Tomorrow morning, I’m leading the discussion at the Tulsa Emergent Cohort. Here’s what we’ll be talking about (pdf alert). These are notes I took from a podcast I listened to from Greg Boyd’s church when they were discussing his new book. I thought it was a helpful summary and should make for a good discussion. If you’re in town, join us. If you’re not, then leave a comment.
For the record, I place myself in the separatist/distinctivist camp.
Update: The discussion went well and there was a minimum of bloodshed.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
“Letters From a Skeptic” grabbed me from the start… an awesome dialogue that I could relate to. Rock the house tomorrow.
me, too, just never knew what to call myself
I am increasingly uncomfortable with Christians using earthly power to attempt to accomplish spiritual goals.
I think I agree with some atheists more than most christians on some matters.
as long as we (God’s people) rely on the government to enforce morality and/or take care of the poor, we are shirking our responsibilities of preaching the gospel and serving others.
I can’t even bring myself to much concern about what our govt does about homosexual marriage, but I do believe Christians will do more harm to the cause of Christ by fighting it politically, than simply trying to preach the gospel with love.
Are these the only four choices? I wish I had known about this, it sounds like an interesting discussion.
I wish I had known about this, too. I’d have come into town a day early to hang out.
Could there be a hybrid of the separatist/distinctivist choice and dualism? I’m bothered by the goal and possible cons of the separatist/distinctivist camp. Doesn’t the kingdom of God have to overlap at some point with the kingdom of the world? If not, what’s the point?
By the way Wade, nice mind map. I’ve missed those!
Shannon–yes, I think there has to be an overlap between the two. The con of distinctivism is what happens when there is a lack of engagement with the kingdom of the world. My hope is that we can engage politics and culture from a kingdom of God stance that doesn’t compromise the values of the kingdom of God.
I might restate the goal of the distinctive position to say “to live out the values and vision of the kingdom of God in such a way that it becomes a preferable alternative to the kingdom of the world.
Since we are to be “in the world, but not of the world” and salt and light, we have no choice but to interact with and influence with the world, I think the bigger question is how do we interact. IMO, we should be involved but political involvement may be a waste of time, and even sometimes contrary to doing things God’s Way.
Shannon –
I agree with you about that hybrid. Christ intentionally became a part of our physical world to create an intimacy with us that couldn’t otherwise exist – to understand more fully the “tension” between the two worlds. God also created our physical world. Surely there is something valuable there. However, the slogan of Dualism disturbs me also describing “two unrelated kingdoms”. Unrelated?
I hope all is great with you. We all miss your smile each week.
Take care.