On Saturday morning I was making crepes for breakfast while the girls were watching some TV. The show they were watching is called Spirit Rangers and it is about Native Americans keeping the land in harmony with the people and animals that live there.

I was focused on preparing breakfast but every so often I overheard some of the things that were being said. So, while I don’t know the whole context of the episode or the conversation happening I did hear something that I thought was important for both that show and its context and for us as people of faith.

I heard someone say that they were sorry for not explaining why certain animals could not participate in a particular ritual. The character that wanted to participate had simply been told over and over again that they could not be a part of it, but were never told why. My assumption is that they tried to be a part of the ritual but ended up messing things up. The character that apologized went on to say that it is important for everyone to understand their practices and the things they do. When you know what to do and what not to do then you are more understanding of why it is done the way it is done.

My mind immediately went to one of our Coffee Theology conversations we had this past Thursday. We got to talking about why children and grandchildren don’t come to church anymore as adults. I explained that there are lots of different possible reasons and these may or may not apply to their circumstances.

One possible reason people don’t go to church is because some older people come to faith from a sense of duty. This isn’t necessarily right or wrong, but what people have found out is that this sense of duty isn’t what people of faith today want. They don’t want to simply go to church because their parents did. They want to go because they have a connection, because they have been taught how loving and awesome their God is. They want to see the life of Jesus lived out in the lives of the people who follow him. Unfortunately for some (perhaps many) of those people who felt that way, they didn’t see those things happen in their faith communities.

For a long time, like in the TV show, we simply told people to come to church, but we didn’t take the time to share our faith with them, to help them develop their own faith, and to show them what it means to live out our faith the way that Jesus lived out his faith.

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. 6 These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. 7 Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol. 9 Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates. ~ Deuteronomy 6:5-9

I am overgeneralizing, but I hope you see my point. Faith is more than sitting in church and doing your duty. Faith is also more than saying you have a personal relationship with Jesus but never engaging with the world about it. We are called to walk by faith, to do good works and to share the good news of the gospel. I pray that as we continue to look at ways to light our Hearts on Fire, we can find the ways to be examples of faith to others so that they may see that what we say and what we do are one and the same when we have faith in Jesus. And we can inspire people to grow in their faith by our example.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian