I’m usually on the ball with Lent. This year, though, there’s been a lot of things going on and it snuck up on me!
In previous years I’ve given up things like TV or pop (or for those of you who say it wrong… soda, coke, or soft drinks). Since Lent appeared out of nowhere for me, I haven’t really had time to reflect on what would be something meaningful that I could give up as a physical way of being reminded to prepare myself to identify with Christ’s suffering come Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter). I’m also at a loss of what to do to inspire kids and families to observe Lent…
What are you all doing? Personally? In your ministries?
I’m will be going through 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight with my family. I’m just not sure what to “give up” for Lent.
So, who’s right? Does it matter? Can both be right? I’ve been reading a wonderful book entitled Manifold Witness by John Franke that explores the theology of the plurality of truth. I’m almost done. It’s not a long book, but boy has it got my brain doing back handsprings and other things that exhaust it. I look forward to discussing it here at Elemental Children’s Ministry when I’m done!
For now, what are your thoughts on the image above?
A couple of days ago, Scot McKnight posted the following video on his blog:
So, what do you think?
While I didn’t agree completely with the theology in the video, it did get me thinking. It presented the Orthodox Church view of salvation pretty well. I liked the statement, “I was originally saved over 2000 years ago…” In evangelical Christianity, we spend so much time on the personal decision to follow Christ, that the power of what Christ did when he died and rose again seems somewhat downplayed. How do we teach kids that their salvation was purchased once and for all 2000 years ago while at the same time not losing sight of the recognition that we are saved by grace and works are an outpouring of that grace working within us?
Remembrance Day in Canada is a big deal. Having lived in Canada for just over four years, it’s been interesting to note that holidays aren’t as big of a deal here as they are in the States. Sometimes it seems that holidays are more an occasion to have a long weekend rather than celebrating the holiday itself. Remembrance Day, though (known as Veterans’ Day in the States), is a whole other matter. It is one of the few days that is actually celebrated across the country.
As I was sitting in my kids’ school assembly today for Remembrance Day, I was taken by the realization that Canadians across the country would be observing similar ceremonies and services throughout the day. There is a lot of emotion and pride attached to this day. The neat thing, though, is that most, if not all, of the day is focused solely on those who have fought and or sacrificed on behalf of freedom. It wasn’t about ME and MY freedom. It was about THEM–those who fought and sacrificed and the ones who continue to sacrifice… Remembrance Day is truly about remembering. It’s about remembering the cost that has been paid and continues to be paid by individuals and families for freedom. It’s about paying respect and honor to others. It’s about pausing, even for a moment, and thinking about something other than ourselves and our agendas.
I think all of us would benefit from doing this sort of thing more often… counting the cost, honoring the sacrifices of those who’ve come before us, putting aside ourselves for a moment for the sake of remembering… Lest we forget.
Check out this music video that appropriately portrays just how important Remembrance Day is in Canada:
As I interact with different people like Amy Dolan, read blogs like Andrew Marin’s and watch what is happening with culture it is apparent that the Church (especially children’s ministry) will have to directly interact with families who are part of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) community. The easy thing to do would be to simply quote scriptures that speak against homosexual activities. The difficult, and I believe more Christ-like, thing to do is to listen to what those families are saying and see how we can build bridges that can bring healing and reconciliation.
“…After a year passed and I began to realize I was being lied to, my friends began to realize the same. My mom was gay. And they let me know about it. It’s bad enough when your “friends” make sexual comments about your mom; but this was worse. They were stabbing at a great source of pain and confusion in my heart with every vulgar comment about her sexuality. I hated it. All of it. I was mad at my friends. Mad at my mom. Mad at her partner. Mad at the courts. Mad at the world, really. And I felt horribly alone. I didn’t understand why this was my lot in life. So I shut down. Emotionally, I just flipped a switch. I didn’t want to feel anymore because it was never anything good.
And then I started going to church…”
“So now I was a brand-new Christian teenager attending an evangelical church in the middle of Conservative Christianville, IL. And my mom was gay…”
“At one point, a friend’s mom even looked me straight in the eye and pronounced that I had been straying from the Lord because I was living in a den of evil. That was the sort of environment I had suddenly found myself in. Regardless, these were the most loving and accepting people I’d ever known, and they quickly became family. As a result, I felt free to share my story with them. Some had opinions, others didn’t. But they all loved me. And I became accustomed to the fact that the people around me were comfortable with my faith, but quite uncomfortable with my upbringing.”
This month I will be talking with some other children’s ministers, along with Amy Dolan from Lemon Lime Kids, about how children’s ministries can respond to those families that are part of the GLBT community on the CM Edge podcast. I would love to read your comments and use some of them in the podcast. Leave your comments below or email them to podcast at cmedge dot com.
I ran across this post from Michael Spencer (a.k.a. iMonk) at his blog a few months ago and filed it in Evernote. In his attempt to answer one of his readers notes concerning youth ministry, Michael began a series on his own views. This post was entitled, “What are your thoughts on a Biblical model for youth ministry?” I encourage you to hop on over to Michael’s blog and read the post. It’s got some great thoughts that can be translated to children’s ministry.
Michael’s post got me thinking… For quite a while, I’ve had an issue whenever someone has stated that they are following a “Biblical model” for _______________ (insert whatever you like here). It could be parenting or children’s ministry or family ministry or whatever. I always have a red flag go up because what most people really mean when they say they have a Biblical model for something is that they have a model based on their understanding of what they read in the Bible… and more subtly, they are saying the if you disagree with them, then you aren’t being “Biblical.”
OK, I’m probably being cynical. They say that can happen if you live in Canada for too long. But I do still have a problem when people claim that whatever model they are supporting is the Biblical model. Yes, there are Biblical principles that we need to follow in life, but I would challenge the idea that we can extrapolate some sort of Biblical blueprint that can be shoehorned into any and every cultural context. That simply is not possible.
Again, I’m not saying that Biblical principles aren’t universal. The Story of the Bible transcends time and culture. Methodology, though, does not. Yes, it’s easy to hear ppl throw out verses that sound great, interpret them through their own culture and biases, and package them nicely for you to simply pour into your ministry to have a Biblical ministry. It’s harder to read through Scripture ourselves, pray, study the context we are in, and yes take into account the wisdom and experiences of others and develop our own unique approaches to ministry that work within our individual cultures.
If we’re truly wanting to be Biblical, then we need to stop looking for those pre-packaged, “practical” answers and develop a philosophy and ethos of ministry that will truly meet people in our individual cultures and point them to Christ.
The post is a letter from a gay father who desperately wants to worship in a more traditional setting but is having a hard time finding a place. I encourage you to hop on over to Andrew’s blog and read the entire post, but here are some excerpts from the letter:
“The truth is that Mark and I have no desire to divorce ourselves from each other. To do so would be disruptive to our boys, who’ve already dealt with separation issues related to their time in foster care. We’re both content with our lives. We both have good jobs, fun kids, distracting pets, and a nice home. We’re well-matched husbands for each other. All things considered, we’ve been blessed by God and I thank Him every day for what we have together.”
“My point is, most churches only seem willing to accept our family if we dissolve our household. One of the most stabilizing elements in my life – my husband and our family – are treated like the most harmful thing that I could maintain in my life. I recognize and reject this crazy paradox of thinking and so do other gay families like us. And that’s why most of us won’t worship in Christian churches.”
How does the church reach out to families like these in loving ways without affirming their lifestyles?
I know there are varying thoughts on how to deal with a situation like this one that range from telling this man that he needs to turn or burn or, instead, accepting him for who he is and not prying into his personal life. Are those the only two options? Is there another approach to this situation?
Personally, I think it is a bit of a cop-out to simply quote scripture about how homosexuality is a sin, and the only way for this man to be a “true Christian” is to stop living in sin. I don’t know if I have an answer, though. I would start off by loving this family with no strings attached. Then I would spend lots of time in prayer and seeking counsel from a variety of people on how to go from there.
For me, it comes down to following the Jesus Creed: Love God and love others. It’s the job of the Spirit to change what He wants to change in lives as people respond to Him. It’s our job to love people and keep pointing them to the God who loves them and cares more about them than I ever could.
I have many other questions that go through my mind, but I thought I’d like to hear from you. What are your thoughts?
Now, I want to be careful here. I don’t want to bash the people in this video. I’m sure most of them were honestly trying to worship God. In the churches I grew up in, I remember going to gatherings which had elements like this (and I was uncomfortable then as well as now).
The question that still goes through my head when watching gatherings like this one is, “Why?”
Why do you think this is worship?
Why do you choose to worship in this way?
Why are you doing what you are doing?
My nine-year-old son was watching the video with me. I asked him, “What makes this different from what we do at camp, on Sundays?… We do actions to songs… Some of you dance around during the singing time…”
I love what he said. “I don’t get what they are saying. We sing songs about who God is and how much we love him, and we do actions and dance around not to get attention but for God. They look like they are just dancing around.”
Again, I’m not trying to pass judgement on the people in the video. There’s nothing wrong with dancing around and twirling your socks in the air. But I have a hard time seeing this as “worship.”
That begs the question, “Well, then, what is worship?”
The best definition I’ve found for worship comes from Teaching Kids Authentic Worship by Kathleen Chapman. She defines worship as “paying attention only to God.” She compares it to a boy playing a video game. The only thing he is paying attention to is that video game. He doesn’t hear anyone else, he doesn’t see anything else… his whole attention is focused on that game. In that instance, he is “worshipping” that game. The same goes for worshipping God. When we do something for God, paying attention to him while we do it, then we are doing that something as worship whether it’s singing, dancing, reading the Bible, taking out the trash… whatever. Worship is not about me, it’s about God. Worship doesn’t simply result in warm fuzzies, but results in action… in mission.
How would you define worship?
What do you teach kids worship is? How do you teach worship to them?
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of Henry Zonio. Redwood Park Church is not in any way responsible or necessarily endorsing the opinions expressed on this website.
(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by akahodag)
