Students will look at times when they feel outnumbered and outclassed and set their eyes, instead, on God’s provision and power in the midst of their weakness.

 

The brilliant writer and thinker Stanley Hauerwas wrote, “We can only act within the world that we see.” Find some optical illusions online (like these) that you can put before your students in light of that quote. The purpose of the optical illusions is to show that if you can only see one element in the illusion, it affects the way you are able to engage the image. If you cannot see an old lady, for example, you cannot act in the reality that she is there. You can only act within the world that you can see.

 

Tedashii says about God Flex that the track came from a “real place.” His one-year-old son Chase died and Tedashii had to humble himself and attempt to trust in God in the midst of indescribable pain. “God Flex is a track about a time I wanted to give up. But eventually the sun came out and everything was made new. God flexed in my moment and He can flex in your moment.” Ask for some volunteers in your group to share a trying moment where God flexed (showed up in a big way). Were they able to “see” God at the time of the moment they recounted? How did the world they were seeing impact their actions at the time of the pain? Make room for students who are currently in the middle of moments where they are about to give up and acting in a world where they are unable to see God’s presence or provision. Don’t try to “fix” those situations on the spot but simply make sure they know that they were heard and their pain and disillusion validated for what it is. Take some time to pray over some of those stories/situations.

 

Play the video. 

 

Familiarize or remind yourself with the complete story of Gideon in Judges 6-8. For our study we’re going to focus primarily on Judges 7. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and for seven years they were given over to the Midianites. The Midianites and their allies invaded the land and ravaged it causing the Israelites to flee to the hills for fear of their lives. God heard the cry of the people and chose Gideon to become their deliverer. 

 

Gideon is camped with his men, about ready to step out into battle, and God tells Gideon that he has too many men with him and the people will take pride in themselves if they win the battle with such a force. So, an army of 32,000 men is eventually whittled down to 300. 

 

The chorus of God Flex states, “Thirty, twenty, down to ten, It don’t matter we gon’ win, All day, flex up, no new flag, Bless up, make war, don’t forget.” God is cutting down Gideon’s army to the point where they have to trust Him – and He delivers an entire Midianite army to the Israelites with just 300 men on their side. Gideon does what God commands and the battle is won. “My God got it” as Tedashii says. 

“Christianity is, above all, a way of seeing. Everything else in Christian life flows from and circles around the transformation of vision. Christians see differently, and that is why their prayer, their worship, their action, their whole way of being in the world, has a distinctive accent and flavor.” – Robert Barron

 

Where do you see a connection to this quote from Robert Barron to the story of Gideon battling the Midianites and the lyrics of “God Flex”? What is it about the Gospel’s message that gives us a whole way of being in the world that has a distinctive accent and flavor?