Scandrette on modeling, practices, and cultivating environments

I am reading and journaling through Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love by Mark Scandrette (InterVarsity Press). As a parent and youth worker, I was intrigued by this passage about experiential learning and his children (emphasis mine):

"We have eaten together with drug addicts, gone on weekend-long silent prayer retreats, written our own poems and prayers, helped prepare hospitality meals, and cared for orphans. We realize this might be different than the typical path of Christian education, but we think children are most impacted by the modeling and example of the people closest to them. We don’t want to just tell them about the significance of a homeless messiah-prophet, we want them to walk in his steps. I’m convinced that one experience of embodied intentional practice can teach more than a year’s worth of Sunday school. Sometimes kids can recognize the truth of this more easily than adults. My son Noah once came with me when I spoke at a large retreat for college students. …[He] turned to me and said, 'Papa, I don't understand. You get up there and speak about things like listening to God or caring for victims of human trafficking—and then everyone leaves the building to do things that have nothing to do with what you talked about.' Wherever possible, we need to create environments that include both good instruction and opportunites for shared action."

Words are often soon forgotten, but experience sticks forever. The routine and schedule of church life often makes anything other than lecture and classroom-style teaching hard to pull off, but the extra coordination to lead youth into experiences is worth it. My work with Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry has definitely shown me the importance of the joyful discovery that happens when the young people go out in the community and can get their hands dirty. When I was growing up, demonstrating what I learned came in parroting "the right answer." My hope is that the youth of today will demonstrate what they are learning by demonstrating Christian practices and doing Kingdom-work right in the midst of their daily lives. On second thought, that is my hope for the whole church, regardless of age!

Scandrette casts a vision of faith formation that is playful and joyful, earthy and real. Needless to say, this is an enlightening and challenging book that I am thoroughly enjoying. Here is a link to Amazon if you want to purchase the book: Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love.

Oh yeah--and here is a link to his equally good previous book, Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus.