Phenomenology, Faith and Young People

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Guest post by Katie Gough. Freelance writer, published poet and independent philosopher. Katie has been involved in Youth Work – across three countries – for nearly a decade. Read more at www.kategough.com

Concrete and Abstract – What’s The Difference?

When you were five years old, your mother was your mother because of her smell, the feel of her hand in yours, the familiarity of her shape, her voice, and her constant attention. The bond between you was tangible in many ways. She was the immediate physical experience of love.

Perhaps now, you’ve grown up. In your mind, your mother is your mother because she gave birth to you and took care of you and suffered long nights caring for you when you were ill. She is your mother because you carry her DNA inside you, and maybe you show some of her physical traits. She is where you came from.

The difference between these two recognitions is profound. One is very concrete and experiential and the other is abstract, assessing and stacking up ideas and reasons. As we grow, our minds move from being bound by concrete things to being able to grasp and work with more flexible abstract concepts.

We use both of these methods throughout our lives in order to perceive our surroundings and their meaning to us. We grow, not out of the concrete, experiential side of our selves, but beyond it such that we can now grasp a wider, deeper world than we did in the first years of our lives. If our whole selves were made to commune with God, then the more elemental ways we perceived as children are not less valid, only incomplete.

Are We Holding Back the Development of Our Young People?

Christian teachings often indicate that we are to leave behind the more physical parts of ourselves in our quest to become holy. Our direct, concrete childhood experiences are devalued, replaced by abstract teaching (peppered with real-life stories to keep everyone’s attention), and finally ‘relegated to youth work’. We essentially throw a large portion of our spiritual growth away and never expect to look at it again.

In youth work however, we are expected to use concrete examples and methods in our attempts to reach young people with the gospel. While the experiences and learning of childhood may not be seen as respectable or advanced, we accept that they are a necessary tool in teaching young people. Thus, we simplify things down rather than opening them up, shying away from questions or content that might be difficult enough to ‘put young people off’. There are even (dare we admit it) a variety of things we avoid because we still don’t know how to answer them ourselves.

The underlying message of this approach has a knock-on effect in our youth work worldview and the attitudes we pass on to our young people. In the end, we deign to teach youth in a childish way because we think they are too distracted, rebellious and/or lazy to tackle the big stuff. But young people feel this — that we make concessions, that we don’t respect how we are teaching them, that we are holding back and trying not to scare them off. They know when older people are filling space, even while they enjoy that space for what it is.

This age group is right at the cusp of abstract thought, spending much of their time and mental energy becoming facile with its application in their every day life. As the rest of the world begins to open out into a wide vista of abstract opportunity and difficulty, why do we continue to portray faith safely, with foolproof, concrete simplicity? Can we blame them if faith suddenly begins to seem a bit childish and limited? A small, immobile, inflexible, uncomplicated faith. A pandering and… easy belief. Not relevant.

Approaching the Abstract.

When I was about 12, there was a question burning away my insides. Something in a sermon or my Bible had sparked it and I couldn’t shake it. How could one possibly know the difference between God’s voice and Satan’s? I felt that I could tell, but I had no reasons for it. What if I was wrong? How could I speak with God and know the answer was really His? My uncertainty threw the truth of my entire relationship with God into question. I needed to know.

One Sunday, I asked every Christian adult I knew even a little, which wasn’t many. They all looked at me with trapped, blank eyes. So I was left alone, mired in fear, my spiritual mast swinging with indecision.

The entrance of abstract thought into my world had defeated my ability to engage with my faith — and no one knew. I was left entirely alone by those who were supposed to be my spiritual elders and mentors.

Embracing the Challenge of the Abstract.

If our whole selves were made to commune with God, then the more elemental ways we perceived as children are not less valid, only incomplete. Young people need to grow, not out of the concrete, experiential side of themselves, but beyond it so that they can grasp a wider, deeper world than they did in the first years of their lives.

As young people learn to assimilate and apply the abstract everywhere else in life, are we communicating to them that the answers to a very messy world are as simple as they looked when they were children?

