•10:39 AM
I am reading a book called Is It a Lost Cause?: Having the Heart of God for the Church's Children written by Marva J. Dawn. She is a theologian, musician, and educator who has written several books pertaining to worship within the church. I thought I would pick up this book, although it is a bit older, because this particular book talks more specifically about the church's role in the nurture and biblical formation of our children, a subject that is near and dear to my heart and that of many of my readers.
At one part of the book, she brings up ten questions to check whether our churches are, in her words, "biblically formed". She comes from a different denominational tradition than I, so her terminology is a little bit unfamiliar, but I think she is talking about whether churches conform the the scriptural mandate for the church.
So without much ado, I will begin to write on these ten questions, a little bit at a time, for I feel they are thoughtful and intelligent questions, and worth careful, unhurried thought.
Question #1: Does the pastor preach the whole counsel of God and not just what is politically correct? Do the congregational leaders urge you and your children to wrestle with the whole Bible and not just read the parts you like?
I think about this question in terms of whether the church is teaching a balanced view of God, so that we can attempt to better know in full the God we worship. Does our church teach mostly a warm, fuzzy, comfortable picture of God, without giving adequate attention to other aspects of his character, like his holiness, his wrath, his absolute perfection that cannot tolerate sin, his omnipotent authority, his sovereign dominion? Do we see the ruling arm of power, that is also the tender arm of a shepherd carrying us? Do we see the mercy and kindness of Jesus alongside his anger against hypocrisy?
Is the pastor willing to preach about the hard sayings of Jesus as well as his promises?
And do we take the opportunity to allow ourselves, as adults, to be trained by our churches in righteousness, as well as discuss these things with our children?
I am pondering these questions personally, as our family is between churches right now, and I know that this is, or has been, the case with some of the readers of this blog.
I will try to write more on this topic in a "near future" post.
At one part of the book, she brings up ten questions to check whether our churches are, in her words, "biblically formed". She comes from a different denominational tradition than I, so her terminology is a little bit unfamiliar, but I think she is talking about whether churches conform the the scriptural mandate for the church.
So without much ado, I will begin to write on these ten questions, a little bit at a time, for I feel they are thoughtful and intelligent questions, and worth careful, unhurried thought.
Question #1: Does the pastor preach the whole counsel of God and not just what is politically correct? Do the congregational leaders urge you and your children to wrestle with the whole Bible and not just read the parts you like?
I think about this question in terms of whether the church is teaching a balanced view of God, so that we can attempt to better know in full the God we worship. Does our church teach mostly a warm, fuzzy, comfortable picture of God, without giving adequate attention to other aspects of his character, like his holiness, his wrath, his absolute perfection that cannot tolerate sin, his omnipotent authority, his sovereign dominion? Do we see the ruling arm of power, that is also the tender arm of a shepherd carrying us? Do we see the mercy and kindness of Jesus alongside his anger against hypocrisy?
Is the pastor willing to preach about the hard sayings of Jesus as well as his promises?
And do we take the opportunity to allow ourselves, as adults, to be trained by our churches in righteousness, as well as discuss these things with our children?
I am pondering these questions personally, as our family is between churches right now, and I know that this is, or has been, the case with some of the readers of this blog.
I will try to write more on this topic in a "near future" post.
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2 comments:
Wow. This sounds like a great book. I will be looking forward to your future posts on this topic. Maybe I will have to get this book for myself!
Lois
The struggle for me, I think, is that I don't feel I have the option of looking for a church that is 'what it should be'. I have to make do with the church(es) we have, rather than finding the 'correct' one. If the doctrine is correct, the format is worldly, if the format is family friendly, the doctrine is legalistic. I have to choose which I'm willing to live with and which I'm willing to give up. That long-term sense of compromise is draining.