Can You Risk Honesty in Church?

The church teaches, in fact demands, honesty. But in many instances church is not a place for honesty. Of course, I do not speak of the whole of the Christian church, only that which I know by observation and experience. (Let the reader understand.) The church’s response to honesty can reveal it is not well-equipped to handle full-disclosure honesty. While the church requires honesty, it may show it does not know quite what to do when there is transparent honesty.

Honesty is particularly dangerous when Christians admit to two struggles – struggles with doubt and struggles with sin.

I believe in truth – transcendent, timeless, universal, propositional truth. But, I also believe in doubt as a reality of human and Christian experience. Perhaps it is because the church believes in truth and certainty that it has so much trouble dealing with doubt – sometimes ignoring it, sometimes denying its existence, seldom inviting its expression. Doubt is an ugly step-child in the church.

There are those who know little, perhaps nothing, of doubt.  For them all things are clear and certain. God is there. He is good. The Bible is God’s Word. Jesus is their Savior. They are going to heaven when they die.

In some cases I think this certainty is a gift of temperament.  In other cases I believe it is a blessed gift of grace. But I know it is not a universal bestowal of nature or of grace. I also know that when such certainty walks through the valley of the shadow of prolonged illness, devastating defeat, severe depression, or death it sometimes stumbles. For others nothing daunts such faith. For some doubt grows into strong faith. For others doubt is a constant companion.These differences are aspects of the mysteries of human existence and God’s providence.   Continue at Christian Curmudgeon

Why Lie to Your Kids about Santa?

I’m no Scrooge. I lodge no objections to celebrating Christmas or singing inane jingles, like Jingle Bells. My family understands that, pagan roots aside, the plastic conifer in our living room is not a subtle mark of our allegiance to the forces of darkness. It’s a tree (model).

We do, however, prefer singing “Hark the Herald Angel Sings” over the misdirected praise of “Oh Christmas Tree,” though I’m not even fanatic about enforcing that.

We tolerate the poetic inaccuracy of “We three kings of Orient are” because it rolls off the tongue better than “We indeterminable number of Gentile scholars of Persia are.”

But… I am nervous about the potential confusion which may cloud a 4 year old’s faith in my honesty. 

Angels on high, a pregnant virgin, God in a manger, a guiding star… are impossibilities. Yet, “all things are possible with God.” [Yes, you need to believe in the virgin birth to be a Christian] We ask our children to trust us on these claims with their lives. Then we add a fictitious, omniscient fat guy with a red-nosed reindeer to the mix. At a certain age we matter-of-factly disclose that we were just kidding about the chimney intrusion, the Elven workshop, and the works-based naughty-or-nice judgment. “Those parts are make-believe, the rest is gospel truth. Trust me, son.”

Misinformation has a way of taking root in our memories. Do you picture the stable with oxen lowing on a silent night? Were the angels actually singing? Was there a villainous inn keeper? These details are not found in Scripture.  Keep Reading >>>