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God Talk with T-roy

These are random points of view on various subjects of theology.

Name:
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas, United States

Saturday, July 02, 2005

BUT WHY?

Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. (NRSV)

Somebody made the following statement to me the other day: "We are not supposed to question our faith." To me, it is sad that we live in a time and place that seems to tell us that we cannot question our faith. Every time I hear a statement such as this, I think about the passage above from the book of Mark and how Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to people like little children.

I don't have any children of my own, but I know from my nieces and nephews, children of friends and family, and children and youth I have experienced in the church that they are almost always questioning! How many of you have heard a young person ask, "Why...? But why...?" I have heard it many times! Why, then, are we not supposed to question our faith? Doesn't the kingdom of God belong to such as these?

As I look back at the history of the church, I see many important people who questioned faith:

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. questioned those whose faith said that African-Americans did not deserve equality with Caucasian people.

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer questioned the faith that allowed Hitler to kill Jews.

  • John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) questioned the faith of the Anglican Church of his day that would not reach out to people of lower social and economic status. He wanted to share God's love with ALL people, not just the middle and upper class!

  • Martin Luther questioned the faith of the Roman Catholic Church of his day. This questioning brought about reform through the Protestant movement as well as bringing reform to the Roman Catholic Church!

  • Jesus questioned the faith of the Jewish faith of his day - need I say more?

When we properly question our faith, seeking the desires of God for our life and this world, we are able to bring and experience a bit more of God's kingdom on this earth. Have we not experienced this through the questioning of the people listed above?

GOD BLESS AMERICA?

I’ll probably never forget a few years ago when members of the U.S. Congress stood outside and sang together the song "God Bless America." At the time I was filled with a great sense of patriotism for our country. However, as I have thought about this over the past few years, I have come to believe that this was a bit narrow-minded.

I recall the passage from Acts 3:25 in which Peter, speaking to an assembly of Israelites, recalls the covenant that God made with Abraham:

You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, "And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' (NRSV)

“Families” in this context means “nations.” Therefore, Peter is reminding his hearers and us that God promises to bless not only Israel or America but ALL nations of the earth.

Some would say that some nations of this world do not “deserve” God’s blessings, and I couldn’t disagree more. These nations that we deem to not “deserve” God’s blessings need God’s blessings as much or more than we do in order to help them become the people God would have them (and us) to be. That is the wonderful story of grace – getting what we DON’T deserve. Plus, if we say that WE, as citizens of the United States, DO deserve God's blessings, aren't we being a bit prideful? Aren't we tooting our own horns? Aren't we being like the Pharisees who felt that WHAT we do determines whether or not we receive God's blessings?

How powerful it would be for our nation to stand together and sing a song to the world that has the line GOD BLESS THE WORLD! Let us all join together to sing and pray for God’s blessings on all the nations of the earth. If need be, maybe we can strive to be channels of God’s grace, taking God’s blessings to the world!

DON'T TELL ME HOW TO PRAY...

For quite a few years, there has been much ink and hot air spread about the issue of prayer in schools. Many people are all in an uproar that, "The government won't let my child pray in school." This, however, is actually NOT the case.

There is NOTHING, according to the law, that prevents a child from praying in school - so long as it does not disturb the necessary goings on at a school. How do I know this? Have you ever attended a "Meet You at the Pole" rally at a public school? You see, prayer DOES happen at school!

You see, the issue is that a public school employee, which is ultimately a government employee that represents the government (even teachers fall into this category), cannot lead a prayer for the students of the school. Why? It is quite simple. By doing so, the employee is implying that the government promotes a certain "type" or "brand" of religion, which goes against the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution that reads, "
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. . . ."

Now, I find it interesting that the majority of the people that I know who get all in an uproar about this issue (all of which are Christians) would "have a cow" if their child's teacher was a Muslim and led a Muslim prayer in class! Yet, without the current laws, this could happen!

Now, I do not have children, but if I did, there would many "Christians" that I would not want to model prayer for my child. In fact, I'd prefer many Jews or Muslims to some Christians! But here's the deal: I believe it would be MY job to teach my child to pray with the help of my local church - not the public school system!

I'm reminded that many of the "Christians" that I indicted above for being sticklers for this issue often want to take Scripture very literally. I say to these people to read this passage of Scripture:

1 "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6, NRSV)

The above words are, according to Matthew, from the mouth of Jesus. Jesus says that we should pray in secret - not in front of everybody. Yet, some people have temper tantrums saying they want their child to do EXACTLY what Jesus as explicitly said not to do. It seems even literalists / fundamentalists pick and choose what they want out of Scripture, too!

Looking at Matthew 6, I am reminded that most of the time that I pray, I do so silently - often with others present, but they never know it. Nobody, then, can prevent me from praying - especially if I do it silently! Therefore, if there is not prayer in schools, it is ONLY because WE (parents and church leaders) have not taught our children how to pray. Are we expecting the public school and government to do it?