Weston Blaha

Author: WestonBlaha

  • Winnowing Isn’t Winning

    Winnowing Isn’t Winning

    The protestant church is slowly shrinking from within. And while it can be suggested that this is simply the winnowing of the chaff, that shouldn’t relieve the Church of her duties. She should not shrug with indifference when the sown seed springs to life only to wither under the heat from the sun—there is no pride of perseverance to be had when this occurs. Nor should the church observe the withered shoots and think, “if only we shaded them from the heat, this wouldn’t have happened.” Instead, the Church should be asking, “why?” Why does so much sown seed blossom, only to wither in the sun?
    Admittedly, there are theological ramifications that must be considered when answering that question. From a Reformed perspective, it is the Lord who decides these things, and we are not privy to all of the mysteries of salvation. However, from an earthy, limited, human wisdom perspective, there are steps that we could and should take when we see the withering and wilting shoots of “exvangelicalism” littering the landscape of Christendom, and they aren’t what most churches assume.

    The Statistics
    To provide a statistical example of this: research shows that in the lives of young children from protestant, church-going families, the “top spiritual activity” they were involved in was regularly attending Sunday School or Small Groups—68% of responders. However, only 29% said that “reading the Bible regularly” was their top spiritual activity growing up. This means that–like it or not–the physical programs of the church are currently carrying the most influence in the lives of teens and young adults—and these physical programs only occur for a few hours each week. Now, consider the long-term effects of these statistics: middle-aged adults have grown up in a Christendom pervaded by dependance upon church programs for the majority of their personal biblical, intellectual, and spiritual development. In other words, for most adults, there is little to no spirit stimulation outside of the local church—unless you count motivational bible verses taken out of context and plastered all over Facebook!
    This statistical reality has significant ramifications for the Church. While it is ultimately the work of the Spirit that determines if the sown seed is effectual, the Lord uses the work of the saints to help prepare the hearts of those he calls. It suffices to say that you cannot prepare soil for healthy growth by only investing two or three (or less) hours each week. Just as real soil preparation takes time and effort—clearing weeds, conditioning dirt, eradicating pests, fending off seed-eating fowl—the “soil” of the heart requires much work.

    We Need Kaved
    I believe that this means there must be a significant shift in the way the average church understands its duties of discipleship. The local church must be kaved (כבד), “weighty, heavy, or honored.” In other words, we must bring gravitas back into the local church. Yes, ministry will always need to be culturally sensitive, but as David Wells so neatly states, culture determines your context, not content. We must press upon our flocks the weightiness, heaviness, and honor of the Gospel. We must regain the understanding that it is an honor to be considered worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name (Acts 5:41). We must do the difficult (and often dirty!) work of conditioning the heart so that it looks like the good soil in Matthew 13:8—soil that is not longer limited by the lack of depth or nutrition when confronted with tribulation.

    So What?
    While I do not have all the answers, and I will admit that every context is different, it is my belief that local church ministry as a whole often fails to properly bring the depth and richness of the Scriptures to flocks who desperately need it. We must never forget the second seed in the parable of the sower—we must not judge effectiveness by summer camp baptisms or church attendance. Instead, what is the testimony of your church in times of trial? What biblical demographics are you reaching? Does your church attract mature believers, immature believers, or both? The withered and wilted remains of exvangelical Christendom will not find its answers in shallowed, non-confrontational, soft-truth presentations of the Gospel. I believe those attempts at a culturally appealing, socially inoffensive Gospel are precisely the reason we are seeing the evangelical fallout. The Gospel is by nature counter-cultural.

