The Star Trek solution

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan (but don't worry - I've never attended a convention, and I don't speak much Klingon.) Usually, if a Star Trek episode gets my Christian radar fizzing it's because of its humanist worldview (Gene Rodenbery based the whole franchise on humanist principles). But this weekend I was watching an Enterprise DVD which left me shouting quite loudly at the screen...

(Quick summary of plot needed here - sorry!) In Season 3 of Enterprise, we see Captain Archer on a long mission to save earth from total destruction. In his need to 'do whatever it takes' to save the planet we watch him sacrifice his principles one after another. His wide-eyed naivety at captaining the first ever star ship is replaced by a hard ruthlessness as he fights, cheats and even tortures his way to success. Interesting to watch - and probably quite fun to act. At the beginning of Season 4, Archer is back on the newly saved earth, but struggling to come to terms with the way he achieved his mission. He hasn't lived up to his own principles. He can't reconcile himself to what he has become, and neither can he change himself back to who he was. This inner turmoil is producing emotions he can't control, and bursting out in self-destructive acts.

In Christian terms, Archer has come face-to-face with his own sinfulness. And his inability to do anything about it. Fascinating. How was a humanistic show going to handle this? Usually, the starting premise is that human beings have it within themselves to solve their problems - but Archer seemed to be failing on that one. So... How did it end? (This is going to be the spoiler - so don't read on if you're now desperate to watch the show!)

Archer went mountain climbing. (To find the hidden strength within himself? - if so, it didn't work.) But he wasn't alone. Another starship captain joined him - a woman. Archer is angry. Archer is having nightmares. Archer can't solve his problems. Until... He and she sleep together at the top of the mountain. And suddenly everything is allright! It was just a one-mountain fling - no permanent relationship here - but it has wiped away all of Archer's problems.

I know I shouldn't have been shocked. This is a common worldview for many, of course. But this was STAR TREK!! It left me wanting to talk to about it (hence this blog). And wanting to use it as a discussion starter. It's not appropriate for my current group (they're 5-8s!), but I'd love to discuss this with a group of teens: What impact does our sinful nature have on us? What solutions does the world offer? What does the gospel of grace say? You and I may not have tortured anyone in a bid to save our planet - but what joy to know that our own sinfulness has been wiped clean, totally forgiven, by our wonderful, gracious Lord. And surely we want our young people to know this joy too.

Seeker-friendly or seeker-focused?

I was talking to a minister recently about his approach to preaching. He knows there will always be non-Christians at the morning service, so he keeps them in mind when preparing. His view is that these non-believers won't 'get it' - ie: they won't grasp the gospel of grace in one hearing - but that everything they hear must be understandable. However, the morning service is also when the church comes together to thank and praise God and learn together from His Word. For that reason, this minister plans talks and services that are 'seeker-friendly' but not 'seeker-focused'.

This got me thinking about our children's and youth groups. Are they seeker-focused - with an opportunity to 'pray the prayer' every week or so? Or seeker-friendly, but with plenty of teaching for the believers too? If your group is like the ones I've had over the years, you'll have three kinds of youngsters:
• The ones who seem to show genuine faith, in whom you rejoice as you see them grow.
• The ones who seem far from God, with little grasp of His goodness and grace towards them.
• The ones you haven't a clue about!

If we take a Bible-centred approach, we will want to keep God's Word central to all that we do with our group. The great news is that when we teach the Bible, a passage means the same whether we are teaching a believer, a non-believer or an 'unknown'. We still teach the Bible. We still teach the same main point (it doesn't change according to the beliefs, understanding or age of our group members). And we still apply it faithfully. However, we need to ensure that this application suits our hearers, which may well mean making separate applications for seekers and believers. And we pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of any seekers. This is the only way they are going to 'get it'.

So, teaching the Bible is still central, whether we have believers, seekers or a mix. But I do find myself wondering about my own sessions. Do I tend to be too seeker-focused, and not build in enough to help the believing children in my group to grow? I'm currently planning sessions for the next two Sundays. I may look again at those plans...

Pleasing God

'God will be pleased with me if I'm good.'
If a young person said that to you, how would you respond? Would you agree? Or disagree? And why?

