Breaking Point

We are at a breaking point in the Church. There must be a revolution in how we deal with the complex issues of our day. There are a few points I want to make on this subject:

1. The moral movement of our society is a symptom of a sickness in the Church and is a signal at our ineffective methods by which we deal with issues in this world.

The fact that our society is struggling with issues that challenge Godly values is an indicator that Christians are failing to influence our neighbors with the love of Christ. With divorce rates, abuse, and other issues plaguing Christians as much as non-Christians, it is obvious that we are not upholding a Godly example for the rest of our society. We have traded deeply devoted, loving relationships for shallow imitations of God's intent for us. Our church communities have created a group of converts who hold a faith that has little bearing on their daily lives. They see the American dream and God's dream for humanity as synonyms. We have lost our creativity in dealing with people's life change through the power of God.

Additionally, we have failed to realize that the means by which we influence society have been corrupted. We have been convinced that we can control the morality of our society by wielding political power. This is the same dangerous trap that Jesus was tempted with, Constantine fell to, and American Christianity has been co-opted by. We must learn to resist the temptation to achieve immediate results through political power when Jesus taught us to take the long, slow, difficult road of serving and suffering for those in need. By getting deeply involved in people's lives, we can experience real life change by the power of the Holy Spirit.


2. The Church must find common ground to unite to be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." (Phil 2:2).

This point is so important in light of how divisive social issues have become in recent years. There are simple Biblical truths that we must use as our foundation, but the way we express those truths in our relationships with others can differ. Since a grounded Christian worldview is becoming the minority in America, we must rethink what it means to be effective in living a life of love, and showing others the Kingdom of God here on earth. I have some interesting ideas on this issue, but I don't have the time to write them all down now. However, these are questions we need to be asking in the Church. This is a new time, a new generation, and a new opportunity to help God in His work of redeeming His creation.

Touching Story

A professor of mine helped publish this video about his mother and aunt who are 95 years old. This is a great story about two people who are deeply moved by the election of Barack Obama. Check it out here.

Burdens

I've been struggling today with some thoughts about The Church (capital C). In so many ways I have been feeling burdened to challenge The Church in its understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This connects to my feelings on my trip to Africa.

Here's my main beef: the line between the pursuit of the American Dream and following Jesus has become so blurry. Instead of challenging the culture we live in, the Church reinforces the values and way of life of popular culture. Mostly, this is not overt. We subversively applaud home ownership, career success, wealth, selfishness, greed, individualism, and consumption. The identity of a Christian in the United States closely resembles that of any other citizen pursuing the American Dream.

There are a few reasons (among many others) that I want to highlight which cause this problem. First, our Church leaders and pastors have an inadequate or incomplete understanding of theology and philosophy. This is a bold statement for me, an undergraduate student, to make. However, I feel that many pastors and leaders in the Church lead with minimal training in philosophy, theology, and sociology. They make assumptions based on ancient philosophical and/or theological debates without really examining these ideas. The congregations learn about the Christian faith without truly understanding how their doctrines and theology was formed. My comments are a stab at the schools these leaders attend also, but not intentionally. I feel that many pastors and teachers stop learning and seeking understanding after they graduate. These leaders have a narrow and unchallenging understanding of philosophy, theology, and pop culture.

Second, I believe that there has been a co-opting of political hot topics by Christians. We have chosen the wrong channels by which we engage our culture. Instead of the work of the Spirit, we rely on our votes to enforce our moral agenda on the rest of society. We do not express love. Instead, we express judgement on others. We are commanded by God to love others and live according to a different constitution. We are citizens of heaven and God is our King. Its time we started acting like it.

Third, I believe we have a blindness to the rest of humanity due to our wealth, success, and power in the United States. With our busy schedules, lattes, and our "drive-thru" lifestyle, we have blinded ourselves from not only the suffering in our own backyard, but the suffering of humanity across the globe. Sure we read about Darfur, Tibet, and New Orleans, but we fail to take any action or even ask tough questions about how those events occur. American Christians live in a dream world and must come to understand how our success and power has placed us in a dangerous situation. God has always worked through the weak, the poor, and the incompetent. He has always warned against power, earthly kingdoms, and religious systems of authority. We must change our perspective as Christians in a society that has everything. We are not fulfilling the mission of Christ in our culture. We are conforming.

Colson, Boyd, Claiborne

An election year special, here is a fabulous discussion between Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne concerning the role Christians should play in politics and government.

Chuck Colson was a part of the Nixon Administration and was imprisoned for his involvement in Watergate. After turning to Christ, he founded Prison Fellowship which ministers to prisoners. He has also authored many books on Christianity and politics.

Greg Boyd is the founding pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN (yeah baby!). He is the author of the book Myth of a Christian Nation.

Shane Claiborne is a founding partner of a community called The Simple Way in Philadelphia, PA. He has recently come out with a book called Jesus for President.

Please check out THIS link to see a video of the discussion.

Chuck Colson


Greg Boyd


Shane Claiborne