Kids Have Questions, Part 60 – Pr. Jonathan Conner, 10/9/26 (2823, Encore)

0:00God won't give you more than you can handle. You just have to have enough faith. God has a plan for you. Are these religious clichés scripturally sound? The issues et cetera book of the month for October is sound bite theology how to talk like a Christian. It's published by Concordia Publishing House, their phone number 1-800-325-3040, or learn more about sound bite theology at issuesetc.org. The issues et cetera book of the month for October sound bite theology how to talk like a Christian. The supports of same sex marriage were very dedicated. They lost the ballot box 32 straight times before they prevailed. I don't agree with the outcome, but I do admire their persistence. I think pro-life is just a civil persistence in the future. Culture notoriously controlling and manipulative and I think the woke movement really operates similarly because they seed such foundational lies both anthropologically what a human person

1:04is but also spiritual lies. In our current culture in the United States of America, there seems to be an abundance of preoccupation on the state to the extent we see the other estates of family and church being neglected and in decline in deterioration. Once we surrender an objective truth outside of us in the scripture and objective truth outside of us, I am baptized. I receive the body and blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in with and under the bread and the wine. When that goes by the wayside, then what I'm left with is my feelings. Wisconsin turkey producers love issues et cetera. I think there is no God. Can we have right or wrong, good or evil? What does scripture mean when it says that we don't own our own bodies and how was the devil created? Those are some of the questions that have come from kids that will be answering in our

2:05sixteenth part of our series, kids have questions. Greetings and welcome to issues et cetera coming to you live from the studios of Lutheran public radio in Collinsville, Illinois. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks for tuning us in. Pastor Jonathan Connor will be there to answer those questions from the kids. We'll spend some time after that going through your email and the issues et cetera comment line and then we'll discuss Christian confession and funeral practices with Josh Pauling is well, throw of a column for touchstone magazine, title burial plots, Christian tradition is a subversive witness against modern funeral practices. Pastor Jonathan Connor is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning, Iowa. Jonathan, welcome back. Thanks Todd. Happy to be back. Here's an interesting first question. What do you mean by you don't own your body like I know God made it, but I'm just confused. Yeah, I mean, I love this because a couple things we say these things kind of as pastor sometimes

3:06and because we've been marinated in this thought for so long, we don't often appreciate how ears of those who maybe are hearing it for the first time or I mean, this actually hearing it for the first time, how they may have struggled to process it. And honestly, this is one of the things I love about children and new Christians because they hear things, you know, like they're hearing it for the first time as the shocking news or the good news or the challenging news that it really is. Sometimes it's left for us who've been confessing Christ for years, sadly to dull our ears to the freshness and the remarkableness of the statements that Scripture is making. This truly is a remarkable statement. So I'm going to answer the child first and then we'll dig in a little bit deeper. So I say to the child, yes, this is true for a couple reasons. One, like you said, God created our bodies. So when you create something like when you write a paper or draw a picture, you are its

4:08owner. Other people aren't free to mess with it. They aren't free to twist your words or reinterpret your picture. The same goes with our bodies. God created our bodies and He gave them purpose. He told us what they're for. So we aren't free to claim them for ourselves and do what we want with them. So we aren't free to tell God, for instance, that He gave us the wrong body. And two, Jesus redeemed and purchased us with His own blood. So we are called to glorify God so you could think of that as making God famous with our bodies, not by engaging in sin, like getting drunk or sex outside of marriage, but by actively serving others. So when we say that God owns our bodies, we are saying that God is in charge. He gets to say what is good and how our bodies are to be used. Okay, so that's where my answer to the child ends.

5:09And actually as I was reading that answer, it dawned on me. We actually have this idea of not altering something because we're not its author built in to most of our listen churches in their cornerstone. We'll have that UAC engraved in that cornerstone on altered Augsburg confession. Well, it's funny because I'm not explained that to people. They often say to me, why does it have on altered in front of it? I said, well, because that means we're not free to alter it, right? I mean, and there were other additions of the Augsburg confession, but it also means the one that nobody messed with and we're not free to change it. So I think that's an important concept for us to get is an author retains ownership of his work. And I think in our culture, maybe this is something that's pretty foreign to us, this concept of outside ownership. I mean, how many times have we heard, you know, my body, my choice? Right now, when that's chanted, for example, in support of abortion, I mean, it's wrong

6:09for at least a couple of reasons. One is the child in the womb. The child's not a part of the woman's body. So it's false to claim that the child is my body. And two, the woman, or in this case, anyone for that matter chanting my body isn't actually chanting truth. It would be true if they had created their own body, but we know that's not possible. And scripture infatically asserts that God created the body. So as such as the creator, see the creator gets to decide how the body should be used. And like I said, I think that's a concept that's pretty foreign to us today, because you know, in our culture, what we're big on, things like autonomy and authenticity, like you be you. So I don't think we're used to thinking about our body as having outside ownership. I mean, just think about that. Our bodies have outside ownership. So in fact, Rosaria Butterfield, she helpfully points this out when she talks about the body