Our youth need to be able to meet an abstractly complex world with a more abstractly complex faith. We could be leading them by the hand, showing them how this new, abstract language enriches and broadens the old and familiar one, encouraging it to grow solidly — and in relationship with — their faith.

We need to show them how big the world of faith gets as they grow older.
Are You Ready to Roll Up Your Sleeves?

As youth workers, we have a responsibility to meet young people relevantly and with the kind of care that asks and sees where they are at. As they learn to embrace and use abstract thought, we need to give them opportunities and tools that allow them to try their hand at marrying their whole experience of life to this unfamiliar piece.

Let’s face it: these are fast-maturing young adults, and they care for a challenge more than we dare to think. We need to get down into the nitty gritty ourselves, find the crux of the issues we teach, and lead our young people’s feet onto the crossroads — there to experience for themselves that the abstract is as real and as spiritual as the concrete, and worth getting messy with.

As followers of Christ, we have to allow God to be bigger than what we can teach about him — even in front of young people. Their entire conceptual framework is re-working itself in front of us, and we need to acknowledge that our concepts about God grow with us beyond the concrete experience we all began with. Then we have to be ready to roll up our sleeves and partner with our youth to make that growth happen. We are, by example, a bridge to maturity in the faith

Katie is a Californian writer and artist living in North Wales. She writes poetry, articles and creative fiction of all kinds, for all sorts of uses.

She has a degree in Philosophy from Calvin College and adores puzzling out the universe. She is always up on her toes, reaching for the next question and internalising everything she sees, reads, hears, or experiences – and is ready to apply where appropriate!

Katie is married to a full time Youth Worker, and has been involved in a wide range of Youth Work projects for a number of years across Britain and America.

You can always find Katie with a big cup of tea and a ball of wool, knitting happily in a corner while pondering the depths of the universe and mentally mapping out her next short story.

Persevering and Pushing Through In Youth work

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Guest post by Bex Baillie. A Youth Specialist at Trinity Network and Theology student at Bristol Bible College. Full bio below and check out her blog here.

 

Perseverance plays a big role in every generation of faith. If we stretch our minds back, we can see how our Youth Workers committed endless hours to supporting us, pushing through the tough times with little response in return. The art of persistence is a beautiful thing. It’s exercise for our hearts, and it helps to stretch our imaginations into new ways of thinking. Most of all, it’s a massive test of our faith.

‘Find out what God’s doing and join in.’

I love this motto! It’s a good saying to keep you grounded. Who says it has to be our original thought or creative new way of connecting with the young people? God is already there, doing great things in their lives. As the world’s greatest Youth Worker, He is their constant supporter and encourager, pushing them to think about what they believe and why.

Sometimes, maybe it’s best for us to take a step back, shadow what God is doing and then simply join in. While this might sound a bit vague at first, let’s look at our own lives for a moment. Have a think about the times we may have plowed ahead with our own great ideas – without watching out for God – and then finally given up after hitting a dead end. By tuning into God’s work, we can stay on the right track and follow the Master.
An Attitude For Perseverance

In all that we do, I don’t doubt that we have the intention to see young people grow in their faith and stick at church, but sometimes I wonder if our actions say otherwise.

If we want to produce healthy fruit that will last, it needs to grow from a well-rooted tree. While we may be well-rooted in our faith – and in many other ways – sometimes our attitude toward our work begins to lag. If we express flakiness towards our jobs or the young people, we shouldn’t expect it not to affect them. Even our attitudes teach young people. Part of perseverance is sticking at it and being committed to your plans. This means that the young people will be your priority when they need to be. When you are the best example of dedication, the young people will see it and adopt it as their own way of living.

Don’t feel like it is all up to you though, we are just one cog in a very big operation. We might be able to plant a seed in the young people’s lives; we can talk about God, tell stories and testimonies, provide pizza and give chunks of thoughtful advice here and there. Ultimately however, it will be God who will see that seed grow.

