My latest at Precipice is on a familiar theme there: our culture’s increasingly entrenched view that Christian faith is irrelevant - to anything. I'd say the nutshell paragraph is this:
We have to make the ordinary post-modern American see that he or she has a need for something beyond the self. To the self-defined and validated self, the whole notion of sin and redemption is utterly foreign. I repeat, utterly foreign.
The post begins with a mention of an Atlantic piece by pastor, theologian and apologist Tim Keller in which he expresses optimism about a way to reverse this set of circumstances. His prescription is three-part: the escape from political captivity, a union of "extraordinary prayer," and there distinguishing of the Gospel from moralism.
The rest of my piece is about how it seems to me that there has to be a step before these, some way to reach those who find a way to get away from anybody who brings Jesus into any kind of conversation.
Alas, Keller himself is continuing to look at this challenge, and to that end has founded the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, an organization within the Gospel Coalition.
It's new, but its plans include getting unprecedentedly systematic about finding out why people have left the church, sharing best practices regarding how to welcome the modern secular citizen into it, and taking an apologetics crafted to speak to such a citizen to where he or she hangs out.
If anyone is qualified to head up such a daunting undertaking, it's Keller, the author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism and Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical.
I look forward to staying abreast of the Center's activities.
Another development that deserves encouragement is the Global Methodist Church. It was formally established last May, principally with the guidance of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which has been around for a few years and came into being as the tensions - primarily, but not exclusively, over the matter of human sexuality - in the United Methodist Church were approaching fever pitch. The WCA created a Transitional Leadership Council. The Council's 16 members come from North America, Africa, and various parts of Asia.
The GMC intends to renew focus on worship of the triune God. It's too early to try to size up which worldwide body, the GMC or the UMC, is going to be more influential, but the enthusiasm with which the GMC is being launched is encouraging to see.
In a world starved for the truth, both of these phenomena deserve our prayers. As they flourish, may they glorify the God that gave rise to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment