Legalism is an honor-shame problem. Why? Consider what Brene Brown says in her incisive article “Want to Be Happy? Stop Trying to be Perfect.” Continue reading Read more
Legalism is an honor-shame problem. Why? Consider what Brene Brown says in her incisive article “Want to Be Happy? Stop Trying to be Perfect.” Continue reading Read more
The future of the global church is Open from Distant Shores Media on Vimeo. What do you think about this? Read more
Theological debates are often fueled by a lack of clarity about both the terms we use and the question being answered. Consider the doctrines related to salvation. Much of evangelical theology focuses on mechanism (how salvation works) rather than teleology (why God saves). One group of people speaks about the parts that make the whole work. For example, forgiveness is an essential component to salvation. Another camps focuses on God’s end goals––for example, we could mention Gods glory and new... Read more
I get asked about book recommendations a lot. I hesitate to give out “recommendations” because I always want to qualify my suggestion. Instead, I’ll just offer some thoughts on some of my recent reads in case someone is looking for something on these topics–– Tim Gombis‘ The Drama of Ephesians: Participating in the Triumph of God This is a short but well written narrative reading of Ephesians from an expert on the book. It’s not a commentary but in many... Read more
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In the previous posts, we saw that the new covenant has a collectivist dimension and changes more than simply our legal status. Our identity consists in our relationships. Who do we identify with? From whom do we come from? In addition, we have to ask not only how we are different from others (a western fascination) but also how are we the same as other people. The first past of Jeremiah 31:34 has made some people scratch their heads, while... Read more
This is part 2 of a series trying to interpret the new covenant from a Chinese perspective. In the last post, I sought to highlight a subtle point missed in many discussions about the new covenant–––a new collective identity. Typically, Western theology lays stress on the individual’s salvation, specifically his or her being forgiven of sin. This is a wonderful blessing but it has been emphasized to the near exclusion of other aspects of the new covenant. For example, see... Read more
One thing that gets me excited is thinking about the way that an eastern (e.g. Chinese) worldview can contribute to the task of theology. Stephen Bevans speaks for many when he writes, “There is no such thing a ‘theology’; there is only contextual theology” (Models of Contextual Theology, 2008; p. 3). The Bible is a book for all of humanity. Therefore, we should expect the Bible to speak in ways and about topics that typically resonate more with Easterners than... Read more
“If sin is framed in terms of shame, however, then a legal solution to something as deep and existential as shame will be inappropriate.” Would you agree with this? Disagree? Or would you want to qualify it a bit? I read this line in Robin Stockitt’s Restoring the Shamed: Towards a Theology of Shame (Cascade Books, 2012). Later, he adds, “If this is how our status before God is depicted then the “solution” to our damaged status must turn... Read more
This is second post where I answer a reader’s questions about my latest article, “We Compromise the Gospel When We Settle for Truth: How ‘Right’ Interpretation Lead to ‘Wrong’ Contextualization.” Comment from John: Absolute moralism/relativism—this is a little difficult to swallow. I understand and agree with much of what you say hear. From a Chinese perspective, they fear in making moral judgments even within contexts that demand one. For example, abortion. Is this right or wrong? Pirating software or DVDs? I know the latter is... Read more
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