Why Hospitality in the New Testament Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does
The lovable Disney film Moana, tells the story of a young girl who lives on a Polynesian island and is the daughter of the chief. Like many fathers, the chief is overly protective of his daughter, and also of the people he rules.
As a result, the people of Moana’s village are in a bit of a rut. They are rather uninspired and somewhat in-grown, not sure of their purpose or destiny. And Moana feels the same unrest. The core of the movie catalogs her struggle to discover her identity and calling.
But here’s the key. While she is curious about what her future should be, her breakthrough comes … Continue reading...
Is Capitalism Based on Greed?
Ever since Gordon Gekko’s character in the movie Wall Street uttered the phrase, “Greed is good,” there has been a wide-spread and oft-repeated myth that capitalism is based on greed. And, so the argument goes, if capitalism is driven by a sinful desire (greed), then it must be rejected as an immoral system.
Such issues have come up again in recent months as a number of new members of congress (and old members) are pushing the country away from capitalism and towards socialism, mostly on moral grounds. Even some well-meaning evangelicals, who have a genuine care for the poor, find themselves drawn to this new movement and its disdain … Continue reading...
Taking Back Christianese: The Complete Series
This past Summer, I completed the ten-part series, “Taking Back Christianese.” Below is the complete and final list of articles.
The motivation for this series was that our Christian lingo–“Christianese” if you will–can sometimes be mistaken. Or at least partially so. It can attempt to express a theological truth that (sometimes) bring more confusion than clarity.
So, this series addresses the way we talk as Christians. It is designed to analyze a number of theological phrases or practical bits of Christians wisdom that may simply be wrong, or at least misunderstood. Or maybe both.
As a reminder, I am not be suggesting that the instances of Christianese below are necessarily… Continue reading...
Remembering the Rural: Do Modern Church Plants Focus too Much on the City?
One of the wonderful developments in Reformed denominations in the last generation is a renewed emphasis on church planting. It is a burgeoning movement in my denomination (PCA), and one of the reasons that RTS Charlotte launched the Center for Church Planting last Fall.
One of the notable features of this new church planting movement is the near exclusive focus on planting churches in cities. Most church planters, it seems, want to go urban and not rural.
And let me say that there are many positives about this focus on cities. Certainly, and most obviously, cities are filled with lots of people and for that reason alone make a good … Continue reading...
Who’s Really Influenced by Their Cultural Situation? A Deep Irony in the New Perspective on Paul
Ever since Krister Stendahl’s seminal essay, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West,” one of the foundational arguments for the New Perspective(s) on Paul (NPP) has been that the traditional protestant/reformed view of justification is largely due to the cultural influence of “the West” and its emphasis on individualism and subjectivism.
Paul is not really concerned with individual sin, guilt and forgiveness (we are told). Reformed folks are simply reading that issue into the text due to their cultural situation.
Indeed, this is precisely what Stendahl says about Luther himself. The Reformed view of justification is largely due, argues Stendahl, to Luther’s individual struggle with is own … Continue reading...