    Instead, I have six initial thoughts on how the church can “till” the hearts of hearers of the word:

    1. We must deepen in a world that is shallowing. We must be “seeker-challenging,” not seeker-sensitive.
    2. We must broaden Scriptural knowledge, not narrow it. If you offer a Cliff-Notes version of the Gospel, you will get a Cliff-Notes spiritual walk. Teach the Old Testament. Teach the New Testament. Teach the hard truths. Teach the whole council of God.
    3. We must confront with truth, not conform. The church fails to faithfully present the truth of sin when we “grey out” what the Bible shows to be black and white.
    4. We must assist in spiritual disciplines, not replace. The programs of the church are supportive ministries, not replacement ones. We must work to help our members study the Scriptures faithfully on their own.
    5. We must engage in worship, not entertain. The local church is where the body of Christ “does life,” it is not a venue from which to entertain. There is a difference.
    6. We must model rich soil, not merely instruct. No one is perfect; we all sin. But how we respond to correction, hurt feelings, and the difficult aspects of living amongst the body of Christ must be demonstrated among the brethren. Head knowledge must produce heart change. A well-tilled heart will be evident when the sun scorches down.
  • A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    So, I’m starting a youth ministry from scratch. My new church has one consistent youth-aged student attending, with the potential of some friends or inconsistent others. In my fifteen years of youth ministry experience, I have always had–at the very least–some form of critical mass. This will be a very different experience.

    So, as I have been praying and considering how to begin with one student, I came up with six tips for growing a youth group with one student.

    1. Prepare as if I am expecting twenty students. Now, I should clarify, this does not mean I am ordering pizza for twenty students. But it does mean that my preparation time, the amount of effort and thought that will go into games, lessons, projects, or events will be the same as if I were preparing for twenty. Whatever the activity–make it the best activity possible for the student(s) who come.
    2. Engage community events. When critical mass is hard to drum up, go find it. This means being more active in local schools, activities, and events. Go to where the people are and take your group with you.
    3. Invite the community. One of the more common complaints I hear from youth directors is “no one brings any friends.” Maybe we can discuss why that might be in another post, but for the sake of this post we need to be prepared to invite students ourselves. Remember, the youth ministry is a ministry to and for the youth of your church. It is really not their job to bring people, although it would be wonderful if they would.
    4. Be visible in the community. The easiest mistake for a small church to make is to hide within its own walls. Small churches have the ability to use the precision of a surgeon in reaching their community. Get out there and make your church a name in the community.
    5. Embrace change. Growth will mean change. Think about it: in a small group, one new student can shift the types of games, activities, and interests of the group. Small youth groups need to learn to break out of the small “clique” environment where everyone knows your name, and become comfortable with the changes that growth will demand.
    6. Be Patient. Perhaps the most difficult piece of advice for me to handle. I am an instant gratification person. I want to see immediate results. But growth takes time and time requires patience.

    So, there it is. If I were going to give advice to myself, this is what it would be.

    It will not be easy.

    It will not be immediate.

    But it will bear fruit.

    It will grow the kingdom.

    And that is the calling of the ministry.

  • Re-Hitch to the Old Testament

    Re-Hitch to the Old Testament

    In my seminary studies, I have come to appreciate the Old Testament more than I ever thought possible. Although I would not have admitted it before graduate school, I mostly treated the Old Testament as a history of the ancient world and the church. Let me clear, I believed it to be a true and accurate historical account, but outside of some mostly now-irrelevant prophecy and proverbial wisdom, not much else. However, all of that has changed.

    In 2018, mega-church pastor Andy Stanley stated that Christians need to “un-hitch” their faith from the Old Testament. In all fairness to Stanley, he also stated that the Old Testament is “divinely inspired,” but added that it shouldn’t be the go-to source for behavior in the church. While I have much to say on this, the point of this post is not necessarily to re-hash the Andy Stanley “un-hitch” statement, but to point to a deeper issue that I believe Stanley’s statement revealed: the perceived irrelevance of the Old Testament in the Christian church.

    While many Christians acknowledge that the Old Testament is the inspired Word of God, and that it must be something more than simply a history lesson, the average-Joe Christian struggles to articulate how this is so. Therefore, I want to offer ten reasons—though there are more—that the Old Testament should receive just as much of our attention as the New Testament.

