Bad Theology: Jesus Take the Wheel

It was a real treat to get a little extra time on today's lesson. I wanted a chance for you to be able to dig into the reformed confessions in small groups so that you could work with them a little. I'm not sure, though, if that's really what happened. I didn't see and hear the confessions being useful to groups with answering the question, "Does Jesus want the wheel of my life?". Was it because there was too much to digest? Four pages is a lot of material. Please let me know what your thinking is on this.

I was impressed by how willing people were to challenge traditional thinking. (I bet this is another work of grace among us.) I mean, everyone knows that God wants control of our lives, right? And here we were walking around that assumption and seeing if it's Scriptural. I think challenging assumptions is important, too, especially if traditional thinking makes sense, but isn't actually Scriptural. Picture the woman in "Jesus Take the Wheel." How is she going to feel if she keeps waiting for Jesus to take over and he doesn't? If Jesus-takes-the-wheel theology is wrong, then she's set up for disillusionment because she believes true surrender means that Jesus tells her what to say and think and do, but as she tries to walk that belief out, she will continue to face situations where she's not sure what to do, where she has to struggle and think, and where she keeps having to choose. That sounds like my life, and all the choices make me wiser as year adds to year. it surely would be nice at times, though, to have someone who would take the wheel of my life. Sometimes, I get really tired of all of this responsiblity.

Bad Theolgy: Dan Brown's Goddess

I hope today went well for you. The lesson seemed a little disconnected to me, but maybe that's mainly my desire to put a bow nicely on things. I think I saw a lot of people making connections, but I always struggle with the need for more time to really dig in deeply.

I was glad to hear from many of you that you felt overwhelmed by Q. 105 from the Westminster Larger Catechism (for a link, click either the tile of this post or the word "Link" below). I do too! There's a lifetime of repentance there for all of us, I guess. Do you think we could use these kinds of statements from the catechisms devotionally, either by ourselves or with our families or with people we're discipling?

I don't feel like I tie down the lessons with Scripture enough. I'm in the process of learning to teach from the catechims and confessions, and I feel good about that because you're not hearing my thoughts as much as you're hearing trusted interpretation of Scripture. Still, though, we need to get Scripture into our dialog. God's Word is alive and double-edged, not the reformed confessions. Please remind me of this during class when we're too confession-heavy. Even just reading aloud Scripture as we discuss would be profitable.

Reformed Confessions On-Line

Click the title of this post or the word "Link" below to go to a webpage I've written to give you quick access to the reformed confessions and catechisms.

Bad Theology: Martina's Gospel

I enjoyed this lesson. Teaching in the combined CHEERS/Great Expectations was interesting because of all of the faces who were new to me. I wasn't sure how comfortable everyone was with my style of teaching, though.

One of the biggest things I enjoy about teaching Sunday School is how much I learn during a lesson. That may sound a little strange--teachers isn't supposed to learn, right? When the discussion gets going and different people start putting in their ideas, I always learn something. This lesson helped me clarify my understanding of vengeance, especially how hard it is for us not to at least want vengeance. I guess I realized most that vengeance can be a holy desire because God will one day pour out his vengeance on sin. The hard thing for us now, though, is how God calls us to wait for that time and trust that he is in full control even now. My simplistic idea about vengeance got deepened during the lesson.

What surprised me was how many people were moved by this lesson! I thought it was just going to be a good chance to kick around some ideas: Play "Independence Day," ask a few good questions, and ride herd on the discussion. I was surprised by the tears and anger in the room. What's going on here? Is it that some of our brothers and sisters are oppressed under the weight of sin, but we go on as if everything's fine? What would our Christian community look like if we brought out into the open more how we are suffering due to other's sin? Please post your thoughts on this. I'd like to learn some more from what your thinking and feeling.