Also, to all my followers outside US, thanks for your patience w/ thoughts being shaped by what's happening here right now. It's hard to explain, but American Xianity (& American evangelicalism in particular) cannot be understood apart from larger political forces.
There are #reasons, of course, just as there are plenty of American evangelicals who see the danger of this entanglement to the health of the church & discipleship of her people.
More than ever, American evangelicals need the voices of global evangelicals. We need to see different models. We need to know what faithful witness looks like as a cultural minority. So thanks for bearing with me & us.
Also I just need to say: The blind spot for American evangelicals (including me) is & has always been race. Insofar as we refuse to learn from the black church in America (who has always existed as a cultural minority), we'll never be able to learn from evangelicals abroad either
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Soon you will hear claims that today's events are the work of antifa. And I suppose that's plausible... If the sitting president whose name is on their banners hadn't just called them patriots.
If his supporters hadn't been threatening these very actions for months...
If chat rooms & threads & vast networks of conspiracies hadn't been discussing the likelihood...
The flag in the middle of this picture is why I spend time talking about US politics as part of my calling to serve the church thru writing & speaking.
For me, the motivation to speak about politics stems from a sincere desire to see Christians live as Christ, to see the Church give full allegiance to Christ.
Insofar as pursuit of political power disorders our affections, I will speak about politics. Insofar as our earthly citizenship blinds us to our heavenly citizenship, I will ask Qs that some will deem devisive.
Is this the point in the story where the 20-something assistant pastor splits the church b/c he senses God calling him to plant a new party... uh... I mean, church?
Look, I know you come here for measured thoughtfulness but you all are going to have to BEAR WITH ME for a bit.
I know a lot of you work in low church evangelicalism & the patterns & machinations in US politics over last few years have been brutal. You know these dynamics. You've seen them up close & personal.
Also, if you're new to this account & trying to discern the logic that leads me to tweet about toxic masculinity one day & naturalism the next, good luck. Lol.
I promise there is a logic & the best I can figure it out is that I'm seeking to understand a larger unity to the world. I look for patterns & ask Qs to see how it all fits together.
This approach has its risks, particularly the temptation to oversystematize & see connections where they don't exist. But this account isn't as random as the disparate topics might appear.
Love this. One of the biggest misconceptions I see in creation stewardship convo is restricting it to rural spaces. "City" is not an antonym of "nature".
We can easily romanticize engagement w/ creation & imagine that being a "naturalist" means living a rural lifestyle. But it's much more about perspective than location.
.@n_d_anderson & I both grew up in the country & it shaped us in ways we didn't recognize for a long time. But even when we've lived in less than rural spaces, we shared a particular disposition or awareness of natural world.