Theology Thursday: Buffet 2

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

It's a Theology Thursday Buffet! 
Welcome to the second Theology Thursday Buffet! Occasionally, I’ll switch from addressing one topic in long form and instead answer several reader-submitted questions in shorter form.

If you have a topic you’d like to see included in a future Theology Thursday, please respond to this email (or any future Theology Thursday email) with your question! And don’t hesitate to ask, because if you’re curious about something, it likely means somebody else is too.

Let’s grab our plate and dive in.

What does it mean when we pray “in Jesus’ name”?
A while back, someone asked me why I don’t always say “in Jesus’ name” or “in the name of Jesus” after I pray publicly during worship service. I thought about it and realized…I didn’t know. Sometimes I included it, sometimes I didn’t, but I wasn’t sure why.

As it turns out, to pray “in Jesus’ name” has its origins in Christ’s words from John’s Gospel, when Jesus said:

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:13-14).

Now, this can be misunderstood, as if Jesus is pitching himself as some kind of supernatural vending machine where we can just get whatever we want if we say the magic words.

Rather, I think there are two main things going on here:

When Jesus says we can ask for anything in his name, he means that when our prayers (and, thus, our desires) align with God’s, we can expect to see them come to fruition because in our sanctification (holiness) journey, we know him and are becoming more like him. This is basically an encouragement that we should be crafting our lives and prayers after God, rather than hoping that if we ask hard enough God will simply give us what we want whether it ultimately serves us or his Kingdom or not.

If we pray for a huge raise at work or our favorite politician to win, we cannot count on God to say yes. But if we pray for the things that clearly align with his character and plan - justice, healing, faithfulness, “Thy Kingdom come” - we can count on God to make them happen; maybe in our lifetime, maybe not, but certainly he will in the fullness of time.

Perhaps more importantly, to pray “in the name of Jesus” means that when we pray, we have the same access to God that Jesus does. New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado says “To pray in Jesus’ name…means that we enter into Jesus’ status in God’s favor, and invoke Jesus’ standing with God.” And we can do that because Jesus gave us permission right there in that passage from John. This is related to Jesus’ role as mediator between God the Father and humans. For more on that, read the book of Hebrews!  

When Christians come before God in prayer, we come “in Jesus’ name.” We invoke his status as the Son of God, which means we likewise come not as beggars off the street, but as an adopted royal son or daughter of the Father.

Now, that doesn’t mean the literal words “in Jesus’ name” must be added as something like a tagline at the end of every prayer. It does mean that the posture of our hearts when we pray should be as seekers of God’s will and ultimately God’s kingdom in our world, our church, and our own individual lives.

Is it ok to miss church for kids’ sports?
“More is caught than taught.” Have you ever heard that phrase before? I think there’s a lot of truth to it, especially when it comes to raising kids. Our kids notice and learn from our actions more than our words, and over time they pick up on what we believe to be important based on how we spend our family’s time, money, and mental and emotional resources.

If what I just said is generally true, then that raises the question: what does it communicate to our kids if we regularly miss church for sports and other activities? What does that say about our priorities and what we must believe is most important in life?

A weekend tournament once or twice a year - or a family vacation for that matter - that takes your family away from church isn’t the end of the world, but if missing church in favor of other things is the normal rhythm of things, the consistent message you’re giving your kids is that sports (or whatever else) matters more than their faith, matters more than their relationship with Jesus, and thus matters more than their salvation. And make no mistake - they will notice.

When they are 18 or 23 and their athletics careers are over and it’s time for them to figure out what’s going to be most important to them, will this choice have been worth it?

I’m not trying to be dramatic, but the stakes are high here. The fact is that the souls of the next generation hang on how seriously their parents take their faith. This isn’t just my opinion. There’s lots of data that shows, as in this review of the book Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion to the Next Generation from Christianity Today for example, that:

“Parents set a “glass ceiling” of religious commitment above which their children rarely rise…Parents define for their children the role that religious faith and practice ought to play in life, whether important or not, which most children roughly adopt.”