Don’t feel the pressure to complete His job and have each of your young people ‘fixed’. You have the wonderful role of Youth Worker, but you’re not God.
Perseverance For Long Lasting Ministry

Persistence. Staying Power. Tenacity. It’s not the art of proving your point, or finishing the ‘job’ for the sake of it. We want something that is long lasting, a ministry that will stand the test. Colossians 1:11 leads us to pray for “…not the grim strength of gritting your teeth, but the glory-strength God gives.” If we live by this sort of perseverance, our energy will be long-lasting and enjoyable!

In all the many ways that we attempt to strengthen our projects or clubs, we must remember that there is no quick-fix trick to success. As youth workers, we are all trialing different approaches all the time. Sometimes our ideas will take off and – BAM! – we’ve got it. Other times, we will have to ditch a plan and start again. Remember to stay on track with God, following His trail as you work with young people. Stick with it, and be glad that one day your fruit tree will blossom.

Galatians 6:9 says, “So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up or quit.”

Bex is a Youth Specialist working for Trinity Network Churches in North Bristol. Alongside her job, she is studying for a Degree in Theology, Ministry and Mission at Bristol Baptist Bible College.

Bex’s heart is in mentoring and inspiring young people. The favourite part of her job is meeting with young people over a Costa and tackling life’s big questions. In fact, the most likely place to find Bex is in Costa, with a Latte and slice of cake, scribbling down bits of wisdom from books, or typing out the next blog.

With a real sweet tooth, Bex loves to bake and trial new recipes. To burn off those extra calories, she loves to do park runs and go walking in the Peak District

How NOT to choose Young Leaders – Comics by Chloe

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By Chloe Perrin. Volunteer Youth Worker, Musical Theatre Tutor and Youth Charity Trustee.

Youthwork Around The Globe: Australia – with Dave Fagg

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Looking at cultural differences and similarities in worldwide youth work, we continue with our ‘Around The Globe’ series with Dave Fagg, in Australia. Check out the first in our series, on Hungary, here.

1. Where are you based?

Bendigo, Australia. I live in the suburb of Long Gully, which has a high percent-age of public housing (‘council housing’ I think the UK calls it).2. What unique challenges do you face?

How do I spark hope in young people whose parents and role models are living in despair? Long Gully struggles with inequality: many people are jobless, ill, poor, isolated and struggling with the stigma that all of these things bring.

In the bigger picture, Australia is divided between ‘youth ministry’ (done in and by churches) and ‘youth work’ (done in and by secular organisations). There is suspicion on both sides.

3. What shape and format do your youth work projects most often take?

I train youth workers with Praxis, an experiential diploma course which emphasises getting practically involved in young people’s lives. More than a course; it’s a learning community. I know most educators would say that, but it’s true!

My youth work morphs with time: I’ve led church youth groups, done high school outreach and teenage foster care, and spent a year overseas in the US and South Africa, learning from youth workers who served young people in gangs, and in poor communities. Until recently I coordinated a leadership program. At the start of 2016, I began volunteering as a youth worker at my local high school.

4. What do you enjoy most and what are you most proud of?

I love teaching! My greatest joy is seeing young people and youth workers gain new insights, and then go beyond what I could ever have taught.

5. What is your most valuable local resource?

My local state high school opens its arms to outside groups. Some Christians find ‘getting access’ to high schools difficult. But ‘getting access’ is the wrong way to think about it; it implies that the students are ‘materials’ for your ‘real’ program, which takes place elsewhere. When Christians talk to schools about the real needs of the young people, and then offer to help out, then schools are usually welcoming.

6. How often do you meet up with other youth workers? How easy or difficult is that and how valuable do you find it?

I would not have lasted 20 years in the youth sector without encouragement, discussion, and questioning from other youth workers. Praxis values connecting youth workers together, so I have a coffee budget! I frequently buy a coffee for someone, and chew the fat about our work, but also our dreams and struggles.

