Young Adults, Megachurches, and Meaning

Last week we discussed the third session of Ray Vander Laan's series, Dust of the Rabbi, and we had a conversation about how young people, especially young adults, feel lost in the current church culture. We talked about megachurches and the various technologies that churches are using to draw the younger generation...and how that fits into the context of making disciples. We talked a little about what we imagine the church "should" be and what it might have been at its beginning.

Coincidentally, I found that Rachel Held-Evans was on Minnestoa Public Radio speaking about this very topic just the day before our conversation! If you were with us at Morning Blend last year, you will recognize Rachel Held-Evans. She was part of the Animate:Bible series that we studied (see more about her by clicking her name in the right sidebar). You can hear the 11 minute podcast or read the transcript here: Where Church Goes Wrong for Many Millennials.

The MPR interview resulted from an article that Rachel Held-Evans wrote, which was featured in the Washington Post: Want Millennials Back in the Pews? Stop Trying to Make Church 'Cool.' Evan points out:

"According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, among those of us who came of age around the year 2000, a solid quarter claim no religious affiliation at all..."

The church has responded by...

 "...focusing on style points: cooler bands, hipper worship, edgier programming, impressive technology." 

However,

"Recent research from Barna Group and the Cornerstone Knowledge Network found that 67 percent of millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one, and 77 percent would choose a “sanctuary” over an “auditorium.”

And, perhaps, my favorite quote from the whole article:

"You can get a cup of coffee with your friends anywhere, but church is the only place you can get ashes smudged on your forehead as a reminder of your mortality. You can be dazzled by a light show at a concert on any given weekend, but church is the only place that fills a sanctuary with candlelight and hymns on Christmas Eve. You can snag all sorts of free swag for brand loyalty online, but church is the only place where you are named a beloved child of God with a cold plunge into the water. You can share food with the hungry at any homeless shelter, but only the church teaches that a shared meal brings us into the very presence of God. "

 I highly recommend checking out both the article and the podcast. Enjoy!

Dust of the Rabbi - Additional Resources

Ray Vander Laan has an excellent website with additional articles about the people and places mentioned in the study. You can browse through addtional articles on this page:

https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/in-the-dust-of-the-rabbi

Obedience & Biblical Commands

We had a discussion last week about obedience, and it came up that the New Testament scriptures actually have more commands than the Old Testament scriptures. Here are some links if you're interested in reading more:

613 Commandments of Torah (meaning the first five books of the Old Testament) - If you scroll down the page, you'll see all 613 Commandments listed with their scripture references. You may notice that some commandments are very similar or nearly the same. They are still counted toward the total number by the rabbis.

1050 New Testament Commands - The 1,050 commands are divided into 69 categories on this website. Other sites put them into 800 categories. Again, you'll notice a certain amount of repetition of similar, nearly identical commands. You'll also notice that several are repetitious of commands from the Torah.

This statement by Jim Garrish in his article The Commands of the New Testament seems to echo some of Ray Vander Laan's thoughts on the subject of obedience:

In the past, the church has often avoided the subject of God’s commands and laws in fear of leaning too far in the direction of legalism. Unfortunately, by so doing the church has now leaned too far in the direction of antinomianism. It has become lawless, disobedient and sinful in the process.  Jesus reproves such a church, saying, “Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say” (Lk.6:46)?  It is amazing that the modern church has diligently carried out part of the Lord’s great command.  She has gone into all to the world to make disciples. Yet, she has often ignored the last part of the same Great Commission, that is in teaching those disciples to do all that the Lord has instructed (Mt. 28:19-20).

The Jim Garrish article also attempts to list all the New Testament commands, which he describes as no easy task:

This is a difficult task. I have first tried to eliminate all those commands that were given to specific individuals, unless those commands seem to have a direct application to the church in general. I have also omitted the many statements and teachings of Jesus and his disciples which are given in a manner that they may almost be construed as commands.  These ‘implied commands’ could become the subject of another study entirely.  Here I have listed only those statements that seem to be clearly given as commandments. 