7:11that gives us a pattern that reveals its divine purpose. So the male, female, binary pattern teaches us something about the purpose for the body. And I think that's actually really helpful for all of us, but it's especially helpful for teaching children. So let me just show you one way. I think this can be helpful, especially in today's climate. So in terms of teaching the pattern with the purpose concept, and then going from purpose to the purpose, right, the creator, the one who gets to decide what the purpose is. Okay. So, and I think this is teachable to children and you can gauge what age perhaps to teach this to children, but I think it can be taught even to adults this way. There's something built into the body. Right. So consider the human body this for a minute. Right. So you have a heart. The heart doesn't need anybody else to do what it's designed to do. You have lungs and kidneys and a pancreas and they don't need anybody else to do what they're

8:13designed to do. But what happens? We discover we have this one system in our body, the reproductive system, and guess what we find? It actually needs another body to do what it's designed to do. It has a created complement. It has a lock and key design. So that's the pattern with the purpose, right? The body speaks. The body testifies. And I think this is important. I've written an article on this before on my church's website calling, letting the body speak. And what current culture is trying to do is silence the body. And the church's call is to let the body speak. Nancy Percy writes a wonderful book on this and her Love Thy Body book, which I highly recommend. You've had her on before. She's just a great writer and that's a wonderful book. I recommend it.

9:14So God has created our bodies with a lock and key design. So the body is designed by a master designer. And that means he gets to say what it's for. Now I want to make sure I make this also clear because I'm not saying that because we have reproductive systems that we have to reproduce, I'm saying that the body's pattern actually does tell us something about its purpose. And that purpose, here's the thing, it has come from outside of us. Now, but Scripture actually goes on and adds to that concept and it insists that we are actually doubly owned first in creation, second, as those baptized into Christ in redemption. So Paul writes and he's speaking here about the whole church, right? The church is a whole. He says in 1 Corinthians 6, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? You are not your own. For you are bought with a price.

10:15So glorify God in your body. So glorify God as the body of Christ, one. And yes, glorify God by honoring the purpose that arises from the pattern that God gave to your body. Now, obviously there's a whole lot more to say on this. I mean, there's a whole book to say on this and Percy writes the book, right? So read the book. I do want to say just how surprisingly freeing this actually is. And Rosaria writes about this in her books. But the point is we don't have to invent our purpose. I think that's actually a freeing thing. All we need to do is receive it. And when we do, then we're able better to see more clearly what God has called good, what he considers good. Now this will start to give some clarity to our lives, to our vocations, to what we should be celebrating and what we should be supporting and encouraging, to what we should

11:19be giving our energies to. And then surprise, surprise, it's also where we are going to find great purpose and satisfaction in life. So just to wrap up here, appreciate what God has called good. So appreciate his creation marveled in that he has redeemed it and understand this. Okay, he retains ownership. We focus on stewardship. Another question, if there is no God, we can't have right or wrong, good or evil, correct? Yeah, this is actually a really astute observation by a child. And there's a lot to be said on this. This is sort of the moral argument for God. And I'm going to get into that. But this is really a good question. So let me say to the child, you're spot on. If God doesn't exist, we can't define good or evil. We can only express our preferences.

12:19But that is clearly not strong enough. Nobody lives like that. Everyone lives as if certain things are really and actually right and really and actually wrong, regardless of what people feel about them. But in order for something to be objectively right or wrong, that means regardless of how we feel about it, we need an Almighty being in whom the definition of right and wrong find their source because moral laws only exist in the minds of conscious beings. And that Almighty being is God. So it goes like this. If objective morals exist, God exists. Objective morals exist. Therefore God exists. All right, so that's where my answer to the child ends. But this is a really important observation. So if objective morals exist, God exists. Now I want people to understand though what we're not saying when we say this, okay?

13:22We're not saying a person who doesn't believe in God can't know right and wrong. That's really important. We're saying if there is no God, then right and wrong do not exist. So look, an atheist may be a very moral person and I actually find it pretty ironic how ardently some atheists argue for certain moral positions. If there is no God, then what they're doing isn't qualitatively different than arguing for your favorite ice cream flavor. Right? So if you hear an atheist arguing for some moral position, just kind of map over their words, I believe chocolate is the best ice cream flavor objectively. It is the best ice cream flavor in the universe. Well, that's just silly. Ice cream is a preference. Let me show you what I mean. Okay. The late William Provin, he was an atheist biology professor at Cornell, he made it explicitly

14:24clear what atheism espouses. Here are his words. He says, let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear. There are no gods, no purposes, no goal directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I'm absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That's the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans either. I mean, that's about as clear as they come, right? I'm pretty much laid out there. And I'm sure most of us might not have heard Richard Dawkins, his famous quip, right, when he said, there is that bottom of it all, no good, no evil, no purpose, nothing, but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA, neither nose nor cares, DNA just is and we dance to its music. He just had to love how he somehow thinks that by saying we dance to its music, that's

15:26somehow going to soften the implication of we're just basically automotons. Our atoms are randomly firing inside of us and we have no free will. Somehow that makes us feel better that, oh, we don't have free will. And we're just dancing to the beat of our DNA. The thought of no free will is a terrifying thought for lots of reasons, but I want to go on because there's another example I want to share. I think it maybe would get a little bit closer to helping people understand how significant these sorts of positions are. So there was a 2010 documentary called The Genius of Charles Darwin. And I would challenge the title. Nonetheless, it was one where Richard Dawkins was interviewing a fellow atheist Peter singer about, okay, I'm making this up. It was about eating human roadkill. Yep, that's right. Human roadkill. So they're sitting there kind of prognosticating about what do you think about eating human roadkill? Like with straight faces, they're sitting here talking to each other about this.

16:29And in the entire conversation, neither one of them calls it wrong. Not once. Not once. I've discussed whether the families of the roadkill should be consulted first or not, but never were they able to call it wrong. I want people to appreciate that. These are two atheists. They understand the implications of their worldview. They're sitting there in this high-rise office discussing whether eating human roadkill is, you know, how do you feel about that? Not whether they're trying to wrong, just how do you feel about it? And let me give one more example. This has been around for a long time. So the Anglican satirist, Jonathan Swift, this famous example, back in the 1700s, he writes this is satire, by the way. So if everyone understanding, he's not seriously proposing this, but he's writing satire to make a point in his essay, A Modus Proposal. So he satirically suggests that rather than allowing poor, starving children to be a burden on society, they should be fattened up and eaten.

17:31Now, of course, we all react with revulsion and rightly so, but if there is no God, if atheism is true, nobody can call that wrong. All they can say is, I don't prefer to eat children, or they could say, I don't prefer to eat human roadkill, because that's not my favorite flavor of ice cream. Now, look, I can understand why people might not like this, but there's no way around it. It's really this simple. If objective morals exist, God must exist. If there are certain things that are wrong for all people of all times and all places, then God must exist. Right? If eating human roadkill is wrong, God must exist. If fattening babies up to eat them is wrong, God must exist. He's the only one big enough to make such a law. And look, a higher power, sometimes people try to get around this by saying, well, I believe

18:34in a higher power. Look, higher power won't do. Lightening is a higher power, and it has absolutely no moral preferences at all. Higher powers have nothing to do with morality, nothing. An objective morals don't just rise to the top of humanity like way rises to the top of yogurt. And evolution cannot account for it. We already heard Provine and Dawkins and Singer make this clear. Adams don't care if you eat babies, not one bit. Adams don't care if you eat human roadkill. And if God doesn't exist, if evolution is the name of the game, look, then we are all just big sacks of Adams. And how can one sack of Adams call another sack of Adams wrong? They can't. Only moral beings care about morality. And the only way to have a world where some things are wrong, like fattening babies up and eating them or aborting them if you don't want them or eating human roadkill.

19:38The only way that that can be wrong is if there's a moral being big enough to make these moral laws for all people and all times and all places. And polytheism won't work either. You can't have a world with a bunch of warring deities. That's a disaster. You need one sovereign moral being from whom all morality comes. And that's precisely what we have. But here's the problem. The problem is that we don't like his morals because they tell us ours are wrong. They tell us ours are selfish and bent. And we don't like that. But the good news is that he knows it and he doesn't fling lightning bolts at us. What he does is he delivers his son to forgive us and as he establishes a church to deliver

20:40it to us in person. I think that's the good news we want to make sure we bring people to. We have to go through that sober news of what a world would be if God doesn't exist. But because God does exist and because not just any God, but Jesus Christ and we have this promise of forgiveness and life and salvation. I mean, that's a message we can get really excited about. I think we want to make sure when we answer that question, we always take people to Jesus. Pastor Jonathan Conner is our guest. It's part 16 of our series, Kids Have Questions. The next question up. How was the devil created? Issues at Setter are relies on a small group of faithful supporters called the Issues at Setter are Reformation Club. These listeners have pledged to become monthly or annual contributors to issues, etc. and this allows us to budget our expenses more efficiently.

21:43Now there are four levels of giving, the Confessor, $25 monthly or an annual gift of $250, the Apologist, $50 monthly or an annual gift of $500, the Reformer, $100 monthly or an annual gift of $1000 and the patron $200 monthly or an annual gift of $2000. Reformation Club benefits include shirts, books, broadcast transcripts and advertising for confessional Lutheran churches. Learn more about joining the Issues etc. Reformation Club on the support donate page at IssuesETC.org and look for the picture of Martin Luther posting the 95 Theses or call in 618-223-8385 the Issues etc. Reformation Club. Your Daily Lutheran Bible Class, your Listening to Issues etc. For nearly 140 years, the Lutheran witness has taught the faith, defended it against error, and shown forth the great treasures of the Lutheran Church and biblical doctrine.

