Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Good Book ::
Stu has a thought provoking post that starts being about mood lighting in church, but ends up with musings about why his "youth" get turned off when he reads the Bible. Possible reasons he lists are:
I'd be interested in hearing how an attempt to destabilise this boredom with the Bible would work...
How about reading from a page of printout, from an unfamiliar text like Ecclesiastes or a complaint psalm? Turn that into a window on a life that's struggling with belief, in a world that's all wrong... Most people (especially teens) can relate to that experience!
Subvert the "authority", question God, wrestle with life - like lots of the Two-thirds Bible does, and perhaps the meaning of some well known Gospel story or Pauline preaching will come alive too, as God's answer to the charges!
PS, if you think the above is too creative and too sensible for me thank my recent reading of Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read the chapter on Ecclesiastes is particularly good... ¶ 7:18 AM
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Stu has a thought provoking post that starts being about mood lighting in church, but ends up with musings about why his "youth" get turned off when he reads the Bible. Possible reasons he lists are:
1) it's just too damn familiar to them now : they already know the passages from sunday school.Like me he suspects that it's "all of the above". So, the Bob-the-Builder in me asks, can we "fix it"?
2) the bible language is associated with boredom and hymns : it's true, but even the message translation leaves them looking round the room
3) the devil is distracting them : um...possible i suppose
4) the bible doesn't really matter to them, but the truth drawn from it does.
5) the bible represents an authority they do not respect
I'd be interested in hearing how an attempt to destabilise this boredom with the Bible would work...
How about reading from a page of printout, from an unfamiliar text like Ecclesiastes or a complaint psalm? Turn that into a window on a life that's struggling with belief, in a world that's all wrong... Most people (especially teens) can relate to that experience!
Subvert the "authority", question God, wrestle with life - like lots of the Two-thirds Bible does, and perhaps the meaning of some well known Gospel story or Pauline preaching will come alive too, as God's answer to the charges!
PS, if you think the above is too creative and too sensible for me thank my recent reading of Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read the chapter on Ecclesiastes is particularly good... ¶ 7:18 AM
[to Del.icio.us]
