A Personal Advent Challenge
I am going to undertake something of a challenge this Advent and Christmas season (Advent begins this Sunday and Christmas begins on the 24th/25th - NOT the day after Halloween). It has to do with being a follower of Christ.
With Advent almost upon us, I thought it might be interesting to take the time to really read through the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) to listen closer to the teachings of Jesus. While the Gospels aren't the oldest documents in the New Testament (Paul's letters are), they are the heart of our Christian tradition and reflect three particular interpretations of Christ.
Yet I find that as a pastor, I have taken very little time to truly study the Gospels. Not since I taught the Gospels to a college class have I really poured over them. Seminary encouraged it, but once one gets into the local church, study and reflection take a back seat - a very far back seat - to the routine of putting a sermon together, taking care of church business (which is often more busy work than business), and dealing with the wide variety of parishioner concerns that can range from the truly important to the foolishly petty.
So I want to take time to deliberately study the Gospels - not to teach, not to preach, but to study them for myself.
The idea came to me a few weeks ago, and came to a head when I worked on a study of the stories of the birth of Jesus from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. I was overwhelmed by what I found there. To be sure, part of what overwhelmed me was as I studied the Matthean text, I found myself wondering just how important the story was, or which one (the genealogy or the virgin birth story) on which I was to focus my attention.
I was stunned by the conclusion that I came to, and the ferocity with which it set hold.
I don't think I want to share that just yet, though. Sorry.
The idea of this study, though, is a bit frightening. I am certainly hesitant to undertake the project. That has to do with the fact that I already have some idea as to what I am going to encounter. It isn't going to be the Jesus that has become synonymous with more traditional, conservative Christianity. It isn't going to be the Jesus that people like some of the far right preachers and probably different from what Joel...wait. Joel doesn't really talk about Jesus anyway.
Anyway, why reluctance? What I think I will encounter is a challenge to orthodoxy, and definitely a challenge to evangelical, fundamental ideologies of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus challenges the status quo, the religious, the smug (and I can be that for sure), and those who think they have God in their back pocket. He says things that can truly trouble, and I don't think a capitalist is going to be too comfortable with what he says about money.
The challenge is unlike anything I have undertaken since seminary. The church isn't encouraging.
The church wants you to preach what they already believe, not take time to reflect on who Christ is.
But the challenge isn't for the church. It is for me. It is for me because I want to be a follower of Christ, but I don't always know what that means. Sometimes I find that I am a follower of opinions about Jesus, not Jesus directly. I also wonder if I am going to find someone I can get behind, or if I will be challenged to be a follower of Jesus.
I will let you know.
With Advent almost upon us, I thought it might be interesting to take the time to really read through the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) to listen closer to the teachings of Jesus. While the Gospels aren't the oldest documents in the New Testament (Paul's letters are), they are the heart of our Christian tradition and reflect three particular interpretations of Christ.
Yet I find that as a pastor, I have taken very little time to truly study the Gospels. Not since I taught the Gospels to a college class have I really poured over them. Seminary encouraged it, but once one gets into the local church, study and reflection take a back seat - a very far back seat - to the routine of putting a sermon together, taking care of church business (which is often more busy work than business), and dealing with the wide variety of parishioner concerns that can range from the truly important to the foolishly petty.
So I want to take time to deliberately study the Gospels - not to teach, not to preach, but to study them for myself.
The idea came to me a few weeks ago, and came to a head when I worked on a study of the stories of the birth of Jesus from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. I was overwhelmed by what I found there. To be sure, part of what overwhelmed me was as I studied the Matthean text, I found myself wondering just how important the story was, or which one (the genealogy or the virgin birth story) on which I was to focus my attention.
I was stunned by the conclusion that I came to, and the ferocity with which it set hold.
I don't think I want to share that just yet, though. Sorry.
The idea of this study, though, is a bit frightening. I am certainly hesitant to undertake the project. That has to do with the fact that I already have some idea as to what I am going to encounter. It isn't going to be the Jesus that has become synonymous with more traditional, conservative Christianity. It isn't going to be the Jesus that people like some of the far right preachers and probably different from what Joel...wait. Joel doesn't really talk about Jesus anyway.
Anyway, why reluctance? What I think I will encounter is a challenge to orthodoxy, and definitely a challenge to evangelical, fundamental ideologies of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus challenges the status quo, the religious, the smug (and I can be that for sure), and those who think they have God in their back pocket. He says things that can truly trouble, and I don't think a capitalist is going to be too comfortable with what he says about money.
The challenge is unlike anything I have undertaken since seminary. The church isn't encouraging.
The church wants you to preach what they already believe, not take time to reflect on who Christ is.
But the challenge isn't for the church. It is for me. It is for me because I want to be a follower of Christ, but I don't always know what that means. Sometimes I find that I am a follower of opinions about Jesus, not Jesus directly. I also wonder if I am going to find someone I can get behind, or if I will be challenged to be a follower of Jesus.
I will let you know.
Comments
Post a Comment