22:45We're continuing this legacy by publishing issues and articles that help you see the world from a Lutheran perspective and that teach biblical doctrine and show forth the treasures of God's Word. Visit our website to learn more and how to subscribe witness.lcms.org. The Lutheran Witness helping you interpret the world from a Lutheran perspective. Deaconesses are women trained to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through works of mercy, spiritual care, and teaching of the Christian faith. The word deaconess means servant. Find out more on how you can serve in the Lutheran Church, Missouri, Senate through the vocation of deaconess at lcms.org slash deaconess. Working in faith, laboring in love, remaining steadfast in the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ. lcms deaconess ministry lcms.org slash deaconess.

23:45The state of love runs through the other three estates. That means that the Christian is in the position to love anyone, believer or not. The Christian friend should have overflowing compassion for their friend who is no worse a sinner than they are and yet does not yet know the love of God. A little bit from the issues et cetera, a book of the month for November, faith that shines in the culture by Alfonso Espinoza. You'll find this book at our website issuesetc.org or call Concordia Publishing House and order a faith that shines in the culture. 1-800-325-3040-183-253040. It's part 16 of our series, Kids Have Questions, Pastor Jonathan Conner, Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning, Iowa is our guest. Jonathan the next question, how was the devil created with sin? Is there just like God was or did God create it when he made good and bad? All right, so that's obviously going to be a little bit of a complicated question on pack because sometimes in the question I have to do some correcting what's been asked,

24:48but nonetheless it's a good question and I want to work through it for a couple reasons. I'm going to be in my answer making sure that I warn, especially we pastor types who can sometimes get a little frustrated because we feel like these are questions people should know not to go down that road of frustration, but to reframe the way we approach and answer to questions we feel like people should just know. So first to the child, wonderful and thoughtful question. Let's start in the beginning. God created the devil, but not as an evil spiritual being. God created him good. We understand from various places in scripture that he rebelled against God and sin isn't something God created. Sin entered the world when Adam ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So sin has not always existed. Further, God didn't create good and bad. God created good.

25:49Bad is the corruption of the good that God created. So think of sin like a cancer on God's creation. It corrupts and distorts and destroys. God didn't create it. Adam's disobedience brought sin into the world and this sin is twisting and distorting the good that God created. The promise of scripture though is that God is going to banish sin and death forever when Jesus returns even as he will bathe the entire creation in his glory. So when Jesus comes, the bad will be gone forever and the good will be made better forever. Okay, that's where my answer is. Sometimes I like to put it this way with kids. When Jesus comes, he's going to get rid of the bad and he's going to supersize the good, right? And I think that's really exciting to think about that. But again, let me go back to an observation I started with a minute ago.

26:51And this is especially before my pastor friends, Bible class leaders, mature Christians who we've been thinking about and teaching these things for years and it can be very tempting to get frustrated by a question like this because in our minds, it's absolutely basic. And one level, one respect, it is basic. This is the first three chapters of the book of the Bible, right? And if you like, if we know anything, we ought to at least know the first three chapters of the book. So I'll give you an example about a month ago, our neighbor boy had this middle school student. He had this wild idea that he was going to read Moby Dick. Like, I'm going to read Moby Dick. I thought, well, that's a wild idea, even for an adult because if you've ever picked up Moby Dick, one, it's a pretty thick book. And number two, it doesn't exactly move very quickly. So my wife smiled at him and she encouraged him. And on his way out, she said, hey, Luke, call me Ishmael. Okay, now if you've read the book or even the first page or the first sentence, it's

27:56the first line in the book. So she quoted it to see if he would come back next time and having connected the dots, right? Well, he didn't. And you know why? Right? Because he didn't open the book. So we may not like this, but the fact of that is we have a lot of families who aren't opening the book. They're not opening scripture. So there is this deep biblical literacy among the church today. Now why is obviously a fascinating question? It's a question for another time. My point for now is that we're just going to have to acknowledge it as we approach ministry. We need to acknowledge it in our preaching and in our teaching and in our writing and not in a negative sense. You can't just say you bunch of biblically illiterate fools. That's not going to work. So I think as preachers and teachers and writers, we're going to have to get used to making parenthetical statements, right? Little extra explanations that define terms or spell things out that we might otherwise

28:59wish that we could just assume. So look, the child here asks a very basic question. And I could get all worked up because they didn't know it. Or I could celebrate the question and feed knowledge into it. And that's what I'm choosing to do. I really want to encourage all of our teachers and preachers and so forth to take that approach. To hear there's a genuine question. Yep, it's coming from a place of ignorance. Let's feed knowledge into it and treat them like a valued questioner. But let me make a couple observations here about the question itself. And God created the spiritual being that we call Satan. But Satan is really a title. It means the accuser. So it may be more technically correct to say, like I did, that God created the spiritual being we call Satan. In other words, I don't think he was created as the accuser. He was created good and he rebelled. So in the Bible, it has a couple of fascinating double meaning descriptions, like an Ezekiel

30:0328 and Isaiah 14, where the prophets, they map the king of tire and the king of Babylon onto the rebellion of this spiritual being that we call Satan. Now it would take me an entire Bible class to unpack that. We'll just leave that there for now. The point I want to get to, which is really the important point, is this. And I think this is the thing we can teach to kids and to adults. It's a very simple point, but it's this. Sin is an intruder, right? Sin is an intruder. It is not native to God's creation. This is important because so often kids have this conception of a sort of a yin yang sort of thing, right? Good evil, God's Satan reality. Here's the problem with that. And if any adults are thinking that this is a real problem, we can't have that idea. Because here's why that gives evil and Satan too much importance. It gives them way too much standing because evil is not good's opposite. It is the corruption of good. And Satan is not God's opposite.

