Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 2
Dean Taylor described the “categorically different” thing about modern life as our remarkable secularism (his Sugar Creek Fair vs. ancient Greek sacrifices comparison); what practices or habits would help a church recover a living sense that God is truly present and “this really matters” without sliding into superstition?
Another way to ask: What habits could help a church feel that God is truly present and what we do really matters—without becoming superstitious?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests a church recovers God’s “real presence” not by chasing signs, but by returning to Scripture, a “pre-modern” awareness of the transcendent, and practical obedience to Jesus within a committed community.
- Dean contrasts ancient cultures’ constant “sacrifice… to Zeus or whatever” with today: “now we are just remarkably secular.”
- Stephen says we must “go back… more aware of there’s something transcendental,” because the West has “lost the transcendental.”
- Both commend learning from eras when people believed “there’s really a God and this really matters,” even while admitting their violence was wrong.
- Dean anchors renewal in concrete Christian convictions: “we do believe Christ has come… given us the Word of God… wants his kingdom… established.”
- In closing, Dean calls for “the simplicity of Christ… the word of God without complicated interpretation… practical application as a blueprint.”
- Stephen adds we don’t need to “reinvent the wheel”; the church has a heritage “all the way” back to Pentecost.