    1. The Old Testament re-orients our minds to the main character of the Bible–God.

    2. The Old Testament reveals our purpose as humans.

    3. The Old Testament provokes in us wonder of God.

    4. The Old Testament places the fault for sin at our own feet.

    5. The Old Testament illuminates us to the state of our hearts.

    6. The Old Testament demonstrates our need for a Divine Deliverer.

    7. The Old Testament illustrates our propensity to wander.

    8. The Old Testament catalogues God’s faithfulness.

    9. The Old Testament introduces us to the Messiah.

    10. The Old Testament contains the moral law.

    After his resurrection, Jesus “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). In other words, Jesus used the Old Testament to explain who he is to his disciples. If we refuse to do the same, we are failing to imitate the Apostle Paul in declaring the “whole council of God” (Acts 20:27).

  • Our Need for the Church is Often the Highest When Life is Good.

    Our Need for the Church is Often the Highest When Life is Good.

    I have been working on staff at a church for over 15 years. In those years, at least once a week, I take prayer requests at youth meetings, Sunday school, Bible study, etc. For the most part, the lists consist of prayers of supplication. In other words, 90% of the prayers are asking God for something, healing, jobs, travel mercies, etc. And these are all good things to bring before the Lord. In fact, I would be highly concerned if we weren’t bringing our supplications to him. After all, we are told to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:5). Approaching the Lord with our needs is good.

    That being said, I’d like to consider the other 10%: prayers of thanksgiving. Very often, when I ask for praises, the room is silent. I never receive texts from people asking me to join them in thanking God that they traveled safely to the beach and back. For some reason, we often struggle to list the ways God has provided for us, but excel in bringing our requests. I believe there are two reasons for this: (1) we fail to see God’s goodness amid plenty, and (2) we begin to believe we are the ones providing for our needs.

    It would behoove us to recognize that this failure to express gratitude isn’t unique to the modern church–Israel was infamous for this. For example, in Judges 2:10, we read:
    “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done with Israel.”
    “All that generation” was referring to the generation of Joshua. If you remember, “that generation” was the one that passed through the Jordan on dry land, watched Jericho fall, defeated giants, and benefited from the sun standing still. But somehow, “another generation,” the next one, did not remember the goodness of Yahweh and turned from him to worship pagan gods.

    The chapters that follow Judges 2:10 narrate a familiar cycle in which Israel forgets Yahweh, turns to pagan gods, is sold into their enemies by Yahweh, and cries out for deliverance. The Lord, in his great mercy, then sends a deliverer (a judge) and restores peace in Israel. Rinse and repeat. So, in summary, Israel forgets their need for Yahweh when life is good. When life turns against them, they cry out for deliverance.

    Now, back to the modern church. When life is difficult, we attend church more, pray harder, put K-LOVE on the radio, and read our Bibles. We do the things that honor God because we recognize that we need Him. However, when life is good–our marriage is healthy, the children are excelling in school, and finances are secure–church becomes less important, prayer is less consistent, country music returns to the radio, and our daily Bible reading plans begins to pile up. We have more difficulty remembering the uniqueness of God’s goodness because goodness is all around us.

    This is exactly what Satan desires: a people who have forgotten or cannot be bothered to recognize God’s goodness. Goodness in life tempts complacency in sanctification. Friends, our need for the church is often the highest when life is good.

  • I Don’t Believe In Coincidences

    I Don’t Believe In Coincidences

    One of the books on my current reading list is “Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt” by J.H. Breasted. It is important to note that Breasted is agnostic, at best.

    While providing a brief trace of the history of religion in Egypt, he writes, “In this process of popularization, the last great development in Egyptian religion took place 1300-1100 B.C.”

    Why That’s Interesting
    Now, if you are familiar with the historical dating of the Exodus, you might recall that many, maybe most, scholars believe the Exodus to have happened around 1250 B.C.