YES: Living the way God wants me to live pleases Him. And as a Christian I want to please God.

NO: Many of us say 'pleased with me' when we really means 'accepts me'. But God does not accept us on the basis of our goodness (none of us are good enough). We are accepted on the basis of Christ's goodness alone.

So it's not 'God will accept me if I live a good life'. Instead, it's 'Because God has accepted me (through Christ), I want to live His way.' In many cases the actions may be the same - 'being good' - but the heart is different, the motivation is different.

The consequences of disobedience are different, too. If we believe that God only accepts us if we're good - but then we mess up - that leads to despair. But if we believe that God accepts us through Christ - and then we mess up - we repent and move on. We know that God has forgiven us and we still want to live His way.

These are issues I'm currently pondering ready for the first of our series of Big Issue training days around the country. This year's theme is 'Grace & Law', so I've been thinking about how children and young people can misunderstand these things. I long for the young people I work with to understand God's grace - and to understand the freedom this gives them. Not freedom to do whatever they feel like - but freedom to follow Christ and live His way. If you have any thoughts on the above, that might help me teach this more clearly - I'd love to hear them.

Friends and heroes

Last week, after two recommendations of the new BBC2 series 'Friends and Heroes', Tim and I decided to check it out.

The first challenge - could we find the Good Book telly?
• We eventually unearthed it from a cupboard.

The second challenge - where to put it?
• The desk was too cluttered
• The filing cabinet was too far from a plug
• An old table base was perfect but, oops, was that the sound of breaking glass? (Alas, poor vase - I knew it well.)

At last all was set, and we sat down to be impressed...

'Friends and Heroes' is in the same style as a previous animated series called 'The Storykeepers'. In both cases, the main story is based in the First Century, with the heroes experiencing life under the Romon occupation. They have adventures - but they also tell each other stories from the Old and New Testaments. As a concept it's an interesting one, and has potential for us as children's and youth workers.

Sadly, despite the recommendations, both Tim and I were disappointed. The animation quality was good - but the storytelling was slow to get going. Each episode includes two Bible stories, chosen to link with the theme of that episode. The one we watched was about two children - one Jewish and one Roman - who were prejudiced against each other. So one of the chosen Bible stories was Peter and Cornelius from Acts 10. It's certainly true that the vision God sent to Peter was designed to challenge Peter's view of 'unclean' Gentiles. Indeed, Peter would not have gone to see Cornelius otherwise, as he himself explains in v28-29. But this vision wasn't merely about friendship - it was opening Peter's eyes to the astounding truth (for him) that the wonderful gospel message about Jesus was for all people, not just the Jews. When Peter met with Cornelius, he spoke to him about Jesus - and all those listening became believers and were filled with God's Spirit. It was a pivotal moment in the expansion of the gospel and the growth of the early church.

When this story is used in Friends and Heroes, the animators have selected which parts of the story to include. Nothing is left in about the gospel - instead it's all about friendship, and specifically that Jews and Romans should be friends. As a result, the two children in the main story agree that they will be friends too. A gospel-centred event has been turned into a moralistic one.

Interestingly, if you check out the website linked with the TV series, there is a lot of emphasis on historical accuracy. The artefacts are drawn to be as near to accurate as possible, and the historical background is mainly based on the writings of Josephus. Much is made of this attention to detail - and I'm glad that it's there. However, when it comes to handling the Bible stories themselves, far less concern has been given to maintaining the full flow of the story or the main point behind it. This is disappointing.

The series is available on DVD, and I would still use clips from it with a group. But I'd either select very short examples where the Bible handling manages to be accurate - or I'd use it in a different way alltogether. I think this could form the basis of a very interesting discussion with older children and teens about how we understand Bible stories and apply them to our own lives. I'd love to sit down with a group - watch the episode I saw last week - compare it with the Bible account in Acts 10, and use that as a basis for a discussion. It could be a creative way to help young people think about understanding and applying the Bible for themslves - as well as thinking critically about the things they see and hear.

Do check out the programmes for yourself. They're currently shown on BBC2 at 10.45 on Tuesday mornings. You can also find out more from their website.