The following is an excerpt from my book Charis: God’s Scandalous Grace for Us. The relationship between grace and obedience is a gnarly issue, and too often you have to hack your way through a theological jungle to sort out the problem. In general, there are three different explanations Christians give to how grace relates to obedience. Some Christians say that obedience is good but not necessary. What Christians do or don’t do is icing on the cake. It would... Read more
A couple weeks ago I gave a paper at the Evangelical Theological Society’s Annual meeting. The paper was part of a seminar on sexual orientation and the topic was: “Is Same-Sex Attraction Sinful?” Two other participants also gave papers: Denny Burk and Wesley Hill. Denny concluded that same-sex attraction (not just behavior) is sinful, while Wes Hill argued that it is not. I’ve included my paper below in its entirety. I know that this will make for a terribly long... Read more
I just arrived in San Diego for the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual meeting. I’ll be presenting a paper this afternoon on sexual orientation along with Denny Burk and Wesley Hill, and I’m participating on a panel discussion on Paul and the Law on Friday afternoon. I’m mostly excited about connecting with old friends and making some new ones. The last time the ETS meeting was in California, it was in San Francisco. That was probably my most memorable conference, though... Read more
Moralism controls our reading of Scripture, especially the Old Testament. When we dust off the first 2/3 of the Bible and seek to find some spiritual wisdom, we often scurry around to find examples of morally upright people to show us how to live. We want to be like Abraham, be like Jacob, and follow in the footsteps of Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, and Moses. And when we get to the book of Esther, the same moralistic lens remains plastered to... Read more
A “mixed orientation marriage” is where one spouse is straight while the other opposite-sex spouse is attracted to the same sex. History has seen many such marriages end in much pain and confusion—especially if kids are involved. Given their destructive potential, mixed orientation marriages are rarely viewed as an option for people who are same-sex attracted (or gay). However, I know two couples who are in such marriages. And though they have their unique struggles, they also have experienced many... Read more
I’ve never been a member of a house church, but a big part of me would like to be. I love the idea of a stripped down, no bells and whistles, authentic gathering of believers making disciples and living on mission together. And I’m sympathetic with the house church movement that’s gaining traction in recent years. But are house churches biblical? Or better: Are they more biblical than churches that meet in a building? Early on, Christians gathered at the... Read more
It’s no secret that Christians, especially the evangelical right, have invested much energy into moving political decisions in the direction they want them to go. For instance, historian Andrew Bacevich examines the Christian influence on America’s growing fascination to military might and concludes, “Were it not for the support offered by several tens of millions of evangelicals, militarism in this deeply and genuinely religious country becomes inconceivable.” Many other political issues could receive a similar evaluation. Even when evangelicals lose... Read more
The western church, as you know, wades around in a thick sludge of individualism. We admit it. We bemoan it. But sometimes we don’t realize just how deep our individualism runs. As I peel back the many unforeseen layers of my presuppositions, I often see individualistic tendencies governing my beliefs and behaviors. A few posts ago, I wrote about the individualism that colors our buzzphrase “feeling called to…” For this post I want to look at the individualism that has... Read more
In his book, Writing Tools, Roy Peter Clark encourages writers to “fear not the long sentence.” It is true, of course, that as a general rule, writers should be enslaved to concision. And long sentences are often not needed and usually create a cumbersome voice and clunky prose. “But fear not the long sentence,” says Clark. Sometimes, if done stragetically, a long sentence can be effective and even necessary. After hearing this advice a few years ago, I’ve tried to... Read more
Does the Bible demand that someone must have regenerate kids in order to be a pastor or elder? According to some translations, the answer is yes. For instance, the ESV of Titus 1:6 reads: “if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” According to the ESV (and NASB), the meaning is clear: your kids have to be saved if you’re going to be... Read more
Theology in the Raw
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