We ask, hear, respond to, wonder about, & maybe even ignore questions about the Christian life and our faith in God daily.

Transcription

1 Can I Ask That? Leader Intro We ask, hear, respond to, wonder about, & maybe even ignore questions about the Christian life and our faith in God daily. Our students are asking, hearing, responding to, wondering about, and maybe ignoring those questions too. When left unanswered or ignored, these questions about God can be the death of faith. But when these questions are talked about with openness and vulnerability (even if it s not the right answer), they can be the foundation of a growing faith. We re going to dive into some big questions these next 5 weeks. We re using some ideas and notes from the Can I Ask That? curriculum developed by Fuller Youth Institute. As we started looking at the many questions we could be asking, we realized that at the heart of our questions about life lies a deeper question about God. Because when we ask how God can allow injustices around the world, we aren t really asking why the world isn t perfect. We re wondering whether God really is just amidst injustice. Thus, we re using those BIG questions to launch conversations about our more specific questions. Here they are: 1. Is God consistent? 2. Is God trustworthy? 3. Is God loving? 4. Is God just? 5. Is Jesus it? We fully expect these conversations to make more questions arise. Dive into that. Let your students ask the questions they want to know about. Answer them if you can. If you can t, use it as an opportunity to do more research together. As Fuller Youth Institute notes: Doubt isn t toxic to faith. Silence is. We aren t expected to live life without any questions. Doubts, curiosities, and questions are a normal part of developing a deeper, more steadfast faith. We ve got to encourage our students to not only ask the questions, but to do more research on the answers. These are questions that at some level, we re all still asking. It s ok to have doubts. It s ok to not to know all the answers. It s ok to be asking questions yourself. These next few weeks, let your discussions flow naturally where the questions are. Use the curriculum as a guide if you need. Fuller Institute found that the most important factor in whether a young person keeps their faith or leaves the church is whether they have a safe space to express their doubts and concerns before they leave home. You can be that safe space. 1

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3 ?: Can I Ask That? Week 1 Is God consistent? If so... why does the bible seem to contradict itself? Does it? Is it dependable? Can I trust what it says? Purpose: To begin the series with a foundation of trusting the Bible. To show that the Bible is dependable, and does not contradict itself. Dig into the bigger question of whether or not God is consistent. Large group ideas: Play Telephone Pictionary in groups of ~6. Everyone starts with a stack of small scraps of paper equal to the number of people in the group. To start, each person writes a phrase (common saying, quote, etc.) on their top sheet of paper, without showing anyone else. Flip the top sheet over, then pass the whole stack to the right. Each person will look at the phrase for their new stack, put the written on sheet on the bottom of the stack, and attempt to draw the phrase. After 30 seconds, flip over the top sheet and pass the stack to the right. Each person will now look at the drawing of their new stack and attempt to write the corresponding phrase. Continue passing and switching between drawing and writing until each person has his/her own stack back. Look through how much the phrase has changed! o One argument is that the stories in the Bible, like a game of telephone, have morphed in their repeated tellings. However, if we compare the Bible we re reading today to the earliest manuscripts we have, there are very few (most often insignificant) discrepancies. Connect: 1. If you had students at Snow Camp this weekend, feel free to ask them about what their favorite part was and what they learned! 2. What s your favorite book? 3. Do you read the Bible? Why or why not? Do you believe the Bible? 4. What questions do you have about the Bible? 5. How has the Bible been hard for you to understand? 6. What parts of the Bible are difficult for you to accept? What parts confuse you? 7. From what you know of the Bible, do you feel like God is consistent? Understand: External consistency: many things recorded in the Bible are validated by archaeological findings & stories from non-christian traditions. Some examples Mesopotamian, Greek, & Persian literature all report a flood in ancient times. The Merneptah Stele a large piece of granite with inscriptions from the Ancient Egyptian King Merneptah mentions the Israelites and gives some insight into who they are, and mentions Burial Plaque of King Uzziah a king whose reign is recorded in the book of 2 Chronicles --found on the Mount of Olives 3

