Posts
So far as I can tell, my children want reality. I am glad to give it to them. Children basically want to be like adults (I say basically b/c this attitude can be curbed by a lack of nurturing it). This is a good thing given the following and let us turn them into principles:
1. Be what they ought to be when they become adults.
2. Nurture their own practice of these skills
3. Use reality as much as possible
4. Remember that probably, your taking time with them is more important than the task itself, so let them help.
5. Encourage ALWAYS excellency and correct procedure.
6. THis applies no less to spiritual discipline, service, and worship.
1) By this I mean that practically if a mature child should know how to cook then cook and let them see it. If they should know how to hold and sing to a new born then hold the new born and sing to it letting your child see it. In other words you are being the living lesson for your children.
2) By this I mean that we should take opportunity to encourage them when they try to mimic us. If my son wants to get his tool bag and help fix the door of our house then by all means I want him to fit right in to the schedule. Find a way to make them understand and feel that their interest is both important and good.
3) THis is controversial but I give my children as much of the real thing as I can. Though Landis cannot yet drive a nail he does have a real hammer. Though he cannot finish tightening a bolt he can turn the wrench for a descent amount of time before its too tight. We let our daughter play with toy cooksets until she could play with real one without getting hurt. Now she is big enough (five yrs old) to help in the kitchen.
5) This does not mean being angry when they mess up. It means not being satisfied until they learn the right way. We praise a good effort to make up a bed but then we take the time to show them helpful tips to do it better (how to get the wrinkles out; principles of organization, etc.). Once they know how to do it with excellence, we expect it. Evangeline is to make her bed "pretty" every day.
6) Do family worship daily if possible. We don't let it pass with "Jesus Loves Me" (as helpful as that is) but we sing hardy songs and read the tough passages and we have our children pray (on their knees) and not just any prayer but for such things as is important for the kingdom (they are allowed to add whatever they'd like).
I want them to pray and think and live through a grid of reality. THis does not rob them of childhood but enriches them. It is we who turn them into little cartoons of chaos.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Family Quiet Times
Several excuses are already in your mind. If your child has a short attention span then it is up to you to train the span of their attention. Don't start with forty-five minutes but with ten one month, 20 the next, and so on. Remember, you decide what habits your children learn, not them. Remember too, you are not giving them habits that they necessarily enjoy but that are necessary for the inner-life-skills that one day they may reflect back on with joy. (No one likes having to save their money until they graduate with a fortune.)
Good habits of the home come hard. We fight against an enemy that would have us be hopeless, defeated little bands of ogres glued forever to a TV or computer screen. One habit that I am currently trying to build into my family's day is a 45 min period of quiet after which we do the normal family worship.
Quietude is a virtue. "Where words are many, sin is not absent" (Prov) and the same may be true for activity. During this time Julie and I do some kind of personal Bible study individually. I don't ask the children to do this but I ask them to not talk during this period, to stay in one place, and to do something reflective such as a puzzle, a book, a drawing, etc. As they grow mentally, I will have them do more wholistic things suited to their abilities.
What this does is nuture obedience, a habit of stillness, and a habit of reflection. Quietness is not easy even though it is good and fulfilling. So it takes committment and accountability. I have hit 20% in my attempts over the last month to show my own struggle with it but I am determined to weekly up this percentage.
Another excuse may be time. Let me suggest that you do not start with holding yourself accountable to the forty-five minute quiet time at first. Instead, set a goal to reduce over the next four weeks your schedule for that period of the day. Plan instead to do something different like watch the news. This is much more motivating for getting you to find the room to do something in a 45 min time slot. After a month, kick the TV or whatever, and replace that time slot with quiet. This is a psychological trick that helps you cope with the change.
Good habits of the home come hard. We fight against an enemy that would have us be hopeless, defeated little bands of ogres glued forever to a TV or computer screen. One habit that I am currently trying to build into my family's day is a 45 min period of quiet after which we do the normal family worship.
Quietude is a virtue. "Where words are many, sin is not absent" (Prov) and the same may be true for activity. During this time Julie and I do some kind of personal Bible study individually. I don't ask the children to do this but I ask them to not talk during this period, to stay in one place, and to do something reflective such as a puzzle, a book, a drawing, etc. As they grow mentally, I will have them do more wholistic things suited to their abilities.
What this does is nuture obedience, a habit of stillness, and a habit of reflection. Quietness is not easy even though it is good and fulfilling. So it takes committment and accountability. I have hit 20% in my attempts over the last month to show my own struggle with it but I am determined to weekly up this percentage.
Another excuse may be time. Let me suggest that you do not start with holding yourself accountable to the forty-five minute quiet time at first. Instead, set a goal to reduce over the next four weeks your schedule for that period of the day. Plan instead to do something different like watch the news. This is much more motivating for getting you to find the room to do something in a 45 min time slot. After a month, kick the TV or whatever, and replace that time slot with quiet. This is a psychological trick that helps you cope with the change.
For Dads out there
I am struck by my own laziness and the amount of grace and sweat it requires to establish habits that reflect a meaningful and delightful way of life. This may sound contradictory since it is questionable whether a delightful way of life includes sweat! Nevertheless, I think it is demonstrable.
First, when I was in Jr. High the most delightful season of basketball was at the same time the most demanding and excruciating. Coach Flick would run us to a near death experience in practic. . . .but we were good! Oh were we good! And we loved being good!
Second, take premarital sex as a moral example. It takes sweat and self-denial to say no to premarital intimacy. However, who has the more delightful marriage? or love life in general? It is the one who waited. In fact, it is the one who continues to restrict his sexual activity to his wife that has the more delightful love life.
Third, take fasting. If I fast breakfast and lunch and you don't, who will enjoy supper more?
Or let us reverse the argument. Suppose you have the highest of standards for good music or even for a good future wife. Your idealism itself "delights not in lesser things". How can I profane my life now in view of the reward I will receive? For we Christians we have an extra measure of help in this way: the Holy Spirit who is our deposit of joy until the day we are raised from the dead; our deposit of joy while we bear our cross in expectation of that day. Thus the early Christian with delight cast themselves to the damn beasts of Rome's coliseum.
Fathers, it takes sweat to be a good father and a good husband. Suck it up you big babies! Fix this in your mind, that you do not admire yourself as a stupid, lazy, fartslipping idiot of a man. Instead, you admire yourself as strong in character, persevering in trial, responsible with all things, and respectful to all manner of men. Who admires an idiot? Who admires laziness? Who admires a man that speaks harshly to his wife? It may be easy, it may be funny. But it is despicable and nothing your sons will admire (the Lord forgive you if they imitate it).
"Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee life!" Eph 5
First, when I was in Jr. High the most delightful season of basketball was at the same time the most demanding and excruciating. Coach Flick would run us to a near death experience in practic. . . .but we were good! Oh were we good! And we loved being good!
Second, take premarital sex as a moral example. It takes sweat and self-denial to say no to premarital intimacy. However, who has the more delightful marriage? or love life in general? It is the one who waited. In fact, it is the one who continues to restrict his sexual activity to his wife that has the more delightful love life.
Third, take fasting. If I fast breakfast and lunch and you don't, who will enjoy supper more?
Or let us reverse the argument. Suppose you have the highest of standards for good music or even for a good future wife. Your idealism itself "delights not in lesser things". How can I profane my life now in view of the reward I will receive? For we Christians we have an extra measure of help in this way: the Holy Spirit who is our deposit of joy until the day we are raised from the dead; our deposit of joy while we bear our cross in expectation of that day. Thus the early Christian with delight cast themselves to the damn beasts of Rome's coliseum.
Fathers, it takes sweat to be a good father and a good husband. Suck it up you big babies! Fix this in your mind, that you do not admire yourself as a stupid, lazy, fartslipping idiot of a man. Instead, you admire yourself as strong in character, persevering in trial, responsible with all things, and respectful to all manner of men. Who admires an idiot? Who admires laziness? Who admires a man that speaks harshly to his wife? It may be easy, it may be funny. But it is despicable and nothing your sons will admire (the Lord forgive you if they imitate it).
"Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee life!" Eph 5
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Art of Worship
It is useless, I think, to treat worship in our services as bearing no importance as to its form and character. Let us not forget that the early church was a worshipping church whose teaching was not easily dichotomized from their worship. What they confessed they learned; what they learned they confessed. I want to lay out one major problem in worship that could be remedied and several principles for forming a wholesome and helpful worship service.
Remembering our reformation heritage we find that Church leadership often got too much in the way and instead of being a bridge they became a blockade. Many reformers before and after Luther emphasized the need to give the people the Scriptures. In many ways, we are facing the same situation with the protestant churches at large today. Let me illustrate what I mean by stating several negatives:
1) the pulpit is not an opion desk, bandwagon opportunity, or outreach (here I am referring to at least Sunday morning)
2) the worship leader is not the voice of the people and especially not the substitute of the people in worship
With this very simplistic portrayal of a big issue, let me state some principles that would help the formation of worship in our services.
Leaders,
1) assume that the people want to worship and confess both their sins and their beliefs
2) make sure you provide an opportunity for them to do this
3) get out of the way
4) every detail of the service is important so pay attention to detail
Think of it this way, when I come to worship service I want to worship with the people of God. I often think to myself: "Please do not rob us of our worship!" It has been said about the NBA that a good referee is one who is never noticed. Apply this principle to the leading of a service. The leader is there not to be noticed but to provide direction and order. This means trying not to be noticed.
This can be accomplished by several means: make sure that your voice is only hear when the people get off track. Second, don't sing harmony but leave that to the choir since the people are not themselves singing harmony. Third, don't give mini sermons and exhortations every time you get up; this is a distraction and assumes the inauthenticity of the worshipers. Fourth, assuming that the people want to come to worship, provide for them an orbit (an order of service) in which to enter.
Imagine if every time we sang a hymn I stopped in the middle of the verse to pray or explain something or make an announcement or give an mini-exhortation. How frustrating! Instead, get out of the way and leave the exhortation to the reading of the Word and trust that the people do not need anyone to continually remind them of what the song means. Let the song and the prayers and the Scriptures speak for themselves. Additionally, it is the people's voices that should be heard and not the overarching sound of either the instruments or the lead singers (bridge rather than blockade).
In the same way, the service as a whole is an offering and a rythm. It is not helpful to break it up into disproportionate chunks. Let it be a flow from one thing to the next. We confess our faith by saying corporately the Lords Prayer or the Apostolic Creed or whatever, which leads us directly into a song of worship. If announcements are needed or if direction as to what to do next (such as sitting or standing or greeting) are needed this is better done by putting it in the bulletin. In this way, the rythm is not broken and the people know when to stand, sit, and say amen without having someone continuously be narrating the service (distraction). An order of worship in the bulletin accomplishes this.
I cannot say enough that whatever gets emphasis and attention off of the individual leader helps the people to be the focus of the service. Thus the congregational prayer is not an opportunity to teach or preach but is a prayer offered in behalf of the people. Written prayers that are prepared should be encouraged seeing that they indicate careful preparation and deliberate care. This also gives an opportunity to utilize some of the faithful prayers of the church historical and discourages counting on the happen chance prayer that can in fact indicate a lack of care.
Also, it is good for the people to pray and confess (confession of belief) corporately and responsively. Responsive readings are beautiful when done well and give the people a way of participating and actually leading the service. Thus we the people become active in the service. Not only does it give the people a chance to be active but a chance to be united; a chance to be public; a chance to hear themselves and others speaks about Jesus as Lord etc. We unite our voices to state emphatically and dogmatically what we confess to be true.
I think it is not very helpful also when we make our services equal to evangelism. Once again, do not take away the opportunity of the people of God to worship and be encouraged by the word. This is their service.
Paying attention to music, we must acknowledge that everything we do creates an atmosphere. Music can convey happiness, authenticity, sorrow, expectation, mystery, and so on. What we sing is important just as what we preach is important and careful attention should be given to the beauty of the words as well as the soundness of the ideas portrayed and expressed. The same would hold for the prayers, the sermon, and the confessions of faith. Not only what we sing, but the arrangements are important since they produce a certian atmosphere on their own as well as the order in which they are done. Care taken can make for a sound and goergeous service.
