Today is the third installment of the contributors’ interviews for Don’t Call It a Comeback: The Same Evangelical Faith for a New Day.
This week we’ll hear from Strachan, Challies, Kluck, Patrick and Redmond.
Owen Strachan is Instructor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College (Louisville, Kentucky). The coauthor of The Essential Edwards Collection, Owen is married to Bethany and is the father of Ella.
It seems like younger evangelicals are not as passionate about sanctification as previous generations. What do we need to do get young Christians to see the importance of growth in godliness?
For many younger evangelicals today, cultural literacy matters more than biblical fluency. Previous generations stepped away from the world; ours has plunged into it. Some believers of the recent past knew too little about the world around them; too many today know too much about it. We know a great deal about NBC’s Office, and not enough about the Levitical office. The first cause of this sorry situation is, ironically, the first cause of past evangelical woes: our God is too small.
We do not care much about sanctification because we do not care much about God. That sounds a little tough, but I think it’s true. If our conception of God fit the Bible’s, then we would find ourselves drawn to the Word and its way of life both from a sense of reverential necessity and devotional delight. In a world in which we possess so much at our fingertips–instant athletic excitement, sizzling sexual temptation, limitless possibilities to Tweet, update, iChat, and blog about ourselves–we struggle to remember that “the Lord our God is holy” and thus worthy of our joyful devotion (Psalm 99:9).
If from biblical study we comprehend the glory and grandeur and holiness of God, then we will naturally understand the need to humble ourselves before this Lord and seek through the power of the Spirit to kill the flesh in the name of Christ our Savior. The greatest need before us is not so much to isolate the various sins that we can spot, but to open our eyes to the “weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17) borne by God. Doing so will steal our breath away, even as it will drive us to, as Jonathan Edwards said, “remanate” that same glory by the pursuit of holiness.
Tim Challies is a self-described author and blogger. Tim is married to Aileen and they have three children. His chapter is titled “Jesus Christ: The Only Way and Our Only Hope.”
What is inclusivism? Why it is attractive to evangelicals and why is it so dangerous?
Inclusivism involves one important affirmation and one important denial. It affirms that Jesus Christ is the world’s only Savior, but denies that a person necessarily needs to hear and believe in the gospel in order to be saved. It says that while putting one’s faith in Christ is the best way to honor God, it is not the only way to do so.
This belief is attractive to evangelicals because it allows us to wiggle out of the discomfort of the always-popular question, “”What about the innocent person on a distant island who has never heard of Jesus?”” But it is dangerous because though it may succeed on an emotional level, it fails the test of Scripture.
Ted Kluck, Founder, Gut Check Press (Grand Ledge, MI). Ted is married to Kristin, and they have two sons, Tristan and Maxim. Ted writes the chapter, “It’s Sometimes a Wonderful Life: Evangelicals and Vocation.”
I imagine a lot of pastors will read this book. What do you think pastors might misunderstand or not fully appreciate about the workaday world of the regular folks in their congregation?
Three things come to mind here – how boring, competitive, and exhausting work-a-day life can be.
Pastoral ministry has its own unique challenges but tends to be filled with the kind of work that someone can go home at the end of the day feeling basically good about – you’ve interacted with scripture, perhaps you’ve counseled a congregant, written a sermon, or even solved a problem. However, for workaday Joes there may be entire stretches of time – like days or weeks or even years – that feel boring and “unfulfilling.” For many, their careers don’t feel like “callings,” aside from the general call to work and provide for their families. That said, there is still competition to produce and provide, and that competition can be exhausting, leaving little left in the “tank” for church activities. So use your after-hours “currency” wisely – try to make meetings and workshops as efficient as possible, so that your congregants will feel refreshed and encouraged, rather than burned out and overcommitted.
Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor, The Journey Church (St. Louis, Missouri). Darrin is married to Amie and they have four children. Darrin’s chapter is on “Social Justice: What’s God Got To Do, Got To Do With It.”
What’s the connection between social justice and church planting?
A wonderful trend has emerged in the last 10 years or so. The white flight out of cities is gradually reversing itself and more and more are we seeing professionals move back into neighborhoods within the city limits in both major and medium-sized cities. In such neighborhoods there is incredible diversity.
I noticed this racial diversity when we moved to a small house in St Louis near a nice park. The owners of the two houses next to me were Filipino and Russian. I saw great age diversity as my neighborhood was a mix of young and old and everything in between. But perhaps the most striking diversity was socio-economic. In our neighborhood were the uber wealthy who lived in mansions across from the park and homeless people who lived in the park. I realized very quickly that to be a church in the city and for the city meant that we had to bring the gospel to bear on the people who were our neighbors no matter their ethnicity, age or level of income. Enter Social Justice, which is really better expressed by the one word: Mercy. Every church planter who finds themselves in the situation that I did will have to bring the implications of the gospel to bear for all those in the city to which they were called, including the poor. It is simply not an option to ignore the needs of the people in your context simply because they don’t fit your “target” – ie don’t look like you, smell like you or consume culture like you do.
Eric Redmond is the Senior Pastor at Reformation Alive Baptist Church in Temple Hills, MD, and Assistant Professor of Bible and Theology at Washington Bible College in Lanham, MD. Eric is married to Pamela, and they have five children: Charis, Chloe, Candace, Calvin, and Codell. Eric’s chapter is titled, “Homosexuality: Grace, Truth, and the Need for Gentle Courage.”
Are we winning or losing the minds and hearts of young Christians when it comes to the issue of homosexuality? What can we do better?
My daughter attends a nearby university that recently became the first in the country to permit coed roommates. Apparently GLBT constituents associated with the school fueled this position. The campus body has welcomed the decision as the right thing to do for the sake of the campus GLBT community. Rather than an outcry from a younger generation, there is applause.
Seemingly there is a generation that widely embraces homosexual behavior as a normal part of contemporary society. When I talk with the Generation Digital believers, they give mental assent to what the Scriptures teach. Yet they also seem to think Jesus accepts the behavior of homosexuals as easily as they accept social networking friend requests from strangers.
In order to win the hearts and minds of young believers on the issue of homosexuality, we first must re-establish the authority of Scripture in the life of the church and its members. A younger generation must understand that Homosexual Joe might be nice, friendly, hardworking, and non-proselytizing when it comes to his sexual preferences, but his behavior is an abomination to the Lord because Scripture has the final say. Without establishing this in mind and heart, this generation simply will hit “Accept.”