7. Tell us a story about something significant that has happened.

This morning I had a coffee with a young youth worker that I coach. Four years ago he started Praxis and knew everything there was to know. He was convinced that by knowing all the theories he would be a good youth worker. Our holistic approach to education struck him as ‘soft’. He left the course one year in, still dissatisfied but with some good questions stirring his pot. This morning, I asked him what I could pray for. He said he needed to have his heart broken; that he had realised, on their own, the theories weren’t enabling him to genuinely help people.

I was punching the air inside!

8. What gets you through difficult or stressful times in your ministry?

A few years ago I led a team from two organisations. The team was unpaid, apart from myself, and we didn’t have much time to communicate and build trust: we ran the weekly program, had a hurried chat about next week, and then left. I didn’t make sure we were communicating properly and inevitably, the team fell apart. It was difficult time; I lost a friendship which is only now recovering. I take failure to heart, and often ‘process’ things completely internally. This time, I spoke openly with trusted mentors about my failings, and then sought reconciliation with the people I’d hurt. It was so helpful to ‘get out of my head’.

9. Any final thoughts that you would like to share?

About 3 years, child protection agencies removed all the children from two related families in our neighbourhood who were connected to our church. My wife and I advocated with the family to the child protection agencies, but the children were removed nonetheless. One of the teenage children is now fostered by a family in our church, which has been fantastic for her, and them. The other children live all over the state. It’s complicated.

Youth work is often complicated, murky and we encounter all kinds of injustice and sadness. God makes no guarantees that things will fall into place in our time-frame. I take heart from the story of the crestfallen disciples, walking along the road to Emmaus. Their revolution in ashes, their Messiah executed, they pour out their heart to the strange companion on the road, who turns out to be the very one they mourn. When things don’t make sense, maybe we need to be open about it with others; we never know what might happen.

Dave Fagg is a youth worker from Australia. He trains youth workers at Praxis, and writes at Thinking My Way Through. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Why I don’t do wasteful food games – by Ryan Rudolph

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Youth work has a long tradition of using food. We love to use it for eating, especially. The Bible gives us great encouragement to use food for eating with one another. Celebrating, fellowship, parties, and communion. Food is a wonderful tool for authentic ministry.

But there is another use for food that Youth Workers revel in. It’s particularly fun, often messy, and our young people, on the whole, love it.

Except that I don’t.

And it’s not because it’s messy. Messy is great. In fact, the messier the better. My problem is the context I find myself in. Food is expensive, and we are surrounded by poverty.

Therefore, I struggle to find any joy in using food in a wasteful manner, because there are people in my congregation who don’t have any. As a church we have limited resources, and we use it as wisely as we possibly can. I don’t think I can have a young person coming into my youth, who has yet to eat that day play a game where food is wasted, and not enjoyed as it was intended. Does this mean I’m a buzzkill? Sure. But you can imagine what the kids in my context feel when they see food being used in such a manner.

I think part of our problem as youth workers is that we prioritize fun/entertainment over deeper concerns in the lives of our young people. Perhaps, we can structure our group times differently.

If Jesus used food to bring people together and share the gospel, then maybe that could be a great model for our youth ministries too?

Youthwork Around The Globe: South Africa – with Ryan Rudolph

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Another great guest Post By Ryan Rudolph. Youth Worker in South Africa, graduate of Oak Hill College and blogger at ryangrudolph.wordpress.com

 

1. Where are you based?

A medium sized Baptist Church in the CBD of East London, South Africa. It is a small, coastal city on the east coast, and is affectionately called “Slummies”, as in a slum-town. We are in an area called Southernwood, historically one of the oldest parts of the city.

2. What unique challenges do you face?

Some of our biggest challenges as a church are based around the area we find ourselves in.

Being in the city centre means we are more pre-disposed to issues arising from poverty. Prostitution is large and there are many homeless and hungry on our doorstep.

Drugs are readily available. At the end of a Friday night, I can get offered an assortment of drugs at the various places I drop some of my kids off. You would think that after 3 years the drug-pushers would know me by now (at least in the very recognisable church bus)!