 

Walking on Water

In Session 2 of In the Dust of the Rabbi, Ray Vander Laan tells the story from the Bible of  Jesus...and then Peter...walking on water.  For some further thoughts on this story, I enjoyed this sermon by Nadia Bolz Weber: Jesus Walking on the Water - A Sermon Sarcastic and Serious:

We might see the moral of the story as “you should have so much faith that you can walk on water toward Jesus” but the truth of this story is that Jesus walks toward us. The truth of the story is that my abundance of faith or lack of faith does not deter God from drawing close.  That even if you are scared to death you can say Lord Save Me and the hand of God will find you in even the darkest waters.  Because this is a story not of morals but of movement. Not of heros of the faith making their way to Christ but of Christ drawing near to you in the midst of fear. 

It is an important contrast, a tension we have to hold as believers - that our faith compels us to act but that our actions do not save us.

Women in Judaism

Last week we briefly mentioned how, unlike many other cultures throughout history, Jewish girls were educated alongside boys in Beth/Bet Sefer until they were 12 or 13, meaning that girls and women were often just as educated as their male counterparts. Only some boys/men went on to study more in Beth/Bet Midrash after finishing Bet Sefer. Given that discussion, I thought you all might appreciate an article from Judaism 101 about the "Role of Women" in Judaism. Here are some interesting snippets:

The position of women is not nearly as lowly as many modern people think; in fact, the position of women in halakhah (Jewish Law) that dates back to the biblical period is in many ways better than the position of women under American civil law as recently as a century ago.

The equality of men and women begins at the highest possible level: G-d. In Judaism, unlike traditional Christianity, G-d has never been viewed as exclusively male or masculine. Judaism has always maintained that G-d has both masculine and feminine qualities.

The rights of women in traditional Judaism are much greater than they were in the rest of Western civilization until the 20th century. Women had the right to buy, sell, and own property, and make their own contracts, rights which women in Western countries (including America) did not have until about 100 years ago. In fact, Proverbs 31:10-31, which is traditionally read at Jewish weddings, speaks repeatedly of business acumen as a trait to be prized in women (v. 11, 13, 16, and 18 especially).

The following passage is perhaps the best explanation for why it was so important for girls and women to be educated in the Torah:

There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the household. However, Judaism has great respect for the importance of that role and the spiritual influence that the woman has over her family. The Talmud says that when a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious.

The entire article can be read here: http://www.jewfaq.org/women.htm.

Who is Ray Vander Laan?

Our upcoming study, In the Dust of the Rabbi, is by Ray Vander Laan:

Since receiving his Master’s of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1976, Ray Vander Laan has been actively involved in studying and teaching Jewish culture using the methods of Jewish education. He has continued graduate studies in Jewish Studies in the United States, Israel, Turkey and Egypt. He has been a teacher for 35 years and is an ordained minister with the Christian Reformed Church. He has also authored a book entitled Echoes of His Presence, published by Focus on the Family. Vander Laan founded That the World May Know Ministries in 1998. Ray has taken over 10,000 people with him on his study tours of Israel, Turkey and Egypt.

For more information on Ray Vander Laan, including podcasts of his teachings and discussion forums, visit his website at: http://www.rvl-on.com/about/

In the Dust of the Rabbi

What's brewing at Morning Blend? Starting April 8th, we will be studying In the Dust of the Rabbi, a 5-session series by Ray Vander Laan. A synopsis from the website says this,

Sixth in the Faith Lessons series. “Follow the rabbi, drink in his words, and be covered with the dust of his feet,” says the ancient Jewish proverb. Disciples followed so closely that they would be covered with the dust kicked up by the rabbi’s feet. Come, discover how to follow Jesus as you walk with teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan through the breathtaking terrain of Israel and Turkey and explore what it really means to be a disciple.

 We look forward to a new study and to new growth and learning together!

Fresh Perspective on the Fruit of the Spirit

An email from Julie with some words to share about the fruits of the spirit...

Hello Everyone, 

I read a letter written by Charles Stanley and I want to share part of it with you.

"Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine aspects of the 'fruit of the Spirit', the first of which is love. In essence, we could say that all the others are descriptions of it: Joy is love delighting, peace is love resting, patience is love waiting, kindness is love reacting, goodness is love choosing, faithfulness is love keeping its word, gentleness is love empathizing, and self-control is love resisting temptation. And as we grow in faith, love becomes more deeply ingrained in us. 

No matter how gifted, strong, or successful we are, without this essential emotion, life is empty and meaningless. If we never give it, we'll become self-centered and demanding. If we never receive it, we'll constantly strive for acceptance and approval. But when God's love flows in and through us, we become more like His Son. And when others observe us, they will be drawn to the Savior, because God's love never fails."

I just had to share this with you because it's another beautiful way to talk about the fruit of the Spirit. Have a wonderful evening. 

Julie

The Fruit of the Spirit is...Joy

I can't get it out of my head how the sermon on Sunday pushed up against the materials we're studying at Morning Blend...without even trying. This happens all the time. And, perhaps, it's because the story of redemption has themes that just match up all the time. Or, perhaps, it's because are ears are tuned to hear things when we're paying attention. Or, perhaps, the Creator is just making sure that we hear it over and over again in all kinds of places so that the message will stick.

Pastor Healy spoke on Sunday about keeping our oil lamps full...about paying attention to what fills the lamp so that, at a moment's notice, we are ready for the Bridegroom. So that, in fact, we never let it run empty. We don't leave the house without it. We don't put it off until later. And he mentioned the fruit that flows from a lamp full of oil - the fruit of the Spirit, of course. This is the very thing we're studying.

I was reminded of last year's study of One Thousand Gifts. And, it seems to me anyway, one of the ways that we receive oil for our lamps is through gratitude, which, in turn, brings joy. When we remember to be thankful our cup overflows with joy..."the oil of joy" (Isaiah 61).

This part of our study is so timely, also, as the season of Thanksgiving is upon us. If you haven't been over to Ann Voskamp's site in a while, it's worth checking out her thoughts on Thanksgiving: Why Thanksgiving is Radically Subversive {And Everything You Need to Have the Best Thanksgiving Yet}. I stumbled completely astonished upon these words in her post, which fit right in with Pastor Healy's sermon about the women waiting for the Bridegroom in Matthew 25, as though it was planned. Wow.

You can live your life as the bride married to Hurry, having affairs with Not Enough, Always Stress, and Easy Cynicism.

When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement, vowed to Awe Himself, covenanted to Christ –and I took the whole of everything He gave in this gloried world into my open arms with thanks.

And here's something we do at our house to remember to give thanks and to allow our lamps to fill with the oil of joy: Last year we started the tradition of writing gifts/gratitudes on decorated squares of paper throughout the month of November and dropping them in a jar. At the end of the season, we hole-punched the papers and put them on a ring. We hung it from a hook on our mantle all year. We've got the jar back out this month again, and we're counting our gifts again.

 

If you want to read more on our previous studies of joy, gifts, and gratitude, click the "Joy" or "One Thousand Gifts" labels on the sidebar. 

If You Can't Say It About Jesus...

Beth shared a link to this article with me today: If You Can't Say It About Jesus, Don't Say It About God. Jason Micheli brings some fresh thoughts and new perspective to the theology of trinity:

Think about how many people you’ve heard, after a natural disaster or a tragic death or the diagnosis of disease, say something like: ‘It’s God’s will.’

     Trinity means that for that to be a true statement you have to be able to remove ‘God’ and replace it with ‘Jesus.’

     Trinity means that it’s not a true statement unless you’re able to say:

 ‘My mom’s cancer was Jesus’ will.’

 ‘Hurricane Katrina was Jesus’ will.’

 ‘9/11 was Jesus’ will.’

     For Paul, Trinity functions not as a philosophical concept but as a grammatical rule. Trinity binds us to the character and story of Jesus.

     We can’t say or think or act like God hates ‘sinners’ because we know Jesus didn’t.

     We can’t say or think or act like God doesn’t care about the poor because we know Jesus did.

    We can’t say or think or act as if God is against our enemies because we know Jesus loved them.

Click the link above to read the entire article. It tells a great story...one that also relates to the "fruit" of love that we've been discussing most recently.