeemer, if Barret or I, or our session are acting like yahoo’s, our presbytery can/should intervene, when folks in the local church ask for them to get involved.
At the General Assembly level, it is not simply a gathering or reunion (thought that’s clearly my favorite part of it), but the actions taken at the denominational level are not simply suggestive. Therefore such meetings at presbytery and G.A. level are as important, as they are-often times-boring.
One lad, summarized what went on at the G.A. level here. I don’t necessarily share all of his opinions, but for the most part, he does at least share what happened, should you at all care.
Since he has already reproduced what went on, I’ll just conclude with one final thought on my experience at GA. 
You can pretty much put people into certain camps based upon how they look and dress. Generally. You have the folks in suits, folks like myself in flip-flops, folks in sear suckers, pretty boys, old school guys with no fashion sense, some hipsters, etc…You can’t judge a book by its cover all the time, but you can often figure out which way they’ll vote simply by looking at the dress of such people in these meetings. I was glad to see at least some diversity.

I was encouraged to see many people like myself. At times I was discouraged by seeing some crotchedy folks, and having to sit next to one who commented on my every vote (though mainly in jest). But in the end, the P.C.A., it if it is going to grow in size, diversity, and effectiveness, all the while maintaining doctrinal purity, will probably need to draw on all its resources. As much as I’d like everyone to wear flip-flops (or at least loosen up some times on non-essentials and not fear ANY change), and vote my way, and think like I do, I realize that we probably all need each other more than we really think. As much as it pains me to admit it. Truth has to trump taste. I left GA hopeful. Hopeful that the Holy Spirit hasn’t left the building yet, but instead is on the move. Glad I landed denominationally-though not in a prideful sort of way-where I landed.

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Summer Bible Bash

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This summer will be the first year where Redeemer will actually have a building, and the question came about we would do for the children for summer time. The standard answer the past 50 years is quite simple: do a week long VBS. There is nothing wrong with that-nor there is nothing essentially right with that either. That’s why some churches in our area have done soccer camps, and one of the oldest churches is even switching to a 4 Sunday afternoon approach this year. Churches are free to dream and free to fail. The gospel gives us that freedom. And in response to that freedom, here is what we plan to do: Summer Bible Bash.

We will do three Summer Bible Bashes, each taking place from 4-6 pm on the first Sunday of the summer months. They will have a central gathering time for ages 4-5th grade to introduce the time and sing a few familiar songs. The younger ages will break up, as will the older group to go through a lesson centered around Jesus Baptism, His Ascension, and Pentecost. Afterwards both groups will come together for a Covenant Family Feud game before breaking for dinner.

Here’s some reasons why we thought it was worth trying:
We wanted to do something that embraces two major components of how we teach and train our children: Family + Church Family.
With the standard VBS set-up, parents who are not serving usually stop, drop, and then shop. They drop the kids off, and then grocery shop. Nothing is inherently wrong with that, but it just doesn’t adequately reflect how we desire to do ministry here. We want to equip and train parents to continue teaching their children. As a result, we have an adult bible study going on during the same time, over the same passage of scripture. Parents have the primary responsibility in teaching their kids. Not the only responsibility, but the primary according to Deuteronomy 6:6-8. So we wanted to construct a program that fostered the training of parents to be better equipped to train their kids. Parents should be equipped to follow up with their kids after each session.
We also wanted the whole covenant community/family to be involved. Not just in the teaching, but in the learning. So whether an adult has children or not, we have a place for them to learn. After the lesson time, the kids and adults will team up and compete with each other in a Covenant Family Feud. We actually surveyed the church the week before, so we’ll be using those “fun” answers along with review questions for kids and adults. And since we will be having a dinner afterward, at least theoretically, all ages have a chance to connect with one another.
Of course we also wanted to do something to help teach the kids, as that component is more heavily emphasized. The family unit is the primary place where kids learn about Jesus, but it is irresponsible to think that its the ONLY place. We are part of a Covenant Community, and the church should play a big part! So we didn’t want to lose that aspect that VBS tends to do quite well. Our kids will be learning about Jesus’ Baptism, His Ascension, and Pentecost and how those parts fit in the overall story of the bible. Jesus Storybook Bible Curriulum material does a good job tracing the story of redemption and how each part fits into the whole.
Finally, I’ve always found follow-up with V.B.S. very difficult. Part of that is that many in our area just hop-not to mention stop, drop, and shop-from V.B.S. to V.B.S. Is there any need to follow-up when parents already have church homes? No. But even with those who don’t have a church family, I’ve never figured out what to do. The best I’ve seen is doing a cookout after the week is over.
Instead of having the parents come to church to hear their kids sing (which might work for some-and we have tried it before), we’ve decided to see if they’d be willing to stay for a meal. You gotta eat, or at least that’s what Checker’s used to say. That way, ideally, they at least have some relational connection beyond “I like them because they teach my kids morals.” So we’re hoping any visitors and a parent or two will stay for the meal. We’ll see what happens…..
If we can teach kids about Jesus, parents about Jesus, the rest of the covenant family/community about Jesus, fellowship and invite others to participate in that fellowship (with hopes they participate in the gospel), then I’d consider it a success. So now we’re hoping the Holy Spirit shows up and does His thing.
May the Lord bless and use the various forms of church ministries this summer-V.B.S., Soccer Camps, Bible Bashes- to bring more of His heavenly will down to Earth.