South Africa still has a race struggle, I believe. Being where we are has helped me to address this in my personal life as well as in the lives of our kids.

Most of my youth are young black boys from the Xhosa culture, and generally poorer backgrounds (though not exclusively). This provides the most unique set of challenges:

Culture: How do we present the gospel effectively as I’m not talking to white-middle class kids as my theological training taught me? This opens up another unique struggle we face: Our boys enter a rites-of-passage ritual whereby they enter the bush for around 4 weeks (after having their foreskin sliced off). These practices are flooded with satanic/witchdoctor (known as Sangoma’s – “Sun-gor-ma” rituals from sacrificial offerings to ancestors, to scarification on the body and wearing beads and bottles of blood for protection. I’ll speak later how we’ve begun to address this.

Language: Often I feel like the odd one out at the youth group I run. I don’t understand their language, their jokes or when they are upset with me. They can talk English – they just chose not too! This is a challenge for me to learn Xhosa, but also what happens when we have a non-Xhosa speaking person coming? Youth groups often attract those on the fringes, those who are shy, and those who struggle to make friends as it is. Further alienation because of language can sometimes be a real issue.

Boy-dominant: We have very few girls. And a large portion of the boys we have don’t know how to treat girls with respect. This could be because of culture, but also because of a lack of godly-men in their lives (or any men, for that matter).

3. What shape and format do your youth work projects most often take?

As with most youth groups in our city, we run our youth group on Friday for very practical reasons. There is no other night that our young people would rather come. This means that traditional cell-groups don’t work for us. Our young people don’t walk around at night as the area is not safe. So unless I drop them off, we can’t meet.

Friday nights are not hugely programmed events, but are designed for a relaxed atmosphere. Most of our young people enjoy soccer and so we provide space for that. Others are happy to sit at the sides, though there are a few who enjoy a programmed event once in a while, so we do that on occasion, as well as meet with other youth groups on the odd-occasion.

I’ve always been very clear with my young people that an important part of our time together is to hear from God and allow Him to move in our lives. So each Friday we spend a significant amount of time in the word. I have a ministry philosophy that says young people aren’t stupid. If they can learn complicated scientific, mathematical and philosophical concepts and ideas at school, then they can manage the deeper truths of God, we don’t need to dumb down and we don’t need to entertain.

We have two other methods that we use to reach young people, a soccer ministry and an open gym.

Over the past year we’ve spent more time approaching other churches for soccer matches. This is a growing area for evangelism and we find that there is an openness to hear the gospel over really good, well-played and tough games. A difficulty of this, however, is that Christians are notoriously bad sportsmen when it comes to playing a game and so we have to watch our walk in a very real way when we are on and off the field. We promote clean and fair games and ask the players to be honest. We also try and let the referee be the referee! We’re not doing this well enough, I think, but each time we play I believe we’re getting better (both as a team, and as an act of direct evangelism after the games).

“I have a ministry philosophy that says young people aren’t stupid. If they can learn complicated scientific, mathematical and philosophical concepts and ideas at school, then they can manage the deeper truths of God, we don’t need to dumb down and we don’t need to entertain.”

I also run an open gym filled with rusty equipment (though I’ve put some of my own money into making it better equipped). The idea is pretty simple: young people love to work out. So I give them a space to do this. I have found this to be the most helpful area for beginning one-to-one relationships with young men, and these very quickly turn into a vehicle for discipleship and mentoring. What’s funny is that I’m a pretty slender person, the young people often laugh at me when I try give them advice. However, their opinions quickly change when I show them that I can actually lift a weight or two!

Ultimately, I believe that ministry to young people cannot be a one-size-fits all model, but has to continually change and evolve to work within the contexts we find ourselves in.

4. What do you enjoy most and what are you most proud of?

Two things. Firstly, on the ground level I really enjoy one-on-one ministry and going away with a small group of guys, having fellowship and really getting deeper into God’s word. These are profoundly enriching times for all involved and happen far less than I would like them to!