Use images and art that faithful portray and create the presence of truth and mystery and expectation. Do this both in the architecture of the place of worship and in the scenery of the church in so far as is possible.
Lastly, this is not really about contemporary verses traditional. Actually what many call traditional is only several hundred years old and not that traditional. This issue might be approached by noting several factors to keep in mind:
1)there is a difference between sacred music and music in general (since they do create an atmosphere and a state of mind)
2) both may be utilized in an asthetically pleasing and metrical fashion
3) doing this is difficult
4) we want to utilize the history of the church's sacred worship while also baptizing the culture we are in so as to use its unique gift of art and music
5) there is also a difference between corporate music and general music
It takes greater care to do this well and my post is not meant to sound critical (its not) only helpful in portraying what seems to me to be some helpful ideas. Don't think that "form" equals "inauthenticity". Do not forget that the worship of Israel instituted by God himself gave careful attention to detail and form. Jesus never criticized the form but the lack of the authenticity. The same is true for singing, corporate prayer, and corporate confession. Authenticity is not decided by form but is a choice. One may sing the most emotional contemporary song and be wholly inauthentic. I had better stop.
Remembering our reformation heritage we find that Church leadership often got too much in the way and instead of being a bridge they became a blockade. Many reformers before and after Luther emphasized the need to give the people the Scriptures. In many ways, we are facing the same situation with the protestant churches at large today. Let me illustrate what I mean by stating several negatives:
1) the pulpit is not an opion desk, bandwagon opportunity, or outreach (here I am referring to at least Sunday morning)
2) the worship leader is not the voice of the people and especially not the substitute of the people in worship
With this very simplistic portrayal of a big issue, let me state some principles that would help the formation of worship in our services.
Leaders,
1) assume that the people want to worship and confess both their sins and their beliefs
2) make sure you provide an opportunity for them to do this
3) get out of the way
4) every detail of the service is important so pay attention to detail
Think of it this way, when I come to worship service I want to worship with the people of God. I often think to myself: "Please do not rob us of our worship!" It has been said about the NBA that a good referee is one who is never noticed. Apply this principle to the leading of a service. The leader is there not to be noticed but to provide direction and order. This means trying not to be noticed.
This can be accomplished by several means: make sure that your voice is only hear when the people get off track. Second, don't sing harmony but leave that to the choir since the people are not themselves singing harmony. Third, don't give mini sermons and exhortations every time you get up; this is a distraction and assumes the inauthenticity of the worshipers. Fourth, assuming that the people want to come to worship, provide for them an orbit (an order of service) in which to enter.
Imagine if every time we sang a hymn I stopped in the middle of the verse to pray or explain something or make an announcement or give an mini-exhortation. How frustrating! Instead, get out of the way and leave the exhortation to the reading of the Word and trust that the people do not need anyone to continually remind them of what the song means. Let the song and the prayers and the Scriptures speak for themselves. Additionally, it is the people's voices that should be heard and not the overarching sound of either the instruments or the lead singers (bridge rather than blockade).
In the same way, the service as a whole is an offering and a rythm. It is not helpful to break it up into disproportionate chunks. Let it be a flow from one thing to the next. We confess our faith by saying corporately the Lords Prayer or the Apostolic Creed or whatever, which leads us directly into a song of worship. If announcements are needed or if direction as to what to do next (such as sitting or standing or greeting) are needed this is better done by putting it in the bulletin. In this way, the rythm is not broken and the people know when to stand, sit, and say amen without having someone continuously be narrating the service (distraction). An order of worship in the bulletin accomplishes this.
I cannot say enough that whatever gets emphasis and attention off of the individual leader helps the people to be the focus of the service. Thus the congregational prayer is not an opportunity to teach or preach but is a prayer offered in behalf of the people. Written prayers that are prepared should be encouraged seeing that they indicate careful preparation and deliberate care. This also gives an opportunity to utilize some of the faithful prayers of the church historical and discourages counting on the happen chance prayer that can in fact indicate a lack of care.
