This post will be a little different. I
know with us leaving 2 weeks we should have some emotional blog
about how hard it is, or maybe all the loss we feel. But I have
something different on my heart.
One thing does nag at me. I know my
friends and family will take care of each other, but will my fellow
generation of Christians? The topic of HOW my generation interacts
with the church has been a topic on my mind for several months now.So i wrote a letter. Dr. Sider wrote a way better letter, so i copied his after mine.
My fellow 20- somethings,
I noticed that most of my
friends, even the 'totally in love with Jesus' ones struggle with
connecting and meeting with a body of believers. I can totally relate
to this, after getting married soon after graduating, me and Jesse
went to church once or twice a month, we would occasionally discuss
not being fed, or needing something different but did little about it
till we had our first child. I cannot believe I fell into that 'come
back to church when I had a baby' demographic. I loved Jesus, I even
had a close church family who I loved, why couldn't I dame to get out
of bed on Sunday morning?
Truth is, I don't know what it is
exactly. I do know that God has beautifully blessed my generation
with a cultural perspective so radically different then our parents.
What we value to how we communicate is so fundamentally opposite then
the generation before us. While we value authenticity and
relationships, our generation is characterized by rampant and radical individualism. I know that most churches are not run my 20- somethings.
And something isn't gelling. Are we too flaky to commit or are our
needs not being met? I think it is probably a combination of both.
One thing I know is we need the
church!
We do not connect to church programs
or teachingd, so we simply stop going. We isolate ourselves from the
body of Christ, because we claim our relationship is 'personal' and
'intamate', but really we just fail to connect with the church as a
institurtion. I find this a grave loss. One, because the new
testament shows us that our entire faith was meant to be lived out in
the context of the body of Christ. Christ comands us to 'not forsake
meeting together'. The church is where we are 'spur one another
towards love and good deeds” and “our faith without works is
dead”. I fear with all the life, vibrancy and creativity we are
still becoming at best a stagnant, at worst a dead christian
generation. We need the church! She is our mother and is essential in
guiding and encouraging and correcting us in our personal walks. Not
only do we nee the collective and diverse body of Christ, we need
the specific perspective of the older generation. Our generation has
all these impassioned ideas about social justice and freedom, but we
lack the wisdom of age that our fathers have.
The other thing is that it is
OUR JOB to fix it.
With our generation's difference in
perspective come responsibility as Christians to bridge the gap. Can we proceed to join our
perspectives with the older generation with the grace, patience and
peace that embodies the Spirit alive inside of us.
here is an older perspectives (Dr.
Siders) plea to the 20 somethings...or you can go to the link
For a long time, people called me a “young evangelical.”
Actually, the adjectives were sometimes less gracious: “radical,”
or “leftist” or “Marxist.” (My response to the “Marxist”
label was simple: “I’m a Mennonite farm boy, for Pete’s sake.
Have you ever met a Mennonite farmer who wants the government to own
his land?”)
So I used to be a “radical, young evangelical.” But I was
born in 1939, so, however reluctantly, I have long since had to
abandon the label “young.” Hence this open letter to a younger
generation, many of whom are 40 years younger than I am.
I have no desire to lecture you or “set you straight.” I
have enormous appreciation for this generation. Forty years ago, when
some of my friends and I started talking about social justice, racial
justice, God’s special concern for the poor, and holistic mission
that combined evangelism and social action, we were considered
radical.
Much is different today. Not all older Christians “get it,”
but you younger ones certainly do. A special concern for the poor and
oppressed is part of your DNA. Caring for creation and transcending
racial prejudice is simply who you are. You cannot imagine an
evangelism that only cares about people’s “souls.” You just
assume, without any need for argument, that biblical Christians
should love the whole person the way Jesus did, offering both
spiritual and material transformation. You want to engage the whole
culture—art, music, literature, politics—rather than withdraw
into some isolated ghetto. For all of this and much more, I shout,
“Hallelujah!”
But there are four areas where I would love to have a dialogue.
I have four questions I would like to ask you to ponder. Do you care
as much about inviting non-Christians to embrace Christ as Savior and
Lord as you do about social justice? As you understand, thanks in
part to postmodernism, that every person’s thinking is limited by
his/her specific location in space and time, are you in danger of
abandoning an affirmation of moral and intellectual truth? Will you
do a better job than my generation of keeping your marriage vows? As
you rightly seek to respect the dignity and rights of gay/lesbian
people, have you considered carefully the Church’s millennia-long
teaching on homosexuality?
