Dec 01, 2023 |
WLSU, Childish Things
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
WLSU, Childish Things
A couple weeks ago I spoke/wrote about growing up, about maturing. And now we’re talking about playing Nintendo. But I’ve been thinking about the things that shaped us in our youth, about what we did with them as we grew up. In one of Paul’s letters to a church he (somewhat passive aggressively) tells them that when he was a child he did childish things, but when he grew up it was time to put childish things away. What did you put away when you grew up? What did you let go of?
Some people put away Christianity when they grow up. And I can’t say I blame them much of the time. I do not believe God is a fairy tale. I do believe much of the way we have experienced Christianity is childish. As a teacher of mine used to say, the church in America is structured for spiritual infancy. What he meant was that Christianity as we know it is often does not push us to grow. And when we do grow, our churches don’t know how to grow with us. So we abandon Christianity. Or, what’s worse, we hold onto a version of Christianity that doesn’t grow and mature even as we do.
I am fully capable of spiritual immaturity.
Some people put away Christianity when they grow up. And I can’t say I blame them much of the time. I do not believe God is a fairy tale. I do believe much of the way we have experienced Christianity is childish. As a teacher of mine used to say, the church in America is structured for spiritual infancy. What he meant was that Christianity as we know it is often does not push us to grow. And when we do grow, our churches don’t know how to grow with us. So we abandon Christianity. Or, what’s worse, we hold onto a version of Christianity that doesn’t grow and mature even as we do.
I am fully capable of spiritual immaturity.
