The question of whether Christianity is trustworthy was the topic of a series of Bethel University Chapel services in the fall of 2014, St. Paul, MN (where I live).
I was privileged to be one of the presenters.*
In the weeks leading up to the service, I thought this to myself:
Non-mandatory chapel, busy students . . . Mmm, out of 3300 undergrads maybe a hundred or so will show up.
Not even close.
800 students turned out to hear my talk, not because I’m famous (definitely not), but because the question of trust is a potential deal-breaker for the faith of this generation.
With radical equality as a main starting point these days, any particular religion or way of life — including one’s own — is not privileged over any other.
Thus today’s young people do not easily trust the tradition handed down to them from previous generations.
The main point of my talk was this: If we take Christianity on its own terms, it’s trustworthy.
But if we say to God something like this:
“Unless you fit into my box, unless you prove yourself to me on my terms, I’m not going to believe in you . . . ”
. . . we’re likely to be disappointed.
More on that next time.
* Audio of the talk is here: (Trustworthy #10. Date: 9-26-14 30 minutes in length):
https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/college-arts-science-chapel/id920604392?mt=10
