These questions are connected to the message, “Jesus and His Deviant Ways,” from Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. You can watch it here.
Dive In: Read or listen to this passage (Luke 7:29-35) in an unfamiliar translation of the Bible (e.g. New Living Translation or The Message). What stands out to you? Words? Phrases? Ideas?
- What does this passage teach you about what God is like if God is like Jesus?
- Marc took us on a brief jaunt through Church history. What about that history was new, insightful, or alarming for you? What can it teach us about how we hold doctrinal views and what is essential to Jesus-following?
- One of the mantra’s of the early Reformers was “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda” meaning “the Church reformed, always reforming.” They recognized that we never come to the full and perfect understanding of truth but need to be constantly sitting under Scripture and, with wisdom, humbly trying to apply the grand narrative or ‘redemptive arc’ to our time. What are some of the ways you’ve either witnessed the church move in its views on certain issues in light of greater scholarly knowledge in language studies, archaeology, cultural and historical insights, or you’ve personally shifted in your views? How did you experience the tensions and questions (e.g. was it frightening, freeing, intriguing, etc.)?
- Have there been people in your faith experience who have “coloured outside the lines” (the analogy Marc used for those who think outside of the traditional norms)? What impact did they have on you?
- Currently, if someone asked you, “To be a Christian you should be _________,” how would you answer them?
Act on it:
Is there someone who holds a view other than your own that you could have a conversation with for the purpose of learning or understanding, not convincing?
Is there someone who holds a view other than your own that you could have a conversation with for the purpose of learning or understanding, not convincing?
Digging Deeper:
Resources that might be interesting/enlightening that cover some of the areas Marc touched on:
- Mega-church madness and moral failures of contemporary church leaders: “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill” podcast series
- Purity culture: The Making of Biblical Womanhood, Beth Allison Barr; The Great Sex Rescue, Sheila Gregoire
- Colonialization & Systemic Racism: Reading While Black, Esau McCaulley; How to be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi, Decolonizing Evangelicalism, Randy S. Woodley