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The first grader

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I enjoy finding movies and music that other people haven’t first found. And with noisetrade.com and the 7.99 unlimited streaming Netflix, I”m afforded this option. I have tons of choices of “B” movies with the chance of finding a gem of an independent movie.
On Sunday night I found the latter when I stumbled across The First Grader.  The story is one of an 84 year old former Mau Mau freedom fighter named Maruge who decides to take advantage of Kenya’s new free government education for “all people.” Just as the bible doesn’t mean “every single person” when it says “world” or “all flesh,” neither did the Kenyan government. But since he heard it that way, he decides he has the right to sit and learn with the first graders. And he does.
Of course there is tension and conflict with the villagers, as one would imagine when an 84 year old sits next a slew of 5-6 year olds. The storyline and conflict carry the movie. I guess the acting is good, but the story is worth the price of admission itself. It being based upon a true story doesn’t hurt either.
Here’s what I took from it:
1.) Never stop learning. At 84 years old, he doesn’t want to just “mail it in.” He really wants to learn how to read and will fight the concomitant embarrassment and harassment one would expect should come from such an endeavor. This is not an African version of Billy Madison. Maruge reaffirmed my belief that folks never reach an age where they should stop seeking to learn. Christians of all people should realize that we never stop learning from God’s Word or God’s World. Since learning can and should be devotional, why would we not want to? We’ll be learning in heaven so why stop now?
2.) Never stop teaching. Whether its a 2-3 year old in a Toddler class or an 84 year old in a Sunday School class, the church needs to teach all those who are willing to listen. Age doesn’t matter. Teaching any age pupil is not a waste of time, whether they have a little or lot of time left on Earth. How much time we have here is privileged information anyway. Jesus told his disciples to be teaching and passing all that he has taught us until he gets back. He wants to find us busy at work (Matthew 25:14)
3.) You never know the result of your teaching. It still would have been good to teach an 84 year old man to read regardless of what happened afterwards. That would simply have been loving one’s neighbor as oneself. But we also never know what will happen to an 84 year old who learns to read. He went on and visited the United States and played a role in Kenya’s education before he died. You never know. Your time isn’t wasted when you teach.
4.) You need others in your learning. He received a letter in the mail from the government but didn’t know what it said. Even after learning “cat” and “hat” and “bat,” he realized that he wasn’t ready for the “big words” of this letter. Instead of an individual activity, he learned and discovered the good news with the help of others. In community. Everything needed for the bible is perspicuous, that is, it’s clear enough for any reader to know the truth of the gospel. However, if we are to plumb the depths of the gospel, we can’t learn in isolation. If you want the roots of the gospel to go deeper in your heart, you need to go deeper into community and let others read the good news to you in a fresh and deeper way.

A great story and great movie. Well worth your time.

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Doubt belongs in the church

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I regularly check the CNN’s belief blog and am almost always glad that I did. I came across this great article on doubt and how it belongs in the church, not outside of it. I hesitate to even summarize it, because it so well written. But the gist is that of a gal growing up as daughter of missionaries with a pile of discontent eventually erupting in her departing the church. Then returning with the doubt, but still returning nonetheless.
Listening to a sermon at my older brother’s church one Sunday, I stood up, leaned over to my father and said, “This is bulls**t.” I made my way to the end of the pew and marched out of the sanctuary. The sermon didn’t sit right with me. The pastor was preaching about Psalm 91, saying in so many words that a person just needed to pray and have faith in order to be protected from suffering.
I’ve had some folks walk out on my sermons before, but I don’t know elicited the same response. Of course, I don’t know that I didn’t! Fluff that isn’t true to the bible or to reality often will lead folks with similar feelings; they just may have enough self control to wait for the next wave and ride that one on in.
More than just that sermon, I was sick of church. I was sick, too, of all the spiritual questions plaguing me: Why does the church seem so culturally insulated and dysfunctional? Why does God seem distant and uninvolved? And most of all, why does God allow suffering?
I would imagine all of these questions have been entertained by all of us at some point or another. If not, we’re probably not being honest with a.) ourselves b.) our churches c.) our God. But these questions are more than doubts; I think they are questions of healthy discontentment.
Why does the church seem so culturally insulated?
I know I like to insulate myself from suffering. Then I don’t have to suffer and deal with the hard questions of “why does this stuff happen when I’m praying against it?” That’s not easy. And so we often choose the more comfortable route of fellowship. Instead of fellowshipping with the broken, we huddle together for the potluck supper. It’s more fun that way. One of the reasons there isn’t more doubt, or at the very least a healthy discontent, is that we insulate ourselves from suffering. Our lack of doubts isn’t necessarily an indication of a healthy faith, but an indication of the people we spend time with: the healthy and wealthy. That’s probably why suburbanites like myself don’t doubt as much. We’re insulated.
I found her challenge to me as a pastor and Christian very spot on. Instead of entering the mess, we run from it. And those who don’t run, those who are faithful to follow Jesus into suffering are sometimes left with this discontentment that leads to doubt. In other words, the doubt often comes to those who are faithful. 
She goes on to intimate why she left and why she returned.
In reality, I left the church more because of my own internal discontent than the lure of so-called secular life. When I came back, I still carried that same discontent. I was confused, and still bothered by questions and doubts. I stayed in the back row and didn’t sing or pray. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to be there.
And yet I sat there, Sunday after Sunday, listening to the pastor and the organ pipes and trying to figure out what was going on in my dark, conflicted heart.
Although I never experienced that dramatic reconversion moment, I did come to peace with two slow-growing realizations.
First: My doubt belonged in church.
People who know my story ask what I would have changed about my spiritual journey. Nothing. I had to leave the church to find the church. And when I came back, the return wasn’t clean or conclusive. Since then, I’ve come to believe that my doubts belong inside the space of the sanctuary. My questions belong on the altar as my only offering to God.
With all its faults, I still associate the church with the pursuit of truth and justice, with community and shared humanity. It’s a place to ask the unanswerable questions and a place to be on sojourn. No other institution has given me what the church has: a space to search for God.
Second: My doubt is actually part of my faith.
In Mark 9:24, a man says to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief.” The Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor called this the foundation prayer of faith. I pray that prayer often and believe that God honors my honesty.
I also believe God honors my longing. The writer and theologian Frederick Buechner said “Faith is homesickness.” C.S. Lewis called it “Sehnsucht,” a longing for a far-off country. I feel that sense of unshakable yearning. It comes from the deepest part of my heart, a spiritual desire that’s strangely, mysteriously connected to my doubt.
Sitting in church every Sunday, my doubt is my desire – to touch the untouchable, to possess the presence of God.

I love how she recognizes that doubt belongs inside the church, not outside of it. We all have varying levels of doubt. Fellowship and worship are two ways to counter that doubt, and in doing so, doubters may bring a healthy discontent to the non-doubter’s complacency. It’s a win-win.