To depend on the Bible more and more.

Last year my friend Eric Stapleton, a missionary in Vanuatu, blew my mind with his observations of life in another culture. He said, "By seeing the syncretisms of their culture, it revealed to me many syncretisms in my own life and culture."

syn·cre·tism  (sngkr-tzm, sn-)
n.

1. Reconciliation
   or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion,
   especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.
2. Linguistics. The merging of two or more originally different inflectional forms.

Why did God use this to hit me with a 2×4? I think… and I’m still digesting this… that there are lots of places in my private practice of following Jesus, the way I lead others to follow Jesus, and the way that church in America works that syncretize things from our culture into how I do and think about relationships with Jesus.

Rob Bell does a good job talking about this concept, but it leaves me wondering about solutions. In Velvet Elvis he talks about people always taking the interpretation of the Bible somewhere… he demonstrates how Christians have interpreted and re-interpreted "better" passages as time has gone on. He stabs those who hold to "the old way" in the hand and reminds them that the Bible is alive and not dead.

But there are boundaries to that. Bell, and lots of "emergent" leaders like to use this line of thinking to remove traditional "biblical" boundaries. They say that by drawing boundaries they are "killing the movement of God."

So… this is what I am wrestling with. If the Bible is alive and morphing in it’s interpretation to the generations (see 2 Peter 1:1-4)… how in the world do I know how to prepare myself and my students to navigate their faith through such a dramatically changing climate? How will we know what’s true and good? How will we know how far is too far?

Feel free to discuss with me on this.
– When I say "the Bible is alive" does that mean that it changes? If so, how is it that God is immutable (unchanging and unchangeable) and His Word is mutable in its interpretation
– Is looking at Scripture with a relativistic, or even "culturally situational" mindset a syncretism of what’s going on here and now… or is it something that has happened all along?
– The "fear" of the current evangelicals is that this type of thinking, this new hermeneutic (how we read and apply literature, including the Bible) is that it’s branded as a way to embrace impure lifestyles… is that true? Are these fears well-founded or merely fear-mongering by those "in control?"

It’s been a long weekend of relaxing, movies, swimming, fireworks, and wasting time. I realize this is high time in Romeo for "doing nothing" but it’s time for me to get back into my routine.

We’ve got Light Force tonight. It’s good to come together and concentrate a little here and there over the summer. I don’t think I have any adult leaders except Kristen and I (and Dave)… but it will be fine.

All of this, while not coming out that well, is me grasping at my task. My task is not now, nor has ever been, to be merely a social director or "a friend" to students. My task is to reach and disciple students in the name of Jesus Christ in this community. I’ve not been distracted from that task… it’s just sometimes hard to see through the forest of summer.