Our Children Aren’t Stupid!
Theresa has, in another outstanding post at Be Strong in the Grace, has, among other things, laid bare another way in which the “modern” church has uncritically aped modern secular culture — We treat our kids like they’re idiots who are incapable of being challenged, pushed, and held accountable in learning about their faith!
I’m not going to say too much more (as you really need to go read what Theresa wrote about this), other than to add this: I’m afraid that the reason for the decline in the depth & quality of what we teach our children is due, not because of the kids, but rather due to our shortcomings & unwillingness to do the hard work of ensuring that our children are equipped with a proper catechetical foundation.
I must admit that I struggle with this every day, as I try to faithfully fulfill my duties as a Christian father & head of the household. I fail more often than not, but I will keep trying. I desperately want my children to know & understand the rich promises that God has made them, and the wondrous gifts He has given them, beginning with their Baptism. The Spirit can use someone even as flawed & sinful as me as an instrument of His will — and for that I am thankful.
-ghp
Where is God to be found?
Where can God be found? How does God communicate with us?
Questions like this are often asked, and have been for a long time now. Nowadays, we’re awash in a sea of heterodox theological doctrines & practices that promote answers that deviate from the clear teachings of Holy Scripture.
We’re exposed to:
- buffoons like Pat Robertson, who claim direct contact from/with God Himself on a whole bevy of things, including U.S. governmental policy questions like tax breaks, and the timing of Supreme Court vacancies,
- descendants of the Wesley brothers, who make emotional responses (a “burning in the bosom”) a key component of “real” and/or “true” spiritual experiences,
- postmodernists who deny the existence of absolute truth, and tout the primacy of individual experiences & worldviews — “that might be true for you, but it’s not relevant to/for me…
- pietistic legalists who often prooftext the Bible in an effort to “prove” that you really can earn your way up that stairway to Heaven,
- moralistic cults, like Mormonism, who extend/expand the Word of God, despite clear admonitions against doing so in Holy Scripture, (e.g., Deut 4:2 & Rev 22:18-19) but who are held up as sterling & moral examples, despite the fact that they are not Christian.
Thankfully, we have faithful ministers like the Rev. Paul McCain to remind us of the places where we can find God, and the ways in which God does speak to us.
God speaks to us directly in His Word.
God can be found in Word and Sacrament (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion).
This is true because He told us it is so.
Whenever you want to hear God talk to you, get thee to a Divine Service. In the liturgy, God speaks to us through His Word, and we faithfully echo that sacred Word back, knowing that the Word delivers on His promises. We are brought into the Body of Christ through joining of water to the Word in Holy Baptism. And we are strengthened as a faithful member in the Body of Christ via Holy Communion, where Christ Himself comes to us in His very body and blood.
Why would we ever want, or think we need, anything more than that?
Komm, Herr Jesu!
Amen.
-ghp
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