I love sports, and grew up playing basketball and baseball basically all-year round. It was a huge and wonderful part of my life. And now that I’m an adult, I’m so thankful that my parents made it clear that church was the priority and that we rarely missed worship for games.

At the time, it was sometimes hard to know my team was out doing something I loved without me, but I now recognize that while sports and activities are fun and formative and teach all kinds of good, character-building skills, that education and those memories pale in comparison to being told - and being shown by example - that time with Jesus and his people mattered most.

What are your kids learning from you about what’s most important?

I want to get into reading the Bible…where should I start?
Let’s be honest, the Bible can be an intimidating book. The Bible doesn’t look or read like modern books do, and especially for pre-believers or Christians who haven’t spent much time reading scripture, the idea of picking up a big, thick Bible filled with thousands of pages of small print and bunch of unfamiliar words and complex history is an understandable obstacle.  

At the same time, the Bible is the book of the Christian faith, and for those who desire to know God, it can’t be ignored or neglected just because it seems daunting. Reading Scripture is the primary way God communicates with us and reveals his character, his will, and his plan for the world. It’s also the primary way we learn who we are and how we can participate in that plan.  

So, a desire to start reading the Bible is a great thing. Here are some tips:

First, I want to encourage you to think of it as studying the Bible, not just reading it. Even the passages that seem clear and obvious have more going on than meets the eye at first glance. We do ourselves, our church, and our God a disservice when we take only a shallow or cursory approach to reading the Scripture as if it’s any other book.

While you read, try and identify recurring themes, write down your questions when things don’t make immediate sense or when something rubs you the wrong way, and make sure to read the footnotes and commentary that’s included by the publisher (if you’re using a study Bible, which is also a good idea!).

It would also be helpful to utilize supplemental resources that follow-along with your reading. I recommend The Bible Recap, which is a great resource that includes a podcast, a summary book, and a study guide. I also recommend The Bible Project - they do great work presenting the historical, literary, and spiritual context of the text in a way that Bible readers of all levels can understand and benefit from.

Second, start small. The Bible isn’t really one book, it’s a library of 66 books, all with different but complementary purposes presenting a unified narrative of God’s redemptive activity. If you haven’t read the Bible before, don’t try and attack the whole thing all at once, and don’t try reading from Genesis 1 all the way through to Revelation 22. All Scripture is “God-breathed and useful” (2nd Timothy 3:16), but not all of it is equally relevant for understanding the central tenets of the faith, especially for pre-believers or new believers.

In terms of where to turn first, I would probably start with the Gospel of John in the New Testament, then the Gospel of Luke, then probably the first 11 chapters of Genesis in the Old Testament. After that, the Gospel of Matthew, then perhaps Romans, Hebrews, Psalm, Proverbs, and Ephesians. Once you complete those, read them again. Then you’ll be ready to get after the entire Scripture.

Third, start slow. Bible-in-a-year plans are great for the experienced Bible student, but the reality is that trying to get through the whole thing that quickly is probably much too fast if the goal is not just reading for completion but reading (studying!) for comprehension and meaningful understanding.

Try just reading five, 10, or 20 minutes a day to begin with. Or pick a New Testament-in-a-year plan and work through that. Bible study is like muscle-building, going slow and steady at first makes it easier to go big and strong long-term.

Fourth, choose a version of the Bible on the easier-to-read end of the spectrum, such as the New Living Translation or the New International Version. The more technical and language-intense versions of the Bible are valuable for experienced readers and experts, but they can scare a new reader away unnecessarily (same with the antiquated language in the King James Version).

You could even consider reading The Message, which is a version of the Bible compiled by one man, a scholar and minister named Eugene Peterson. However The Message should be really considered a paraphrase, not a translation. A nice option, but not quite the same thing and shouldn’t be your only Bible.

If you are 100% brand new to Bible reading, I actually think it’s a great idea to start with a solid children’s version like The Jesus Storybook Bible, which presents the main stories and storyline of the scriptural narrative in an appealing and accessible way for children and adults alike, and shows how every section of scripture points to its central character: Christ Jesus.  

Happy studying!

Related Resource
Check out The Bible Project’s How to Read the Bible series.

To know God and to make Him known!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.