The Road to Shalom

"Is God Weaning His People?"

• Fran Sciacca • Season 3 • Episode 1

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     The people of God have had a perennial problem trying to discover a sense of identity within the cultures they have found themselves throughout history. They have, in the words of Fran Sciacca, often "resembled a cast of characters in search of a plot." And when the road in search of a plot ran dry, more often than not, they settled for an agenda rather than a plot. Or worse, chose a plot that served their own purposes.
     In this premier episode for 2021, Fran suggests that American evangelicalism has become more of a nursery of infants living on milk, than a group of mature Christ followers. His solution? To rediscover the One Story of the One God...and to truly know it, personally and corporately.
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OTHER  RESOURCES BY FRAN SCIACCA:

Welcome to 2021. And welcome back to those of you who’ve been traveling the Road to Shalom for a season or two. If you’re new to the podcast, thanks for listening. I’m Fran Sciacca, the host of “The Road to Shalom.” An exploration into what the mutual flourishing between all things might look like. What the ancient near eastern peoples called “shalom.” A world in which every relationship—people and God, people and people, people and nature, nature with itself, and even our inner relationships with ourselves—enrich and do not diminish us. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, this beautiful arrangement, God’s design from the beginning, was vandalized by humanity, and will be restored in the life to come. This show examines a little bit how we contribute to the loss of shalom, and what it might take for it to be restored. At least substantially in this life. 

Before we jump into this episode, I wanted to give you a “shout out” for the podcast as I step into its third season. Just this week, we passed the marker for 20,000 listens. So, thank you! And, as an old guy who’s pretty much a Patiwan learner in the podcasting universe, I’ve been told by the folks that are the Jedi masters of podcasting to encourage you to write a review of The Road to Shalom, wherever you get your podcasts. So, take a few minutes after this episode, and jot a few lines about what it's meant to you and why. Okay…

I don’t think I’ve mentioned before that I was a high school teacher for nearly 25 years before I started Hands of Hur, the ministry I direct. But I was. I taught Bible in Colorado Springs and Birmingham, AL, pretty much splitting that 25 years between those two schools. I did everything in my power to make my classroom a place students looked forward to coming, knowing full well that’s a pretty idealistic goal for 15-18 year olds. I am passionate about learning, and have been deeply influenced by the fact that the Hebrew verb for “learn” and “teach” is the same word. In fact, the Hebrew verb, “lamad,” to “teach” means “to cause someone to learn.” Anyway, I was committed to my classroom being an environment where you’d have to consciously not want to learn, for that to happen. One of the things I did was hang quotations all over the walls and ceiling, so that even if someone was day dreaming, they’d have the opportunity to learn something. One quote was from Apple evangelist, Guy Kawaski’s 1991 book, “Selling the Dream,” that said, “all men are cremated equal.” In all, there were probably about 25 of them scattered all over the room. One day, after everyone else had followed the sound of the bell to their next class, one of my students stayed behind. She was visibly confused, but was hesitant to speak. I finally broke the silence and said, “Brooke, what’s on your mind?” She said, “Mr. Sciacca, you know that sign on the wall today that says, ‘There are no atheists in hell’? Well, I am totally confused.” I asked her what her confusion was, and she said, “Well, then where are they?” Now, trust me, this is one of those rare moments for a teacher when you have to decide how to respond. Laughter seemed reasonable, but probably not professional. So, I just said…slowly…”Well Brooke, maybe there’s another way to look at that statement. Maybe it’s not talking about where the person is.”

That’s a cute anecdote for sure. But it’s also a bit of a metaphor for the myopia that seems to have characterized a large and perhaps growing sector of American evangelicalism. If you’re thinking in one direction, you can’t think of anything else, unless you change your gaze. And that’s not easy to do if everyone around you is looking in the same direction too. Unless someone else changes it for you. About thirty years ago, I wrote a book, “Generation At Risk: What Legacy Are Baby Boomers Leaving Their Kids?” In that book I made a pretty bold statement, giving my assessment of the state of Evangelicalism in the late 80’s. I said, “The evangelical church in America has become a moral mirror image of the larger culture. We have created the illusion of separateness by developing a religious subculture complete with its own industries. But under inspection, it becomes clear that we are as self-indulging as the larger culture and nearly as autonomous.”  The person who wrote a review of the book in Christianity Today accused me of being “heavy-handed,” and unfairly critical. I’ll leave the equity of that judgment to you. I happen to believe that the perennial struggle of the faith community has to do with perspective. With the direction of our gaze. Where do we look for our sense of identity—of who we are? What’s our point as a people? I mean, what’s the purpose of the Church? And, what should we be doing with our time, money, and resources? What’s our mission? Thirty years ago, when I wrote that book, the Evangelicalism I saw was becoming more and more content to have its own music, its own version of Grammys, its own elementary and high schools, its own magazines and publishing companies, to have its own line of merchandise, its own TV and radio stations, and its own growing cult of celebrities. We pretty much had our own little world. The decade of the 80s bred a particular brand of Christian narcissism, evidenced by the 500 Christian books in print then, whose titles contained the words, “How To…” and the geometric rise in Christian counseling, with a focus on inner healing.

