It’s Time To Up Our Game…
This morning, I woke up right in time for my favorite part of the day. That first hour of the day, when the house is quiet, the sun is coming up and I can just sit and be. Today I decided that while sipping my coffee, I’d listen to a podcast I’ve been wanting to hear. The guest speaker was an outsider who had come to our church body and was a challenge to the status quo type personality. He said something that interrupted the serenity of the morning.
He observed, “That Lutherans don’t like to hear that Billy Bob Baptist in Tennessee knows more of the Bible, than a cradle Lutheran from Minnesota.” This made me stop mid-swallow. Ouch. Truth hurts.
He went on to say that, “there is a Bible literacy problem in the LCMS.” He continued by saying, “we’re not giving people the muscle memory to be able to open the book and know where the book of Daniel is. They know where Genesis, Revelation and the Psalms are, because they are pretty easy to open up, but if you ask them to go to Zechariah are they going to actually be able to find them in the physical book? That’s some examples where we have a problem with scripture. Our people are not eating it. God says eat my word. Enjoy it. It’s going to nourish you.”
I just sat there holding my coffee. I was convicted. This is so true. Not just for the average lay person, but for Pastor’s as well and for me. The truth is Billy Bob Baptist, despite his crazy interpretation, may know the stories of the Bible better than me, just by sheer time spent in the scriptures.
I did not choose this podcast to hear this message. The podcast was titled, “LCMS in Freefall?” Hard truths about Pastor’s, Pews and the Future”. And yet, the week we start our journey through The Story as a congregation, the Lord convicted me straight through the ear drum, with the words of an LCMS Lay person from Littleton CO, who called me out and now has called you out, since I am sharing this with you, as being Biblically Illiterate. I have long stopped thinking these experiences are coincidence. The Lord wanted to light a fire in us, the week we began a 32- week journey to learn our story in scripture.
It’s time to up our game. No matter where you are today… There is room for improvement. Amen???
We have been talking about meeting people where they are. The goal of this is to lead people to where they need to be. Which is with Jesus. Doesn’t it just make sense that knowing who God is, what He has done and what this means for us, would be absolutely necessary to this work? And if we want our children and grandchildren to never know a day apart from Jesus and His love, wouldn’t the obvious starting place to make this happen is to ground them in the story of God’s love and salvation for all of creation? Yes. No duh. Yes!
So as my boys say, “LET’S GOOOOOO!!!” When I went to bed last night, the idea of launching into this journey through THE STORY was a little daunting. But a well-placed coffee time nudge from the Lord, has got me all fired up. THIS MUST HAPPEN!!! It’s time to up our game. I also hope it gets you a little fired up too.
In His Grip, Pastor Guy Roberts
