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Christian Issues

Real Christians Forgive

by Chuck Queen in Christian Issues

For a good number of years my dominant image of God was that of a Judge who presided in a heavenly courtroom and demanded payment from his human creation for breaking his law. The God I imagined was bound to the law and intolerant toward sin. God demanded punishment—by death. So God sent Jesus, God’s unique Son, to die, so that God’s justice would be satisfied, and God would be free to release the rest of humankind from the penalty and punishment they deserve for having transgressed God’s law and offended God’s justice.

But then, at some point on my journey when I gave myself permission to question and even doubt, I began to wonder why God’s unique Son would have to die such a cruel death by execution in order to satisfy some broken law, particularly since God is the one who makes the law in the first place. God can change a law anytime God wants to, I reasoned. So why would God require this sort of tit-for-tat, quid pro quo justice that would demand the sacrifice of a human life? I began to wonder how this arrangement was that much different than what primitive peoples did when they offered up human lives and, later, animals to appease the anger of their gods?

These questions led to more questions. So I started down that “slippery slope.” In one sense it was and continues to be a liberating ride, sort of like the kid who finally gets up enough nerve to ride the roller coaster and afterward wants to ride it over and over again. But in other ways it was and… [Read more…] about Real Christians Forgive

A theology of ‘chosen family’ liberates us from toxic relationships

by Selina Mullin in Christian Issues

Does Jesus call us to forgive, accept, and maintain toxic relationships with family? Does Jesus want us to honor abusive parents?

For too long the church has preached a message that calls victims of abuse, both physical and emotional, to keep open painful and dangerous family connections for the sake of “Christian family values.” This kind of thinking always infuriated me, and I asked myself, is this how Jesus wanted us to live our lives? But, after turning to the Gospel of Mark, my answer to that question is now an emphatic hell no!

In Mark 3:19b-35, we read a strange story of Jesus rejecting his family. At the beginning of the chapter he goes home, and arriving there is swarmed by a crowd. His family hears about this and goes to investigate. Apparently, his behavior post-Baptism and desert experience is radically different from before. Frankly, his mom and siblings are not happy about it. He’s just so different than we remember, maybe it’s who he’s been hanging out with? Maybe it’s a phase?

They try to intervene and a discussion ensues as to whether he has been overcome with an evil spirit. Sound familiar to any of my queer friends? Of course, little do they know he has been “overshadowed” by a spirit–but one of divine origins.

Fast forward a bit … in Mark 3:31-35 I think it is no coincidence that Jesus’s family is outside the gathered crowd of believers and followers; they are both physically and socially outside his circle. When the… [Read more…] about A theology of ‘chosen family’ liberates us from toxic relationships

Queer Eye and Christian Hypocrisy

by in Christian Issues

Netflix’s show, Queer Eye, the reboot of the popular makeover show from the last decade, has been widely lauded for moving beyond mere fashion and grooming advice and instead engaging with timely social issues.

In the fifth episode of the season, the Fab Five—a team of five openly gay “experts”—set out to make over Bobby Camp, who is a married father of six and a devout Christian.

Midway through the episode, while working together in the garden, Bobby Berk, the design expert, brings up the subject of homosexuality with Bobby Camp. Interspersed with their discussion, Berk poignantly shares his personal experience growing up in a Christian family:

Berk: What’s your view on homosexuality?

Camp: Growing up—gays are crazy, gays are wrong.

Berk: That’s what I was taught, too.

[cut to interview with Berk]

Berk: My mother and father were religious, we went to an Assemblies of God church, brimstone, fire. I carried my Bible to school every day. I was the lead singer of a Christian rock band, I was a deacon in my children’s church. Christianity was my life.

[return to gardening scene]

Camp: I know when I grew up I saw so many examples of God doing the right things with people, and lives were being changed, but then I would see such a contrast in some other people who were considered upright and devout and role models, that I just saw the… [Read more…] about Queer Eye and Christian Hypocrisy

Jesus the Feminist

by Jean Bonin in Christian Issues

As a little girl Sunday school scholar, my favorite Bible story was the Old Testament story of Deborah, the Prophet turned warrior. I grew up in a time when it was strongly implied, if not outright preached from the pulpit, that a woman’s place was to be subservient to a man’s. Our whole purpose for being created was to serve our husband, therefore our whole purpose had to be to have a husband, and, if you were blessed, you would also have children to serve and a house to clean.

