Author: Robert
Spain: Communicating Theology With Love
Seminary was a transformative time for me. While many say their faith decreased during their seminary years, mine actually did the opposite.
I grew closer to God main in part to the godly men God placed in my life at the time my seminary career was starting who told me to never ever allow my studies to take away from my own personal study and devotions in God’s word. One even suggested that I turn my homework time into personal devotions. This had a profound effect on me and is one of the reasons I am where I am today.
Tuesday was the first class I taught at SEFOVAM, the name of the seminary where I am teaching in Madrid, Spain. The class was on how to reach emerging generations. Although there are major cultural differences between the US and Spain, one thing is for sure, a college student is a college student no matter where you place them.
I challenged them as they thought through their approaches to reaching emerging generations (18-24+) to consider five major struggles students face: trust, tolerance, brokeness, aloneness, and truth. Most of the content I am teaching on in this section comes from a book called No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. The students in this class were very vocal about some of the topics I was presenting to them.
We opened up with a story about a girl who was sexually abused by her dad. I asked them how this experience would shape her view of God (both positively and negatively), her relationship with a future spouse, or even her relationship with other women. They immediately resonated with the story sharing some of their own experiences in dealing with people like this.
I told them that it is important that as we reach out to those in this generation, we have to realize that they have a hard time trusting people, and even God himself. I said that when talking with them about God it is important that we not sugar-coat the truth; that we give them the reality of who God is whether it is hard for them to accept or not.
The reason is because young people live in a world where everything is faked, performed, and unreal. They are searching for authenticity. Therefore it is critical to tell them the truth of who God is, the good and the bad (from their perspective at least).
I modified the situation with the girl who was sexually abused and I asked them to consider the situation where the girl is now a Christian and is no longer acting out promiscuously. I asked them to tell me what they would say to her.
One guy said that he would tell her, “The reason why all the bad stuff happened to you is because you were separated from God.” This allowed us to go a little deeper into the sovereignty of God. I then asked him, “Well what would you tell her, if she later meets a guy in your church who then rapes her?” Yes, this is seminary folks. We have to talk about reality no matter how difficult it is. At any rate I told them that we have to tell her up front that God loves her, cares deeply about her pain, but at the same time, he may not necessarily stop additional hurt and pain in her life.
Since God is sovereign and can do whatever he wants, when he wants, this sometimes means that he will allow some things that are pretty painful into our lives. This is where a lot of people have a hard time seeing God as being loving. I can understand that. But the truth is, regardless of whether we want to believe it or not, God is just as loving when he allows good as he is when he allows evil.
I challenged them to make sure they always communicate this basic fact even though their listeners may have a hard time with it. However, we should not just “communicate” it, we must communicate it in love.
I shared with them a personal story about a friend of mine who is not a Christian. He and I were having a conversation on day and he was stating his frustration about how God could allow “good” people to go to hell. I responded, “The reason Christians believe those people will go to hell is because Jesus said the only way to heaven is through him. And anyone who did not place their trust in him would ultimately go to hell. I know that is hard for you to accept and you may not agree with me on that but I hope it would not keep us from being friends. I know that I value my friendship with you and I hope you value your friendship with me.”
Even though we did not agree, he really appreciated the fact that I valued him as a person, that I talked to him as a human being and did not just preach “at” him.
I challenged the students to think carefully about what they say, communicate truth, but communicate it with love.
This class reminded me of my time in seminary when we would these kinds of difficult discussions about God. I always found them to be deeply challenging and ultimately life changing for me. I hope it is the same for these students as well.
We can only pray.
On My Way
As I am sitting here in the airport waiting to board my flight to Spain I thought I would take some time to give you a rundown…
…of how things will progress here at Practicing Theology this week. As I previously mentioned, I will be going to Spain May 2-9 teaching a few classes along the way. So what I think I’ll do this week is share some of the content of my time with the students.
I will be teaching for four days while I am there. I will be giving them some ideas on how to reach emerging generations (two days). As their country becomes increasingly connected and more churches discover the sensation that is Facebook and Twitter, the church will need to better understand how these technologies shape our faith. I will be sharing with them on how to properly interpret cultural trends as they relate to technology adoption and how to make better decisions on what media to incorporate into their worship environments.
I can’t wait to share some of the material with you.
Traveling to Spain
I will be traveling to Spain from May 2 – 9 to teach at a seminary there on how to reach the college generation as well as how technology has shaped our faith.
I will do my best to share my experiences along the way with you. If you have any ideas of what I should share let me know.
I am really looking forward to this trip. Someone asked me the other day if I had any prayer requests. If you are interested in praying for my trip here are a few things to consider:
- My lessons have to be translated (handouts. powerpoint slides, etc). So they need to be complete soon. Please pray that I get them done in ample time.
- I really do hope the students learn a lot from what I plan to tell them.
- This is the furthest I have ever traveled outside the states. I am hoping that I do not forget to pack anything important.
- I will be preaching in their chapel service on day during the week. I have no idea what I am going to say. I probably will just make something up once I get to the pulpit. Just kidding!
Thanks for your prayers and I will do my best to keep those interested updated as much as possible.
3446
That’s the number of blacks who were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
Here’s another number for you: 1,452. That’s the number of African-American babies killed each day by the abortion industry (L.E.A.R.N.). So why bring up racism and abortion? What’s the connection?
There is a striking similarity between racism and abortion. There was a time in this country when black people were not considered human and therefore were given no rights (Dread Scott, 1857). In the same way, in 1973 Roe v. Wade declared that unborn babies had no rights.
John Piper wrote about this connection in a post on his blog:
People today don’t oppose the enslavement of blacks merely because they think it’s wrong. They oppose it because otherwise they would be viewed as Neanderthals. It’s easy to oppose it because to do so is fashionable.
That’s a good thing. It always helps when the right thing happens to be P.C.
So let’s be wise in showing the way abortion is closer to racism and slavery than people see.
Whenever I read stuff like this I am saddened by the fact that so many in the black community do not see the danger in voting for a black president who is one of the biggest supporters of abortion. That’s why I did not support him. In my opinion, he is terrible for the black community!
According to L.E.A.R.N., 3 out of 5 pregnant black women will abort their child. That’s 60%! Most abortion clinics are in minority neighborhoods. The abortion community survives and thrives on the blood of black babies, and many black pastors stand by and do nothing about it. Where is the outrage from black politicians? Instead of the “Reverend” Al Sharpton and “Reverend” Jesse Jackson raising hell when a “supposedly racist” white man (Don Imus) makes a derogatory comment about black women perhaps they should direct their energies to something more important.
If we are going to say that our theology affirms the sanctity of life, shouldn’t that theology be reflected in our practice? How can we say we have a solid theology of life, while at the same time support politicians and presidents who don’t? I know there are more issues than abortion. However, as a black man, I personally find it hard to consider anything else more important than the death of millions of black babies who will never get a chance to have a “choice.”
Your turn! Do you agree that there is a connection between abortion and racism? Do you think it should be pointed out? Do you think there are more important things than the abortion issue? Leave a comment below.
Singleness is like cramps. Or is it?
Unmarried people today receive a number of messages from culture and the church that distort their view of what it means to be single.
There is a growing trend that reveals that singles are getting married later and later in life. The average marriage age for a single now is in the 30s. It used to be early twenties. Singles are typically described in culture (and even church) as “those who fail to marry” or even worse as “those who do not make positive choices.”
It is not uncommon for someone who is single to attend family holiday gatherings and find themselves bombarded by questions such as:
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“You’re such a good-looking guy, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“You’ll make someone a great wife!”
“Don’t worry, hang in there someone will come along soon. God has someone really special for you.”
After hearing messages like these, it’s no wonder singles feel like marriage is the only natural arrangement in life.
Within the church singleness is seen as a state to get out of, something to fear or something you pray you never have to experience for the rest of your life. In some churches singles are not considered adults, and are not really given a chance at leadership because others do not consider the single life as one that typically shows responsibility.
This can be seen by the number of people who think married people are more capable leaders within the church primarily because the husband can minister to the guys and the wife to the women. We also see this mentality in the number of times single men who are in charge of ministries (typically youth ministries) feel they are incomplete and cannot effectively lead/minister to others because they are not married. I’ve seen single men passed over for elder positions because they are single; the reason being they do not show that they are responsible enough to handle the responsibilities because they are not married and/or have children.
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen sums up this mentality when she says,
“Despite the fact that Christians pay lip service to the equal value of married and single people, their near-idolatry of the family over the past century has made single Christians feel like second-class citizens at best and moral failures at worst.”
Is there any wonder why so many college/post-collegiate men and women are so anxious to get married? We create environments where “the real life” or “real ministry” is only experienced or performed by married people. Is it any surprise so many people see being single as a state to get out of rather than as a state to appreciate and maximize for the glory of God.
There are a lot of single people out there who are not content with their singleness. And most are so focused on finding someone that they have no vision for the joy and beauty that is the single life. They’re so busy coveting their neighbor’s marriage that marriage has become an idol. They fail to see the tremendous opportunity God has placed before them to do great things for his glory.
However, one man did see the single life for the beauty God created it to be and he saw it as a tremendous advantage to fulfilling The Great Commission. We will talk about him next week.
3 Things That Will Increase The Likelihood of Marital Hardship
As we look around, it is impossible to deny the problem of marriages today in our society.