A Legacy of Faith

Our Sunday morning Bible class will begin discussing a book that I am finding to be very challenging, in the best sense. It is Almost Christian, by Kenda Creasy Dean. I encourage you to click on the link, go inside and read the first pages. In addition to what you will find there, here is another quote from the book:

“The problem does not seem to be that churches are teaching young people badly, but that we are doing an exceedingly good job of teaching youth what we really believe: namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God requires little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled with nice people focused primarily on “folks like us”—which, of course, begs the question of whether we are really the church at all. . . . What if the blasé religiosity of most American teenagers is not the result of poor communication but the result of excellent communication of a watered-down gospel so devoid of God’s self-giving love in Jesus Christ, so immune to the sending love of the Holy Spirit that it might not be Christianity at all?"

Yeah, I know. A kick in the gut, huh. But I think she speaks truth. I've read about half of it already, and I think she has a message that we need to hear.

One of the things I like about this class is that it is made up of recent empty nesters; people in their late 40's to late 50's (and I think a few in their 60's, but I'm afraid to ask.) In other words, people who do not have kids at home, yet are reading a book about teenagers.

What is driving this for us is a desire to be an influence on those generations who are sharing the journey with us, both parents and the kids themselves. That's one of the things I really like about our church. We share the same passion as the Psalmist: "Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come" (Ps. 71:18).

Hmm, might be a couple of good assignments there for us this week:
First, to express appreciation to someone who blessed us in our own journey.
Second, to think about what those after us learning from us.

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There is an interesting discussion going on in a blog called the Jesus Creed. Scot McKnight is one of the most well-respected evangelical influences in our country. He is not of the Church of Christ, but his book, "The Blue Parakeet" has been very influential in our fellowship. He taught at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures this past year and I very much enjoyed his lessons. Jeff and I got to visit with he and his wife Kris for a bit, although we mostly talked about places to eat in Austin and in Chicago, where they live.

This particular post is about the practice of a capella music in Churches of Christ. Be sure to read the comments. Interesting to see the perspective offered by those from the CofC. Maybe I'll come back to this at some point.