The decade of the 90s marked the “coming out” of Christian activism, orbiting around books and speakers referring to what they called the “culture wars.” Colorado Springs became something of a hotbed for all this when James Dobson moved his organization, Focus on the Family there in 1991. To be honest, I have to say that I’ve had difficulties for the past thirty years with the whole concept of “culture wars.” Not because the word isn’t descriptively accurate. It is accurate. But, the concept of “culture wars” as its popularly propagated and understood, is typically anemic in at least two ways. One is that it belies or at least minimizes the reality that the entire message of the Bible—from cover to cover—is that the God’s covenant community will always be misunderstood, under-represented, and constantly threatened by distraction and misdirection from its mission. A scarlet thread running through the biblical narrative is that of warfare. Death, desertion, betrayal, fear and hopelessness are evident in even the best of the characters in the Story. But, so are courage, perseverance, mercy, compassion, justice and fealty. Are we at war with the culture? Well, sorta. But, the biblical narrative casts the struggle on a much bigger battlefield, and portrays the warfare being as old as the Garden of Eden. Also—and perhaps most importantly—the biblical narrative also casts the struggle as one that is spiritual, not cultural, in nature and power. We are told specifically that we are not contending against people, but against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” [Eph 6:10]  And finally—and perhaps of greatest relevance—the Story of the Bible repeatedly records the spiritual collapse of God’s people when they lose sight of the true nature of the battle, and slowly give more and more of their allegiance to political power and material resources while simultaneously giving less and less time attending to the soul of the covenant community. This is evident in Jewish kings making alliances with other nations in the Old Testament, to the Sanhedrin trying to keep Rome happy to preserve their way of life during the days of Jesus.

What’s any of this got to do with us during this present hour? Well, it’s my belief that the cultural and spiritual myopia that I saw within evangelicalism thirty years ago has not only continued, but it’s been accelerating because of the gradual removal of the anchors that were holding it back. What do I mean? Well, I’m glad you asked, because that brings us to the title of this episode: “Is God Weaning His People?”

 Beloved, I can’t speak to cultural myopia except to say that for those of us in the faith community, the short-sighted, narrow-minded, tunnel vision that characterizes growing numbers of people, is the inevitable stepchild of a more serious perception problem. Something I can only call, voluntary spiritual atrophy. I realize that’s a little harsh. You might even call it “heavy handed.” That would be fair I suppose, except I’m not a “heavy-handed” person. I’m just a guy who’s been trying to say the same thing to the same people for four decades…in one fashion or another. I think the reason we’ve been drawn into the destructive din of our day has more to do with what we don’t know than what we do know.

The late Richard Neibuhr said, "The great Christian revolutions come not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when somebody takes radically something that was already there.” Neibuhr is talking here about forgotten truth. About rediscovering it, and then radically embracing it and all its implications and consequences. I think this is the clear and present challenge to American evangelicalism. Hang on to that thought of Neibuhr’s. I want to piggyback on it a verse from the Letter to the Hebrews, and then spend the time we have left weaving the two together.

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12–14 ESV)

Now hang with me because we’re going to put this passage on the operating table a bit, and try to open it up. The author of Hebrews is addressing a group of Jewish people who had embraced Jesus as the promised Messiah here (the verbs and nouns are all plural). And he sorta gets in their faces a bit with the word, “ought.” It’s a pretty tough word, pointing to obligation, not a suggestion. They were being delinquent in their responsibility. Why? Well, he says that “by this time…” Or put another way, “Hey come on folks, you’ve been at this a while. You’re the ones who are supposed to be helping others know what you know.” Then, he goes on to tell them that spiritually, they’re basically children. Little children in fact, who need to be fed spiritual milk, the food of infants. He makes it pretty clear that whatever they had known either was gone or at least needed a refresher course. They were in need of being “taught again the basic principles of God’s word.” Or, put it in a modern idiom, “You need to learn your ABC’s all over again.” And he makes an interesting statement about them. He says they are “unskilled in the word of righteousness.” The word means inexperienced. Their spiritual immaturity in regard to God’s word has rendered them skill-less in its use on one hand, and stunted their own spiritual development on the other. Beloved, I’m afraid this description fits many of us within the evangelical camp. We’ve lost our spiritual perception of the world and the true nature of the battle we’re surrounded by, because we’ve forgotten—or perhaps never knew—the larger spiritual framework in which our lives are being lived. We’ve slowly become blind to the spiritual purpose for which we’ve been called. We’ve become ignorant of what Paul called God’s “plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in heaven and earth in Christ” in the first chapter of Ephesians. In the very next chapter, Paul further unpacks what that unity actually looks like in just one corner of life—the world of racial hostility—and he uses the Greek equivalent of our Hebrew word, shalom, to do so:

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace [or shalom], who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace [making shalom], and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:13–16 ESV)

What am I getting at here? Simply that God’s Story—the Bible—is the clear narrative exegeting his purposes. If we want to know what GOD wants for us and from us, we have to know this narrative. We have to know the biblical story. I’m not talking here about general Bible knowledge; books of the Bible, basic geography, or even mastering the classic Bible stories about Noah, Joseph, Moses, the fall of Jericho, David and Goliath, David and Bathsheba, Esther, and the like. Or even the Nativity, the crucifixion, Pentecost, and the journeys of Paul. Should you and I know these stories? Well…yeah! But, every one of them is a component piece in the one Story of the one God that is contained between the two covers of your Bible. To be honest, I have to tell you that not knowing the one Story means you and I really don’t know the meaning of the pieces either.

A person who doesn’t know the One Story of the One God, is one of the “infants in need of milk” the writer of Hebrews was addressing. I fear that much of American evangelicalism over the past forty years has become a large nursery full of infants in need of milk. And as a result, collectively we often resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot. And, as our trail leading to a plot seems to have gone cold, we’ve decided to settle for an agenda instead of a plot. Whose agenda? Well, that depends pretty much on where you live and who your friends are.

Beloved, this issue of voluntary spiritual blindness is a big deal to me. I’ve dedicated the last 15 years of my life trying to raise the level of biblical literacy among the faith community because of the dire consequences if we miss our purpose because we’ve lost the Story. Esau sold his birthright for a can of soup because of spiritual short-sightedness. And what happens on the individual level can happen corporately. The Hebrew scriptures were lost during the days before King Josiah because of spiritual short-sightedness.

The prophet Amos, one of the two final voices from God before the total fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, issued a chilling warning to God’s people in the 8th century B.C. that is incredibly sobering for this current moment in our spiritual history. It’s practically tattooed on my cerebral cortex. He said:

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11 NIV)

Nearly 800 years later, St. Paul made a similar prediction:

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV)

The word, “wander” here points to being slowly misled. And Paul says they are mislead into “myths.” The Greek word refers to a fable or a story. In other words, Paul says that there is a day when people will find themselves embracing a different story. A different plot. But one that is more tailored to what they want out of life, than one that’s rooted in God’s plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in heaven and in earth in Christ.” (Eph. 1:10). And more seriously is Paul’s statement that they will eventually turn away from paying attention to the truth, to the One Story of the One God. That’s what a “famine of hearing the words of the LORD” looks like, beloved. And, I have to say that I really think being a cast of characters in search of a plot is bad. But being a cast of characters who’ve embraced the wrong plot is much worse.

As we step into the uncharted waters of 2021, I’d like to issue a challenge to you. Do a little self-assessment here. Where are you on the spiritual growth chart? Are you still nursing? Are you still an infant? Or are you maturing and growing in your understanding of just what it is that God’s seeking in this hour? Is your understanding of what it means to follow Jesus rooted in the One Story of the One God, or the current storyline of our day? Do you feel like you know the Story of God? I mean, really know it? How much of your day or week is spent IN IT? Can you think of the last time you actually sat and read your Bible?

I’d like for you to consider making January 2021 the time you decided you wanted to know better the Story you’re actually in, as a believer. Let me give you some ideas. There’s tons of doable reading programs online you can print out and stick in the flap of your Bible. Find one that’s chronological, and follows the storyline rather than the Table of Contents. And…don’t be put off here…use a Bible that isn’t on a screen. A physical Bible. Hold it in your hands. Mark it up. Stare off and think.

If you decide you want to do less, then get a copy of Sandra Richter’s book, “The Epic of Eden.” It’s a great way to get your mind around the narrative of the Bible. The One Story of the One God. She’s a brilliant scholar, and a good writer.

If you want to do a little more, I’ve made the three biblical literacy courses that I use in training, available online. They each have  course book full of great content, are chronological in approach, and are based on the notion of the One Story of the One God. There’s also 13 hours of free audio with each. You can find them at my website: fransciacca.com. under the Print menu.

I know this episode stepped on your toes a bit, but beloved there’s so much more at stake here than stimulus checks and arguments over wearing masks and getting vaccinated. We’re talking about the future of the gospel and the mission of God to restore shalom in all the places it’s been stolen. Shalom between us and Him, between us and each other, for starters. But, until and unless we really believe that the Story of God is the story we’re in, we’ll be perfect prey for agendas and myths. The road to shalom is in the Story. The road to disunity and distraction is in the world of agendas and myths. Which is it going to be for you?

See ya next time….
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• 2-year online reading program is here.

• Sandra Richter's book, “The Epic of Eden” is here.

• Fran’s biblical literacy courses are here.

Photo by Zeesy Grossbaum on Unsplash