1/ 36-year-old Aaron Rodgers was interviewed by his girlfriend Danica Patrick for her podcast in December. He commented on having a positive experience with Young Life in high school, but not with church.
Clip:
Full interview:
danicapatrick.com/podcast/aaron-…
Clip:
Full interview:
danicapatrick.com/podcast/aaron-…
2/ Aaron Rodgers:
“For most people that I knew, church was just—you just had to go. Your parents made you go. You wake up, you put some clothes on, you go. And you can't wait to get back and watch the second game of the day in the NFL on TV. But I started going to Young Life …
“For most people that I knew, church was just—you just had to go. Your parents made you go. You wake up, you put some clothes on, you go. And you can't wait to get back and watch the second game of the day in the NFL on TV. But I started going to Young Life …
3/
and that's where I met Matt Hawk, who you know. And Matt was leading our Young Life group there for a while and he was the first Christian that I met where I was like 'Man, this dude swears every now and then, he loves sports, he coaches sports, he's an awesome dude.
and that's where I met Matt Hawk, who you know. And Matt was leading our Young Life group there for a while and he was the first Christian that I met where I was like 'Man, this dude swears every now and then, he loves sports, he coaches sports, he's an awesome dude.
4/
… He's just a really rad guy to be around. I kind of like the way that he talks about Jesus and the way that he talks about what it means to have a relationship with Christ—like that's pretty cool' …
… He's just a really rad guy to be around. I kind of like the way that he talks about Jesus and the way that he talks about what it means to have a relationship with Christ—like that's pretty cool' …
5/
… So I enjoyed my time with Young Life. We did some amazing outreach stuff. You know we went to Mexico during two spring breaks and built houses ... and that was meaningful. That was really meaningful work.
And there's not really a Young Life for college.”
… So I enjoyed my time with Young Life. We did some amazing outreach stuff. You know we went to Mexico during two spring breaks and built houses ... and that was meaningful. That was really meaningful work.
And there's not really a Young Life for college.”
6/ “In high school, I was going to church on Sundays and to Young Life on Mondays. Young Life on Monday welcomed everyone. You know it's like, “Great. Come as you are. Be there at 7:29 and be ready for some fun.” And it was fun and we had a great time.
7/ Church on Sundays: it was like, 'Make sure you dress a certain way and don't bring that person and this person is going to get looked at strangely if they show up.' And it's very black and white: binary. But I don't think it's very welcoming."
8/ Aaron Rodgers's high school self is right to desire to connect with authentic, winsome people. He is right to want to be communicated with in an accessible way. He is right to enjoy meaningfully serving. He is right to want hospitality for all. The church should do all this.
9/ In First Corinthians 14, Paul envisions the church as:
- inclusive. (Paul assumes "inquirers" and "unbelievers" will be attending (14:16, 23-24)).
and
- interesting. ("So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'” (14:25)).
- inclusive. (Paul assumes "inquirers" and "unbelievers" will be attending (14:16, 23-24)).
and
- interesting. ("So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'” (14:25)).
10/ Aaron Rodgers names favorite books as: Jon Krakauer books, The Shack by William Paul Young, Love Wins by Rob Bell, and a biography of JFK.
11/ Rodgers: "I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell. Like, what type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn most of his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”
"I enjoy the historical context of a lot of these things because when you get into the history of the Bible and the languages it was written in. Rob Bell did that in his book Love Wins ... the idea of hell and the word used is a garbage dump outside the city, not a fiery lake."
See
Aaron Rodgers: "Separation from God is hell and that is something I can totally agree with."
28:06
Full interview: danicapatrick.com/podcast/aaron-…
28:06
Full interview: danicapatrick.com/podcast/aaron-…
It is normal for anyone age 11 and older (at the moral reasoning stage Lawrence Kohlberg calls "conventional morality" that begins in early adolescence) to ask the questions any adult atheist asks about the cogency and plausibility of Christianity including "Hell seems mean!"
It is understandable if someone is disturbed that God seems capricious, arbitrary, cruel because he wants to eternally torment vast numbers of people in fiery hell.
I would encourage a person:
1. To learn about Jesus and thus learn what God is really like. Read Luke or John.
I would encourage a person:
1. To learn about Jesus and thus learn what God is really like. Read Luke or John.
2. Look up and read the *context* of the references to: hell, Hades, weeping and gnashing of teeth, and lake of fire (in the NIV or another English translation). What is metaphorical? What warnings are directed to the self-righteous?
biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?q…
biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?q…
3. God sees all and will judge all fairly.
4. Jesus "shared humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15).
4. Jesus "shared humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15).
5. The above points are no substitute for reading seriously on the topic or talking to someone who has.
6. Aaron Rodgers is not asking dumb questions. He is thoughtful and brave. All people should ask these questions. But there are also good answers.
6. Aaron Rodgers is not asking dumb questions. He is thoughtful and brave. All people should ask these questions. But there are also good answers.
I say above Rodgers is being "brave" and maybe that is not the right word. I mean "honest" or "vulnerable" about what he is thinking. I don't sense he is bragging here but trying to explain the painful distance with his family.
The other huge thing in this interview is the adoration and respect Danica has for Aaron. Praying for them.
I don't know why Aaron is not on speaking terms with his family. And I don't know anything about the church he grew up in in Chico California beyond what Aaron has said.
When someone praises binaries, I think about the work of Paul Hiebert distinguishing between bounded set and centered set approaches. Bounded set focuses on who is in and who is out. It makes few distinctions in terms of primary and secondary matters. See: transformedblog.westernseminary.edu/2014/01/17/who…