31:05He would be closer, for example, maybe to Michael, the Archangel's opposite. I don't want to belabor this, but this is really, really important. Here's why because evil and Satan are not equal but opposite realities to good and God that we need to endure for eternity. They are lesser realities that God is going to banish. They will not persist into the new creation. So here's how we can teach this. Sin is an intruder. Satan is an accuser. What do you want to do with an intruder? Well, you want to kick him out. And what do you want to do with an accuser? You want to silence him. You see, and that's the promise. That's precisely what God is going to do. That's what Jesus was doing in his earthly ministry. And that's what Jesus guarantees in his resurrection. So look, sin has an eviction notice. And Jesus is going to come back and kick him out. And Satan has had his teeth punched out.

32:08So look, he's reduced to accusing for now with a mumble until Christ returns to lock him in the soundproof dungeon of hell where we will never have to hear his accusations again. Now, I think if we can teach that to kids and to adults, I think they'll be able to grasp what the scriptures are getting at. But just I think that would fill them with such enthusiasm and hope. The next question, when we come back from the break, what are the best ways to get your mind in the Christian mode? The child asks, we'll see what Pastor Conor has to say after this. What does scripture teach regarding the Jews? I've written a column for the Fall, 2026 edition of the Issues, etc. Journal titled, How Christians Should Regard the Jews? We'll send it to you for free. Just click the red journal subscription button at issuesetc.org and enter your email address. In the Wittenberg Trail feature, Blake Skolnik writes about his journey from Orthodox Judaism

33:11to confessional Lutheranism. The free online issues, etc. Journal, issuesetc.org. Luther Academy provides additional theological education for our mission partners around the world, specifically pastors who are asking for additional education, but do not have the necessary resources in their own church bodies. By donating to Luther Academy today, you will be supplying food, housing, books, professors and travel for Lutheran pastors who attend our conferences. To learn more about Luther Academy and how you can donate today, visit LutherAcademy.com If you are traveling through South East Michigan, consider stopping by the vehicle city and visit us at St. Paul Flint right across from the McLaren hospital. Sunday School and Bible class at 9am and Divine Service at 10am. In every service, we follow the historic liturgy and celebrate the holy sacrament of the altar. Check out also our day school where we offer rigorous Lutheran education.

34:13For more information, visit St. Paul Flint dot com. That's St. Paul Flint dot com. Lutherans for life assists four life Christians in offering the hope and help of the good news of Jesus Christ to women with an untimely pregnancy. Women, men and families suffering under the guilt of an abortion. Young people with questions and concerns about sexuality and the elderly and those with disabilities or terminal illnesses. Learn more about LFL resources and forming a life team or a life chapter or becoming a life advocate by calling 888-364-Light. That is 888-364-543 or by visiting LutheransforLife.org. Truth centered, mission outreach, your listening to issues, etc. You may be one of those pastors who need to be refreshed and refueled because of your parish ministry. Is it set or a regular guest, Dr. Charles Geachon? Concordia Theological Seminary has a wonderful program not only in continuing education during

35:14the summer, but in a advanced study program called the Doctor of Ministry. And it's a very practical program because it focuses on congregational ministry. It incorporates biblical theology with the ministry of the congregation. It's also very accessible for pastors and it's also affordable. We can major in pastoral care and leadership, teaching and preaching or mission and culture. And we pray that pastors will take advantage of this program. Learn more about the Doctorative Ministry program at ctsfw.edu or by calling 1-800-481-2155 Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana. Welcome back. I'm Todd Wilkin. It's our Sherees Kids tab questions. Pastor John Upencoder is our guest. Pastor Conner, next question, what are the best ways to get your mind in the Christian mode?

