I took the boys to Minneapolis last week for the national Lutheran youth gathering. The theme was "For You." There were a lot of good things, even if there were some inconveniences with the location of our housing.
But what they did with the title of the conference bothered me. Even before we registered for the conference we would get mailings about the conference that used that phrase "for you" in a variety of ways. They were working on getting travel information "for you" to get from the airport to the conference. They would have the conference schedule available "for you" on thus-and-such a day. They had arranged busses to the ball game "for you." The phrase "for you" was also used in sermons and catechesis, usually connected to the Gospel and what God has done for us.
But the cutesy nature of how they overused the phrase "for you" (almost in a "marketing" type of way) did not set comfortably with me. And I realized why on Sunday morning. When Pastor preached, "Christ died for you. For you He took on human flesh and ...." my brain recalled all the cute little "for you" phrases I'd heard in connection with the conference. When I was at church on Monday night, and the Pastor said, "This is My body, given for you,..." I thought of all the silly little ways "for you" had been tossed around the previous week.
Somebody will say I'm a pietist. Somebody will say that I need to learn how to laugh and have a good time. Somebody will say I'm too picky. Nevertheless, those words "for you" are so totally precious and sacred that it seems to me they were bastardized last week. And I wonder how long it will be before I can hear those words clearly and rightly again.
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I remember hearing the exact opposite remark after "In His Face" - when told that it was a poor choice to use a modern cliche as the title, the response was that now that cliche phrase will bring to mind this wonderful experience, and those theological connotations.
ReplyDeleteI guess it goes both ways.
I was initially leery of the modern cliche that they chose for Arlington. But it worked fine. Even now, when I hear "in his face," the phrase has been given a good twist. I may be wrong, but I don't think the secular use of the phrase was pointedly bandied about during the conference and leading up to conference. There was some reverence shown for that literal translation of what we normally translate "before Me."
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteEach person is free to have their own dislikes. There are hymns that have been so overused that even though they are faithful, I twitched when I hear them.
So... I can only here express why we chose the theme and why we think it's one of our best yet....
FOR YOU. He was born for you. He suffered for you. He died for you. He rose for you.
That's the Gospel. The Gospel, says Dr. Luther, is in the FOR YOU.
There is never a point in which there is enough "FOR YOU." We can say it in different ways ("on your behalf,") but it always is FOR YOU.
I normally don't concern myself with my dislikes. There are plenty of things I just don't care for. It's not about me, it's about the delivery of the Crucified Christ to the kids.
What I want as HT's Conference Executive is for the FOR YOU of the Gospel to so penetrate these kid's mouths and thoughts that they never forget what Christ did for them.
No doubts - Christ did what He did for you. Then He delivered His Cross-won gifts in the water, in the Word, and in His Body and Blood given for you.
Over seventy-percent of the attendees at FOR YOU had never been to an HT conference. The poster and the Christocentric theme caught them - it was literally Christ in their face!
So, let's pray that the Lord continues to do that for the kids He gives us - especially for the rest of this week and for our upcoming "Amen" conferences in 2008.
The Lord be with you!
Pastor Borghardt
>>What I want as HT's Conference Executive is for the FOR YOU of the Gospel to so penetrate these kid's mouths and thoughts that they never forget what Christ did for them.<<
ReplyDeleteAnd that is exactly what makes "For You" such an excellent conference theme!
What troubled me, though, was the "for you"s that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Gospel. Things like "pictures are coming soon FOR YOU" and "park in the lot designated FOR YOU."
Susan,
ReplyDeleteSandra O. had struggled with that use of "FOR YOU."
At first, we would say things like "for FOR YOU." So it would have been "a parking lot designated for FOR YOU." That annoyed the grammar police....
Thank you for your blog. We'll try to be a bit more sensitive to how our theme is used in the future. We have to be a bit more tight with "Amen" or things will get really old really fast.
I'm really struggling with how we could possibly top what went on at FOR YOU. It was such a great theme, I almost feel like everything else is a bit of a let down.
Of course, that's what we all thought about "the Feast." (smile) The Lord really out did us this year!
Please sleep for me, since I haven't in a long time!
INI,
Pastor Borghardt
HT Conferences