A Lost Heritage

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." (Matthew 22.29)

Melodi Pflueger visited me last week and gave me a copy of the thesis she wrote to graduate with her Masters of Arts degree in Psychology. Her thesis specifically targeted the Spokane tribe, her native people, and how video technology can help them reclaim their linguistic history and therefore their cultural history. Language and culture are closely linked. Without one, you lose the other
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NBC has aired several shows in a series entitled, "Who Do You Think You Are?" Famous people are learning about their family history and some are having their long-held ideas of who they are seriously changed. Websites like ancestry.com also help people figure out what their family history is.

If forgetting can happen to indigenous peoples, individuals, and families, can't it happen to the church? If we lose Scripture and knowledge of the power of God, will we not also lose what it means to be Christian? In the quote above, Jesus was talking to people who lived religious lives. Going to synagogue or church services does not guarantee we will know Scripture or the power of God. I am often shocked at people who "grew up in the church" who don't have the foggiest notion of Scripture, of what it says, why it says it, and how it's to be used. The answer, however, is not avoiding the assembling of the church as some of you do.

There is a Hassidic tale that can apply to the future of any Christian movement that lacks a determined commitment to the authority of Scripture and their scriptural heritage. The story goes this way. "It seems that a long time ago there was a pious and learned Jewish Sage who sought spiritual strength by going to a certain place in the woods, lighting a fire, and praying. As he did these things he received strength and guidance. After the death of this Jewish Sage, his successor went to the special place in the woods but said, "The fire we can no longer light, but we can still say the prayer." He too received strength. Another generation came and the next Rabbi went into the woods and said, "The fire we no longer can light; we no longer know the prayer; we do know the place in the woods and that will have to suffice." When his successor sought strength, he decided to stay home and said, "The fire we no longer can light; we no longer know the prayer; we have forgotten the place in the woods. All we can do is tell the story of the pious Sage." There was finally only one generation left from this line of Jewish Sages. When the last Sage needed strength he would say, "The fire we no longer can light; we no longer know the prayer; we have forgotten the place in the woods. All we can do is tell the story, but we don't believe it any longer." [Walter Kaufmann, Critique of Religion and Philosophy (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1961), 284-85.]

Jesus says there are two things (at least) that keep us from theological errors that impact the "quantality" of our lives. The Scripture is a tool God uses to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness, so that His people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Jesus fought off the Devil using Scripture: Jesus wasn't just quoting it; he was quoting what he believed and knew to be true. As Paul marched into a situation the Spirit had told him would lead to his imprisonment, he told the Ephesian elders he had not hesitated to declare to them the whole counsel of God (Acts 20.27).

Another tool God uses is the retelling of His deeds in the history of His people. God created at least four events in Old Testament life designed as teachable moments for parents and children. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are supposed to be our main two teachable moments for the church, although all the actions of Jesus are God's acts. We can share with each other (and should) how God has answered our prayers or provided for us, but these things are secondary to what He has already done and told us about in Scripture. Our present experiences do not supersede "official experiences" passed on to us through the Jews, Jesus, and the Apostles, but they can complement them. Knowing the power of God, both in our past and present, helps us remember who we are, what we are, where we've been, and where we're going.

If we fail to know Scripture, then we cannot pass it on to the next generation. Each succeeding generation will grow increasingly ungodly or substitute their ideas of God for the God who reveals Himself in Scripture. What are we going to do about it?

~Shawn