Change is possible
26/06/16 05:21
We’ve been working on preparations for our annual Vacation Bible School. VBS is a fun and exciting time in our church. We have an opportunity to work with children for five nights in a row. Our program features a family meal, crafts, games, stories, songs and more. We try to take advantage of the opportunity, knowing that this block of time for teaching and learning is precious. Families live in a whirlwind of activity and many can’t find the time for regular participation in Christian Education. Each year there are a few children who participate in our program that we don’t see during the rest of the year. There are others whose participation in other programs is sporadic. This one week of focused teaching and learning is worthy of our time and effort.
This year, the Department has chosen to focus on stories of Paul. The Epistles are among the oldest documents of our New Testament and provide a glimpse at the early church and some perspectives on the the life of Jesus that cannot be gained from reading the Gospels alone. There are some great narrative stories in the Acts of the Apostles, but the letters tend to be shorter on the kind of stories that engage younger children. My role in the process doesn’t involve direct involvement in the choice of which Bible stories are presented. I serve as a song leader and direct opening exercises. In that role, I work with the choices made by the Department of Education in our church.
Working with Paul demands an examination of how we think about human personality. Is our personality something that is fixed and remains constant throughout our entire lives, or is it something that can change with time and circumstances? While there is something at the core of each human being that remains - an inner identity and spirit - there are many things in our lives that can change.
The stories of Paul depend on the belief that people can change. Paul’s conversation wasn’t from being an irreligious man to becoming religious. The bible reports that Paul was very committed to Judaism and the following of Jewish law. He served as a prosecutor of those who violated Jewish law. His conversion to Christianity involved a new understanding of his role in the world and a new way of understanding Christians. Whereas he previously thought that Christians had to be drawn back to traditional Judaism, he learned to accept and embrace Christianity and its new interpretations of traditional Jewish faith. The stories show how he went from persecuting Christians to promoting the spread of Christianity.
Did his personality change?
Certainly a lot changed. He changed his name from Saul to Paul. He changed his occupation. He changed his religious affiliations. He changed the focus of his life. But there was something about him that remained constant. People knew then and know today that Saul the enforcer of Jewish Laws is the same person as Paul, the leader of the Christian faith.
These stories and our attitude towards Paul have the ability to shape our attitudes towards other people in a wide variety of settings. When we have been the victims of injustice, or have been wronged by another person, do we believe that change is possible?
Ideologically, the modern penitentiary movement is based on the belief that those who have committed crimes can change. The word penitentiary comes from the same root as penance, the work one engages in to make up for a sin. The belief was that setting one aside from the mainstream of society gave an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs committed and make new commitments to live differently in the future. This process involved a lot of mistakes along the way. Keeping people in total isolation didn’t always produce the changes desires. Those whose spirits have been broken rarely are able to participate fully in society until significant healing has taken place.
Some of our modern laws seem to be based in a conviction that a person who commits a crime is always a criminal. That person can never be trusted and society needs to be protected from him or her. Usually our opinions are based on the severity of the crime committed.
Our laws provide for the permanent removal of some rights from those who commit certain crimes. Some criminals lose their right to vote for the rest of their lives. Some must register as offenders after they have been released from prison. There are crimes for which a person is incarcerated for the rest of their life. We seem to have mixed feelings about the possibility of rehabilitation.
Working with children, I am subject to periodic criminal background checks. We are diligent in protecting the safety of our children and make sure that the adults who work with them have no history of abusing children. The feeling is that while we may believe that rehabilitation is possible, the potential risks of new victims is simply too great to take a chance. A person who has committed a crime in which a child was a victim needs to find a different way of serving the community than working with children.
Still, one of the Biblical lessons we are challenged to teach to our children is that people can change. One who was not trusted by Christians became a trusted leader of Christians. This capacity for change is not only illustrated by the stories of Paul, but in other areas of the Bible as well. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples ask if it is possible for any person to be saved. After Jesus presents a difficult challenge to a rich young man who came to him, his disciples wonder if anyone is capable of living up to such high standards. Jesus responds, “With man this is impossible, but the God all things are possible.”