4 1. How can these external sources help give the Bible validity? 2. Do you know of any other pieces of evidence or historical accounts that help give the Bible credibility? 3. This kind of evidence doesn t give aid to books like Job, which are meant to teach a lesson rather than provide historical narrative. How can you reconcile trusting a book of the Bible without historical narrative? Internal consistency: Now, let s take a look at whether the Bible contradicts itself 1. Read Matthew 28:1-9 & Luke 24:1-12. What similarities do you see? What differences do you see? 2. Do the discrepancies between these 2 authors necessarily disprove each one s legitimacy? a. Think about a legal trial. Different eyewitnesses may provide slightly different details. Does this undermine the fact that something did actually take place? 3. Let s talk about inerrancy vs infallibility. Inerrancy: is the view that the Bible is without any factual error. The Bible is inspired by God so all facts (even seemingly contradictory ones) are completely accurate. Infalliability: is the view that the Bible is inspired by God, but may contain some factual or technical errors, but those do not change the message or purpose of the Bible. a. Which position do you agree with more-- that the Bible is inerrant or infallible? Why? 4. How else might someone explain differences between stories of the Bible? 5. The Bible has 66 books written by at least 39 different authors. In what ways could slight differences between different authors go against the validity of the Bible? In what ways could these differences strengthen the validity of the Bible? Live: 1. In what ways have specific Bible passages helped you to grow as a Christ-follower? 2. Do you trust the Bible? Why or why not? It s ok to be honest here! 3. Ok let s be honest, even if we trust the Bible is inspired by God, it can be hard to read! o Why is it personally hard for you to read the Bible? o Is it necessary to read the Bible if you re a follower of Christ? Why or why not? 4. The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence of any writings of the classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. F.F. Bruce (Bruce and other scholars are comparing the NT to classical works by authors such as Plato, Homer, and Aristotle). What do you think of this quote? 5. What questions do you still have? The crux of the Gospel is that God chose broken, messy humans to spread His message. We don t always tell the story right, but we trust that God s message shines through our own brokenness. There is a reason God used human hands to craft the Bible. 4

5 ?: Can I Ask That? Is God trustworthy? If so... what do I do about doubts? Is it ok to doubt Him? Week 2 Purpose: Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people. This is called life. Jesus cried out His doubt to the Father. Perhaps we must sometimes doubt in order to follow Jesus. The story of scripture is filled with pain, sin, brokenness, and evil. So is our story. But in the end, God s healing love and grace win. Large group ideas: Worship Activity: Have students write out their questions and doubts on a piece of paper. These are the stories about times when they thought God was not trustworthy, or when they felt like He let them down. Once students write these things down, have them hold them open handed and listen to this song: The goal is not to answer these questions or solve the doubt. It s not to ignore our questions and doubts. The purpose is to acknowledge the doubt, and offer it to God, reflecting on who he is, what he has done, and meditate on his promise that he will never fail us. This is about surrendering doubt to God, rather than surrendering God to our doubt. Connect: 1. What are some things you trust in this world? (some examples: we trust that clean water will come out of the bubbler or tap, that the food we buy at the store is safe to eat, that our money has value, etc.) Why do you trust these things? 2. What makes someone trustworthy? 3. Who are some of the people in your life who you trust? 4. Do you trust God? 5. Can someone trust God and doubt Him at the same time? Why or why not? Understand: 1. Read Psalm 91. What does it mean for God to be a refuge? Look closer at verse 4. In threat of danger, a bird will instinctually raise its wings to protect its young. How is this a good metaphor for God? Does the image break down at all? 2. Share a story about a time when you sought refuge in God and you felt comforted. Then, share a story about a time when you sought refuge in God and you felt abandoned and alone. How can those two things happen if God is trustworthy? 5

6 3. Read Mark 15: What stands out to you about this scene of Jesus death? (He doubts! And he does it by quoting scripture! Jesus doubt is rooted in God s word, and he finds refuge in God, even while he doubts.) 4. Jesus is quoting Psalm 22. Read the whole Psalm. Draw attention to the fact that the Psalm begins with crippling doubt, but ends with tremendous hope. 5. Going back to the scene on the cross, what else do you notice? In what ways do you see God win despite the pain and doubt? How does the story end? Live: 1. How have you trusted God through your doubt, pain, struggle, grief, sin, etc.? 2. What are some strategies or habits you have to build a deeper trust in God? Which of these work better than others? 3. Read this quote: The foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness. Gratitude arises from the lived perception, evaluation, and acceptance of all of life as grace as an undeserved and unearned gift from the Father s hand. Such recognition is itself the work of grace, and acceptance of the gift is implicitly an acknowledgement of the Giver. Brennan Manning What are you most grateful for in your life? 4. The Bible talks about having a childlike faith. What might be some advantages of trusting God the way a child trusts a loving parent? 5. What doubts do you still have? 6