36:18It's not a great question. It's a different way of asking the question, but I love that this comes from a child and they're asking, how do I think Christianly? And I think, in fact, I wish that more people will be asking this question because there are some really good answers for it. It's going to require us to maybe make some changes in our life. But if we could ask more intentionally, how do I get my mind in the Christian mode? How do I think, Christianly? I think we'll arrive at a good place with an answer and I think we'll do good things for us and for the church. So there's what I say to the child. First, wonderful question. I want people to notice, by the way, I really try in my responses to kids to find some way to affirm the question. I can tell you, I am my own worst enemy in this because in the act of affirming their act of asking the question, they ask more questions. So what I've actually been observing. So I have 28 kids in my seventh and eighth grade class. And with the learning journals, they're supposed to write down one question they have or one

37:21thing they learned. But they've really adopted this idea of asking questions and I kid you not. I have some kids who have asked eight, nine, ten, some of them are asking 15 questions. That has taken me a little bit longer than I anticipated in a week to answer all their questions. But they're not asking silly questions. They're asking serious questions. And so I feel like a child who is asking a serious question, even if it may be a little bit basic or asking a different way, it merits a thoughtful answer. So that's taken me a little more time in my week than I initially thought it would. But I can tell you, watching the kids pick up their learning journals on Wednesday before class starts. Some of them have highlighters out there highlighting the answers. It's obviously important to them. So I've just disciplined myself to make the time to do it. But I want to affirm the act of asking the question. So I say a wonderful question. I wish more people would ask this question. Let me answer by asking you a question.

38:22What are the best ways to get your mind in the sports mode? Or what are the best ways to get your mind in the gaming mode? I suspect you know the answer. To get your mind in the sports mode, you would need to play and or watch sports. To get your mind in the gaming mode, you would need to play the games. And the more you do it, the more that that more in that mode you become. In fact, habits actually rewire your brain. The saying goes like this, the neurons that fire together, wire together. In other words, the more you give yourself to a certain behavior, the more your brain builds highways, actually neural connections that work like highways in the brain, that your thoughts will more naturally travel down. So how do you get in the Christian mode? You need to do the Christian faith. You need to hear God's word.

39:24You need to confess the apostles' creed and pray the Lord's Prayer. You need to think God's thoughts after Him. You need to talk about what you're hearing and thinking and learning from God's word. You need to ask questions about life, about death, about forgiveness, about the world that God made, about the evidence of his handiwork, visible in creation, about our relationship to money and sects and relationships, about resurrection and the new earth. There's no shortcut to this. It takes work, but I will tell you this. It is worth it. There's nothing more joyful and fulfilling than thinking God's thoughts after Him, than knowing His love and His peace and His purpose. There's nothing more grounding than knowing where you fit in the world, what your identity is, and that you are loved by God. So here's my encouragement. Ask good questions this year. Be willing to read, to think, to pray, to listen and to stretch yourself.

40:28God is real. His word is true, and they are worth your lifelong pursuit. So that's where the answer to the child ends. But again, I want to emphasize, and if we keep doing interviews, I am sure I will say it again because it is true and it's powerful. I want to emphasize the importance and the power of habits. So I've recommended these books before, but I would encourage people to read James Smith's book, You Are What You Love, and James Clears' book, Atomic Habits. And I mentioned this before, but these are so valuable to help people understand this important truth about the Christian faith. And it's this. It is something you do. Okay, for all my good Lutheran friends, I want them to start hyperventilating because I'm not turning salvation into something that's built on work. It's not my point. What I'm trying to do is to get people to see that faith in Christ, we can't just reduce

41:30it to this sort of check mark, right? I believe God is real. I believe in this generic sense that God just loves all people. And I believe he wants me to be nice, right? Check, check, check. And then that's it. Think about it. Jesus command in Matthew 28. So he says, as you're going, as you're life, make disciples. And then he said, well, how? And he says, well, you baptized in the triune name. And then you teach people something. What's he say? Does he just say, teach them what I taught? No. He says, teach them to observe, to keep, to do what I commanded. So Jesus is assuming action. So our question needs to be, well, how are we going to do that? And there's one word. Habits. It takes habits. It takes very intentional habits. It takes certain thought habits. It takes financial habits. It takes time habits. It takes worship habits. It takes word habits. I mean, actually choosing carefully the words that you're going to use to communicate

42:34and making this habit. It takes free time habits. It takes music habits. It takes life habits. So the child asked about getting in the Christian mode. And actually, I love that phrase. It's such a different way of asking it, but I love it. Then you heard my question to the child, how do you get into the sports mode, for instance, or if you wanted to get in the gaming mode, which I would encourage people not to get into the gaming mode. But if you were, you wouldn't say, well, I believe in sports or I believe in gaming, because that's not going to do it. You're going to have to invest your life. And this is what I wish so much that people would get, not because it's going to make them more saved. Although I do believe it's likely that more people would be saved because this is the thing that's largely missing from the Christian witness. Christians who don't live in the Christian mode. I've got several articles on my church's website that are written on cultivating these habits.

43:34And I would love to dedicate just an entire series to that question alone. How do we live in the Christian mode? How do we incorporate thoughtful habits into our daily lives? Because I truly believe this is a key piece missing in the lives of many Christians today. So maybe I'll just end with that phrase I shared with the child, neurons that fire together, wire together. So here's what I want people to understand. This is going to be a different way of saying this, and maybe a different way for you to hear it. But you habit your way into new thinking. You habit your way into new living. You habit your way into the Christian mode. Pastor Jonathan Conner is our guest. He's pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning, Iowa. Part 16 of our series, kids have questions. The next question is from 1 Corinthians 1, 23 through 25, where Paul talks about preaching folly to the Gentiles. God won't give you more than you can handle. You just have to have enough faith.

