I preached this morning at the India Gospel League church in Ayodyapattinam (say that six times really fast). As we arrived the people were gathered and singing.  I was shown to the front and took a seat behind the pulpit area.  After several songs and a prayer I was told by my interpreter Pastor Benjamin that they had scheduled a baby dedication during the service.

A short time later, a young father and mother stepped forward with the most precious little girl. Olive skin and dark eyes, she was dressed in the most beautiful frilly little lace dress. She was around 6 months old.

The church pastor introduced the family and was making some comments in their native tongue of Tamil.  He stopped at one point and spoke to my interpreter Pastor Benjamin.  I will never forget what was then said to me, “The parents have not yet named this child.  They desire that she have a Christian name and they want you to name her.” I looked at Benny and said, “Name her.. As in the name she will have for the rest of her life?” “Yes,” he replied. I was taken back not only by the request but by the amazing privilege that was being afforded to me.  After a moment or two I said, “Call her Elizabeth… Give her the name Elizabeth.  May she grow to be a godly woman like Elizabeth in the Bible.” I will never forget watching that mother look at her baby and calling her by name for the first time… The name I had just chosen for this child.  I was moved to tears.  I then had the privilege of embracing that family, laying my hand upon that precious little head and prayerfully dedicating her to the Lord. Oh what an amazing sense of God’s presence there was.

I finished the prayer of dedication and then sat back down in my seat.  I must admit I was still a bit overwhelmed. I checked out of the service and entered into worship. I prayed silently. “Lord, there is no reason why this tremendous honor should be bestowed to me. Thank you Father for this blessing of ministry. O Lord, Your grace is still so amazing.”

More than likely I will never see little Elizabeth again this side of heaven.  I know this, I will never forget that moment!  Watching that mother call her baby by name for the first time, how could anyone possibly ever forget that.  My prayer forward is that God will protect her and keep her.  And when it is time, I pray she will find her place in the Kingdom.  And one day before the throne of God, I will once again embrace Elizabeth. But on that day, she  and I will share something new…the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself will give to both of us a new name.. A heavenly name..that is already written down in glory!  Oh glory to His name!

God bless you Elizabeth!

Now, I’m certainly one for diversity of thought and expression in the Christian community, so long as that diversity stays within the bounds of biblical orthodoxy. And I’m certainly aware that even within the bounds of orthodoxy there are classifications of doctrine that are placed accordingly as to their essential and foundational relationship to the Christian worldview – usually labeled first, second, and third order doctrines. So, this isn’t the theological rantings of someone who can’t appreciate a little diversity of thought.

With that said, one of biggest red flags that got me thinking was this particular person’s take on the authority of Scripture in the life of the believer. To accentuate my concern was the several hundred people who are in seeming agreement with the position mentioned by a quick survey of the comments posted. My concern may have started with the lack of theological integrity in developing a faithful hermeneutic (art and science of interpreting the Scriptures), followed by an accurate understanding of biblical authority, but it also evolved into a concern for the mass amount of people not experiencing the rewarding benefits of knowing the authority of Scripture in their lives as a result of buying in to this particular approach.

Now, It’s not my intention to address line by line the position this person took; my goal is much more broad when it comes to talking about the rightful place the Bible has in the lives of God’s people. However, my reading this blog did lead me to a discussion with a very dear pastor friend of mine, Jesse Fortson, who had these very encouraging things to say regarding biblical authority. I post them for your benefit and encouragement as you seek to place Scripture in its rightful place in your life.

“You hear the common phrase repeated quite often within the faith community: ‘I believe the Bible. I believe every word’. However, what does mean in light of Biblical authority. What is biblical authority? Here’s a good working definition: All the words in the bible are God’s words. Therefore to disbelieve or disobey them is to disbelieve or disobey God himself. In other words, if God claims that the words of the Bible are His own, then there is ultimately no higher authority that one can appeal to for proof of this claim.

Here are a couple of ways that we can make sure that we are placing the bible as the authority for our lives.”

1. We Must Have the Correct Interpretation.
This is the foundation. Get this wrong and building your life on the authorty of Scripiture will collaspe immeadiatly. This is hard work! One way to make sure that you have the proper interpretation is to see how the Bible as a whole speaks to the issue. Remeber the first rule of biblical interpretation is that the Bible interprets the Bible.

2. We Must Let Scripture Shape Us.
The Bible will contain things we don’t like. Why? Because we are sinful beings. We will eventually come across something that calls us to God’s higher standard that we aren’t living up to. We have a few options. First, we can reject it outright. Second, we can twist our interpretation to fit our current lifestyle. Thirdly, we can repent and allow the Bible to shape our life.

3. We Must Be Biblically Minded
In other words, filter everything through the Scriptures. From personal thoughts, to social interactions, think, “what does the Bible say about this?” This means that we put cultural ideas secondary to what the Bible has to say.

Over the summer of 2011, I read Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper. I highly recommend this book for any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle … well, really anyone who is seeking to pass a love for God down to future generations. Noel writes, “Only God can bequeath God to our children. But he uses means. He uses God-centered traditions and Bible-saturated family patterns and grace-laden heirlooms.” Throughout the book, Noel shares what traditions are, why they are important, how they teach, and examples of specific family traditions. In essence, the goal or aim of good traditions is to teach future generations about God. In Psalm 78:5-7 we read of how God appointed a law that commanded “fathers” (parents, grandparents, etc.) to teach their children (born and unborn) the glorious deeds of the Lord so that they might set their hope in Him and not forget His works but keep His commandments.  Noel writes, “Through them [traditions] we learn about and recognize and experience the faithfulness of our God, who promises, ‘I will not leave you or forsake you’ (Joshua 1:5).”

God-centered traditions should be and are important components of the Christian family. Whether it be a birthday celebration or how a family treats an invited guest for a Sunday lunch, all traditions should include and magnify Christ. And Noel emphasizes that these moments shouldn’t be left to happenstance. Instead, “we must plan to reflect God and teach about Christ in the repeated events in our lives.” Not only must we plan, but we must maintain consistency and regularity in our traditions. There are so many areas of our lives where Christ is sometimes excluded and the focus becomes very man or self-centered. Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, even family meal times far too often become times where we gratify our own selfish desires. Yet, as believers we are called to live every area of life for the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31). May we seek to incorporate traditions that can be passed as precious heirlooms to future generations.

One of my favorite traditions in the book was in a chapter called “Everyday Traditions”, The Family, and The World. Noel writes in regards to her family’s prayer time together. As a family they would pray for missionaries around the world. This love they showed through prayer, for other people serving God in various places on the earth, sparked an interest in their son Benjamin. As he listened to the prayers, he would hear of all the places these missionaries were serving. Naturally, he wanted to discover where these far off places were. And so they had a map on their wall and together they would locate the different countries mentioned. Over time, a desire to serve God as a missionary began to grown within his own heart. What an amazing way to teach children God’s love for the nations and to ignite a fire to see God’s glory reach every corner of the globe!

As I continue to ponder over the various traditions mentioned in the book, I can’t help but wonder what traditions our family will have together. As we seek to live out Psalm 78:1-7, how will we pass a knowledge and love for God down to future generations, both our own child(ren) and those we minister to in the church? It is our prayer that we will adopt everyday family practices and even special traditions that leave children with a hunger to know and love God.

What traditions are practiced in your family that draws you closer to God? What traditions were practiced by your family growing up? Feel free to comment below.

Written by Sarah McLean

The second resource that will be posted on a weekly basis are Scripture memory verses for the upcoming year. Again, if you don’t currently have a Scripture memory plan in place, I hope that you will join me in making these verses a part of your weekly devotional life this year. I hope to write a brief post this week regarding the advantages of Scripture memory. Such a post would only serve to remind you of what you already know regarding the importance of Scripture memory in the life of the believer; however sometimes reminders are good at rekindling the heart’s affections for delighting in the Word. Until then, I hope that you begin the year with this plan or one of your own with the hopes of hiding as much of God’s word in your heart in 2012 that you may not sin against Him.