Scott Sauls

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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Kingdom of God is BIGGER Than Your Political Party

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

A week has passed since the 2012 Presidential Election, and many (who voted like me) are still licking their wounds and awaiting armageddon.  OK. That may be a bit too strong, but that is what it has at times seemed like to speak with those who (like me) did not support the re-election of Barrack Obama.

I understand the disappointment, and even the concerns. But what troubles me, more than anything else, is when I hear Christians demonizing other people, especially other Christians,  just because they voted for Obama.  I do not want to minimize the passions. I just want us to regain our perspective.

Here is a penetrating question posed by one writer:

If I feel more of a kindred solidarity with those who share my politics but not my faith than I feel with those who share my faith but not my politics, what does it say about me?

I find that question, which I read in piece by Scott Sauls in Redeemer City to City, to be an excellent perspective-shaping querry.

Sauls goes on, and profoundly answers his own question:

“… It suggests that I have sold out to Rome. I have rendered to God what belongs to Caesar, and to Caesar what belongs to God.”

Maybe you can’t bring yourself to agree with Sauls’ specific conclusion. But I hope you will find his prevailing premise resonates with you, as it does with me.  In short, if you find yourself more akin with folks who share your political persuasions than you do those who share your faith foundations, something is amiss.

So, if either of the following describes you:

  • You are struggling with resentment about the results of our recent election, or when you find yourself in the midst of people who voted for Obama
  • You are so elated that you find it difficult to refrain from gloating and you feel twinges of subtle delight for any opportunity you get to rub Obama’s re-election in the face of your more conservative colleagues

… let me encourage you to consider Sauls’ whole article: To My Elated & Despairing Post-Election Friends.

Here is what I have been reminding myself for the past week: God says, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2.6)  That’s all I really need to know.

The Kingdom of Heaven is bigger than a political party.