7 ?: Can I Ask That? Week 3 Is God Loving? If so... why did he give us free will if he knew we would mess up? Why did he set us up to fail? Purpose: To allow students and leaders to ask hard questions about free will and whether that makes God really loving. To allow students and leaders to see that in order for God to be loving toward us, there has to be free will. Connect: 1. What are things we forced to do in our society? What about you personally? What about in other cultures? 2. What things are we not forced to do (i.e., have freedom to choose)? What about other cultures? 3. What does free will mean to you? 4. What s the opposite of free will? 5. In what areas of your life is it easy to have choices? In what areas is it hard? 6. Think about teachers you ve had would you rather have a teacher that is strict but cares about you, or a teacher who gives no rules but also doesn t care about who you are or what you do? Does the answer change if you re thinking about your parents? 7. What would the world be like if God didn t let humans choose to do evil? Understand: 1. Read Romans 8: Alright If you haven t read it before, you might be thinking that passage was a little weird! This passage brings all of creation into God s redemptive story. Creation is unable to contain its longing for God. We too long for something, but we get to choose whether or not we claim that longing to be for God. 2. If God predestined us, how does he still give us free will? 3. Have you ever longed for something more or something bigger than yourself? 4. Have you ever turned away from God to search for something that will fill that hole or that longing? 5. Why would God allow you to turn away from Him when He knows that what you are really looking for is found in Him? Is that a loving thing to do? 7

8 But it still doesn t make sense If God knows everything and knew that He is what we long for, why would He give us this choice if He knew we were going to mess up? 1. How would you respond to this question? 2. Is there a way for God to love us without giving us the freedom to love Him back? 3. Although we have the freedom to mess up (and do so often!) God s story is that He keeps coming back for us and fighting for us. Where in the Bible have you seen this cycle (choiceà people mess upà God s love abounds)? 4. How does this give you hope? Live: 1. How does having free will show us that God is loving? 2. What do you think God would be like if he made us love Him? How would you view God? 3. What do you think God would be like if he allowed everyone to be with Him in Heaven regardless of if they believed in Him or wanted to follow Him? 4. Would either of those Gods be worth following? 5. Love cannot be separate from free will. What would life be like if God loved us, but took away our free will? What would life be like if God let us keep free will, but didn t love us? 6. In his book Letters From a Skeptic, author Gregory Boyd says, love requires freedom. It must be chosen. And the greater the possibility of love, the greater the possibility of evil. What do you think about that? 7. Is God loving? Make an argument for and against this. 8

9 ?: Can I Ask That? Is God just? If so...why is there so much wrong with the world? Week 4 Purpose: To scratch at the surface of the subject of justice. To talk about the difference between God being just and God being fair. To acknowledge that we don t have a great answer for the question of why there is so much wrong with the world. Large group ideas: Video: 2Edge (Job - Spoken Word) Connect: 1. Are some things easier for you to forgive than others? What kinds of things are especially hard for you to forgive? 2. Have you ever watched a movie or read a book where the bad guys got away with it, or the good guys were unfairly punished? How did it feel? 3. Where do you see something you would call injustice at your school? 4. What are some of God s roles? Which is it easier for you to think of Him as? Father or judge, companion or king? (etc.) 5. Sacrifice is to love what justice is to. what? (Finish the metaphor) When we look at the world around us, it can be difficult to see how a just and loving God allows such suffering to exist upon the earth. We know that suffering originated from Adam and Eve s sin in the garden, not from God But if He s all-powerful, shouldn t He be able to stop it? Especially the mindless suffering that isn t caused directly by sin: cancer, earthquakes, hurricanes. Why does God allow people to be mindlessly hurt? Understand: Justice is defined as the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness, especially with regard to the law. Read Isaiah 61:8 1. Read the following list and decide if each item is necessary for justice to occur: A courtroom A judge A punishment A moral absolute An advocate/lawyer A victim A jury A perpetrator A gavel and a white wig 2. Do any of your answers change when you consider justice in a human court vs. justice in a heavenly court? 9

