Christianity & Politics

Jesus Outside the Lines

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

This afternoon I started reading Scott Sauls‘ refreshing new book, Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides. It seems timely – at least for me.

I for one am growing weary of a culture in which increasingly polemic debates seem never ending.  And while I was at first skeptical of the phrase, considering it a bit exaggerated and overblown, I am more-and-more inclined to agree that the United States is appropriately labeled a “post-truth society” – where what matters are not the facts, but rather striking a blow for your political side. That’s what it seems to me, as I read and watch the news regarding the Riots of Ferguson, Missouri, the RFRA in Indiana, among other items.

There is truth. There is wisdom. And what’s more, there are effective ways of finding the wisdom without sacrificing truth.That’s what I long for.  I want to engage in intelligent discussion, both with those with whom I agree and with those with whom I do not agree.  I want to understand, so I can process things from perspectives I may not presently possess. I want to be heard, without being demonized as either a bigot or a half-hearted traitor.  I want to align myself to truth and wisdom, and I want to see truth and wisdom win the day.  I get that most things are more complex than we may want to make them.  I get that we can act wrongly even in those times when we are in the right.  But call me naive, or utopian, but that is what I want.

That is what Scott Sauls advocates in these pages.  Having not yet finished the book, I cannot say that everything Sauls writes will be as music to my ears.  But I can say is, having read a couple of related interviews, what Sauls endeavors to do resonates with my sensibilities.

It is not compromise I desire, but something transcendent: I want to remember that God is truth, for his truth to reign. I want for God’s people to be the champions for the good of all humanity – which is, after all, created after God’s image.  And I want these truths and values brought wisely, winsomely, and effectively into the Public Square.  The fact that some – maybe many – don’t want these ideas in the Public Square is no reason to stop taking them there.  And the fact that some seem to despise these ideas is no excuse for Christians to act in a manner unworthy of the Gospel, as we engage those who oppose and even hate us.

So far, Scott Sauls is not disappointing.

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Gospel Greater Than Conservatism & Liberalism

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

The gospel is neither conservative nor liberal; and at the same time the gospel is both liberal and conservative.  This causes a lot of confusion to folks both inside and outside of the Church.

On the one hand, the gospel is conservative because it declares that there is such a thing as right and wrong, and that there are benefits from choosing right and consequences that accompany wrong.   Each person is responsible for his or her own actions and attitudes.  These are very conservative principles.

On the other hand, the gospel is the free gift that is given to those who have not earned it and cannot afford it.  In fact, we are told the gospel is the riches of Christ redistributed to those who admit their spiritual poverty.  Isaiah says it is like being invited to a party, but the only ones who can come are those who cannot pay, or who are humble enough to admit whatever riches they think they might have are not valid currency.  (Isaiah 55.1-2) These seem to be very liberal ideas and images.

Both are true. Equally true. Both are essential. Leave out one side or the other and you create a “different gospel” – which, as Paul says, is really no gospel at all.  In fact, Paul tells us that anyone trying to pass a counterfeit gospel should be ( and will be) anathema – repeatedly destroyed over and over for all eternity.  (Galatians 1.6-9)

I would suggest, even insist, that both Conservatism and Liberalism are false worldviews and offer counterfeit gospels.  The gospel is not a compromise of liberalism and conservatism, nor is it merely a middle way. The gospel is the expression of God’s very nature and plan.  It is therefore, THE Truth, because God himself – and God alone – is Truth.  And it is eternal Truth because God, who is Truth, is eternally God.

What both Conservatives and Liberals have done, at least those who operate as if these philosophies are the supreme ideologies, is to carve off portions of the Truth that meet their personal preferences at the expense of the valid point of the other.  Both begin with as a reduction of the gospel  Each then proceeds to build their respective worldview upon these faulty foundations of a corrupted gospel.

We begin to escape the confusion when we recognize our own propensity toward either Conservatism or Liberalism, at the expense of the other.  We begin to overcome our limitations when we recognize the whole gospel alone is the Truth, and then commit to a lifelong pursuit of excavating the depths and complexities of the gospel, while at the same time venturing to live out all the implications of the gospel in every aspect of our lives.

Whether theologically or politically, conservatism and liberalism are impotent to effect real, enduring, or godly change. But the gospel, undiluted and undistorted,  is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1.20-25)