    I follow the thinking of Dr. Currid, that the plagues in Egypt were theologically polemical attacks against the gods of Egypt. For example, Heqet–a human body with the head of a frog–was a goddess of fertility. When Yahweh sent the plague of frogs, he directly attacked Heqet. Instead of their frog-goddess of fertility saving them, the Egyptians watched the frogs die, be collected into piles, and stink as they decayed. This is what Yahweh does to the gods of Egypt.

    Another example and perhaps the most powerful: Pharoah. Pharaoh was seen as a god himself who was in charge of the sun. So the 9th plague, that of darkness in all the land (except over the Hebrews!), was to show the people that their Pharaoh, their great god of the sun, was powerless before Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews.

    What’s the “Coincidence”
    Is it a coincidence that an agnostic historian would recognize that “the last great development in Egyptian religion took place 1300-1100 B.C.,” which is, interestingly enough, the exact parameters in which the Exodus occurred (circa 1250 B.C.)? In other words, is it a coincidence that God displayed his might and exposed the false gods of Egypt in such a way that it essentially ended the further development of their religion?

    I think not. I don’t believe in coincidences.

  • “Judas Ate Too”

    “Judas Ate Too”

    Each year, something that inevitably makes its way around the social media world is the phrase, “Jesus knew, but Judas ate too.” It’s a reflection of the reality that Jesus, knowing the role that Judas was about to play in his death, still washed his feet and fed him in the Last Supper. The power of Jesus’ actions demonstrates the love that we should have even for those who will seek to harm us. On the surface, this is a beautiful example of how one can and should love their neighbor. And there is most definitely merit to this application. Unfortunately, this phrase is often not applied fully or faithfully and, as such, is used to support an errant theological perspective. So, let’s take a closer look at the context surrounding this phrase:


    1. First, we must remember that Judas was still an outward disciple of Jesus.
    This is an important distinction that few who love this phrase acknowledge. Up til now, Judas has not followed through with anything beyond agreeing to betray Jesus. By the institution of the Lord’s Supper, what Judas had done was accept the arrangement in secret, but the actual betrayal was not until after the Last Supper. This means that Judas still identified as a member of the visible church and as a disciple of Christ. Thus, Jesus would treat Judas as he did all of his disciples that evening: He would wash their feet and serve them the Passover meal.


    2. Second, this has ramifications for how many people interpret the Lord’s Supper. For example, I’ve often heard it argued that the communion table should be an open table—meaning that both Christians and non-Christians can partake—because “Judas ate too.” In other words, Jesus fed his enemy, so why should we withhold communion from non or unrepentant Christians? While that is a nice sentiment, there is a significant problem: Paul.
    In 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Paul writes,
    27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
    The question then becomes, “what is an unworthy manner?” Well, I would argue it is with unrepentant sin one’s heart. This means that neither an unrepentant Christian nor a non-Christian should partake of the table or, like Judas, they will end up drinking condemnation upon their own head. What Judas did before Jesus at the Supper was not mercy but wrath. So, yes, Judas ate too, but Judas also ate unto wrath and judgment.


    3. Third, one may ask, what’s the difference between Judas and Peter? Didn’t Peter eat and reject Jesus, too? The difference is Jesus.
    31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
    The difference is that Jesus interceded for Peter. Jesus prayed that Peter would return and that he would be a point of strength for the other disciples upon his repentance. Judas does not receive any such recorded prayer.

    Conclusion:
    So, what do we do with the phrase “Judas ate too?” Well, I suggest five things:
    1. We do not use it to accept or condone sin.
    2. We do not use it to open the communion table to non-Christians or unrepentant Christians. Judas drank unto his own condemnation. We should not be a party to encouraging sin.
    3. We remember that all who claim to be for Christ are not of Christ. Therefore, the visible church does not necessarily reflect the invisible church.
    4. We love our enemies and freely offer them the Gospel.
    5. We don’t let catchy phrases dictate our theology.

