On Thursday, September 15, at 6:30 p.m., the History Book Club will be meeting at the Edmond library to discuss the book Calvin by Bruce Gordon. Leading the presentation and the discussion will be Dr. Michael Springer, historian. It is free and open to the public. The life of John Calvin, the theologian, will be the topic for the night.
Libraries have come in for all sorts of criticism, sometimes justifiably so, for censorship of certain books, like Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I abhor the "n" word myself, but at the same time, there are all sorts of books in the library that contain much more graphic and obscene language and art. Some libraries have placed "offensive" material in a special section, hopefully off limits to children.
I find it rather amusing and sad that government-run libraries are more open to discuss the life of John Calvin than churches today. Do we have an unspoken, unwritten censorship at church? Not just Calvin, but is there a general off-limits rule about discussing anything at church that is just too theological in nature? Are certain topics banned at church? Is it not a sad state of affairs when a Christian who is interested in growing deeper in Bible knowledge has to go to a library to learn about the life of the one of the greatest theologians who has ever lived?
Yesterday I talked to a lady who travels a lot and teaches the U.S. Constitution to young people and adults alike. She told me that the first thing she does is give a simple written test to all who attend her classes. One of the questions she asks is, "What are the first ten amendments to the Constitution called?" The overwhelming majority of attendees wherever she goes does not have a clue. She also told me that she wears a small patriotic pin on her blouse from time to time which has "1776" emblazoned across it. One young college-age student admired her pin, but asked her what the numbers represented. This lady gave her a short history lesson, and this student was hearing something for the very first time.
"My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6) I too am embarrassed about how little Americans know, even our elected officials, about the basics of our nation's heritage. I am more embarrassed about how little Christians know, even our church leaders, about the basics of Bible theology and church history. We are destroying ourselves in the process. The future can look pretty bleak when we in the present want to abandon all memories from the past.
Maybe I need to take a different approach to this story though. Since the church is hades-bent on copying the pursuits and pleasures in the world, should we then not take a cue from this library? After all, we don't want to be left behind in the dust and become irrelevant to society around us. We must find out what the world is doing, and we must do it with vigor and delight.
So, with that being so, what hip church out there is going to follow the lead of this library and have a discussion on the life of Calvin? I am waiting with bated breath to see which church will be the first up to bat.
But then again, I can think of FIVE reasons why a church will not do that. . .
Censorship is alive and well at church.
(I have not forgotten. . .part three of Pro-Choicers are Aborting Themselves to Death is still forthcoming.)