Also, it is good for the people to pray and confess (confession of belief) corporately and responsively. Responsive readings are beautiful when done well and give the people a way of participating and actually leading the service. Thus we the people become active in the service. Not only does it give the people a chance to be active but a chance to be united; a chance to be public; a chance to hear themselves and others speaks about Jesus as Lord etc. We unite our voices to state emphatically and dogmatically what we confess to be true.
I think it is not very helpful also when we make our services equal to evangelism. Once again, do not take away the opportunity of the people of God to worship and be encouraged by the word. This is their service.
Paying attention to music, we must acknowledge that everything we do creates an atmosphere. Music can convey happiness, authenticity, sorrow, expectation, mystery, and so on. What we sing is important just as what we preach is important and careful attention should be given to the beauty of the words as well as the soundness of the ideas portrayed and expressed. The same would hold for the prayers, the sermon, and the confessions of faith. Not only what we sing, but the arrangements are important since they produce a certian atmosphere on their own as well as the order in which they are done. Care taken can make for a sound and goergeous service.
Use images and art that faithful portray and create the presence of truth and mystery and expectation. Do this both in the architecture of the place of worship and in the scenery of the church in so far as is possible.
Lastly, this is not really about contemporary verses traditional. Actually what many call traditional is only several hundred years old and not that traditional. This issue might be approached by noting several factors to keep in mind:
1)there is a difference between sacred music and music in general (since they do create an atmosphere and a state of mind)
2) both may be utilized in an asthetically pleasing and metrical fashion
3) doing this is difficult
4) we want to utilize the history of the church's sacred worship while also baptizing the culture we are in so as to use its unique gift of art and music
5) there is also a difference between corporate music and general music
It takes greater care to do this well and my post is not meant to sound critical (its not) only helpful in portraying what seems to me to be some helpful ideas. Don't think that "form" equals "inauthenticity". Do not forget that the worship of Israel instituted by God himself gave careful attention to detail and form. Jesus never criticized the form but the lack of the authenticity. The same is true for singing, corporate prayer, and corporate confession. Authenticity is not decided by form but is a choice. One may sing the most emotional contemporary song and be wholly inauthentic. I had better stop.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Even music can display a character of masculiniy or femininity. As I observe many of the differences in the contemporary movement compared to the Gaither movement compared to the confessional/liturgical movement it seems that there is litte that speaks to the masculine property of beingness outside of some few selections beyond the liturgical. To be masculine it would be steady, consistent, strong, and intellectually intense as well as emotionally stout (as well as intensely demanding - suck it up and go to gallows!).
It is not just the words, but the way it is sung and played. When I hear "A mighty fortress is our God" I long for the piano player to beat the hell out of the keys as if madd! When I hear "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" I want only the constant shout of proud men. When I hear the chanting of the monks I want to sink deeply into their persevering lull of a bass hum calling the mind into war with that snake.
This is not to the negation of feminine music for which I am glad only I feel always in worship that I must be either a woman or a teenager. Truly, I wish the voice of our men would be strong and hard while the melodies of our women would be tender and moving.
I think I shall write more on music and worship later since it is such a touchy issue.
It is not just the words, but the way it is sung and played. When I hear "A mighty fortress is our God" I long for the piano player to beat the hell out of the keys as if madd! When I hear "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" I want only the constant shout of proud men. When I hear the chanting of the monks I want to sink deeply into their persevering lull of a bass hum calling the mind into war with that snake.
This is not to the negation of feminine music for which I am glad only I feel always in worship that I must be either a woman or a teenager. Truly, I wish the voice of our men would be strong and hard while the melodies of our women would be tender and moving.
I think I shall write more on music and worship later since it is such a touchy issue.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
I must post. Four months is too long, and I do have an excuse. My MA work at WBS has held me at bay and I am taking the Fall off to get a breather.
My Dad. He has type 2 diabetes and is not doing so well.
I love him. He is not perfect and I doubt that many dads are in their children's eyes, but he's my dad.
