“Too spiritual. So heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good” – a few years ago, I would have been proud to be described like this. YES, I’m all about eternity. I’m but a stranger here, life is a desert drear, heaven is my home. The only thing that mattered about other people was the spiritual: have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you know where you’ll go when you die? Like a good Evangelical, I supported missions... Read more
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene may have been censured, but she didn’t repent. She continues leading the Christian Nationalist congregation more boldly than ever, repeating the tenets of its theology. Christians Against Christian Nationalism describes the movement: Christian Nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the new hero/resurrected martyr of Christian... Read more
Israel, Palestine, and Covid 19: “No country has done what we are able to do,” said Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu. He is so right – but not in the way he thinks he is. Dear Patheos readers, My full-time gig is writing about Palestine – the human rights situation, the American politics and money that drive Israeli policy and practices. As Christians who want to “do justice and love mercy” (Micah 6:8), we should care about injustice anywhere. The scale... Read more
Ever since Inauguration Day, Evangelical Christians have been declaring on social media their plan to spend lots of time in prayer during the next four years. Wonderful! Prayer is so important; our president and our country need prayer. As someone who prayed Evangelically for many years, I know a bit about the potential pitfalls, so I need to speak up. Priscilla Shirer, daughter of conservative megachurch pastor Tony Evans, posted a devotional online that illustrates well a prayer formula in... Read more
Whether you supported the Capitol attack or not, Evangelicals, you are forever tied to the incident. Social media will not be kind to you or to the Jesus you recognize as Savior. Footage has come out from last week’s invasion in which Jesus’ name is loudly invoked by a group of insurrectionists in the House chamber. Led by “QAnon Shaman,” the fur-and-horn-helmet-wearing gentleman whose image has become familiar to us all, the crowd joined in prayer to the “heavenly Father,”... Read more
Jesus expects us to love even our enemies, but Christians apparently love to hate each other – or at least we talk like we do. The word “hate” has been thrown around a lot lately, and not just in politics. Evangelicals and Progressives, we need to talk about this kind of destructive language. We need to stop tearing each other down and start showing love and respect. Don’t you agree? Our default response, of course, is “yes, you need to stop... Read more
Among the many misunderstandings between Evangelicals and Progressives, the idea of “privilege” is high on the list. As our country grows more and more polarized, we Christians are participating in the mudslinging just as much as anyone else. Evangelicals are lining up mostly with political Conservatives, while Christian Progressives are mostly siding with political Progressives and Liberals. My brothers and sisters, these things ought not to be so (James 3:10). As I’ve scrolled through social media the last few days,... Read more
(Part One of Come Sail Away is here, Part Two is here.) As the guests leave the dining hall, most of them head toward the back of the ship, where the live Christian music concert will start in a few minutes. You stroll in the opposite direction, eager for some quiet. You need to sort out your thoughts. Up ahead, you see a small group also heading away from the crowd, and you recognize the blonde woman who’d introduced the... Read more
Instead of talking past each other or ignoring each other, can we start listening? I’ll go first by listening to one of my detractors. I’m a collector of interesting social media tidbits, always taking screenshots of memes, copying and pasting comments that I find intriguing or eye-opening. I keep them in a file on my desktop and skim through them every once in a while, to remind me how people explain themselves and what they believe. In the semi-anonymity of... Read more
Post Apocalypse! It’s come to my attention that, due to a flukey tech problem at Patheos, many of my subscribers did not receive my last few posts. Obviously, this is a catastrophe of massive proportions. Other subscribers haven’t read them due to extenuating circumstances (like holiday inertia, TV binge-watching, or excessive post-egg nog napping). Or maybe you’re just not on the Grace-Colored Glasses train yet (subscribe to my newsletter now)! For all of these reasons and so many more (that... Read more
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