Category: Youth Ministry
Breaking the Bubble Wrap
I’m not a huge Brian McLaren fan, but this article in the July issues of Sojourners is worth spending some time digesting. It asks questions that many of us working with k-35 year olds within mainline Christian denominations have been wondering. Since the demise of “Christian education” in seminary curriculum many congregations have turned to evangelical or fundamentalist publishing houses that have continued to publish materials that persons use for teaching. Is it any wonder that “personal salvation” has become the norm rather than reconciliation of community? This article highlights the necessity for a new paradigm within Christianity and the need to make the biblical stories alive, wonder-filled, and not sanitize the complexity of human existence nor the search for the divine. A few paragraphs and a link.
Breaking the Bubble Wrap
by David M. Csinos and Brian McLaren | July 2012Clearly, we need another perspective of childhood, one that acknowledges children’s full humanity and recognizes their capacity to do wrong and to do good, including seeking justice. While we want to keep kids safe, we also want them to follow the way of Jesus, which is sometimes downright dangerous. While we want our kids to be good, true goodness only develops through a struggle against what’s wrong—both inside them and around them. This perspective helps us affirm children’s inherent agency, their ability to make sense of the world around them and to express themselves.
CHRISTIAN PARENTS, grandparents, and educators today need to ask what we and our churches are showing emerging generations about what it means to be followers of Christ. Many of us, whether Catholic, Protestant, or from other backgrounds, live within traditional paradigms that increasingly don’t fit.
In both pietistic and institutional paradigms, traditional churches have worked hard to teach children Bible stories and Christian virtues; many of us wouldn’t be the adults we are today if it weren’t for the great start we got in the churches of our childhood. But in today’s world we need to rethink what it means to, in Paul’s words, raise new generations “in the nurture and instruction of the Lord,” including the social, economic, and political dimensions of that instruction. How can we shape our kids’ characters to help them become Christ-followers who are both contemplative and activist? As we imagine what this might look like, a few questions come to mind. Click here to read more.
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
Two paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal for June 24. SSCSJ is a study aid for those preparing the children’s sermon (message) each week based on the Lectionary. It is a journal that contains commentary, exegesis, and ideas.
1 Samuel17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Why do we have these 3 introductions to David? It could be that the compilers of the DH knew of 3 traditions about King David, and they decided to include all of them. Each does lift-up a characteristic of David: Samuel’s anointing shows David to have a good heart and the Divine spirit; soothing Saul by his music shows David as originally being a beloved member of the king’s court (and gives a nod to the legend of David as a musician); and slaying Goliath shows David as brave and a good fighter. With his resume complete, David will face the obstacle of getting the throne from a paranoid and greedy Saul. Goliath is just the first of many “giants” that David will face as he lives into being God’s anointed and brings unity and structure to the actual nation of Israel.
What makes-up a good resume for a leader today? While we would never expect a person to do something so fantastic as David’s slaying of Goliath, what do we want from people who will be our leaders? Metaphorically speaking, what are the “giants” that we face in our own lives? What “giants” does your congregation, does the whole church, face in the 21st century? From where do we draw the courage to face these “giants” that stand between the way things are and the way God wants us to live?
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
“We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry” (v. 3). It might be good to think about the word, “obstacle.” Some are judged “good” while others are “bad.” There are obstacles that are judged as “necessary” in our culture and within the Church. When cars became the norm in this culture, a necessary obstacle, the driver’s license was created to make sure that everyone driving a car knows the rules of the road and can demonstrate the ability to control a vehicle. This license somewhat ensures that persons behind the wheel of a car have a minimum level of knowledge and skill, before taking to the streets, as a way to protect everyone. The same can be said for professions where the public good is served by ensuring that providers are licensed/certified to offer a particular service, so that there is not so much “buyer beware” in our society. Within Christendom, depending on one’s denomination, there are obstacles to: the communion table, church membership, ordination into Christian ministry, baptism, leadership positions, who can teach whom, and who can preach. For some, sexual orientation is an obstacle to “heaven”, as well as their welcome to be preachers, teachers, and leaders within faith communities. For Catholics, in particular, and some Protestants, gender is an obstacle to being recognized, affirmed, and holding leadership positions within the church.
Take a few moments and create three lists of obstacles that you consider good, bad, or necessary. Do these obstacles share anything in common? Which obstacles are you comfortable with being found at “fault” for supporting? Have we rationalized that some obstacles, like fences, make for good neighbors or effective Christian ministry? Paul is arguing for a unity that is not “separate, but equal,” and he provides his list of hardships endured, virtues required, and the contradictions that are revealed, when a believer/group of believers take on a total lifestyle commitment.