Change

I’ve been told “change is inevitable, so just be ready for it”. However, I’m visiting my hometown and have been told several times this week “you are just the same as I remember”, “you haven’t changed a bit”. I think it is supposed to be a compliment, but I’m starting to feel offended. I know that they can’t see all the changes within a 5 second encounter at the zoo or grocery store, but who are we kidding? We are all 20 years older, hopefully 20 years wiser and definitely carrying 20 years of experiences with us. Is change a negative thing in our society? The Bible promises change, encourages us to embrace change and challenges us to change. Are we fighting that change and missing out on the “transformation from glory to glory” that is associated with change in 2 Corinthians 3:18. Do I only embrace certain changes (added patience, wisdom gained from mistakes, etc) while fighting others (gray hair, redistributed figure, wrinkles)? Is that OK?

Christianity – do you wanna watch, participate, or pursue it?

School is soon to begin again and so I find myself reading more articles on teaching and learning in preparation for the coming year. According to several reputable sources in the teaching world, there are 3 levels of learning: watching, participating and pursuing. As you can imagine, watching is the easiest and least productive, participating is better and pursuing is best. As I read these articles, I couldn’t help but think about how they apply to Christianity and following Jesus. You can benefit from watching (or listening) to others while at church, in discussion groups (like this), and while with your friends and family…..but, not very much. A more productive approach would be to actually participate in Bible study, prayer, worshipping God, serving others, etc. However, by far, the best approach is to pursue God, Christianity and following Jesus. Pursuit implies passion, self-direction, immersing yourself, and heartfelt commitment. It implies perseverance and focus. It implies effort and enjoyment. You don’t pursue something that you don’t care about. So, the question to all of us is: which Christianity do you want – one you watch from the sidelines, one you participate in or one that you pursue with all your heart? Which Christianity do you currently live? To which Christianity does the Bible point?

The Current of the Age

I noticed two contrasting articles from a couple of back issues of World Magazine (and yes, I promise to do more than just read and comment on what World says). The first article is from the May 14, 2005 issue, and talks about a Princeton senior who plays high stakes poker. Two quotes from him are enlightening. The first is on the value he places on his chosen profession: “My parents thought I should do something useful…I thought that [winning $10,000 last summer] was pretty useful.” Apparently, the usefulness of the job is determined by how much money one can make from it, and how quickly.

The second quote concerns his post-graduate career: “I don’t think I can make $120,000 doing anything but poker”. Hence the career choice: that which will make me 1) the most money 2) in the easiest way, is the career for me.

I contrast this with an article in the previous week’s World. In the May 7 issue, there are a few quotes from a man who taught at Princeton Theological Seminary. J. Gresham Machen gave a commencement speech many years ago, and he said the following: “The man who today enters upon the Christian life is enlisting in a warfare against the whole current of the age.” I have to agree; the current of the age is this: get a job that makes money. Machen also says that conflict with the world “can be avoided if the one who professes Christianity adapts his message to the desires of those who are about him.” Ouch.

I was thinking of how this applies to the average high school kid who professes Christianity. This student is taking his Biology test and is confronted with some question about evolution. If the student believes that God created the earth, putting that down as an answer will result in getting the question wrong. The student is now faced with a dilemma. Do I answer honestly and get the question wrong, or do I give the expected answer, even though I don’t agree with it?

Here’s how I think the reasoning goes:
I can give the expected answer, even though I don’t agree with it. The expected answer will get me a good grade on this test. A good grade on the test will get me a good grade in this class. With a good grade in this class, I can get into a good college. A good college will help me get a good job. A good job is one that will make me more money.

Thus we run into the current of the age.

I have the opportunity for the next week to spend some extended time with high school and middle school students. I plan to ask the students, test out my theory and see if I’m right.

Devotional or Devotion?

I have never been really good at reading devotional books. I guess I find that the books are encouraging me to do something, or to feel a certain way, or to believe a certain thing about God. It only takes a few pages for me to agree that I should be doing, feeling, or believing whatever it is they’re telling me, and I just want to get on with it.

However, with the huge volume of devotional books out there, I guess I am in the minority. I know folks who say that they have trouble reading the Bible directly, but enjoy a devotional book instead. To me, this is like reading a movie review: I could read any number of reviews about a particular film, but I’ll never experience it for myself unless I actually attend the movie. For those of us who enjoy what a friend calls “Christian consumables,” maybe we can work on stoping with the reviews, and instead enjoy the show.