The following are personal anecdotes that have served to
open my eyes to the need for new ways of serving as an ambassador of Christ.
1) My youngest daughter has a friend (F) whose parents are
originally from Upstate New York and Michigan. She invited F to stay over night
a year or so ago. It was a Saturday evening so we gained permission for F to
accompany us to worship on Sunday. The next morning we got up with the
intention of attending a 9:30 AM service. As we dressed and prepared to leave
the house, F looked puzzled.
She asked us, “Why are leaving so early? It’s not time for
lunch yet, is it?”
We replied, “We are not going to lunch yet R. We are going
to Church.”
“Now I’m really confused, Mr. Brian. I’ve been looking
forward to going to Church’s with you because I’ve heard that their fried
chicken is excellent.”
I was speechless. Here was a child of middle class white
parents from middle America living in the suburbs who had no idea that the
church we were talking about was something different from the fried chicken restaurant.
2) I use to live a few houses from our local elementary
school. I always tried to find time to hang around before and after school in
order to converse with parents and allow our daughters to enjoy the company of
friends. I had many impromptu conversations across a wide range of topics. Spirituality
was a popular theme. One of my friends, a self-avowed atheist, likes to see
where people stand in terms of religion. One day she was polling the other parents
who had gathered in our driveway. She wanted to know if any of them attended
church. Most said, “No” or “We used to.” One woman said that her family
attended until her son was frightened by some of the bible stories. In
particular, he was horrified by the story of Jonah and the great fish. He was
afraid that God might send a whale to swallow him. They had not attended church
since this lesson.
What does it mean for teaching the Scriptures that Western
culture has lost its memory of the most basic stories? How have stories that
contained good news become bad news stories?
3) I think that that the preceeding anecdote also has
implications for children’s curriculum, but let me first share a related
incident involving my oldest daughter.
She walked out of her Sunday school class upset one day. The
class had studied the story of Noah’s Ark from Genesis 6-9. I asked her what
was the matter, and tears welt up in her eyes. Why did God have to kill all of
those innocent animals? Wow. Great questions. In fact, it is a natural one
given our modern bent toward environmentalism and animal rights. Our family
loves animals. My daughter wants to be a vet.
Her reaction was in many ways similar to the reaction of our
neighbor’s son to the story of Jonah. It begs this question: Isn’t it time to
reassess how the Bible is taught to children? Noah’s Ark and Jonah are not
children’s stories. They are poignant and powerful narratives for adults.
A missional hermeneutic is profoundly interested in
rejuvenating the Old Testament in our day. Genesis 1-11 is the fundamental
narrative for understanding our life in the world today. It is not the stuff of
children’s Sunday School. These are texts for the pulpit and for adult bible
study. Likewise Jonah is a story of a missional God’s heart even for the avowed
enemies of God’s people.
What would it take for our communities of faith to reengage
with the whole of Scriptures? Why do we relegate such theologically rich texts
as Genesis 1-11 and Jonah to the realm of children’s Sunday School?
4) A couple of years ago, I chaperoned my youngest
daughter’s class’ trip to a Wilderness Center. I enjoyed hanging around with
the kids and watching them engage the wilds of Florida. During lunch, I engaged
in a fascinating conversation with a young man. He had been telling me of his
love for dinosaurs. He paused. A song bird was singing. He grinned. He then
took me by surprise with his next sentence. He said, “This is a beautiful place
to mediate.”
I looked up from my lunch. “You meditate?” I asked.
“Yes. Meditation is the only way that we can speak with the
gods.”
Wow. I was taken aback. This was the first time in my life
that I was confronted by an openly polytheistic statement. Yet it was coming
from a 9 year old boy! I followed up, “What gods do you speak with?”
He began to rattle off a series of Hindu gods such as
Krishna and a litany of others.
At this moment, a girl sitting a few seats away joined him
in talking about the various deities and their stories. I sat amazed at these
two young people sharing with me and their friends about their religious
beliefs openly and proudly.
My daughter looked at me with some confusion. We talked later
about the world religions.
How well are we preparing to dialogue and converse with
persons who are not merely post-Christian (there are clearly many such women
and men in the West today) but alternatively adherents of contrasting faiths?
What does it mean to read the OT and NT within a global context?
5) I love soccer. Both of my daughter play as often as
possible. A few seasons ago in the Greater Central Florida Youth Soccer Leagues,
my oldest daughter’s team was competing against a team from an openly Christian
soccer club. The name of the team was the Praise. Yet midway through the game
one of our girl’s parents who is not a believer moved her chair back to where
most of our team’s parents were seated. She reported, “The parents down there
were encouraging their girls by yelling ‘kill’em’ and ‘knock’em down’. I
thought that we were playing a Christian team?” Not much that I could say at
this point.
How would your current
practices of reading Scripture and preaching/teaching speak to these
situations? What similar stories/experiences have you encountered in your missional work?
© 2015 Brian D Russell
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