Yesterday my wife sent me a classical music explanation video. She talked about the tension of classical music in today’s society, that is, there are 50 to 60 million children learning piano in China, and they mainly study classical music. However, most of the general public in China currently listen to pop music. In other words, there are many people studying classical music, but few listening to classical music. This may be because there is something wrong with the way classical music is spread. Listening to classical music You don’t necessarily need to know the author, background, and reason for creation. Just like when you eat a dish in a restaurant, you will say whether it is delicious or not when you take the first bite. You probably won’t think about which chef made the dish. What happened to him to make such an unpalatable dish? In the same way, the dissemination of classical music can also be simplified and clear. The focus is on the way of dissemination, so as not to make people find it difficult to get started.

I’m thinking that this is very similar to the teachings of the church. We have studied Luther’s theology, Calvin’s theology, Trinket’s theology, etc., but believers still seem to like to hear “a certain kind of theology.” "More than the theological tradition of the Reformation period, the problem in this situation may lie in the dissemination and the way of dissemination. Now in the 21st century, our theological taste may still be stuck at the same level as thirty years ago, or it may be influenced by a certain theological taste. , just yesterday on Sunday, a leader said to me that compared to the older generation, our younger generation has contributed far more to the church than we have, and their investment of time and energy is far greater than ours.

I am really worried about many church believers today. In addition to work and family, they also have to live under the theological taste of the church. The long-term fatigue and unhealthy problems cannot be solved by a bottle of water. Under the influence of this theological taste, how can we dare to say that we are busy when we are working full-time? No matter how busy we are, we are never as busy as the older generation, so we never dare to say that we are busy. However, there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Many young brothers and sisters can put it another way and say that we have no vision for this matter. This sounds good. , without offending another theological taste. Yes, it is true that there is no vision. Can our church today provide vision for believers? It’s not that believers are lazy, it’s not that young people are lazy. Sometimes I think about it, our full-time job is just a screw in this old machine. For a young man who drinks coffee, if you ask him to be a screw, you probably also have to ask him to be a screw. I can't afford to be interested in him, because I am already a screw in the outside world, but I am still a screw in the church. The key is that I cannot see the vision and the great value behind the screw.

Perhaps the key lies in the podium. Believers not only need the motivation to serve the church, but also the motivation to serve the society. This involves some basic theological discussions on the Christian’s view of work and spirituality, which I will not discuss here. For a rigorous discussion, you can read the first part of "The Meaning of Work: God's Plan for Work." In this part, Timothy Keller clearly analyzes the biblical view of work and the theology of Luther's vocational view. Taste, as Luther said: "God milks the cows for us through the hands of the dairymaids.

"If your theological tastes have not changed, then you will definitely still be living in the struggle between church and work. Coffee or tea, which one do you choose?

robin