Why Everything Must Change: A Conversation with Brian McLaren
I wonder how people will react to Brian’s latest book … but it can’t be that bad if he’s quoting John Stott extensively right? 🙂
“But if you want to talk about evangelicals who really have affirmed the need for evangelicals to be involved in public life in a positive way, then people like Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, and Ron Sider come to mind right away. But I think we also have to pay attention to people from Latin America like Rene Padilla and Samuel Escobar. There have been many, many people who have done this well in my opinion but a lot of them are non-white and non-American, and so sadly they haven’t been heard. But, you know, John Stott would be a great example of an English evangelical deeply concerned about a wide range of social issues.
TOJ: Yes, you quote Stott extensively in your book.
BM: I do, and I think many people don’t appreciate the fact that John has been reflecting on these issues for decades and has a lot of very wise things to say. Not only because of the length of time he’s been reflecting on these issues, but also because of his decades-long friendship with Rene Padilla from Latin America. “
interesting though the details aren’t too relevant in my context.
Check out how to pray for riches!
What kind of party spirit am I on?
What’s on our minds when we go for conferences?
Good summary of some essential Newbigin thoughts.
Even though the comments are based on a USA context, and yet, I’m wondering whether we are always playing catching up here in Asia because the majority Christians are still deeply captive to popular American evangelicalism. Anyway, food for change tonight:
“I continue to be surprised by the way in which many evangelicals are still fighting theological “liberalism” as the primary enemy, so that every shift away from the cultural trappings of evangelicalism is seen as a shift towards such liberalism – without always recognizing to what degree evangelicalism’s own cultural trappings are already a “capitulation.”
Moreover, as far as I can discern from the article and my own experience and exposure to younger evangelicals, most evangelical Christians have not really moved much politically on issues such as abortion, use of embryonic stem cells, euthanasia, gay marriage, and so on. Rather, they have raised questions and shifted on issues such as environmental stewardship, warfare, economic policies, global poverty, HIV/AIDS, and so forth.
In these respects, it seems to me that some evangelicals are actually often moving closer to the historic social teaching of the Christian church, particularly in its contemporary application in orthodox varieties of Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Neo-Calvinism, and so forth. If so, then perhaps these political shifts among evangelicals are more a matter of Christian ressourcement and retrieval than cultural capitulation.”
The story before the questions is worth the whole post:
“Why is that so hard for Christians who talk so much about wanting to “reach people with the Gospel”? Why are we so afraid actually to “reach” out with an invitation to have lunch with folks with whom we disagree? Or maybe it is not so much that we are afraid, but that we don’t even think about the need to do that kind of thing. Why not?”
False Teachers and False Teachings
Lovely quote:
“G.K. Chesterton put it nicely when he wrote: “Idolatry is committed not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils.” God is not honored when we are unfair to people with whom we disagree.”
Reformation Sunday: Some Thoughts
I should be putting up my slides for the last 4 Sundays tomorrow! It’s Reformation Day!
The Crisis of Modern Fundamentalism
Fascinating …
“Who worries today’s fundamentalist leaders? According to the FBFI’s 2005 resolutions, “Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Life movement represents an incomplete gospel, a negligent carelessness in the use of Scripture paraphrases, extreme pragmatism, and a disdain for biblical separatism.” Another resolution targeted John Piper. “The great popularity of Piper’s writings, especially among younger fundamentalists requires that FBFI warn its members concerning Piper’s non-separatist position and, for those who read his works, to do so with careful discernment.” It’s not like Piper is unfamiliar with second-degree separation, when fundamentalists separate from Christians who do not separate from other Christians with poor theology. Piper’s father once served on the board of Bob Jones University.”