I won’t lecture you on these topics. Every generation of
Christians must seek again to discern what biblical revelation means
for their own time and place. All I ask is that you do that in
dialogue with the whole Church—the Church of the earlier centuries,
the worldwide Church today and, yes, those of us who are now “older
evangelicals.” We will pray fervently for you as you do that and be
most grateful when you seek us out for dialogue.
Let me explain my four questions.
Are you in danger of neglecting evangelism in
your passion for social justice?
You know how much I affirm your commitment to justice for the
poor and your rejection of an evangelism that focuses only on the
“soul” and neglects peoples’ material needs. I have spent much
of my life arguing on biblical grounds for precisely these concerns.
But I have also watched some Christian “social activists” lose
their concern for evangelism.
Evangelism and social action are inseparable. They are two
sides of the same coin. But they are not identical. Working for
economic development in poor communities or structural change to end
systemic oppression is not the same thing as inviting persons who do
not now confess Christ to embrace Him as Lord and Savior. If we only
do social action and never say we do it because of Christ, our good
deeds only point to ourselves and make us look good.
The Bible clearly teaches that persons are both material and
spiritual beings. Scripture and human experience show sin is personal
and social; social brokenness (including poverty) results both from
wrong personal choices and unjust structures. If we only work at half
the problem, we only produce half a solution. People need both
personal faith in Christ that transforms their values and very
person, and material, structural transformation that brings new
socioeconomic opportunities. That is why holistic evangelical
community development programs that truly combine evangelism and
social action (think of John Perkins and the Christian Community
Development Association) work better now in this life.
But persons are made for far more than a good life here on
earth for 60 or 100 years. Every person is invited to live forever
with the living God. Jesus died so whoever believes in Him may have a
better life now and life eternal.
Two other biblical truths are crucial. Jesus is the only way to
salvation, and those who continue to reject Christ depart eternally
from the living God. I know my generation has sometimes said these
things in harsh, insensitive ways. Too often we have failed to say
with the Bible that God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).
But if the Bible is our norm, we dare not neglect its teaching
that people are lost without Christ (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians
1:9). Jesus (certainly the most amazing teacher of love the world has
ever known) says more about eternal separation from the living God
than anyone else in the Bible (Matthew 25:41; Matthew 13:41-42,
49-50; Matthew 18:8). Surely, if Jesus is true God as well as true
man, we cannot act as if He did not know what He was talking about.
Instead, we should embrace His claim that He is the way, the
truth and the life; “no one comes to the Father except through me”
(John 14:6, NIV). For as Peter said at Pentecost, there is no other
name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).
Of course there are tough questions about things like those who
have never heard or eternal punishment. (I wrestle with those in the
chapter on evangelism in my Good News and Good Works: A Theology for
the Whole Gospel.) But for most of Church history, Christians have
believed and taught the biblical affirmation that apart from Christ,
people are lost eternally. Those parts of the modern church that have
abandoned these truths have declined disastrously.
So, gently but clearly, I ask you to wrestle with the question:
Do you care as much about lovingly inviting non-Christians to embrace
the Savior as you do about social justice? Is there any danger that
this generation of Christian social activists will repeat the
one-sidedness of the old social gospel and neglect evangelism? Will
this generation of young Christians spend as much time, money and
effort praying and strategizing about how to winsomely invite
non-Christians to come to Christ as you do working for social
justice?
Are you in danger of abandoning an affirmation
of moral and intellectual truth?
My second question is about truth. You have rightly learned
from postmodernism that every person’s ideas and beliefs are
significantly shaped by their specific location in space and time. Do
you still believe there is moral and intellectual truth?
You are certainly correct to point out that Christians over the
centuries, including this generation of older evangelicals, have been
perversely shaped in their thinking by surrounding society. St.
Augustine said dreadful things about sexuality, and Luther penned
terrible comments about Jews. In my lifetime, too many older
Christians were blatantly racist and homophobic. They largely ignored
the hundreds of biblical texts about God’s amazing concern for
justice for the poor and marginalized. One older Christian friend of
mine told me 35 years ago that he had gone to evangelical Bible
conferences for 60 years and never once heard a sermon on justice.
Far too often, older Christians have made absolute claims about
their theological affirmations. We failed to see clearly that every
human theological system contains human misunderstanding that comes
from the fact that every theologian is a finite, imperfect, still
painfully sinful person. Young Christians have learned we must be far
more humble in our theological claims.