44:37God has a plan for you. Are these religious clichés scripturally sound? The issues et cetera book of the month for October is sound bite theology how to talk like a Christian. It's published by Concordia Publishing House, their phone number 1-800-325-3040, or learn more about sound bite theology at issuesetc.org. The issues et cetera book of the month for October sound bite theology how to talk like a Christian. Revelation contrary to what many think is not a book written to terrorize but to comfort. Like a spiral staircase it drives us upward and onward showing us the grand culmination of history and how it ends in overflowing joy be for the throne of God and the Lamb. This is Pastor Will Whedon. Join me for our current study of the book of Revelation on my daily 15-miniverse Bible study, The Word of the Lord Endores Forever. Listen at thewordendores.org or your favorite podcast provider.

45:38Sanctifying your commute with the Word of God. Your listening do issues et cetera. Christological. My friends Jesus comes only for sinners. Historical. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ is only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Lord. Sacrumental. Take an eat. This is the true body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ given unto death for your sins. To find a Christological, historical, and sacramental church near you go to issuesetc.org and click find a church. And welcome back.

46:39I'm Todd. Welcome. This is Issueset. Welcome back. I'm Todd. Welcome. This is Issueset. Our series Kids Have Questions. Pastor John the Conner is our guest. Next question. In 1 Corinthians 1 verses 23-25, the text says that we preach folly to the Gentiles, but I thought we were supposed to preach what is true. That's what I always understood. Yeah. Okay. So this gives a great opportunity, a little bit of insight into the way a child's mind works. Every preacher's ever preached a sermon knows this. I've had multiple occasions where people say to me, what is like pastor said in his sermon? And then I hear what they say. And I think, wow, I have never said that in my life. I have no idea how they heard that. So obviously the child has not understood the text. They picked up on that word folly and they're misunderstanding it.

47:41So we need to bring some clarity to what the text says. But let me first read the text that the child is referring to. Everyone knows what we're talking about. And then on packet. But again, this is a helpful moment for us all to pause and realize it's very easy for people to misunderstand us. We need to practice patience and be very careful in our communicating so that we can try to cut some of that off as much as we can. So this is from 1 Corinthians, like you mentioned, 23 to 25. And here's the text. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. Their Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling

48:45block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Okay, so I gave the fuller context there. I started at verse 18 to get the whole picture. But I want to make sure our listeners have that text in their mind and now the answer to the child. Great question. Now, Paul isn't saying that what we preach is foolish. He's saying that the Gentiles believe it's foolish. In other words, the idea of the Son of God dying sounds foolish to them. Why would God do that? He also says that the message of Christ crucified is a stumbling block for the Jews, literally scandal. They were scandalized by the thought of the Son of God dying such a shameful and humiliating death. In their mind, the Messiah was supposed to be strong and mighty and triumphant, not dying naked on a cross. So Paul's point then is that God took something that the Gentiles thought was foolish and something

49:47that the Jews thought was scandalous across of Jesus and used it to redeem the world. So what some considered foolish turned out to be wiser than the greatest wisdom of man. And what others considered a scandal and a sign of great weakness turned out to be stronger than the strength of a man. Okay, so that's where the answer to the child ends. But again, like I mentioned, this provides such great insight, one into the hearing of a child. But I also want to add into the hearing of newer Christians and really also for those maybe who haven't made a life habit of listening carefully to Scripture. Because what it does is it teaches us not to assume that everyone just automatically understands. And then we just need to return to the comment I made earlier about making parenthetical comments. We just need to make sure we're explaining as we go along that we're not needlessly excluding people or making them feel like they're stupid because they don't get it. In fact, Todd, you know this in your pastor so much of pastoral work, it's just restating

50:52the basics over and over and over again. I mean, that's what the catechism is so good about just restating the basics. But I think it's important that we don't let that frustrate us because we've got people of all different levels of maturity and understanding. Young people who are just starting to really pay attention and process what they're hearing, new people who haven't been listening for very long and then you know, all people in between. So we need to be patient as we bring everyone along. But look, regarding the text that the child referenced, this is such a remarkable text. It's like, for Jews, demand signs in Greek, Sikh, wisdom, we preach Christ, crucify, a stumbling block to the Jews and follow to the Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. This is such great stuff. So stumbling block, the Greek word, Skandalon, right? It's a scandal, right? A naked man beaten and bloody on the cross. That's just scandalous. And following the Greek word is more, moreaya or moreaya, it's it we could basically translate

51:55it moronic, right? That's basically what the word is saying. I mean, that the son of God would die a death like that. I mean, that that was really God's plan. That that was how he was going to save the world. I mean, really? Seriously, that's the plan. You could say, it's moronic. I mean, it's like God's, okay, so here's the plan. Jesus is going to die. He's he's going to get arrested and be humiliated and beaten and mocked and then crucified. That's my plan. What kind of God would save through dying or who would win through defeat? Have you ever heard of such a thing? So the Greeks say that's moria. That's moronic. But Paul says, surprise, you know, that scandal, it's the power of God. And the word is dunamis and you could stretch a bit and translate it as the dynamite of God. I mean, Christ explodes the power of Satan and the grip of sin. He blows it up and that moria, that moron talk, it's actually wisdom. God outsmarted Satan and he outwitted the wisest man.

