Learning About God Through Questions

Children are naturally curious, and often find themselves questioning scripture during the early stages of their Bible studies.  Such questioning may seem sinful, but during our Q&A with the incredible Pastor Steinberg, we were told such questioning is normal.  This exploring of faith often leads to a stronger connection with God because it forces one into God’s word for the answers that can be found and the comfort of God’s love and grace when a specific answer is not available.  

Those who sit in the pews during church services seem to have an easy job. They show up, listen while the pastor does all the grunt work and afterwards they might enjoy a snack and connect with some community members.  Attending church is not a show, it’s a chance to challenge and fully engage with your faith, to ensure that our trusted leaders are doing their jobs correctly.   As Martin Luther preached “A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or a council without it."

​Pastor Steinberg generously donated his time to lead a group night Q&A here at New Beginnings.  He was beyond patient and provided us with lots of laughs, along with great insight into our faith.  Here are some of the questions our residents asked him:

​If I’m a Lutheran, why can’t I take communion at all Lutheran Churches?
 
Communion is designed by God to be taken with one’s chosen church community. The Bible explains a group expresses a oneness when it communes together just like there is one loaf.  Individuals are to learn the Bible and check out whom they commune with and not all Lutheran churches are the same.  

At what age should someone start taking communion?
 
There is not a definite Biblical age where communion should be taken. Different churches decide different processes one must go through in order to take communion, but there is no solid answer.  Biblically, one must be able to understand what communion is as they take it.  Pastor Steinberg told us a story about a man living with dementia who could not understand the communion process sometimes while other times he could. This man was only given communion during the periods where he could fully understand why he was taking communion. 

Can I give my child more than two godparents?
 
Absolutely, godparents are not mentioned in the Bible once.  The origins of godparents stems back to early Christianity when persecution was common, and followers of Christ had to keep their church services secret.  When a new member wished to join they would not be taken to the secret church service location right away.  Instead, a “godparent” would tutor the hopeful member on scripture for a number of months until that new person could be trusted.  Once the new member was deemed trustworthy, their tutor would vouch for them in front of their church as the new member's godparent.  Because godparents are more or less a nice tradition now, it's okay to create your own guidelines for choosing the godparents of your child, weather that be 4 godmothers and no godfathers or simply one godfather, it’s completely up to you.  Pastor Steinberg did note that godparents are not legally recognized, for this reason he highly recommends making a will to make sure that your children are left in good hands in the event of your passing.

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When did you know you wanted to be a pastor?
 
Pastor Steinberg says that he’s a rarity because he always knew he wanted to be a pastor since he was a child.  His parents were always encouraging and understanding of his life choice saying “that’s awesome, but if you change your mind that’s awesome too”.  The process to become a Lutheran pastor is very rigorous.  An aspiring pastor in the WELS will go to school for 8 years after high school, obtain a master of divinity and be expected to learn the original languages of the Bible, Hebrew and Greek.  Although Pastor Steinberg is extremely educated and a masterful storyteller, he humbly says that no amount of education can ensure someone will be a good pastor.  Looking to the Bible, you can see that some of the best teachers were just great people with an abundance of faith and a willingness to serve.

​Many thanks to Pastor Steinberg for taking the time to answer our questions, pushing us to stay curious and making us more knowledgeable followers of God.

​Group Night is held at New Beginnings.  Every Thursday, we meet as a group to discuss important life skills and educational topics.  Discussions are led by community volunteers and can cover a broad range of topics.

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