10 Often, when we say that suffering is unjust, we are actually referring to something being unfair. Fairness is defined as: marked by impartiality and honesty. Justice is often considered a rebalancing, a correction of some wrongdoing. Fairness is considered a state of nature. For example, consider Job. What happened to him wasn t fair. He acted righteously and mercifully and still lost all he possessed. God gave Satan permission to take everything from Job - does that make God unjust? Read Psalm 73: What, in your mind, is the difference between justice and fairness? 2. As followers of Christ, are we promised justice? Are we promised fairness? 3. Why does God delay justice? 4. Is it wrong to cry out to God for justice against someone who s hurt you? How can you forgive someone while still wanting justice? (You can look to Matthew 18:21-35, the parable of the unmerciful servant, for guidance.) Live: 1. Is it wrong to want to see justice done? What can you do to help create justice? 2. What careers do you think of when you think of justice? Are there others? 3. When someone asks you, If God loves us, why do bad things happen? What s a reasonably short answer you can give? The purpose of this question isn t to solve the question of purposeless suffering in a few sentences, but this is a question you ll run into, and it s not a bad idea to have an answer or two planned out. Even if your answer is, I don t know. But here s what I do know 4. In your mind, what does a just God look like? 5. Where do we see justice in the story of the Bible? 1 Timothy 2:6 talks about Jesus being our ransom. 6. What hope can we hold onto while in an unjust, broken world? The problem of suffering and injustice is such a big thing and we don t have a great answer to why we see so much injustice and brokenness and suffering in the world. But if we trust the Bible, God says He is just. Things aren t working out on our timeline, and in a world where suffering and evil is so apparent, it often feels like God certainly can t be just. But having a just God means justice will come. 10

11 ?: Can I Ask That? Is Jesus It? If so... What about everyone else? Don t we all go to Heaven? Week 5 Purpose: To show that Jesus is the only way to the Father. That He is the Messiah. To look at the Gospel in comparison to other religions. Large group ideas: Video: The Gospel Bible Project Connect: 1. Are you part of any clubs or groups that are exclusive? (You have to try out for swim team, take French to be in French Club, National Honor Society has grade requirements, try out for YSO - Note that HSM isn t one because anyone can come regardless if they are believers) Is it fair that not everyone can join those groups? 2. Are you friends with people of a different religion? What do they believe? 3. How were you raised in your family to think about salvation and the difference among religious faiths? 4. What does your church believe about salvation and the difference among religious faiths? 5. What makes you believe in Jesus rather than a different religion? Understand: 1. But don t all religions basically believe the same thing but call it different things? Religious Tradition Who was Jesus? Why did he come? Was Jesus resurrected from the dead? Christianity Islam Judaism Buddhism Mormonism Both God and human. As part of the Trinity, he is the savior of human beings. To rescue humans from sin by the gift of grace, to show us how to live in right relationship with God & the world. A human being who was a prophet of God, but not as great as the prophet Muhammad. He came to show God s (Allah s) will for people. A human, but no the Messiah. A rabbi who falsely claimed to be the Messiah & fulfill scripture. Jesus not mentioned in sacred texts. A good person, but not God. There is not God. Jesus came to help people who need enlightenment. A human at first, but later became a god. A god & example for us. Humans may also attain the status of being a god by following Jesus example of love & sacrifice. Yes. No. No. No. Yes. 11

12 1. Is Jesus really the only way? Why? Read John 14:6. What does it mean that Jesus is the way, truth, & life? 2. What about people who believe in different gods? Aren't all gods the same? Read Exodus 20:3-5 Why would God ever be jealous? What does that mean? 3. What about good people, won t they get to heaven? Ephesians 2: I know Jesus is the only way, but do you have to believe in him for Him to save you? Won t he save everyone? Read Acts 4:12 You can use the gift illustration: salvation is like a present we are all given. We can either open it and use the gift or put it on a shelf and ignore it. But if we put it on a shelf we aren't really accepting the gift. God offered salvation to everyone, but we have to accept it to be saved. 5. What about hell? How could a loving God send someone to hell? Woof. This is tough. Try to direct this toward two points: God is the judge of humanity. It is never our job to say about a specific person, That person is going to hell. (Romans 14:10-13) Jesus spoke very directly about the existence of an afterlife. His words should be considered. We might not understand how God will judge, but we can trust that He is consistent, that He is trustworthy, that He is loving, & that He is just. In the end, He will judge based on those things. We know that Jesus is the way we get to the Father. 12