They Will Know Us By...
So, I'm a few posts behind in the queue of my brain, meaning I have to blog about Shane Claiborne before I can move on to more recent things. He returned to his second home, Belmont, a couple months back, and I think he's always so good for us to hear. So I hope he doesn't get tired of coming...
Anyway, he talked about a bunch of great stuff, but my favorite was what he said about politics. He said we need to be known for what we're for, not what we're against. The parts of the church that are doing things like burning Qurans, bombing abortion clinics, and holding signs that say "Jesus hates fags," "Repent or be burned," etc, just perpetuate the general associations of Christianity with being against things. And my personal tendency toward those people is opposition, too, ironically. I want to oppose them, publicly denounce them, defend myself and my Christianity, defend Jesus, but I think the better thing is to sing a more beautiful song. Live a more beautiful story than theirs. Not identify with opposing broken religion, but identify simply with Jesus-living.
We should be known for being FOR life, Shane said, not for being ANTI-abortion. God asks us to be for life. And if we adopt that policy, wouldn't we also change the way we see the death penalty, warfare, poverty, health care...?
When people encounter Jesus, their whole thinking system changes. Their economic, political, personal, and sometimes vocational attitudes and practices change. If nothing is changing for people when they become Christians, then we are focusing too much on evangelism and titles, and not enough on discipleship and living for the things Jesus lived for. After all, we were told to make disciples, not believers.
And in our political views shaped by Jesus, our primary and full allegiance is to Christ. We vote for people and policies that will bring God's kingdom closer to earth. Therefore, we are nonpartisan, but politically active. Shane said government is damage control. It's not going to do God's work of making all things new. But what we support and look for in government is not a label ("Republican"); it's things that align the closest to God's kingdom.
I also liked what he said about interacting with other religions. Someone asked him, "Should we be dialoguing with other faiths, or evangelizing them?" I've been asking myself this question for a while, too, and honestly I was pretty convinced Shane would say dialogue. But he didn't say dialogue or evangelism. He answered, "Yes." He said we can live with an intense desire for others to know Christ, unapologetically, and still be hospitable and work with those of other faiths. Actually, we would be idiots not to. If we are working for the kingdom of God on earth, we should be working alongside everyone who will join us. We want a "manna society," as Daniel Erlander would say, and if they do too, let's work together.
So, Shane Claiborne is great, and I can't wait to read his newest book as soon as I'm not a college student reading textbooks all day long.
:)
Thoughts on any of this?
Anyway, he talked about a bunch of great stuff, but my favorite was what he said about politics. He said we need to be known for what we're for, not what we're against. The parts of the church that are doing things like burning Qurans, bombing abortion clinics, and holding signs that say "Jesus hates fags," "Repent or be burned," etc, just perpetuate the general associations of Christianity with being against things. And my personal tendency toward those people is opposition, too, ironically. I want to oppose them, publicly denounce them, defend myself and my Christianity, defend Jesus, but I think the better thing is to sing a more beautiful song. Live a more beautiful story than theirs. Not identify with opposing broken religion, but identify simply with Jesus-living.
We should be known for being FOR life, Shane said, not for being ANTI-abortion. God asks us to be for life. And if we adopt that policy, wouldn't we also change the way we see the death penalty, warfare, poverty, health care...?
When people encounter Jesus, their whole thinking system changes. Their economic, political, personal, and sometimes vocational attitudes and practices change. If nothing is changing for people when they become Christians, then we are focusing too much on evangelism and titles, and not enough on discipleship and living for the things Jesus lived for. After all, we were told to make disciples, not believers.
And in our political views shaped by Jesus, our primary and full allegiance is to Christ. We vote for people and policies that will bring God's kingdom closer to earth. Therefore, we are nonpartisan, but politically active. Shane said government is damage control. It's not going to do God's work of making all things new. But what we support and look for in government is not a label ("Republican"); it's things that align the closest to God's kingdom.
I also liked what he said about interacting with other religions. Someone asked him, "Should we be dialoguing with other faiths, or evangelizing them?" I've been asking myself this question for a while, too, and honestly I was pretty convinced Shane would say dialogue. But he didn't say dialogue or evangelism. He answered, "Yes." He said we can live with an intense desire for others to know Christ, unapologetically, and still be hospitable and work with those of other faiths. Actually, we would be idiots not to. If we are working for the kingdom of God on earth, we should be working alongside everyone who will join us. We want a "manna society," as Daniel Erlander would say, and if they do too, let's work together.
So, Shane Claiborne is great, and I can't wait to read his newest book as soon as I'm not a college student reading textbooks all day long.
:)
Thoughts on any of this?
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