Steve’s February 2010 Congregational Letter

This past Sunday after worship one of our members gave me an article entitled, “Love in the time of hooking up.” The article, descriptive of emerging young adult practice, observes, “for young people, the trend is sex first, dating (maybe) later.” Then it wonders, “is this healthy?”

What do you say beyond “no?”

Seriously, what would you say? What framework of faith would you draw upon to have a conversation – in a pluralistic society – about the destructive consequences associated with this practice? Where would you start? What resources might you draw upon or point to? And here’s a further challenge – changing sexual mores and norms are simply one of many aspects of our changing culture.

For some Christians it’s all too overwhelming and the temptation to retreat is too great and so we withdraw. For some Christians the temptation to become legalistic moralists is too great and so when we engage our engagement tends to be judgmental, detached and somewhere in the “conversation” we lose sight of the fact we’re speaking to someone created in God’s image and for whom Christ died, and we alienate others.

Some Christ-followers, recognizing their own sinful condition and the hope afforded them in the Gospel wish to share their story of encounter with the One who knows everything about them and yet did not condemn, but lack a language of faith with which to speak.

What do you do?  What do we do?  Where do we find wisdom in this age?  How do we attain to maturity?

Truthfully, I have never experienced personal Christian maturity or increased knowledge in The Faith to “just happen.” I have never accidentally become more mature. I have not causally grown in biblical knowledge. I have not gone to sleep struggling with the question of evil and suffering only to awaken with new and emotionally/intellectually satisfying revelatory information. Maturity in the Christian life just doesn’t happen automatically.

So, how does one become mature? I would suggest the following:

Be connected to God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, in John (14.16-18), tells us that the Spirit whom the Father will send will teach us all things and remind us of everything he has said to us. Far too many people ignore the Third Person of the Trinity. It is the Spirit, having taken up residence within us, that brings us life, renews our mind, forms the character of Christ within us and leads us into all truth. It is by the Spirit that Jesus will give us the right words at the right time to say to those who stand before us unaware of the hope and life to which they have been called.

Be connected to God through prayer
When I have the opportunity I seek counsel from wise (God-fearing – as this is the biblical definition of wisdom) people. John Yates preached at St. Andrew’s this past week. I’d spent several hours in the hospital the previous day receiving outpatient treatment.  I didn’t feel good Sunday morning.  With John preaching and John Burley officiating I could have stayed in bed Sunday morning.  I didn’t feel good.  It was an effort for me to arrive early so that we might talk (as I’m sure it was for him).  I was blessed to have 30 minutes with John. If human guidance is a blessing how much more Divine guidance? How often are your prayers limited to times of convenience?  How often do your prayers sound like laundry lists of complaints and requests? How often is your prayer life a one-way hit-and-run? Are your knees calloused?  Have you learned to wrestle with God in prayer? Have you discovered that sometimes heaven is silent, perhaps, precisely so that we will “press in” and seek the Lord’s presence and direction in the matters of our lives?

Be connected to God through community
I wish I could tell you how many times people have made significant life-altering decisions without the input of brothers and sisters in Christ. Painfully I have learned that other’s wise counsel and sometimes unwanted questions have been the vehicle through which clarity, new insight and understanding have emerged in my life. It is instructive and almost cliché amongst some Christians that Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered I am present.” I believe the Lord meant what he said.  Are you connected to a community, large and small, gathered around Christ?

Be connected to God through study
Surprised? The ancients understood study as a means to know God – not simply know about God. In John 5 Jesus affirmed the Pharisees for their diligent study of Scripture, though He critiqued them for simply seeking to gain knowledge rather than relationship. In Acts 2 we read that those first Christ followers devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles. Then, throughout the Book of Acts we see followers and non-followers engaging in conversations about the gospel and its implications for their lives.  Paul commands a young Timothy to do his best to present himself as an approved workman, correctly handling the Word of God.

The expenditure of effort, time and treasure to obtain maturity

Prayer.  Community.  Study.  All done in and through the presence and power of The Spirit.  Ancient practices ever relevant.  I’ve never seen an immature Christ-follower grow into maturity accidentally or haphazardly.

This next week we will be kicking off our St. Paul’s Theological Center Spring Course. Every dimension I mentioned above is present in the structure of St. Paul’s. We gather in worship inviting the Spirit, we share a meal, we hear a presentation on a topic and then we gather in small groups to work out our faith. This spring we will be offering three tracks: A Faith Track, a Bible Track and a Theology Track. The Faith Track will look at the core doctrines of our faith – creation, incarnation, providence, atonement – and how these apply to our every day lives. The Bible Track is an ideal follow-up to Alpha as it presents the great themes of Scripture and gives handholds to understand the unfolding story of God’s redemptive work throughout history. The Theology Track will focus on eight great theologians and it will be taught live. The purpose is to introduce you to these great Christian minds and show you how their work has shaped and developed our faith. The only costs involved are for the evening meal and the book you will use. As with all courses at St. Andrew’s, don’t let cost deter your participation.

What constructive and distinctly Christian offering do you bring to the emerging cultural conversation?

“Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying gain a foundation of repentance from the dead works of faith toward God . . . “ (Hebrews 6.1-3)

For the Kingdom,

Steve