But does that mean truth does not exist? Sophisticated
postmodernist thinkers say yes. All “truth” is simply a human
construct produced by different groups of people to promote their
self-interest. At the popular level, relativism reigns. Whatever I
feel is right for me is “my truth.” It is outrageous intolerance
to tell someone else they are wrong.
But finally, that kind of relativism—whether the
sophisticated or the popular variety—does not work. If truth does
not exist, science and civilization collapse. If, as Nietzsche
claimed, no moral truth exists, then society is simply a vicious
power struggle where the most powerful trample the rest. As the
famous atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell said, those who have the
best poison gas will have the ethics of the future. One of the best
Christian antidotes to this kind of modern relativism is Pope John
Paul II’s great encyclical
The Splendor of Truth.
The fact that my (and every other human) understanding of
truth, justice and morality is dreadfully imperfect does not mean
intellectual and moral truth do not exist. God is truth. Christ is
the truth. The Bible is God’s revealed truth, even though my
understanding of it is very inadequate. That God is
Father, Son
and Holy Spirit; that Jesus is true God and true man; that Jesus rose
bodily from the dead; that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection are
the only way to salvation for everyone—these are unchanging truths
that will always be essential for every generation of Christians,
even though we finite human beings never fully understand them.
Not everything must change.
Contemporary culture confuses relativism and tolerance. In so
many circles, it is considered intolerable to say someone else’s
behavior and beliefs are wrong; but I can and should respect other
people and defend their freedom to say and do things I consider wrong
without abandoning my assertion that some actions are moral and
others are immoral. We must vigorously reject society’s equation of
tolerance with relativism.
My prayer for this generation of young Christians is that you
learn from postmodernists the many complex ways our ideas and beliefs
are shaped by our social setting without abandoning the historic
Christian affirmation that moral and intellectual truth exist because
they are grounded in God.
Will you honor your marriage vows?
Third, a question about marriage. Will you young Christians be
more faithful in keeping your marriage vows than my generation?
I weep over the pain and agony so many of you have experienced
in your homes. Through no choice of your own, you had to suffer the
anguish of broken families. So few of you enjoyed the security of
knowing Mom and Dad would be faithful to each other for life. It
saddens me to realize some of you even fear to marry because of the
pain you experienced due to your parents’ broken marriages. That
your Christian parents got divorced at the same rate as the rest of
society is one of the most blatant markers of Christian failure
today.
The widespread agony in so many evangelical homes is a striking
contrast to the joy of good Christian marriages. God’s best gift to
me, after His Son, is my wife, Arbutus, with whom I expect to
celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this August. Of course we had
troubled times. At the worst time, we needed the gifts of a wonderful
Christian marriage counselor for six months. But the ongoing joy of a
wife and husband growing together in mutual submission over many
decades is an amazing gift of our Creator. And yes, even at 71 years
of age, the sex is still a delight.
The older I grow, the more certain I am the Creator’s design
for sex and marriage truly works better than the alternatives. For a
couple years before our marriage, I carried a note in my wallet
promising God and myself to wait until marriage. At the hardest times
in our marriage, when I was severely tempted to commit adultery,
God’s holy commands protected me. Working through our painful
struggles rather than running away from them has led to decades of
happiness.
I want to plead with young Christians. Please resolve now to
keep your promise to your spouse and children. Please live out a
wonderful model of joyful, mutually submissive marriages that bless
your children with security and goodness and attract non-Christians
to the Savior. Forgiving each other for failures, working through the
inevitable problems and growing together for a lifetime are better
for your children, better for the Church and better for society. That
is also the way to more lasting joy for yourself.
One related question for you to ponder if you are not married:
Can you look into the face of Christ and say, “Lord, I believe with
all my heart that the way I am relating physically to others is
pleasing to you”? If you cannot do that, are you willing to ask
Christ to help you change your behavior so it truly pleases the Lord?
If you are not willing to behave now sexually in a way that is
biblically obedient, why do you think you will later keep your
marriage vows and spare your children the agony you have endured?
My young friends, the Creator’s way really works much better
than today’s sexual promiscuity. I believe with all my heart that
your generation can, in the power of the Risen Lord, keep your
marriage vows, experience joyous marriages and thereby live winsome
models of marital fidelity and happiness. I beg you, make that your
goal and then by God’s grace do what it takes to reach it.
