Somethings (Men and Women) Never Change.

I was reading through the Easter text again this Sunday in preparation for reading it to the congregation and almost burst out laughing. I had read it many times in sermon prep, etc., but this time it just struck me differently. Luke 24: 1-12 was the text. The women see the empty tomb, hear the angels' Good News, and race back to the disciples and tell them what they had experienced. Now here was the laugh-out-loud text: v. 11 "But [the men] did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (NIV).

What a perfect example of our normal relational interactions. The women are ranting about some experience, probably all talking at once in their excitement, and the men can't keep up! What are they talking about? What nonsense!

As a husband and father of 3 beautiful little girls I can relate to those poor disciples. All the girls are talking at once. I can't keep up with all the words of any one of them on a good day. I have no chance of processing it all at once. So, I begin to tune them out. "I obviously know better on this (or any other subject for that matter)," I think in my haughty male ego. What nonsense! Have you ever been there? Can you relate from which ever side of the aisle you are on?

This is what I love about the Bible, it is so painfully honest. No one trying to create this story for their glory would include these details. Yet when you stop and think about it, it has to be exactly the way it happened. It is exactly what would have happened if it were my family instead of the women and the disciples. This is the way men and women interact all the time: chaos, doubt, arrogance, too much information too poorly processed.

Here's the other part that hits a little too close to home. The women were right! The "nonsense" was a bulls-eye. (Ouch!)

So, gentlemen, then next time you are tempted to dismiss the words of the significant female in your life, stop and think about this passage. Then try a little harder to keep up with her. Because chances are she is...you know...

Systematic Thinking Is Not Dead!!!

One of the joys of our reorganization at Risen Christ has been the creative thinking of our leadership team. They come to an understanding that one of the hindrances to our people growing was the "Jeopardy Sunday Topic of the Week!" For all of the benefits of the lectionary readings, one of the main problems is that it throws up a random thought of the week about God. People are trained in our culture to think systematically. Yet when we want to teach them the most important truths in creation, we do it in random fashion. We don't learn how to fix a car, plant a garden, or budget our income randomly. Why do we learn about God this way? What a great insight from a layperson!

Worse than this, we discovered that we were sending a dozen or more messages out each Sunday that did not fit together. The church sign said one thing, the hymns were on something different, the message was a third, the Sunday School material different from any of these, and if both parents went to different classes they might have five different topics in Sunday School.

The decision was made at Risen Christ to begin to channel everything to a single topic. The church sign, the songs, the message, Sunday school, both adult and children. What an unbelievable response. I have heard from many people who love being able to talk to their kids Sunday afternoon about the topic for the day, because they learned it well enough to be comfortable discussing it! Our consecutive Sundays are beginning to move systematically through issues of God and faith and people are connecting the dots! Discipleship is happening. People are learning and applying.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Systematic thinking is not dead in the church, but people are starving for lack of it in too many churches. I would challenge you to give it a try. I think you will be amazed at the response from people who honestly didn't know what they were missing, but knew they were missing something