  • SCADS

    SCADS

    SCADs may be an unfamiliar term. That is because I believe I coined it myself, although I am sure there is an obscure definition for it somewhere. For our purposes, it stands for: Seasonal Church Attendance Disorder. Even though you have never heard the term, I would wager that you know precisely what it means.

    The Problem:

    According to recent Barna research, the percentage of “practicing Christians” has dwindled by 50% since 2000. Barna defines “practicing Christians” as:

    “Those who identify as Christian, agree strongly that faith is very important in their lives and have attended church within the past month.”

    In 20 years, half of these “practicing Christians” have vanished. Why? According to Barna, part of the explanation for this decline is something that many would deem to be moderately harmless:

    “Where did these practicing Christians go? The data indicate that their shift was evenly split. Half of them fell away from consistent faith engagement, essentially becoming non-practicing Christians, while the other half moved into the non-Christian segment.”

    From January of 2000 to March 4, 2020, 25% of “practicing Christians” are no longer such because they “fell away from consistent faith engagement.” In other words, they ceased attending church.

    The other 25% turned to non-Christian systems (other religions, atheism). I believe that these two avenues are connected, not isolated. Regardless, when church attendance is optional or secondary regarding other activities in life, we reach the diagnosis of SCADs: Seasonal Church Attendance Disorder.

    Before 2000, regular church attendance was typically assumed. The majority of politicians on both sides ran campaigns based on Christian values. Church was where people were on Sunday mornings, particularly in the South. As this social expectation began to diminish, so did the follow-through of actually attending.

    By the time we reach 2020, we can notice a trend of a rapidly increasing population of practicing Christians who seem to have reduced the value of faithful church attendance. Other things have taken pre-eminence, whether it be sports, leisure, or profession. If you frequently fall into this category, then you may be diagnosed with SCADs.

    The Danger of SCADs:

    SCADs primarily threatens the church and its members in three ways.

    1. The myth of self-sufficiency.

    As seen in the Barna study, half of those who fall away from the faith do so because they disconnect from the church. This should come as no surprise considering that man’s heart is dishonest and inclined to lean on its own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). The author of Hebrews, fully aware of this natural disposition, writes:

    “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25).

    1. The myth of a merely individual impact.

    SCADs trains our children to view church as opportunity-based. In other words, they grow up in a practicing Christian home that relegates the collective worship of God to that of a lower priority than other opportunities. Our children learn to keep the Sabbath holy by observing how we observe the Sabbath. Remembering the Sabbath Day is more extensive than an individual concern.

    12 “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God” (Deut. 5:12-14).

    1. The myth of being dependent on God.

    Worshipping God in the community of the saints is a critical ingredient of spiritual health. SCADs significantly impairs spiritual health by building a wall between daily living and dependence on God. If you only attend church for special services or when your family is coping with a tragedy, you may be subconsciously utilizing church and God as situational necessities. Thus, you may only attend church when it’s convenient or when you need God to help you through life’s storms. Either way, be wary of believing in the myth of being dependent on God in your daily walk while neglecting worship with the body of Christ.

    Tips for Treating SCADs:

    1. Make church a priority.

    It will not always be easy. I am very aware of the pandemic and for some, that it makes this more difficult or even impossible. Parents must consider the safety of their families. However, this Barna data was collected BEFORE the pandemic. If it was a significant problem before, do you think the past two years of habits will bolster attendance or add to the declining trend?

    1. Find a church to visit while on the road.

    Whether it is a sports tournament or vacation, “google” a good church and visit. I remember attending random churches on family vacations while growing up. Some were great, and some were not. However, it impressed in me the importance of corporate worship.

    1. If physical church attendance isn’t possible, make virtual church attendance a family event.

    Turn off phones, put away breakfast, change out of PJ’s, and sit as a family through the whole service. Set this time apart from other screen-centered activities.

    Conclusion:

    Cyprian, who died in 258 AD, wrote, “No one can have God for his Father, who does not have the Church for his mother.” I look forward to seeing you at church on Sunday!

