The ad is for an upcoming conference - the theme of which, we are advised, is: "SPLAT!" (acronym for Seek, Pray, Learn, Act and Teach). Wow! Apart from the fact that English did not then exist, how did the apostle Paul ever miss coming up with that one?
OK. So the conference is for young people and their church sponsors, whom we assume to be adults. Given such, we will grant allowance here - although Paul might well have found the approach useful in addressing the believers at Corinth whom he deemed somewhat lacking, not only in earthly wisdom but, in at least some instances, that of the spiritual as well (I Cor. 1:26; 3:1; 6:5; 14:20,23; 15:34; and with no small degree of sarcasm, II Cor. 11:19; cf. Luke 16:8).
Paul was nonetheless quite clear regarding the matter. With time, believers are to progress toward more meaningful concepts of insight and expression. In a sense of analogy, he accordingly writes: "When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, and I reasoned as a child." With the advent of adulthood, however, he reasonably advanced to more mature levels of understanding and response (I Cor. 13:11).
We have frequently missed a point here. Paul was concerned, not only with the believer's personal progress in depth and perceptiveness, but also with regard to the image projected by the church to the outside world (14:23).
Within this frame of reference, we have occasionally commented on the tasteless and inane signs sometimes posted in front of churches: e.g., "If you're looking for a sign from God, this is it"; Avoid truth decay - attend church"; "Stop, drop and roll won't work in hell"; "Try Jesus - if not satisfied, the devil will take you back," ad infinitum.
One of the more notable "promotional postings" of which we earlier made mention involved the admittedly eye catching assertion that, "I would rather be a pointer than a setter" - presumably an attempt, in some sort of cutesy canine analogy, to convey the thought of pointing others to the way as opposed to sitting (not "setting") idly by. One could only imagine the smirks of passing motorists, given the fact that such term usage is frequently used in bars to distinguish the ladies' restroom from the men's.
To the foregoing, we add another marquee banality seen in association with the recent Easter season: "The rising of the Son was God's bright idea."
And we expect the world to take us seriously?
Burl Ratzsch
