Marginal Christianity

November 8, 2011 Andy Alexis-Baker (http://www.jesusradicals.com/the-myth-of-the-state-as-savior-and-elections-as-confession-of-faith/) Election season is already gearing up. This is a small excerpt from my article “When There is Nothing to Vote For: Liberalism, John Howard Yoder and the Church,” in Electing Not to Vote: Christian Reflections on Not Voting , ed. Ted Lewis (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2008), 10–22. Through schools, media and in countless fragmentary ways we learn a foundational narrative that situates elections: the state saves people from violence and tyranny. In the United States, grade school students learn stories of revolution and territorial expansion from textbooks, classroom discussions and “fun” films like the School House Rocks cartoon shorts. Students eventually acquire a theoretical framework for this story from classical political theorists like Hobbes, Rousseau and John Locke. Under natural conditions, the story goes, individuals compete...

A word to all of my Facebook friends in the USA: I know how I will vote. However you vote, you are still my friend. However we vote as a nation, I'm pretty sure that we will all be disappointed with the results in a year's time. And speaking professionally, I am quite sure that the work of the church will be just as important, whether we have a Democrat or a Republican in. The White House. The status quo holds the cards. Our role is not to try and get dealt in, but to speak clearly and faithfully as we live with those who can't even get to the table. Marthame Sanders

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/10/26/jonathan-kay-the-day-christianity-became-a-fighting-faith/ Jonathan Kay | Oct 26, 2012 6:26 PM ET In 624 A.D., the Muslim faith was still young — so young that Mohammed had not yet even conquered Mecca, which was controlled by pagans. The Meccans’ army was three times as large as Mohammed’s. But when the two sides met at the Battle of Badr on March 13, 624, the prophet’s troops cracked the Meccan defences and slew several of their leaders. According to lore that would become encoded in Islamic scripture, the victory proved that Mohammed was not just the Seal of the Prophets, but also a great military commander whose forces enjoyed God’s favour on the battlefield. Islam thereby became a fighting faith, almost from its inception — a fact that has shaped its development right up into modern times. Jesus never had a Badr moment, of course. He never was a warrior at all (except in the lurid vision-world of Revelation, i...

http://timgombis.com/2012/10/26/god-is-on-our-side-pt-2/ By timgombis   A few weeks ago, I wrote about the danger of presuming the righteousness of one’s cause .  History is filled with instances of nations and political parties claiming God’s endorsement of their side.  We could point to the “Christian” empires on opposite sides in WW I and the rhetoric (and hymnody!) generated by both North and South in the American Civil War. Another reason for caution comes from the Scriptural background to a text typically called to mind during election seasons—times of increased intensity in the culture wars that dominate our national life. I’ve heard Ephesians 6:10-18, and its reference to spiritual warfare, cited quite often in order to draw for this or that political effort.  Not only is such rhetoric completely out of place, those who employ it neglect the subversive Scripture on which it draws. Israel had failed to be a holy nation.  Th...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2012/10/26/four-relationship-defeaters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatheosJesusCreed+%28Blog+-+Jesus+Creed%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher from Barking Up the Wrong Tree : How can he tell who will split up? There are a number of indicators but at the core of Gottman’s research are “ The Four Horsemen.” These are the four things that indicate a marriage apocalypse is on its way: Criticism  – Complaints are fine. Criticism is more global — it attacks the person, not their behavior. They didn’t take out the garbage because they forgot, but because they’re  a bad person . Contempt  –  “…name-calling, eye-rolling, sneering, mockery, and hostile humor. In whatever form, contempt – the worst of the four horsemen – is poisonous to a relationship because it conveys disgust. It’s virtually impossible to resolve a problem when your partner is getting the message that you’...

http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/the-organic-intellectual-why-the-pastor-contextual-theologian-is-the-future-of-church-leadership-in-n-america/   A recent post over at Duke’s Faith and Leadership blog reminded me of the changing role of intellectual leadership in transitional times. When the social world is in flux, institutions do not adapt easily and their leaders hold onto positions of power. The institution’s intellectual leaders get caught in the prior intellectual habits. As a result, they do not address the new cultural situation from other than a place of power, even if they have lost that power.  Meanwhile, on the ground, in the daily struggles of life, intellectuals arise who are forced to think through issues as they directly arise from their struggles. Living in the trenches, they will be forced to address new questions and formulate new ideas from the place of struggle. It is from here that we can move afresh into the new challenges. Antonio...

(http://pastoralia.org/church/the-problem-with-missional) I’m getting the sense there may be concerns about the state of the missional church. Last spring, Ben Sternke wrote Thus one reason missional ventures fail, whether they be church plants or missional communties or training programs, is that we attempt to decentralize before we have sufficiently centralized. We try to send folks out on mission without really discipling them into a way of life that will sustain mission. Ben makes a great point, but between the lines is an acknowledgment that missional churches are struggling. That’s to be expected. All church plants struggle. But more recently, David Fitch chimed in and seemed more than a little concerned: I think we (the missional movement) have a problem. And I would like to see us have some substantive discussion about it. We [...] are in danger of allowing “Missional” to become another commercialized program we overlay on top of existing American church s...