A Heritage. He handed me my first book of theology after I became a Christian; He bought me my first shotgun (20 ga) and rifle (7 mm) when I was quite young; he took me to work with him even at the age of 7 where I watched him build cabinets and deal with employees and customers.
Fond memories. Perhaps my greatest memories are of me, my dad, and the woods. Dad was quite an elite bow hunter and archer. He shot many hunting videos as well as archery videos with world champions. I, on ther other hand, was not a hunter (however that happened). But I loved the woods and my dad was a master in them. I do not think I ever knew a greater hunter. I remember being in awe at how he could sneak up on me in my tree stand or how he could on the drop of a hat call a deer within touch.
Deer camp. We often drove for hours to get to deer camp. Several hours to get to vicksburg and then to the Yazoo River where we boarded a ferry to cross. Then we drove on for a long time through endless woods (glorious woods) till we came to the camp. Ours was up on 20 foot stilts. We had built the camp from an old trailer tearing it completely down and rebuilding it with lovely decks that looked out over vast fields and behind which was a small river.
We always drove in dad's jacked up, hunter green toyota (before that his red forerunner). He always had it filled with hunting stuff and the unique smell that goes with it.
Cabinets. Dad was hard to work for but I am glad. I learned from him to work in a tough sort of fashion and also how to administrate the labor. By the time I was in high school I could, because of him, build a mean cabinet. This skill has been my primary mode of living during the last four years.
Spiders. Dad hated them but he would pick up a snake without thought. Actually when he was a kid he would skirt a tree and rob the nest of Red Hawks. He would train the birds and catch snakes for them.
There was a breech in this relationship between my dad and I. At about eighth grade I was very rebellious and my dad rarely spoke to each other without arguing up until 10th grade when I became a christian.
Bow fishing. Though I was not a hunter I was an avide bowfisherman and it is here that dad and I really had fun together. We built a boat called the Fish-K-Bob II, a Carolina Skiff (7X20) with a full deck and molded in lights around the front with an air fan. We would often take off at a given moment to Slidell, LA or Guntersville Lake, AL for a good time.
Thanks to my dad, Kenny
My Dad. He has type 2 diabetes and is not doing so well.
I love him. He is not perfect and I doubt that many dads are in their children's eyes, but he's my dad.
A Heritage. He handed me my first book of theology after I became a Christian; He bought me my first shotgun (20 ga) and rifle (7 mm) when I was quite young; he took me to work with him even at the age of 7 where I watched him build cabinets and deal with employees and customers.
Fond memories. Perhaps my greatest memories are of me, my dad, and the woods. Dad was quite an elite bow hunter and archer. He shot many hunting videos as well as archery videos with world champions. I, on ther other hand, was not a hunter (however that happened). But I loved the woods and my dad was a master in them. I do not think I ever knew a greater hunter. I remember being in awe at how he could sneak up on me in my tree stand or how he could on the drop of a hat call a deer within touch.
Deer camp. We often drove for hours to get to deer camp. Several hours to get to vicksburg and then to the Yazoo River where we boarded a ferry to cross. Then we drove on for a long time through endless woods (glorious woods) till we came to the camp. Ours was up on 20 foot stilts. We had built the camp from an old trailer tearing it completely down and rebuilding it with lovely decks that looked out over vast fields and behind which was a small river.
We always drove in dad's jacked up, hunter green toyota (before that his red forerunner). He always had it filled with hunting stuff and the unique smell that goes with it.
Cabinets. Dad was hard to work for but I am glad. I learned from him to work in a tough sort of fashion and also how to administrate the labor. By the time I was in high school I could, because of him, build a mean cabinet. This skill has been my primary mode of living during the last four years.
Spiders. Dad hated them but he would pick up a snake without thought. Actually when he was a kid he would skirt a tree and rob the nest of Red Hawks. He would train the birds and catch snakes for them.
There was a breech in this relationship between my dad and I. At about eighth grade I was very rebellious and my dad rarely spoke to each other without arguing up until 10th grade when I became a christian.