A woman was allowed to serve/lead in church as long as she was ministering to women, or until a man stepped up to take over whatever ministry it was that had temporarily allowed a woman at the helm. As I matured, so it seemed did the church—the music changed and got louder, the organ was replaced by drums, pastors wore trendier clothes—but the place of women seemed to stay the same. Now we were assured from a plexiglass pulpit that we weren’t less than a man in God’s sight, we were just different—the difference being that we just weren’t leadership material. But I still had my story of Deborah to cling to.
Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time. She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment. One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you:… [Read more…] about Jesus the Feminist

How I wrote an article critiquing John Piper … and got attacked by egalitarians

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

I recently posted an article in which I argued that John Piper’s ill-formed and poorly argued prohibition on women teaching in seminary reveals that he is sexist, i.e. prejudiced against the female sex and gender. I did not anticipate that my argument would receive resistance from egalitarians.
Trash!
One individual named Henry Imler replied:
Heirarchy [sic] within the Trinity is trash (innovation Grudem & Piper introduced to frame their argument) Complementarianism is trash; espousal of its views is trash; its lived practice is trash.
As best I can guess, Imler assumes that a condemnation of Piper as sexist on the terms of complementarianism somehow entails a morally culpable tacit endorsement of complementarianism. But this is clearly false.

Here I’m employing the very pedestrian form of argument known as assuming arguendo, the discursive device of assuming premises for the sake of argument and then showing problematic consequences based on those premises. This makes it all the more surprising that Henry Imler, an assistant professor of philosophy and theology, should seem to completely misunderstand the argument.

Garbage!

Another response came from JR Forasteros (who wrote a great book that I endorsed last year). JR wrote: “I’m really way over allowing for Complementarianism. Also misogyny. Also garbage theology.”

https://twitter.com/jrforasteros/status/955827011309723650

First observation: JR also seems to… [Read more…] about How I wrote an article critiquing John Piper … and got attacked by egalitarians

Mind Over Matter: Spirituality That Fueled a Stigma

by Lydia Joy in Christian Issues

For far too long mental illness has been associated with spirituality or, more rather, the lack of it. It’s a complex issue, and conversations surrounding it is often challenging. Why is this? Why does society find it taboo, deeming it something we just don’t talk about?

I’m here, speaking and listening, jumping head first into this very important conversation.

I come to this conversation through my experience of growing up in Christian Fundamentalism as well as a front row seat to watching a loved one battle depression and multiple suicide attempts. Both of these gave me feelings of dread and embarrassment I carried for many years. The stigma accompanying mental illness overshadows individual bodies, their brains, and welfare, reducing their value to an oversimplified concept of sin.

Not too long ago, I reached out in a post on social media, telling my friends without too much detail that I just didn’t understand why things had to be a certain way. I was upset and disappointed for a dear friend, but the perception was that I was battling depression. This was unintentional, but it led to an opportunity for others to comment and began a conversation that only a few years ago I would have avoided entirely.

One of those comments, from what I believe was a well-meaning Christian, suggested that we all struggle, but when we confess our depression as a sin then God offers forgiveness in this battle.

The comment took my breath away. Momentarily stunned, I found myself… [Read more…] about Mind Over Matter: Spirituality That Fueled a Stigma

How Evangelicalism Fosters Sexual Abuse

by Carly Gelsinger in Christian Issues, Current Events

Sexual assault thrives in the evangelical church, but why?

The sexual assault confession of Texas evangelical megachurch pastor Andy Savage is just the latest in a disturbing trend we’ve seen over the last decade.

It’s time to face the music. Evangelical pastors sexually abuse.

