24May2016

When Sound Doctrine & Furious Action Displease Christ

Written By robfaircloth

A congregation that is sound in doctrine and active in deeds may nonetheless displease Christ, and might be in danger of losing the privilege of representing Christ on earth.

Jesus warns just such a congregation in Revelation 2:1-7. The church at Ephesus had been so alert and orthodox doctrinally that it had exposed false teachers and dealt with them appropriately. And it had engaged in good deeds to the point of collective exhaustion, “not growing weary” when lesser congregations would have collapsed.

But Jesus still had stern words for the church. They had “abandoned the love they had at first.”

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20April2016

Why a Public Square Needs the Religious Voice

Written By robfaircloth

It is quite fashionable to argue that religious belief has no place in the public square, particularly when the public square houses city councils, school boards, and state houses debating ostensible LGBT(Q) anti-discrimination measures.

Actually, it is usually the unpopular religious belief, or the religious belief with which the public square happens to disagree at the time, that finds no chair at the table. If it serves the public mood or helps pass legislation, religious belief becomes a favored guest. Customarily, though, we are led to believe that society is done a great favor when the religious voice is excluded, when the “fact” realm is kept safe from the “value” realm, when the public square is “naked” and apparently unashamed.

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8April2016

Setting our Sails by Gender Ideology

Written By robfaircloth

One hallmark of open and free society is the ability to contribute to the marketplace of ideas, in open forum and reasonable discourse, without fear of reprisals, recriminations, or ridicule.

In certain categories of thought, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to get the proverbial word in, even edgewise.

Across the country school boards, city councils, and state houses are considering the best ways to protect from discrimination students and adults whose experience of gender does not readily coincide with their anatomy or with traditional expectations, those whose sexual identity is, in broad terms, “gender nonconforming.”

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6April2016

Christian Perspectives on Government & Culture

Written By robfaircloth

Christians should understand government and culture in order to engage, understand, and influence it. Earlier I listed a few helpful secular resources for Christians. Here, I suggest resources from the Christian viewpoint on government and cultural issues.

 

one nation under godOne Nation Under God.

Of recent vintage, Ashford and Pappalardo give principles for engaging culture in the Kuypernian tradition. They discuss “sphere sovereignty” — recognizing that government and church have different roles and responsibilities — and “thick” and “thin” approaches to presenting the Christian worldview — when it’s appropriate to cite the Bible, for instance, and when to use persuasion that is less dependent on Scripture and more accessible to the non-Christian.

 

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29March2016

Christians Should Read these Secular Resources on Government

Written By robfaircloth

If you’re like me, you didn’t pay much attention in high school civics class. My learning in earnest about government systems and civic life, particularly how they relate to the Christian life, began much later. But being an informed citizen requires much more than reading someone’s voter guide and watching the news. Here are a few things to help you be a more informed, voting citizen.

The Declaration of Independence & Constitution. One great feature of the United States’ foundational documents is that they are relatively short. Compared to the length of the annual Federal Register or even the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case of average significance, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are positively light reading.

If you are interested in politics and government — in other words, if you are inclined to voice an opinion about politics and government — you really should know what our fundamental civic documents actually say.

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28March2016

Disciple’s Handbook: How to Labor with Purpose

Written By robfaircloth

As John reports Jesus’ last hours with the disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus give the disciples a sort of user’s manual or disciple’s handbook with instructions about how to walk with him while they are physically without him.

In John 14, Jesus explains that we must look to our place and labor in our purpose as we live in his peace.

Knowing that we have a place, a home, a position is indispensable to our mental and spiritual health. So, Jesus, knowing our weak frame, encourages his disciples with the promise that he, himself, is preparing us a place in heaven, itself, where we will be with God, himself (14:1-3). Not only that, Jesus promises that though the world will not provide us peace, he will, and is, providing a peace much better.

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21March2016

Canonballing into the Mission of Christ

Written By robfaircloth

An advertising campaign for Walt Disney World from a few years ago capitalized on the popularity of professional football, asking the winning quarterback of the year’s biggest game “You’ve just won the Super Bowl: what are you going to do now?” to which he would gleefully respond “I’m going to Disney World!”

Should the same commercial interests be applied to the scene in John 20 and 21, it might go something like this, with considerably different effect:

“Peter, you’ve just seen and heard the risen Lord: what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going fishing!”

At this point, Jesus has died, risen from the dead, and appeared to his disciples with a commission.

Due to the proximity of this episode to the appearance of Jesus to the disciples, some say that this return to normal life represented an apostasy, or falling away, on the part of the disciples. But at this time, the Spirit had not fallen on them with power, as would happen at Pentecost. And Jesus had something else to teach them.

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