mattwlane.com

Stop teaching them to be good Christians

Apr 202012

I was in the gymnasium of a Christian school recently and while it always surprises me to see Bible verses on the walls of a school, it also brought feelings of comfortableness. As in, Yes!, I fit in here with these brothers and sisters!

But alas, I started looking further and frankly I was appalled. Let me explain.

You see there were verses all over the walls of the school and then in the gym there were these huge banners with Bible verses on them. Cool right? Well, after I read one and then another and then all of them, I started getting angry.

Admittedly I’m a little sensitive to these things and so when I see versus hung up somewhere, I’m automatically suspicious of how they are being used. People who know me well will know what I mean when I say these were coffee cup verses. These are the verses that are on a plaque somewhere or they are made into test-a-mints or yes, put on coffee cups. Verses that are almost always taken out of context, misused and abused.

So the verses I saw up on the wall were all of the same theme. The verses on the walls in the hallway were in that same theme bucket too.

What’s so terrible about Bible verses being displayed all over? Didn’t God command the nation of Israel to have God’s law all around them in Deut 6:8-9 and specifically on their hands and foreheads?

Okay so I’ll concede some points here. We write a verse on the back stops of our stairs and change it depending on what we are memorizing during dinner. And I completely agree that we are to meditate on the law of the LORD day and night.

Then what’s my beef? Well the theme of these verses I saw was very man-centered. All about being a good Christian. Verses like Col 3:8-9, Phil 4:8&13, Matt 6:19-21, Eph 4:29, 31-32, etc.

At this point you might be thinking that those are great verses and having kids read and memorize them is great. And I would actually agree with you. BUT…

If the primary message kids get from the Bible is how to be a good Christian, the main message of the Bible has been missed. If kids are consistently taught mostly moral messages from scripture, their theology of who God is will be very weak. And I will go out on a limb and say that if most of the verses kids know are all about how to be a better person, then what separates that message from any other religion or new age teaching? And yes, I firmly believe that it is a quick and almost unnoticeable step from teaching how to be a good Christian to just teaching how to be a good moral person. Knowing how to be a good moral person does not add to the foundation of salvation. Such knowledge does not give motivation to be holy or to love God with all your heart mind and soul. It does not teach you to love and savor Christ. It does not teach you about God’s justice. It does not teach you about God’s wrath. It does not teach you about Jesus unique nature. It does not teach you (much) about God’s love. It does not teach you about God’s sovereignty. It does not teach you about God’s goodness. It doesn’t teach much at all about who God is and why Jesus should reign in our lives.

In other words, focusing how to be a good moral person might just teach how to rely on yourself not God and it might just reinforce getting a ticket to heaven like this:

So as I looked around the gym, it hit me that focusing and pushing with unmatched intensity on how to be a good moral person is really the foundation of moralistic therapeutic deism not Christianity. (Read more on mtd here).

And if that is how we are raising up this generation of “Christian” kids, I’m scared for them. And their future.

Change Through the Window

Poetry No Responses »

Feb 182012

It passes entirely through the Window.

Week after week I watch it travel

Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes not.

The irony doesn’t escape me

Change through the Window

A still frame but undeniable change.

Barren, white lined, full, color

Change through the Window.

The measurement of me.

A slice of the whole.

Change through the Window.

Weeks turn into months

Months turn into years.

The sequence repeats

Always driving, always moving

I marvel at the reliability.

Change through the Window

It’s mesmerizing, captivating

My gaze is fixed

For a moment a glimpse

A minute of time

I break away.

But next week I’ll look again at the

Change through the Window.

Eating for Energy

Christian Living, Exercise 2 Responses »

Jan 152012

Society funnels you to fattness. Do you hear that large sucking noise? It’s sucking you into buying cheap garbage that they spend millions to get you to buy. But in the end most of the crap is just that. Crap. And makes you feel the same.

Fast food places don’t want you healthy. Grociery stores don’t want you healthy. Giant food conglomerate corporations especially don’t care if you are healthy. It’s about turning a profit. Period.

So how do you break free of the carefully erected framework that funnels you to unhealthy food? Glad you asked.

First and foremost, you need to educate yourself on what bucket your foods fit into. There are three.

1. Health energy foods

2. Unhealthy energy foods

3. Stimulant foods

Now I’m not going to go all Food Inc. on you but for sure food in its natural form is mostly healthy and good energy foods. Whole foods, unprocessed, no preservatives, etc. Again a little education goes a long, long way. Why is it that so many foods at the grocery store are processed and contain preservatives and little energy value? They last longer during shipping and storing and of course it’s much cheaper. Knowing just this little information will help you tremendously when you go to buy healthy energy food. No I’m not against all things packaged and processed. Just take the minimalist approach!

To take a step back, why “energy food”? Well all food gives you energy but only healthy energy foods actually help you long term be healthy and give you lasting energy. Sure that snickers might give you some quick pick-up but in the end its not that helpful. Yes that bowl of white pasta is going to fill your belly but just cutting back on the portion is not the best option if you are trying to stay in shape and have energy. You need true energy food.