I realize this issue isn’t unique to evangelicalism, or religion (hello, Catholic Church circa 2002) or humans in general. There are abusive schoolteachers, parents, bosses, Hollywood directors, and strangers in parks. But there is a unique microclimate within evangelicalism that fosters the growth of abusers while silencing their victims. Whether they do this explicitly (as in Savage’s victim, who was told by the senior pastor to “not tell another soul”) or implicit in the theology and lifestyle in the congregation, the effect is the same. Victims of sexual abuse in evangelical churches often stay quiet. I grew up in the evangelical church, and while it never happened to me personally, it absolutely could have. This is why:

Pastors are elevated
There is a verse in the Bible that says “touch not the Lord’s anointed,” which in my church was interpreted to mean “don’t disrespect the pastor.” This kind of respect is given by title, not necessarily earned.  Pastors are often seen as an elevated spiritual human, and while they’ll refute this at the pulpit (“I’m a sinner just like you!”) some pastors secretly enjoy the elevated status they receive from their job. This is… [Read more…] about How Evangelicalism Fosters Sexual Abuse

Alarmist Evangelical Apologetics and the So-Called Post-Truth World

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

If you listen to evangelical Christian apologists for any length of time, you will soon hear reference to an ominous “post-truth culture” or a “post-truth world.” As Lee Strobel observed in a 2017 interview: “we see a trend toward a postmodern mindset and ‘post-truth’ culture.” And as John C. Richards, Jr. opines in Christianity Today: “culture asks us to capitulate and live as ‘law-abiding’ citizens in a new post-truth world.” Richards continues,
“Last year the assault on truth was stunning. ‘Post-truth’ was named Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 word of the year. Americans witnessed a tension-filled presidential campaign where truth-telling took a back seat to statistical errors and talking points. People shared fake news articles that hardly met the lowest levels of journalistic integrity. The world is changing rapidly, embodying this post-truth ethos.”
This sounds dramatic and, as I said, ominous. If these apologetic reports are to be believed, the sun is setting on truth as we move into this brave dark new world where truth no longer matters. Enter the apologist who is concerned to defend the objectivity of truth and beat back the forces of darkness with astute arguments and evidence and savvy cultural analysis.

Richards is right about one thing: there was an assault on truth during the last American presidential election. And that assault on truth was indeed stunning. But that is largely due to an American presidential campaign and presidency that avails… [Read more…] about Alarmist Evangelical Apologetics and the So-Called Post-Truth World

Learning From the Wise Men

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the Wise Men (Matt 2). Even in my fundamentalist/evangelical days, I found their story intriguing. Their time in the Gospel accounts is limited, but profound. As we come to this season of Advent, of that first coming, what might we learn from the story of the Wise Men? Here are three reflections we might consider:
God Acts Outside Traditional Frameworks/Understandings:
The Wise Men were from the east—they were gentiles. They were not heirs to the promise or the covenant. They were not given the law or rescued from Egypt. They were not told they were “clean” or chosen. They were outside the framework, the boundaries, the walls, that the Hebrews (Many of them) felt God had placed around Israel—the nation he had chosen out of all the peoples and nations of the world. The Wise Men were outsiders, foreigners, “others.”

And yet, God chose them to see and understand what those inside the presumed framework would not, or could not, see or understand.
God Speaks to Those Outside Traditional Frameworks/Understandings:
It is commonly understood the Wise Men were, what we would consider today, astrologers. The Magi were probably Persian-Medes, from a priestly class, and associated, again, with what we today would consider the occult.

And yet, God chose to speak, to communicate, to be present to those associated with a world and practices—that were actually condemned in Scripture (For example see Leviticus… [Read more…] about Learning From the Wise Men

Dining With the Devil

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

In 1993, Os Guinness wrote a wonderful little book entitled Dining with the Devil. The subtitle was The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity. Guinness pointed out how the megachurch movement was borrowing tools, insights, and strategies from the modern management, business, and marketing world to “reach” people. It was a sort of Babylonian captivity. What these churches often thought were the result of prayer, evangelism, or biblical preaching, were, perhaps, simply the result of good marketing, management, and business principles applied to growing one’s membership (clientele). Further, he likened this borrowing, this captivity, to dining with the prince of darkness himself. Yikes. The book, of course, was written with fundamentalist/evangelical churches in mind.

At the very beginning of the book, Guinness quotes sociologist Peter L. Berger, who in his book A Rumor of Angels writes:
He who sups with the devil had better have a long spoon. The devilry of modernity has its own magic: The [believer] who sups with it will find his spoon getting shorter and shorter—until that last supper in which he is left alone at the table, with no spoon at all and with an empty plate. The devil, one may guess, will by then have gone away to more interesting company.
This bit of wisdom and insight would also apply to our present moment in the political/cultural realm. Someone needs to write a new book, entitled Dining with the Devil: Part Two. And… [Read more…] about Dining With the Devil