Politics and Religion to Middle Schoolers

In Sunday School yesterday, at the suggestion of the confirmation teacher, we combined the confirmation and senior high classes to discuss a rather pertinent topic - "Politics and Religion." I announced it in the first service and received numerous chuckles from the congregation. On the way out after service, I had numerous people pat me on the back giving me forlorn looks and an occasional, "good luck!" I felt like I was marching to the gallows. It seems that this is just a topic that we inherently fear, whether we think that they shouldn't be mixed, should be mixed, can't be mixed, can't help but being mixed, or some combination of the above. But everyone has an opinion, and as I soon found out, even kids.

We kept it as basic as we could, keeping the discussion to things like the purpose of the separation between church and state, etc. What amazed me, however, is the assumption that seemed to permeate the room that politics is one thing and religion a completely different and never the twain shall meet. Thus, when we asked whether a person's religious beliefs should influence their policies, the general response we got was no. Perhaps I am ignorant but I do not see how someone who is a follower of Christ can somehow put those beliefs on a shelf when he or she goes to do his or her job. If we are a follower of Christ, should not his values affect everything we do?

The kids also did not think that Christ was a political figure or that the church was a political body. I think this seems to be a common thought as well. Without seeing Christ as a political figure, it is hard to make sense of why the Romans crucified him. Perhaps Christ was saying a bit more than keep your religion at home. And when the church lays a claim on our lives that is absolute, how we are to live, where we are to spend our money, etc. it is difficult to see how this cannot be a political body.

I don't think we ask the nature of the relationship between them enough. Thoughts?

"Where Have You Gone, O Apostles' Creed?"

Paul Simon's classic line might not work lyrically in this instance, but the sentiment remains. There has been much about the United Methodist Church (as a whole) that has been disappointing to me lately, but I must say that I was still quite shocked yesterday morning when after handing out the Apostles' Creed to our senior high Sunday School class, all of them replied that they had never seen this. Now I know that this is not true because we say the Creed in our baptismal liturgy. However, I would not expect a high schooler to remember it had he or she only recited it a few times in their lives. Yet, I was shocked because these were all students who had been confirmed in the United Methodist Church. And I have to ask, if they are not teaching the Apostles' Creed, then what are they teaching?

My shock continued as they showed no interest in its history, its origin, its purpose, or anything else that a mildly educated Christian might express. Rather, they said that they saw no way that it could relate to them and the struggles of their everyday lives. This is a sad situation and a judgment - not necessarily on the kids themselves - but the education to which they have been exposed.

So in the next few weeks of our Sunday School class, Julie and I will be teaching on the Apostles' Creed. Each session will focus on one of the articles. (For example, next week's study will focus on "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.") For each class, we will examine where the doctrine was found in Scripture, what dangers are present were one not to believe the article (the traditional name for this is heresy), and finally, how this belief does indeed (or can indeed) affect their everyday lives. We will be using as a guide the wonderful book by Luke Timothy Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters. If you've never read it and are looking for some excellent reading material that will be both educational and edifying to your spiritual experience, I highly recommend it.

We need prayers for this project as we are fighting an uphill battle against disinterest and apathy. We will update on this blog as the course progress.

The Experiment

In a previous blog, I related the classes that I will be taking this semester. The astute reader, and I know that you are all astute readers, will surely realize that the majority of my blogs this semester will have something to do with either Romans, Thomas Aquinas, or the church, as we tend to think about (and some of us) blog about the things that we are learning. There is one other area from which I will probably be crafting a lot, perhaps the majority, of my blogs. For this past Sunday a great experiment began.

Julie and I began teaching the senior high Sunday School class at our church, Trinity Pilgrim United Methodist Church. Some may call it an adventure (you never know what those kids are going to say), some may call it foolish (nothing short of three people approached me on Sunday to tell me that they had tried teaching the high schoolers and they had quit), but I prefer to call it an experiment. It is an experiment to see if the wonderful theological training I have received over the last five or six years actually "works" in church and, moreover, in the youth culture.

I am here reminded of a story that one of my seminary professors told me. Several years ago, there was an African tribe who had come to Christ through the ministry of a missionary from North America. After several years, there grew a desire that the tribe begin to lead themselves, and so they sent one of their promising young men to an American seminary in order to learn from the great minds about the bible so that he could then teach these truths to the tribe. After an absence of over four years, the tribe anxiously awaited the young man's return. When he did, they put him right into the pulpit to preach. But he was speechless. After standing there for a long time, the missionary pulled him aside and asked what the problem was. The young man said that he was not sure how to preach what he had learned to his tribe. How does "expiation" or "transubstantiation" translate? This man had to go through another course to relearn the Christian faith in his own language.

It strikes me that Julie and I are in a similar position here. We've spent the last few years learning a language and learning how to meaningfully discuss things in terms of that language. Specifically, I have spent the last few days in a quite interesting debate over the first few chapters of Romans. But this all means nothing in the context of senior highers. We, like the missionary, might be speechless in front of these kids. Unless we find a way to translate it into their language and their culture. And this is why I call it an experiment. I believe that our learning can be translated; it has to be, otherwise the academy has lost all touch with the church and has therefore become a useless entity. We have evidence that it has been translated through the years - this is why the Apostle Paul wrote in Greek (the language of the people) instead of Hebrew (the language of the faith). The question is, and the experiment will be, whether we can find the effective means to make that translation happen. If we can, then we have a chance of reaching these kids and impacting their lives with the truth of God's story. If we can't, then we might as well not waste their time - and I might as well start thinking of another profession.

We need your prayers in this experiment.