We are not saved by a “profession of faith”; rather, we are saved by faith. In this series, I have contended that faith is public, not private. In this post, I want to address a few applications. I sometimes hear the objection that “we can’t make someone believe” or “we can’t change another person’s heart.” People say this to justify evangelistic methods that verge on easy-believism wherein they assume a “profession” is to be counted as actual decision of faith.... Read more
What are the missiological implications of this graph? Click on the graph to enlarge. To see the explanation for this graph, click here. Read more
In chapter 7 of Christian Political Witness, William Cavanaugh suggests that our political witness is compromised when we see the church merely as a collection of individuals rather than a corporate person. In so doing, the church both creates and perpetuates class divisions that the gospel seeks to eliminate. (I’ll explain more in the second half of this post.) Cavanaugh provides a profound analysis of a complex topic. I don’t pretend that a few paragraphs will not do justice to... Read more
In Christian Political Witness, the authors repeatedly lament the divide between “public” and “private.” Why? It is often thought that freedom is only possible by parting the political seas. In order to enjoy the “miracle” of American democracy, we must separate politics from Christian faith. However, in CPW, it is argued that common notions about the church-state relationship have an adverse effect on God’s people. Christian Faith is Personal not Private Jana Bennett (chapter 6) explains some of the practical... Read more
I consistently hear the criticism of Chinese preaching (though I know it’s true of many pastors around the world). What is the problem? I often hear something like this: “The pastor’s preaching is all over the place!” Pastors seem to jump around from text to text and never make a clear point. Listeners are left confused. No wonder many people think Christianity, sermons or theology are not very practical. This is why I’m grateful for a good post from... Read more
Have you heard any jokes about the Beijing taxi drivers? Here’s one. Question 1: How many taxi drivers are in Beijing? Answer: Around 65,000 Question 2: According to missionary reports, how many of them are Christian? Answer: 150,000 (That last number is totally made up.) I wonder how many times missionaries have listed the same taxi drivers on their statistical reports as “making a decision for Christ.” Any taxi driver will “believe” as long as you pay the meter. (more…) Read more
Are you Muslim? No problem. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary may be the school for you. It was recently reported that the man who led to “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has now decided––contrary to admissions policies and without trustee approval––that SWBTS would enroll a Muslim student. Wade Burleson, a former trustee for the SBC’s mission board, recently wrote a blog post exposing this not so conservative breach in policy. Here is an excerpt: “In a faculty meeting... Read more
In Christian Political Witness, how might McKnight and Gombis’ chapters practically shape the church’s ministry? (For a summary of their chapters, see my previous post.) 1. A “Social Gospel”? These two chapters should alert people that the gospel does indeed have a social aspect. Too many people hear the word “gospel” connected with politics, serving the poor, etc. and then immediately get suspicious or even defensive. Conservatives worry that such a “gospel” is too this-worldly to be any eternal good.... Read more
In Christian Political Witness, Scot McKnight and Tim Gombis unpack the theology/politics of Jesus and Paul. In this post, I’ll recap their train of thought in order to apply it in my next post. I thoroughly enjoyed their chapters. This does not surprise me since McKnight’s book The King Jesus Gospel is one of the most important books I’ve read. It greatly influenced my book Saving God’s Face, for which Gombis served as my outside reader when it was in... Read more
In the last post, I began to distinguish the “plan of salvation” from the gospel itself. I focused on one part –– the content of the gospel and our response to the gospel are not identical.In this post, I want to address a similar but different problem. I’ve read a lot of tracts and heard a lot of evangelistic messages. And I’m seeing a troublesome pattern. Ask yourself a question. In a typical “plan of salvation” presentation, what is a... Read more
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