  • Sweaty Toddlers are Cute—Sweaty Teens Need a Shower.

    Sweaty Toddlers are Cute—Sweaty Teens Need a Shower.

    Sometimes I read a news headline and ask myself, “How in the world did we ever get to this point?” I’m sure I’m not the only one. Unfortunately, that’s a question that sad and distraught parents often ask me regarding their rebelling teenagers—“how did we get to this point?” The answer to both questions is often, but not always, the same: we allowed “cute” sins to grow into ugly monsters. To illustrate this in a somewhat “icky” way: Sweaty toddlers are cute—sweaty teens need a shower.

    Sweaty Toddlers

    When our kids are young, sin is relatively easy to identify. If a toddler sneaks chocolate, it’s on his mouth. If a 1st grader lies, it’s usually a poor one. When sternly confronted with their disobedience, children often melt. You can put your child in the bath. You can put them in time out. So, if we aren’t careful, we can often underestimate the danger of disrespect and disobedience in our young children as their sin hides behind their cuteness and our ability to control their actions.

    Sweaty Teens

    However, that underestimation wears off pretty quick. Lies by teenagers are more difficult to decipher. Teens are sneakier. Teens push against correction and might even back you down. You might even begin asking if it’s too late to correct the issue at this point. It’s not hard to see that sin becomes uglier the longer it ages.

    Here’s the Rub:

    What sin “does” in our children it also “does” in our society. At first it’s readily identifiable; easier to back down. Often, societal sin is laughed at or seen as non-threatening—in other words, in its infancy, societal sin is consistently and dangerously underestimated.

    But then societal sin ages. It’s now sneakier than before. It’s defended in the public sphere. It might even back YOU down. “How in the world did we ever get to this point?” You might now wonder if it’s even worth fighting against anymore—is it too late to correct the societal sins?

    The answer is “maybe.” But the answer doesn’t actually have much bearing on us. Whether it’s too late or not doesn’t effect our actions. Consider Jeremiah the prophet. He would prophecy and warn Israel of their upcoming doom. He would call them to repentance—but repentance would not come. And so, Jeremiah would suffer exile along with the rest of Israel. In other words, it was too late, but that didn’t alter or out-date the duties of those who follow God’s commands.

    The little battles against little sins matter in our children. The little battles against little sins matter in our society. Sin ALWAYS gets uglier as it ages. Maybe it’s too late. Maybe it isn’t. We aren’t privy to that information. However, we do know that we are to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good (Rom. 12:9).

    Church, we must not neglect to address and instruct against the “little sins” of our children and society–our metaphorical “sweaty toddlers.” But we must also not give up on the ugly sins. We must try to make the teen take a shower. We must pray for a change of attitude and values before he becomes known as “the stinky kid.” We must abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good.

  • A Brief Plea for Sunday School

    A Brief Plea for Sunday School

    What Changed: One of the more significant shifts in evangelical Christianity in the 21st century is the priority and implementation of small groups. Let me be the first to say that small groups are necessary and powerful. They should be an element of every church’s programming, primarily because they are heavy in discipleship and application. That being said, I think the focus on small groups has had an unintended negative consequence on the church. I believe this shift to be a significant player in the decline of biblical literacy and the overall deterioration of orthodox faith in America. A major reason is that small groups have been chosen to replace Sunday School. Warning: I am about to argue something that is not very popular today.