The things we cannot do on our own include both making the most significant changes and forgiving others for wrongs committed. Teaching our children to turn to God may be the most important lesson of all.
This year, the Department has chosen to focus on stories of Paul. The Epistles are among the oldest documents of our New Testament and provide a glimpse at the early church and some perspectives on the the life of Jesus that cannot be gained from reading the Gospels alone. There are some great narrative stories in the Acts of the Apostles, but the letters tend to be shorter on the kind of stories that engage younger children. My role in the process doesn’t involve direct involvement in the choice of which Bible stories are presented. I serve as a song leader and direct opening exercises. In that role, I work with the choices made by the Department of Education in our church.
Working with Paul demands an examination of how we think about human personality. Is our personality something that is fixed and remains constant throughout our entire lives, or is it something that can change with time and circumstances? While there is something at the core of each human being that remains - an inner identity and spirit - there are many things in our lives that can change.
The stories of Paul depend on the belief that people can change. Paul’s conversation wasn’t from being an irreligious man to becoming religious. The bible reports that Paul was very committed to Judaism and the following of Jewish law. He served as a prosecutor of those who violated Jewish law. His conversion to Christianity involved a new understanding of his role in the world and a new way of understanding Christians. Whereas he previously thought that Christians had to be drawn back to traditional Judaism, he learned to accept and embrace Christianity and its new interpretations of traditional Jewish faith. The stories show how he went from persecuting Christians to promoting the spread of Christianity.
Did his personality change?
Certainly a lot changed. He changed his name from Saul to Paul. He changed his occupation. He changed his religious affiliations. He changed the focus of his life. But there was something about him that remained constant. People knew then and know today that Saul the enforcer of Jewish Laws is the same person as Paul, the leader of the Christian faith.
These stories and our attitude towards Paul have the ability to shape our attitudes towards other people in a wide variety of settings. When we have been the victims of injustice, or have been wronged by another person, do we believe that change is possible?
Ideologically, the modern penitentiary movement is based on the belief that those who have committed crimes can change. The word penitentiary comes from the same root as penance, the work one engages in to make up for a sin. The belief was that setting one aside from the mainstream of society gave an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs committed and make new commitments to live differently in the future. This process involved a lot of mistakes along the way. Keeping people in total isolation didn’t always produce the changes desires. Those whose spirits have been broken rarely are able to participate fully in society until significant healing has taken place.
Some of our modern laws seem to be based in a conviction that a person who commits a crime is always a criminal. That person can never be trusted and society needs to be protected from him or her. Usually our opinions are based on the severity of the crime committed.
Our laws provide for the permanent removal of some rights from those who commit certain crimes. Some criminals lose their right to vote for the rest of their lives. Some must register as offenders after they have been released from prison. There are crimes for which a person is incarcerated for the rest of their life. We seem to have mixed feelings about the possibility of rehabilitation.
Working with children, I am subject to periodic criminal background checks. We are diligent in protecting the safety of our children and make sure that the adults who work with them have no history of abusing children. The feeling is that while we may believe that rehabilitation is possible, the potential risks of new victims is simply too great to take a chance. A person who has committed a crime in which a child was a victim needs to find a different way of serving the community than working with children.
Still, one of the Biblical lessons we are challenged to teach to our children is that people can change. One who was not trusted by Christians became a trusted leader of Christians. This capacity for change is not only illustrated by the stories of Paul, but in other areas of the Bible as well. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples ask if it is possible for any person to be saved. After Jesus presents a difficult challenge to a rich young man who came to him, his disciples wonder if anyone is capable of living up to such high standards. Jesus responds, “With man this is impossible, but the God all things are possible.”
The things we cannot do on our own include both making the most significant changes and forgiving others for wrongs committed. Teaching our children to turn to God may be the most important lesson of all.