There's Beauty in the Bellow

Why work for diversity in the Church? I've seen this question posed a couple times. Partly out of concern for tokenism, partly out of concern for creating a new legalism. As I see it, there are three major reasons for seeking diversity and racial reconciliation: coming to terms with our own history, a vision for maturity in the American church, and the Eschatological Church. Reckoning with our own history (especially the SBC) I don't remember where I got this observation (I think it was Tim Mackie), but here it is: In chapter nine of the book of Daniel, Daniel offers a prayer of repentance for Israel's past sins -- the corporate sins that culminate in the Babylonian exile that contextualizes the book. Daniel has acted uprightly in every dilemma presented him, so why should he have to repent for others? It's a strange idea for our autonomous age. The Southern Baptist Convention broke off from the American Baptist over the preservation of slavery. Chattel slavery as...

Our descent into moral incoherence is well documented and frequently mourned. But it's still astonishing. I was reading an article about extricating oneself from Amazon's clutches because I would prefer to give Mr. Bezos a little less money. The article in question did not suggest that maybe Mr. Bezos has his fingers in too many pies and ought to have his influence curtailed before he overestimated his importance. No, the article made shooting people and offering NRATV as morally equivalent. This bothers me. Guns are  dangerous. And there are people aplenty who are much too excited about owning them. Others who own them and don't give thought to whether they ought to own them. Or whether their firearms might be accessible to the irresponsible and malicious. If I remember correctly, the Colorado movie theater shooter took his grandma's firearm. My father jettisoned his firearms when my brother became a passionate adolescent with minimal self control. (And he kept all o...

Voting and the 10 Commandments This is the great commandment, you shall Love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And the second is like unto it: Love your neighbor with your vote. I would like to vote for a Christian. However, I would quickly vote for a small-government non-Christian over a Christian socialist. The former is more considerate of your neighbor than the latter. 6. Does he honor the life of his neighbor? This applies to abortion, as well as gun rights; it even applies to defense issues. Pacifism often loves the neighbor abroad at the expense of the neighbor next door. "Speak softly and carry a big stick" means that we show respect for sovereign nations but that we will intervene to protect our people. 7. What is his stance on obvious public sexual sins? How about his personal life? There's only so much you can do here. You don't know if the wife is photo-shopped in and the mistress or male l...