    That’s enough of a preamble, so here it is: We must keep and prioritize Sunday School. Here’s why: Sunday school has traditionally been the primary hour focused on biblical knowledge growth in the weekly church calendar. But, as Sunday School is slowly replaced with small groups, this vital element of the Christian “faith-diet” has been phased out. The hour of biblical knowledge growth isn’t being replaced with something equal. Instead, Sunday school is being substituted with small groups. And as noted above, small groups are wonderful, but ask the question: is a small group focused on increasing biblical knowledge or does it emphasize application, community, fellowship, and discipleship? Research shows that the primary goal of small groups for most churches is not growth in biblical knowledge.*

    Don’t get me wrong: what small groups offer is desperately needed. However, we shouldn’t offer application, community, and fellowship while sacrificing the pursuit of growth in biblical knowledge. We are to meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night (Ps 1:2). The Word of the Lord provides understanding to the simple (Ps 119:130). The Scriptures hold us back from sin (Ps 119:11). Peter implores, “But grow in the good will and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). You cannot be more like a Christ that you do not know.

    Thus, my simple argument for Sunday School is that the church needs it because that focused time of biblical knowledge growth is not being replicated elsewhere. Instead, we have “cut out” a structured season of biblical knowledge growth and replaced it with application, community, and fellowship. At worst, the result can be a people who sincerely love a God they do not truly know. I want to clarify that I’m not suggesting people without Sunday School are ignoring Scripture. Still, I am arguing that the focus of Sunday School—biblical knowledge growth–isn’t being replaced in most circumstances. Add the statistical reality that people read their Bibles less and less each year, and we can begin to see a problem.

    One last thought on the Scriptures: Reading large chunks of the Bible together and providing a time when biblical knowledge growth is the focus will teach the church about the God they worship. Application focuses on you: What are you going to do now. Biblical knowledge focuses on God: “In the beginning God.” The Bible is about God. By reading the Bible more–by growing in the knowledge of God’s Word–we learn who God truly is.

    So that being said, I want to ask this: Do you participate in Sunday School? If not, why? Can you identify somewhere else in your week that you enjoy an equal amount of dedicated biblical knowledge growth?

    Friends, you cannot hide the Word of the Lord in your heart if you do not know it, to begin with.

    *https://orangekidmin.com/changing-from-sunday-school-to-church-small-groups/

  • Reclaim Gravitas

    Reclaim Gravitas

    Gravitas isn’t a word often used in today’s vocabulary, which truly is a shame. The word carries, well, a sense of gravity—a weightiness and heaviness. It is defined today as, “dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.” Gravitas brings depth and weight. More importantly, gravitas is a biblical concept.

    The Hebrew word that holds the same linguistic character as gravitas is Kabed (כָּבֵד). This word means “to be heavy; honored.” It is where we get the word “glory.” Kabed can be used to describe the weight of sin, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave” (כָּבֵד). The word is also used to describe Pharaoh’s hardening of his heart, God glorified, Jacob honored, honoring our father and mother, and the glory of the LORD. Kabed is a very expressive and versatile word.

    Someone who lacks gravitas is whimsical to a fault, makes everything a joke, and fails to see the weight behind life and faith. Another word for this is frivolity. Or, as Solomon wrote, everything is vanity. If you swing the pendulum to the other side you find one who holds a false gravitas, that is, a harsh, joyless demeanor which condescends to anyone who doesn’t behave the same. The first cannot see the danger in sin, the other is unable to see the damage of legalism.

    Today’s men struggle with striking a balance between frivolity and harshness, and as a result, often fall into frivolity. This can be easily proven. Turn on any sit-com and describe the father. Most often he is, well, a “dud” to put it mildly. This is especially true in children’s cartoons and movies. There is a warning here: the things we laugh with will become the things we love. The world loves men who lack gravitas. But, the church needs men who have gravitas, because the Word has gravitas; because God’s image-bearers are to be like their heavenly Father, who demands gravitas:

    “Remove your sandals, for the ground on which you stand is holy ground” ( Ex. 3:5). “Let the LORD be glorified” (Is. 66:5).
    “Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD” (Hag. 1:8).

    Gravitas is expected.

    We need men leading their families with gravitas.
    We need Christians who understand the weight of sin (כָּבֵד) and thus treat sin with Kabed.
    The church fails to be faithful when it considers sin to be light and weightless. This is the mindset of frivolity.

    Friends, reclaim gravitas in Word, worship, and life.