52:56Because here's the thing, the cross saves. You can spend all day saying, but couldn't have done it a different way. It's a waste of time because this is what God did. He showed that his weakness is stronger than our strength. He showed that that his folly is wiser than our wisdom. I guess that's why Paul wraps up his opening salvo there in 1 Corinthians with these words, let the one who boasts, boasts in the Lord. I mean, what is there left to do? God's weakness is stronger than our strength. His folly is wiser than our wisdom. We've got nothing to boast about. So if we're gonna boast, let's boast in the Lord. How many stoles do you as a pastor have and what other different colors? First, what is the stole? Yeah, great question. So the stole would be that think of it, a yoke that you put on an ox, you hang it over there, neck, it's that colored piece of cloth that's hanging around the pastor's neck.

53:59And it actually has great symbolism. And I'm gonna get to that in just a minute. But when you see the pastor standing in the front in the white robe, the alb and the colored piece of cloth hanging around straight down on both sides around his neck, that's the stole. And I'm going to expand upon that in a minute because what it symbolizes is really powerful. Now, let me answer to the child first. Here are the colors of stoles, white, red, blue, purple, green. Each color goes with a different church season. So we actually treat the pastor like he's a piece of furniture. We do this to downplay the man and emphasize the office in which he serves and the task to which he has been called to bring the word of Jesus into the ears of the gathered worshipers. Okay, now that's why I answer ends but a couple quick observations. Number one, we treat the pastor like he's a piece of furniture. So if there are green paramets, those are the cloths on the altar, for instance, if there are green paramets on the altar, there's a green stole hanging around the pastor's neck.

54:59He's a part of the furniture because remember, he stands in an office and the point of the office is not the man. The point is Jesus. It's the same thing in the furniture in the chancel area, right? The point of the altar isn't the woodwork or the stonework. The point is what is delivered by and from the altar, the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the same goes for the other pieces. The point is what they point to. So it's the same with the pastor. We treat him like a piece of furniture to keep us from either focusing, for example, on his expensive suit or on his skinny jeans and expensive sneakers because the man is not the point. The man in whose stead he stands is the point and that man is Jesus. But one other point, first of all, the child knew the name of the stole and we shouldn't take that for granted because a lot of people don't even know what that thing is called. In fact, I remember a few years ago, it's teaching confirmation kids on the stole, what it was. And I said, what is this thing called? And one of the children spoke up and said, it's a sash.

56:00And we all laughed for a little bit. And I told her in the class that it was called a stole and what it symbolized and so forth. And like I mentioned earlier, that stole is that piece of cloth that the pastor wears around his neck. But it also tells you that that man is ordained. He has been vetted by the church. He has met the biblical criteria to service pastor. And so the church has said this man is a pastor and that tells you he's a pastor. So an acolyte, one who would light the candles, for instance, would not wear a stole. And so the non-stolen robe means not pastor. But that stole, like I mentioned also, is a picture of a shared burden. So it's a picture of a man being yoked with his people to bear their burdens with them. And basically, you can think of pulling them to Jesus. I'm going to go back to the observation quick and I'll be down with my answer. But back to the sash. After I explained this to the class, so after I told them that it was a stole and not a sash, I told them. And this is the part I want people to understand. I said to the children, remember this kids pastors don't accessorize.

57:04That's actually really important. If a pastor is accessorizing in front of the gathered congregation, he is misunderstanding his office. He's making it about himself. And that means very bad things for the church. And we have a lot of pastors today or those who are pretending to be pastors, wearing all sorts of symbols and logos and rainbows and so on, the highlight, their issue, they're not acting like furniture. They're acting like a billboard. And for the sake of the church, they need to stop. Now, look, I know there's no dust. They're at the Lord on the stole. I get that. But the stole has meaning both for the pastor and for the people. And I think a deeper understanding and appreciation of that stole could do good things for the church. Pastor Jonathan Conner is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning, Iowa. You'll find a link to his blog on the talk on Dominar Archives page at issues. ETC.org. Jonathan, thanks. Thanks so much, Todd. When we come back, it's the listener email or email address.

58:07Talk back at issues. ETC.org and the issues at Cedera comment line 628-223-8382. Then Josh Polly will join us to talk about the Christian confession and funeral practices. Listen weekday afternoons to Pastor Todd Wilkin and guests on issues, etc. Issues, etc. is a listener supported program. Your financial support is vital for the continuation and expansion of this worldwide outreach. Our mailing address issues, etc. Pio box 83 Collinsville, Illinois 622-34. Box 83 Collinsville, Illinois 622-34. You can also donate at our website, issues ETC.org, issues, etc. Is a production of LPR Lutheran Public Radio.