As you seek to respect the dignity of gay/lesbian people, have you
wrestled carefully with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality?
Finally, a question about the complex issue of homosexuality. Are you
quickly abandoning what older Christians believe on this issue without
carefully examining biblical teaching and the near unanimous history of
the Church over almost 2,000 years?
God knows the older generation of Christians have dealt with this
issue almost as badly as possible. Many of us were homophobic. We
tolerated gay bashers. We were largely silent when bigots in the society
battered or even killed gay people. We did not deal sensitively and
lovingly with young people in our churches struggling with their sexual
orientation. Instead of taking the lead in ministering to people with
AIDS, some of our leaders even opposed government funding for research
to discover medicine to help them. At times, we even had the gall to
blame gay people for the collapse of marriage in our society, ignoring
the obvious fact that 95 percent of the people in this society are
heterosexual. The primary reason for the collapse of marriage is the
fact that the vast heterosexual majority (including Christians) have not
kept their marriage vows.
I understand why you are not enthusiastic about listening to older
Christians on this issue. But is that a good reason for failing to
wrestle carefully with the biblical material and the long teaching of
the Church over the years?
I don’t have space here to discuss the details of biblical
interpretation on this issue—except to note the primary biblical case
against homosexual practice is not the few explicit biblical texts, but
rather that in dozens of places, the Bible talks about the goodness of
sexual intercourse and always the context is a married man and woman.
There are many excellent books on the biblical material: Duke New
Testament professor Richard Hays’ chapter 16 in The Moral Vision of the New Testament; Stanley J. Grenz, Welcoming but Not Affirming; and Robert A. J. Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice (his scholarship is solid, although his tone could be more gentle).
One other fact complicates your task. The dominant media in secular
culture are overwhelmingly committed to teaching everyone the historic
Christian teaching on sexuality is wrong and that heterosexual and
homosexual (or bisexual) practice are equally valid personal choices.
Hollywood, TV, intellectual elites and major newspapers are all
dreadfully biased. I pray you will let the Bible and the Church, rather
than secular culture, be decisive in your thinking on this issue.
And please do not be misled by the theologically confused argument
that since we are all sinners (which is true), the Church cannot say
homosexual practice is sin. Just because every Christian continues to
fail God in some ways does not mean we should abandon biblical norms and
stop speaking of sin. Rather, we should reaffirm God’s standards and
walk with each other to help each other become more and more conformed
to the image of Christ.
Younger Christians are listening more carefully to Church history,
especially the writers of the first few centuries. Surely, therefore,
you will thoughtfully weigh the fact that for almost 2,000 years,
Christians have taught overwhelmingly that God’s will for sexual
intercourse is within the marriage of a man and a woman.
Also important is careful listening to the Christians in the Global
South where a large majority of Christians now live. Here, too, young
Christians are well ahead of my generation in overcoming the
condescending, even racist attitudes of many white European/North
American Christians. Therefore, I’m sure you will want to attach great
significance to the fact that overwhelmingly, Christians in the Global
South believe homosexual practice is not God’s will. (One of the more
striking recent examples of white, “Western” arrogance is the way
relatively small Anglican/Episcopal churches in the West have refused to
submit to the views of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide who in
fact reside in the Global South.) My prayers go with you as you dialogue
with your sisters and brothers in the Global South on this and all
issues.
Young evangelicals could embrace the Church’s historic teaching
without repeating my generation’s mistakes. Andrew Marin (author of Love Is an Orientation)
is just one example of how you rightly have gay friends and seek to
deeply understand them. You can oppose gay bashing, insist on proper
civil rights for gay Americans and help the Church take the lead in
ministering to people with AIDS. You can and should insist homosexual
sin is no worse than other sins, like adultery, or racism or
covetousness. You can and should insist that it is safe and acceptable
for Christians to publicly acknowledge a gay orientation (orientation
and practice are quite different issues) and seek the support of their
Christian community for living celibate lives (such persons should be
eligible for any office in the church). In short, young Christians could
develop a radically different (and far more Christian!) approach to
homosexual persons without abandoning the historic Christian position.
There you have my four questions. Thanks, young friends, for
listening to someone who is 40 or 50 years older than you are. On all
these issues and many more, you will have to find your own way. Above
all, remain unconditionally committed to Christ and uncompromisingly
faithful to biblical revelation. I’ll pray for you as you seek to apply
biblical faith to your complex world.
