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Sanctified Sanctified 2018 HIGHER THINGS CONFERENCES
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2018 HIGHER THINGS CONFERENCES Retrospective Issue
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Faces of the
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Old Adam
e’s familiar. You know him all too well. And that’s a bad thing— deadly, hell-worthy, even! Sounds bad, and it is! Evil, wicked, nothing good there—that’s your flesh, your Old Adam.
We hear about him a lot. When your pastor preaches or teaches, you may hear him talk about your flesh which is at war with the Spirit, your old man who’s against your new man, your Old Adam who’s opposed to Christ Jesus. But it’s not just your pastor saying that. That’s what the Holy Spirit says through Paul: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).
But what does your Old Adam look like? He’s familiar, so you’d think you could spot him from a mile away, but that’s not always the case. In fact, there are some misconceptions about what your flesh will do and what your Old Adam actually looks like. So let’s take a look at some different Old Adam masks that he uses to present himself. The first Old Adam is the one we hear about the most, the one we’re most aware of. He’s what you could call “Frat Boy” Adam. He lives however he
By Rev. Aaron T. Fenker
wants, does whatever he wants. He’s a party animal. He sins and sins and sins some more. He doesn’t care what he does as long as he likes it and as long as it feels good. “The works of the flesh are evident: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, drunkenness, rivalries” (Galatians 5:19, 21). Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are this Old Adam’s favorites. He can sin, sin, sin. He could also be lazy, lazy, lazy. Again, do whatever he wants. He’ll trick you into thinking that you can do whatever you want because you’ll just be forgiven for it on Sunday. But that naturally leads us to another Old Adam. The second Old Adam is the super pious one. He’s “Pharisee” Old Adam. He
knows how to act in church. He knows how to fold his hands just right, say the perfect prayers, sing the hymns. He can even like genuflecting, organs, liturgy, and vestments, or maybe he’s not that “enlightened.” Perhaps his being against those things is what makes him even more pious. He thinks his church attendance fixes his sin problem. Think about the Pharisee’s prayer from Jesus’ parable: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I posses.” (Luke 18:11–12). But “Pharisee” Old Adam’s prayers, praises, worship are directed at himself and how he in his own mind measures up, religiously speaking, compared to others. The next Old Adam is a close cousin of the “Pharisee” Old Adam. This one is the “Simon Cowell” Old Adam. He’s judge-y like “Pharisee” Old Adam, but it’s not just religious stuff with “Simon Cowell.” It can be anything: dressing the right way, not saying bad things, living better than others, being a better student, sister, friend, brother, parent, worker, whatever! “The works of the flesh are evident: hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissension.” (Galatians 5:20). The final Old Adam is the project master, the gym member, the gold medalist. “Olympic Athlete” Old Adam always has a project. Sure, he wants the medal, but he’s more concerned about doing better: party less, drink less, be more kind, and he’ll do it all on his own! No Jesus required. A lot of the time he’ll start with Jesus, but he’s got to close the deal. “Deeds not creeds,” after all. “I can go off on my own now. I don’t need more Jesus,” he thinks (He really comes out during Lent and Advent.) “As long as I’m a nice person, I’ll achieve the ultimate prize: eternal life.” No matter which Old Adam we encounter, the result is the same. St. Paul warns you and me that “those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21). Death and hell are what Old Adam deserves. In fact, all these Old Adams have one thing in common. They’re all curved inward on themselves. Whether it’s pleasure, piety, or project, Old Adam’s chief concern is #1. He’s selfish, and he doesn’t just try to sin you into hell, he’ll also get you there by being churchy or doing good. But all these Old Adams have something else in common, and this really helps you figure out what your
Old Adam looks like. It’s you. That’s right: you. If you want to know what your Old Adam looks like, just look in the mirror or take a selfie. Your Old Adam is you. Don’t forget that. He deludes us into thinking that Old Adam is like Hitler or Darth Maul or Thanos. But he’s not. The worst part is your Old Adam isn’t just “Frat Boy” or “Pharisee” or “Simon Cowell” or “Olympic Medalist.” No, your Old Adam is a specific cocktail of all of them. Mine is, too. Your flesh acts out with a unique combination of sinning, churchiness, judge-y-ness, and doing
better. The result of it all is separation from Jesus—hell. But that’s you all on your own, and the truth is that you’re not on your own. You aren’t just Old Adam. You’re also a new creation since you’ve been baptized into Christ Jesus. “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man (New Man). But I see another law in my members (flesh/Old Adam), warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:22). When you look in the mirror, you really do see your flesh/ your Old Adam. So how do you see and trust that he’s not going to take you all the way to hell? Your Baptism says that Jesus’ death and resurrection to new life are yours. Your Old Adam doesn’t define you—not in Jesus. It’s not just Baptism that says that—the Absolution does, too. Jesus’ real Body and Blood that you eat and drink say that you are redeemed, forgiven, and that your body will be raised to perfect eternal life on the Last Day. Yeah, you can clearly see your Old Adam, his works, and his ways. But “thank God— through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 7:25, 8:1). And as baptized children of God, we can confidently proclaim:“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Rev. Aaron T. Fenker is the pastor of Bethlehem and Immanuel Lutheran churches in Bremen, Kansas. He is the media executive for Higher Things. He was featured as a plenary speaker at the Sanctified 2018 Kansas conference.
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More Than Pizza and Lock-ins:
Building a Youth Building or sustaining a youth program.
Seems like a huge job, right? You have to consider all of the plans that go into each event and make your schedule open to actually be at all of those events, not to mention get to know and invest yourself in the lives of multiple different youth. Big job—but oh, so rewarding. And when you start to break down some of the important things to know about it all, it seems just a little more manageable.
Navigating Today’s Demographics The first thing to consider is the generation of kids that you’ll be working with. All of your youth will now fall solidly within Generation Z. The kids in this generation were born around 2000 and after. One of the biggest touchstones of this generation is their comfort with technology and all it can do. It’s commonplace
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for a 10-year-old to be walking around with an iPhone that is just a generation or two behind, knowing how to use every aspect of it confidently. And with that technology comes information. They have access to any information they could possibly want (and perhaps don’t need): the answer to any question, the ability to view all of your friends’ and frenemies’ social
media presences, and so much more. It can all be overwhelming. They are so oversaturated with information that they simply know more than any previous generation did at their age. But how do they handle it? After all, a 13-year-old now is developmentally the same as a 13-year-old from 30 years ago. How can we guide them through this? Another thing to note is that this generation does not have the same brand loyalty as generations before them. This generation, always being able to access something different and better via technology, has no qualms about moving on to something that may fit their desires a little more. How does that play out in church? How do we encourage them to realize that church isn’t just another brand, but rather the place that God has promised to deliver life and salvation, through the person and work of Jesus Christ? You can’t just move on from that.
Program So What’s the Point? Good question. Why do it? Why create programming directed towards a subset of the congregation instead of just letting them fall in line with the rest of the church? Well, the point, as always, is Jesus. The Gospel. Doing everything we can to assure them that they have rest in their Baptism. Their Baptism, which placed the Name of the Triune God on them. That Name saves them from sin, death. and the devil. So how do we do that? Managing the Logistics Something to think about when beginning to put a program in place is how you’ll be treating the youth you’re working with. I borrow the following principle from a previous Higher Things president, Rev. Klemet Preus. He used to say that Americans today worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship. So let’s put those pieces back where they belong. When it comes time to worship with your youth, do so as Lutherans. Worship with historic Christianity unashamedly. Don’t think that you need to make worship into something bigger and better, but rather allow it to be as wonderful as it can be on its own: the deliverance of life and salvation through the Sacraments in which God has promised these things. I don’t think that needs to be made any more wonderful! As for work, when it’s time to work, work hard. And here I’m specifically speaking about the Bible study for youth group. Challenge them. These kids are taking AP courses. They’re in college classes as high schoolers. They’re smart. If we approach them with watered-down theology because we don’t think they can handle the tough stuff, the only thing we’ll be doing is causing them to lose respect for us. And also,
By Crysten Sanchez
we aren’t preparing them for the battle that rages against them amongst their peers and teachers. So raise the bar. If you do, they’ll jump up to meet it. If you lower that bar, they’ll rest comfortably where you put it. And when it comes time to play, play with them and let that be sufficient. Go bowling without making it an object lesson about how the pins are sins, and the bowling ball is the Holy Spirit, and we just need to knock down our sins with that assistance. How about we just bowl and have some fun! Play spoons or laser tag. Genuinely enjoy being in their company. Because that’s another thing. They’ll be able to see through you if you don’t actually want to be there with them. Enjoy your time and let it show! As you implement an actual program, remember that consistency is important. For example, always have two youth nights and an event in a month and follow a similar schedule throughout the year. Something consistent will become part of the rhythm of the church’s life together, as well as the families’ lives. It may take a couple of years (yes, years!) for this to embed itself into the church’s life, but once it does it becomes sustainable in a delightful, fulfilling way. Another thing to consider is safety. The safety of the youth as well as protecting the adult volunteers and workers is something that must be considered in today’s culture and climate. This also protects the church. If your church doesn’t already have something in place, I highly recommend putting together a child protection and safety policy. Think about health forms, adult-to-child ratios, medication logs, procedures for incidents and accidents, etc. We know this is a huge undertaking, so please feel free to use the form and
policy examples that we have at www. higherthings.org under Resources.
Back to the Point And while we strive to build a sustainable, safe, fun program, we can’t forget Jesus. We’ve been entrusted with these youth at this crucial, impressionable time in their lives. We make the most of that opportunity when we direct them back to the Divine Service, give them a firm foundation in their knowledge of Scripture and the confessions, and ultimately, send them on their way knowing where, and in Whom, their salvation lies. This needs to be peppered into everything that we do. And pray. Pray that God will work through the sinful means of the person putting that program together to strengthen the faith of the ones entrusted to you. Crysten Sanchez is the conference assistant/ coordinator for Higher Things. She is a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon, Iowa. This article features content from her breakout sessions at the Sanctified 2018 conferences.
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