Secondly, helping to train and equip other youth leaders. I guess this was a product of my own training, but I really enjoy helping other youth leaders employ workable strategies within their own ministries. Related to this, if I can be proud of anything, then it would be our local youth workers get together called “City Youthworks” whereby we get together every couple of months to talk around youth work issues and to equip and encourage one another.

5. What is your most valuable local resource?

Other Youth workers. There are youth workers who have been doing this a lot longer than I have, and youth workers who are more specialised in certain areas (for example understanding race and culture), so we tend to use each other. It’s a great relationship and an invaluable resource! Youth workers rock!

6. How often do you meet up with other youth workers? How easy or difficult is that and how?

Other than the aforementioned group, I have a few close relationships with a small number of youth workers. Some friendships are based on similar ministry contexts, whilst one or two have similar theological backgrounds which I find useful for encouragement and help in my own thinking. I try to meet up with at least one other youth worker each month. Sometimes I’m blessed with more!

7. Tell us a story about something significant that has happened.

As mentioned above, the cultural challenges we face can be daunting. Sometimes we really aren’t sure what to do, but we know we have to do something!

Recently a couple of our young people who are walking with the Lord and serve in our church were required to go to the bush. They really have no choice. At first, our understanding as a leadership was that they should just chose not to go as Christians. However, we’ve soon realised that this is almost impossible. The rejection from family and tribes is met out in very practical ways. Forever seen as a child and treated as one. It’s a personal embarrassment that is treated with severe consequences, and our young people are left with little other options.

I’m reminded how Paul instructs Timothy to be circumcised even though he berates anyone getting circumcised for the sake of the law. So, instead of rejection, we’ve taken the move to embracing the young person and helping them through this often difficult and challenging time.

In particular with my two boys (now men), we spoke openly and honestly about what was going to happen and why, and how they could continue their Christian faith during those trials. This involved bible studies, a weekend away, frank conversations about pornography, sex and how to treat woman as a man of God and we ended it all off with a celebration into manhood surrounded by other Christian men in the church who have spoken and will continue to speak into their lives. It truly was a wonderful occasion. Being so close to them during this, I was able to also visit them over their period in the bush, sitting with them and praying with them and their friends. I found walking this candid and open journey with our young people helps them to adjust better than their peers, and in the long run they are better off in their faith and their maturity.

We need much more wisdom as we continue these discussions. I’ll most likely be doing my research paper on this in the coming year, so would appreciate prayers and God’s wisdom in this regard.

8. What gets you through difficult or stressful times in your ministry?

Thankfully, God has blessed me with a beautiful and intelligent wife who is filled with wisdom and knows how to encourage me. She’s only been with me, however, for the past 6 months. Before that, I had some pretty bad habits. Computer games took my attention and frustrations away from the stress, but in the long run was not a helpful solution.

“I believe that ministry to young people cannot be a one-size-fits all model, but has to continually change and evolve to work within the contexts we find ourselves in.”

Taking proper breaks is a definite must. Christians are notoriously bad for having a serious work ethic. This is not good or clever but detrimental to long-term ministry. We know this, we just don’t follow through! Take breaks. Take your holidays. Take your weekends off. And make time to spend with friends and family and most importantly, make time for God outside of work. We are bad at this. Best piece of advice I was ever given is this: God cares more about who you are to Him, than what you do for Him.

9. Any final thoughts that you would like to share?

Youth ministry is amazing. The older I get the tougher it gets (you really begin to feel those late nights and creaky knees), but the joys are so much richer and deeper. When I was younger I focused on the entertainment value – because quite frankly I was catering to myself. But I’ve learned over the past 10 years that young people want deep relationships, deep answers, and a deep God – because they know life isn’t shallow. So give it to them. Don’t be embarrassed. Also, there are fewer and fewer of us up here. If you are a youth worker, my biggest encouragement for you is to stay right where you are. God loves you. God loves your young people. And God loves His church.

 

Ryan Rudolph is a Youth Pastor in a small city church in East London, South Africa where he enjoys the challenges of multi-cultural, urban youth ministry.

