George and I were talking about scripture tonight . How does the Body respond when two well-educated adults take the same passage, disagree, (both dismissing the obvious) supporting their conflicting positions with all kinds of scholarly stuff... (We weren't talking about anyone at Artisan by the way. It was something he read.) What does that do to the way we "common folk" perceive the scriptures?
What could happen if a whole generation experienced the Word without anyone ever telling them what it's supposed to mean (in ways similar to YCIW)? I'm talking about a whole generation growing up letting the stories of God (ie God's Word) speak to them and explain themselves, without someone else explaining them - adults and children hearing and pondering the Word together, being taught by that Word, learning together, finding out more about language and history and culture together? Far out, I know, but stay with me here .
Some are scholars, some aren't and there's a place for that but where do you, as an adult, encounter God? How do you interact with the Living Word? Imagine what God can show and tell eyes and ears so tuned to Him when they still believe that God is God and His Word is true. I'm thinking that giving children time, space, quiet, opportunity to play with God's stories, ponder them, retell them is a crucial element as we include children in worship. (maybe they do this during worship, maybe at home) What a child does with this story tells us a little of what they understand.
Letting the stories of God be their focus and ours in worship puts the emphasis back on listening and hearing the Word and interacting with God through the Word. Hearing the stories of God isn't age specific if you stick to the story (the G-rated, PG-13 stories, of course) . But I think it would change all of us and have a serious affect on upcoming generations. (We talked earlier about wanting our children to have a sense of ownership at church.) "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. . ."(Romans 10:17) could take on a whole new dimension when it crosses generations.
I sent the guys an email about the Worship Service. Don't know if I posted it. I'll go back and look... I'm still trying to take what people are saying about kids in worship, wondering if we brought that element into community worship what would it look like?
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I believe that empowering kids to study on their own is very, very important. I love to hear when kids have been reading their Bibles at home with their parents or on their own. I love it when they come with questions or get really excited about different passages. These are good things.
ReplyDeleteLet the kids listen to the stories and allow God's Word to breath over them.