A Safe Place

One of the greatest joys that I have experienced in recent years has been helping to lead my son’s weekly small group bible study. What a gift to be invited to gather with a group of fifteen-year-old boys on a weekly basis to talk about scripture, Jesus, and other things that life brings our way. The beauty of our weekly gatherings is that it has provided a place for all of us to ask questions, voice uncertainties, and wonder together about the profound claims found in scripture.

During one such gathering earlier this year, one of the boys asked perhaps the central question of the Christian faith. “Was, or is, Jesus really God or was he just an amazing guy?” People have gone to war over this question.  

But we’ve had a good answer since the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 met and penned the Nicene Creed. It starts like this:

“We believe … in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God begotten, not made;”

Jesus always was. He was not simply created from God. Instead, He was always God. In the Greek language Jesus and God were said to be homoousios in nature. That means they are “of the same substance.”  

But how can Jesus can be both fully God and fully human? How can Jesus could be both God’s son and God?

I don’t claim to be able to answer these questions with any semblance of final authority or succinct clarity. Instead, I just believe. However, I do appreciate the questions in all of their fullness.

I am so grateful that on a weekly basis the boys in our bible study have found a place to ask questions. Even the most profound ones. We all need a place like this. If we profess to be followers of Jesus, then we all need to be considering these questions and finding places to ask them safely.

This is the kind of space we hope to create at Laity Lodge Family Camp during our retreats. In the midst of all the fun and the rest, I pray that families will also find time to consider and ask the important questions. And that LLFC will be a safe place to do so.

Questions to consider:

• What have been some of the biggest questions you have had as a Christian?
• What are some of the most profound questions that you have been asked (by your children or others) regarding the Christian faith?
• Have you ever experienced a safe place where you could ask difficult questions about your faith? If so, when, where?
• What are some ways in which your family could be a safe environment to ask and consider the tough questions about the Christian faith?

Cary Hendricks – Sr. Director of LLFC