He is married to a beautiful Texan lass, is a Sharks Rugby fan, and enjoys indie-board games and even more so loves introducing these games to some of his Youth!

He holds a BA(Hons) in Youth and Children’s Ministry from Oak Hill Theological College in London, and is currently studying towards a BTH.

Ryan loves young people, loves Jesus and deeply desires to see the two connect in powerful and authentic ways.

He blogs over at ryangrudolph.wordpress.com

Sola Powered Youth Work – by Todd Warden Owen

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Guest post by Todd Warden-Owen; musician, comic-book lover, volunteer youth worker and administrator for Llandudno Youth For Christ. Check out more at www.llandudnoyfc.com

 

Now by the title, despite the picture above, I don’t really mean ‘solar powered’ like the pictured superhero; but rather ‘sola powered’, referring to the five solas of the Protestant Reformation.

‘What are the five solas?’ – I hear you say.

The 5 solas, or solae of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Biblical principles held by theologians and churchmen to be central to the doctrine of salvation as taught by the Western Protestant church. “Sola” is Latin meaning “alone” or “only” and the corresponding 5 ‘solas’ are:

Sola Fide, by faith alone.
Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone.
Solus Christus, through Christ alone.
Sola Gratia, by grace alone.
Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.

Although they were often used by Reformers in the 16th century in their writings and speech, such as when Philip Melanchthon wrote in 1554 “sola gratia justificamus et sola fide justificamur“(“only by grace do we justify and only by faith are we justified”), they were never formally compiled or grouped together until the 20th century. A great example of this compiling of the ‘solas’ is in The Cambridge Declaration of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (1996).

Recently at ‘Redefine’, our Sunday evening youth Bible Study, we had a look at the 5 ‘Solas’ as part of an evening themed around the idea of survival and what do we need as essential for survival; a question often posed and answered in demonstration by people such as Bear Grylls.

It was a fun night, and we really wanted to see the young people grapple with what the essentials of the Christian faith are, hence a look at the ‘solas’.

They are a great way of summing up essentials in the Christian faith.

Faith alone (Sola Fide): Justification: being put right with God is received by faith alone, without any need for good works. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura): The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behaviour must be measured. The Bible can and is to be interpreted through itself, with one area of Scripture being useful for interpreting others. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Christ alone (Solus Christus): Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and there is salvation through no other. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. (Hebrew 10:12-14)

Grace alone (Sola Gratia): Salvation comes to us by divine grace alone, not as the results of anything we have earned or merit. It is given by “unmerited favour”. This means that salvation is an unearned gift from God for Jesus’ sake.

Glory to God alone (Soli Deo Gloria): All glory is to be due to God alone, since salvation is God’s gift and work. Our lives as a response of God’s great gift of making us right with himself through the death of His Son Jesus, is to live lives that bring glory to Him (1 Cor 10:31).

That is the 5 solas very briefly summed up, I must say.

The reason I tilted this post ‘sola powered’ and put the picture of ‘Superman’ at the top was because it was catchy, but also to get us thinking of the parallels the metaphor presents.

‘Superman’ gets his great strength and abilities from how his Kryptonian physiology metabolises solar energy – he is quite literally ‘solar powered’. As Christians, we get our strength, encouragement, gifts, in fact, all we need for life and godliness from or because of Jesus (Phil 4:13, 2 Thess 2:16, Eph 4:7, 2 Pet 1:3). Jesus is God’s great gift to all mankind. Jesus is our source. He is our sole provider; to quote the Parachute Band’s song ‘Amazing‘. We are ‘sola powered’, referring to the 5 ‘solas’ as explained briefly above. Our strength and provision comes from God, and God alone.

We are not like Superman empowered by the sun, but are rather empowered by the Son.

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Heb 1:3.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Col 1:15-20

Let us thank God for sending His Son Jesus.

Let us thank God for giving us His precious Word.

Let us trust in and rely on Christ’s strength in and through our lives.

Let us live lives that bring glory to God alone, responding in faith to His great grace towards and for us.