Bow fishing. Though I was not a hunter I was an avide bowfisherman and it is here that dad and I really had fun together. We built a boat called the Fish-K-Bob II, a Carolina Skiff (7X20) with a full deck and molded in lights around the front with an air fan. We would often take off at a given moment to Slidell, LA or Guntersville Lake, AL for a good time.
Thanks to my dad, Kenny
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Maturity
How might we think about maturity?
First, I suggest that maturity is rather like a growing into something whereas immaturity is like a staying behind, a not being what one is supposed to be when one is supposed to be it. This implies that at every stage of life there is a maturity (a way we ought to be) relative to that stage.
For this reason we do not expect a five year old to wine or to ponder metaphysics; we do not expect a thirty year old to play with playdough or a seventy year old to be consumed with emotionalism.
In addition, we might see that God has so designed the stages of life in the fallen society that in each stage if we do not yet know Him as we ought then that stage will end in dissatisfaction and deliver us to a new stage of life which also will end in dissatisfaction until finally our desires relative to the stages of our life lead us to the highest desire for meaning and divine communion. Thus if the thirty year old does not know God or meaning he awakes to a mid-life crisis.
In this way the adolescent leaves off caring about peer groups alone but also begins to care about sacrificial love and communion (sex). This is appropriate because sex is about personhood and God uses this as a means for revealing His own person - see how God is educating our desires?
Second, we might say that maturity is relative to proper function. Every acorn becomes an oak and every baby an adult and every baby human male a man such that maturity is relative to design in general or in particular. A lion and a shark are both beautiful creatures but it would be absurd for a lion to try and be a shark and vice versa. So to0 a man must be a man and a woman a woman and neither be children. The glory of the others are not diminished by the fact that they are different either by nature or development.
Third, immaturity then is either staying behind in stage 1 when we should be in stage 2 and/or it is maturing out or proportion to our proper function (thus becoming an athiest is like a tiger trying to blow his snout!).
Fourth, it seems that God uses this pattern of maturity to prepare us but also to serve as a counter to original sin. Thus we are bent to sinning but God has so designed that another inclination is at work to lead us to Himself. I think we see this in our doctrin of original sin and in progressive revelation and in the presence of evil itself. He both educates our desires and brings us to the end of ourselves.
First, I suggest that maturity is rather like a growing into something whereas immaturity is like a staying behind, a not being what one is supposed to be when one is supposed to be it. This implies that at every stage of life there is a maturity (a way we ought to be) relative to that stage.
For this reason we do not expect a five year old to wine or to ponder metaphysics; we do not expect a thirty year old to play with playdough or a seventy year old to be consumed with emotionalism.
In addition, we might see that God has so designed the stages of life in the fallen society that in each stage if we do not yet know Him as we ought then that stage will end in dissatisfaction and deliver us to a new stage of life which also will end in dissatisfaction until finally our desires relative to the stages of our life lead us to the highest desire for meaning and divine communion. Thus if the thirty year old does not know God or meaning he awakes to a mid-life crisis.
In this way the adolescent leaves off caring about peer groups alone but also begins to care about sacrificial love and communion (sex). This is appropriate because sex is about personhood and God uses this as a means for revealing His own person - see how God is educating our desires?
Second, we might say that maturity is relative to proper function. Every acorn becomes an oak and every baby an adult and every baby human male a man such that maturity is relative to design in general or in particular. A lion and a shark are both beautiful creatures but it would be absurd for a lion to try and be a shark and vice versa. So to0 a man must be a man and a woman a woman and neither be children. The glory of the others are not diminished by the fact that they are different either by nature or development.
Third, immaturity then is either staying behind in stage 1 when we should be in stage 2 and/or it is maturing out or proportion to our proper function (thus becoming an athiest is like a tiger trying to blow his snout!).
Fourth, it seems that God uses this pattern of maturity to prepare us but also to serve as a counter to original sin. Thus we are bent to sinning but God has so designed that another inclination is at work to lead us to Himself. I think we see this in our doctrin of original sin and in progressive revelation and in the presence of evil itself. He both educates our desires and brings us to the end of ourselves.
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