Today I taught two different lessons at Trinity Baptist Church.
At 9:45, it was the Young Adults Fight for the Faith class looked at 2 Timothy 3.
At 11:00, it was the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade children's church lesson was 1 Samuel 27 -31.
Now, the two lessons may not seem to have much in common, BUT they do.
Just read on.
One of the resources we are using in the Fight for the Faith class this quarter is the book Deconstructing the Christian Faith. Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett offer the following definition of faith deconstruction: "a postmodern process of rethinking your faith without regarding Scripture as a standard."
Today's lesson was on why people deconstruct their faith. A couple of the reasons the authors offer are suffering, doubt, and difficult passages of scripture.
Before getting into what we talked about as a response to these crisis events, let me share with you what the 1st-3rd-grade children's church passage was.
We didn't discuss the details of 1st Samuel 27-31. Here they are.
In chapter 27, David flees from Saul to the Philistines. David doesn't just find a place for a short rest among his enemies. He lived there for a year and four months. But he didn't just live there. According to 27:8 -12, David made many raids in which he would not leave a man or woman alive (v. 9) and report back to the Philistines.
In chapter 28, Saul disguises himself to see a medium about speaking to the deceased Samuel.
In chapter 29, the Philistine king, Achish, said to David, "I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. "
In chapter 30, the Amalekites took David's TWO wives
In chapter 31, the Philistines defeated Israel, and Saul died.
In summary, David and the army killed men and women. God uses a witch to summon Samuel and get a message for Saul. David, the king of Palestine, praises David, and God uses the enemies of Israel to defeat Israel.
These are hard accounts for even adults to understand. "When telling their deconstruction stories, many people reveal a deep sense of disillusionment with the darker and violent stories told in the Bible" (Childers & Barnett, 91).
In the young adults class, we looked at 2 Timothy 3. It is a great passage to study as it relates to godly and ungodly living. Verse 7 says the ungodly are "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." In my teaching, no matter the age, I don't want people to merely learn more and more information. I want people to know and live out the truth.
When telling their deconstruction stories, many people reveal a deep sense of disillusionment with the darker and violent stories told in the Bible" (Childers & Barnett, 91).
When people approach scripture from a self-centered point of view, scripture doesn't do what the self-centered reader wants it to do. Scriptures always does what it is meant to do, whether read from a self-centered view or a God-centered view. It shows us God's greatness, our sinfulness, Jesus' provision of salvation, and how to live life.
We must approach scripture with a Godward focus. Remembering there is no one like Him. He is holy. He is loving. He is judge. He is creator. He is sustainer. He is provider.
When we remember these truths, it impacts how we think about our circumstances and how we read His word.
The Gospel Primer has a great quote about The Cure for Distrust.
Every time I deliberately disobey a command of God, it is because I am in that moment doubtful as to God's true intentions in giving me that command. Does He really have my best interests at heart? Or is He withholding something from me that I would be better off having? (Genesis 3:4 - 6). Such questions, whether consciously asked or not, lie underneath every act of disobedience.
However, the gospel changes my view of God's commandments, in that it helps me to see the heart of the Person from whom those commandments come. When I begin my train of thought with the gospel, I realize that if God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son's life for me, then He must be guided by that same love when He speaks His commandments to me. Viewing God's commands and prohibitions in this light, I can see them for what they really are: friendly signposts from a heavenly Father who is seeking to love me through each directive, so that I might experience His very fullness forever (Deut. 5:29).
When controlling my thoughts as described above, the gospel cures me of my suspicion of God, thereby disposing me to walk more trustingly on the path of obedience to His commands.
Children in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade need to know and remember 2 Samuel 7:22a.
Young adults 18 - 30 years old need to know and remember 2 Samuel 7:22a.
"Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no god besides you..."
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