What is true energy food? Whole grains, protein, vegetables and fruits. If it’s white, the chances are that it is energy sucking not energy giving. The saying eat what is planted not what is made in a plant is true. The less processed the better. Organic is great but don’t break your budget. Higher protein, higher fiber. Higher whole grains. Less sugar, less fat. More greens and fruits.Yes this means you’ll have to read the ingredient labels.

Now I don’t advocate the crazy “clean” eating as some might. I’m not against it but I don’t want to spend my valuable energy (and limited budget) to get that extra 10% or so of value. There are plenty of healthy options in the store, you just have to choose them. Grow as much as you can, use organic and natural ingredients. But don’t tire yourself out and cause yourself stress over it. It’s just not the most important thing in life. Like exercise, do things that are sustainable.

Remember these rules:

protein+fiber+whole grains+Less sugar+less fat+More greens and fruits= High Energy

white breads+white pasta+processed snack foods+high sugar drinks=Low Energy

The whole point of eating is for energy. If you eat for any other reason you could be eating for the wrong reason. The point of eating is so that I have energy to do the things that I love and want to do. I don’t live to eat. Sure some foods I really do find pleasure in eating and there is nothing wrong with that. I don’t leave out ice cream and fries completely and for sure include some white breads though all in small quantities. In the end, I don’t want to be known for eating. I want to be known for what I’ve done with the energy that the food has given me.

And I think, that’s just the way God intended it.

You’ve decided for Jesus but do you treasure him?

Christian Living, Faith No Responses »

Dec 312011

There is no easy believism.

There is no say some magic words and you get God. You don’t walk down and aisle. You don’t raise your hand or stand up. These are all fire insurance solutions at best. False assurance at worst.

Yes we need to decide to love Jesus. And maybe you have decided. But it doesn’t stop there. If all you have done is decide you are for Jesus you might be missing the entire point.

Deciding and not treasuring has led many people to attempt to get their “get out of hell card” and then live a life that is pleasing only to themselves. They might have decided for Jesus at some point but they have never treasured Jesus. And deciding but not treasuring is like deciding to get married but then taking a European vacation for the next 5 years. The wedding never happens although you really did decide to get married. Only deciding for marriage and not treasuring marriage means you didn’t show up at the wedding or later are refusing to work at the marriage. Deciding is merely the first step in the marriage direction. Conversely treasuring marriage is life changing. Treasuring marriage means you live life very differently.

Treasuring Jesus is life changing too. And it most definitely means you live life differently.

So on the last night of 2011, do you treasure Jesus or have you only decided for him?

If they repent with all their mind and with all their heart

Bible Reading, Christian Living No Responses »

Dec 042011

Heart and mind. For some reason I normally think of heart and mind as New Testament terminology. I guess it seems to me that the two are connected in the New but not as much in the Old? Not sure I guess. The weird connections in my brain may not be in anyone else’s for sure. So given my New but not Old thinking, I was surprised to find this passage in I Kings chapter 8. It made me stop and take a second reading. Several in fact.

This little phrase is nestled in Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the newly built temple. He prays quite eloquently and again to my surprise, gets many things right in his prayer like this phrase in verse 46: “for there is no one who does not sin” I read that and said why yes that is right! Preach it Solomon! But then I came to the part where he says “if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart“. Whoa. That phrase almost startled me. Seriously. I read it over and over and then re-read the context. The phrase is not new nor all that remarkable in and of itself. But having recently read through most of the Bible, it struck me as significant for the Old Testament. Someone more learned than me can correct me but it seemed to me the first time the mind and heart and repenting were connected.

The OT is filled with repenting and praying. From Noah to Nehemiah, praying and repenting is all over. Oh, and killing things. Pray, repent, kill things. That’s the OT formula. Or at least the one in my mind. So again that’s why Solomon’s words of repenting with all their mind and with all their heart struck me so much out of the ordinary.

So this all got me thinking more about hearts and minds and specifically thinking about David and his son Solomon. I Kings actually gives some weight to this thinking:

3:9 – Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
11:4 – For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
11:9 – And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
15:3-5 – And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
(These verses are not talking about Solomon)

So back to repenting with your mind and heart. Solomon knew about his father David finishing well. He even knew to petition God that if his people sinned but then repented that God would take them back. Solomon knew all of this. He asked God for understanding and was so wise that people far and wide knew of him. But it wasn’t Solomon’s lack of knowledge that brought him down. It was his wicked heart. He knew to repent with his mind and heart yet did not. I’m guessing he knew with his mind all along that was he was doing was wicked. But he didn’t repent.

There are about a dozen lessons in all of this. From the deceiving nature of my heart and mind, to my lack of repentance, my responsibilities as a father, the awesomeness of God’s restoration to what kind of legacy am I leaving, all weigh heavily on…you guessed it, my mind and heart.