Marginal Christianity

When I first became aware of the difference between “faith in Christ” (objective genitive) and “faith(fulness) of Christ” subjective genitive, and that the “righteous shall live by/in the faithfulness of Christ,”(Gal 3:11ff; Rom 3:22ff) (as expounded by Richard Hayes ‘The Faith of Jesus Christ’ dissertation) many years ago, it really illumined the depths of the role of faith in the Christian life. Not only a faith that believes in Jesus’ person and work (Rom 10:9) but a living into/being infused with a knowing presence/empowerment that is received via participating in Christ. Out of this faithfulness, the fullness of living in His presence, comes assurance over death, and a steady strength and obedience amidst the challenges of modern insecure life, and a victory over sinful forces. This kind of fullness of faith, or faithfulness, is rarely explored and invited into in churches today? Instead a bland Protestantism often transactionalizes faith and the life we receive in Christ is often

 “Yet what distinguishes the Judeo-Christian idea of love from the romantic, erotic, touchy-feely sense it has acquired in modern times is that it has nothing to do with feeling. Love for the New Testament is a social practice, not a sentiment. How you feel about the person whose place you take in the queue for the gas chambers is neither here nor there. You don’t even have to know him. Only a love of this ruthlessly impersonal kind, which couldn’t care less about the gender, rank, skin colour or personality of whoever needs your help, could prove equal to what St John darkly calls the powers of this world: Trump,  Putin ,  Bolsonaro  and their lackeys.” (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/21/dominion-making-western-mind-tom-holland-review?fbclid=IwAR1VOuWE3UrPZm7kFafvxeCnzwm0IsUCXQmz8qWSMey1qdpbhbPuhHeG3F8)    

  ​ What happened to  Brené Brown ? What happened to  Empathy ? Vulnerability? Remember how 10 years ago (or less) everyone was reading and raving about Brené Brown. We were all learning about the  courage of vulnerability , and the  power of empathy , and the  gift of imperfection . ​Where is all that now? ​“The politics of Trump happened.” Yes, but that is too simplistic. ​We now live at the  END OF EMPATHY , when  EMPATHY is a FALLACY . Empathy is only for those who already like us (the insiders), not to understand those who are different (the oppressive outsiders). The accelerants of social media and news outlets have pushed us further apart just as we were supposed to be learning the skills of leaning in. ​That “empathy” was more of a  fad  and less of the  fabric  of our lives speaks to the fact that — as a society — we are more than willing to nurture our own fears rather than help others overcome theirs, we are happy to have our own way rather than help othe

 “Every life that is preoccupied with being like others is a wasted life, a lost life.” (Kierkegaard, Søren. Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard (p. 17). Plough Publishing House. Kindle Edition) Well, uh, that is provoking. Too provoking, I think. At least for me. I’m going to get a snack . . .

  "Systems and institutions can be channels of shalom, but they can also be pipelines of pain and suffering. One of the ways we can love our neighbors is by seeking to change the systems, structures, and cultural norms that harm them. Sometimes this means that we are called to pursue good public policy that contributes to the flourishing of our neighbors and all aspects of creation. Laws cannot change hearts, but they can be instruments of God’s grace to protect our neighbors from the full effects of idolatry, injury, and injustice." #Restoration Michael Goheen, "The Symphony of Mission"  

Joe Biden wants to heal a divided America and believes he can do it. This, I believe, is “the” question that will haunt the Biden presidency and the Democratic party beyond it. Broken down into two questions, -are the divisions we currently experience fundamental or strategic? -if fundamental, can Biden be of much help? Our divisions are fundamental. What we have seen played out in the two Trump campaigns and his one term in office is we are two Americas. One America is open to a future as a multiethnic nation and desirous of extending the opportunities of the America we believe in to others. The other America is not open to such a future or to sharing the “goodies” they have gotten from their vision of America. To my mind, these are fundamental, game-changing, non-negotiable differences. Now that the Trump phenomenon has made it acceptable to go public with this second version of America, can we move forward together, without one side subduing the other (by electoral or othe