The Shema

What would you say is the most important thing about you and I? Many might say that it’s our money, our status, our friends, but a guy named A.W. Tozer says that the most important thing about you and I is “what comes to mind when we think about God.” The reason for this is because how you view something determines how you respond to it. Think about it—if you think of someone in negative terms, you will most likely not want anything to do with them. The same can be said about our relationship with God. What we think about God can either cause us to run to Him or run from Him. Knowing this helps us as we attempt to minister to others. To maximize our impact, we need to think about how others view God and then think of ways in which we can help correct their vision and belief toward God. With that thought in mind, I offer to you some insights about the culture of our students.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to sit in a conference type setting that dealt with youth ministry and culture. The topic at hand was the culture in which our students live in and the culture that they have helped formed. As a class, we came to the realization that students (and a lot of others) are deists—which means that they affirm that there is a God, but they hold the view that this God is distance. They believe that this God set the world in motion and then took a step back and now allows us to do our own thing. He is not involved with our day to day lives and He is therefore irrelevant.

If you were to observe students for a short period of time, you can see how this mindset radically shapes their lives. As a student worker, I often wonder, why don’t students live for God, follow Him in the obedience that He desires or why don’t they engage with Him in worship. As I thought about this deist approach to life, the answer to my questions became clearer. If a student thinks that God is distance and is not concerned with the day in and day out aspects of their lives, then why would they live for Him, why would they give Him their obedience, why would they worship Him.

I can see how this inaccurate view of God is shaping and destroying the culture in which we and our students live. With this is mind, two questions come to mind: How did we get to this point and what can we do about it? I believe that the answer to both questions can be found in the same place; The Shema.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is known as the Shema, which is Hebrew for ‘Hear.” Listen to the words of this passage:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

The context of this passage is this: Moses is addressing the Israelites and he is reminding them of the great things God done in their past. He then through the Shema unveils God’s plan for His name to be passed on from generations to generations. God’s intentions are for His people to encounter the goodness and reality of God and then share those “God Stories” with others. It’s in these sharing of our “God Stories” that others will come to see that God is not distant, rather He desires to be intimately connected to us.

The question mentioned above was how did we get to the point where many view God as distance and therefore irrelevant. In my opinion, we have gotten to this point because we have forgotten the words and the instructions of the Shema. We have either stopped loving the Lord with all that we have and therefore have no “God stories” to tell or we have just forgotten the responsibility of passing on those “God stories” to the world in which we live. Psalms 145:4 says that “One generation will commend God’s works to another, they will tell of His mighty acts.” Part of God’s plan for the world to know the goodness and reality of this God who desires to be close to us is through His followers proclaiming to one another who God is and what He is like through the sharing of their “God stories.”

In the Shema, we are called to impress the reality and goodness of God into the hearts of our children. We are told to talk about them when we sit at home (which implies that families need time at home together), when you walk along the road, when you lie down and get up. What I love about the ideas mentioned above is that nowhere did it say that we have to call an official Bible study time around the dinner table (although I think t might be implied and is a great idea for families), but it did remind us that we are to take time to share with our families when we are doing everyday things. For example, what do you think it would do for your families attitude and thinking about God if every time you got into your family car, you shared how God provided the resources that were needed to purchase that car. What do you think would be the result if you shared while grocery shopping with your family how God had answered a specific prayer that you had been praying? I believe that if we will be deliberate about sharing our “God stories” with our families and our students, we can reshape their thoughts and attitude toward God. We have a part in helping this generation and the next generation to see and respond to God in the way in which He desires.

The most important thing about us is how we view God. The culture that our students find themselves in view God as distant and therefore irrelevant. God reminds us that we have a part to play in reshaping the way they view Him. Will you love the Lord your God with everything you have and when you encounter His greatness, will you share His reality and goodness with the world? In doing so, we have the great opportunity and responsibility to help others see God righty and respond to Him rightly.