{"id":1586,"date":"2009-10-02T06:35:03","date_gmt":"2009-10-02T12:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/"},"modified":"2015-03-13T17:04:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T22:04:22","slug":"are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher\u2019s book, Deep Church<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Jim\u2019s written a good book, and I was happy to endorse it \u2014 albeit with the caveat that he and I disagree significantly on some theological issues like the nature of God and the nature of scripture.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In the book, Jim takes aim at the \u201ctraditional\u201d church and the \u201cemerging\u201d church.\u00a0 He offers a \u201cthird way\u201d between the two, though any fair reader can see that he\u2019s tougher on the emerging church than he is on the traditional church, and his third way leans significantly in the direction of traditional Reformed theology and worship.\u00a0 Ignored are Catholic, Orthodox, Wesleyan, and Anabaptist visions of ecclesial life, and, as Jenell<\/a> points out, women.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t begrudge Jim any of those (except the ignoring of women) \u2014 he\u2019s entirely entitled to his own opinions, and to publish them.\u00a0 I wish him success.\u00a0 And that wasn\u2019t really even the point of my friend in our conversation.\u00a0 Instead, he was intrigued that conservatives and Reformed folks would be so taken with Jim\u2019s book when he\u2019s pretty tough on them, too.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n


\nThat got me to thinking, there\u2019s a spate of examples of critiques of evangelicals that evangelicals seem to like \u2014 think Shane Claiborne<\/a> and John Perkins<\/a> challenging evangelicals on consumerism, wealth, and imperialism; think Soong-Chan Rah<\/a> pushing on evangelical ethnocentrism; think Christianity Today<\/i>\u2018s constant prodding that evangelicals get out of the evangelical ghetto.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t know if the evangelical interest in being hit around the head and neck fits with Christian Smith\u2019s \u201csub-cultural identity theory\u201d of American evangelicalism, it\u2019s at least a close cousin.<\/p>\n

But what I find interesting the category of critique that evangelicals seem to embrace, like those listed above.\u00a0 Yet Jenell\u2019s criticism of the implicit patriarchy when InterVarsity Press prints Mark Driscoll\u2019s endorsement on the back of Belcher\u2019s book will go unnoticed.\u00a0 Christianity Today<\/i> seems reluctant to challenge John Piper\u2019s ludicrous exegesis of whirlwind passages<\/a>.\u00a0 And those who challenge evangelicals on other issues like sexuality or the nature of the Bible are usually ignored.<\/p>\n

So, am I on to something, or is this simply sour grapes on my part?<\/p>\n

Photo from Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, Used by permission under Creative Commons license.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher\u2019s book, Deep Church.\u00a0 Jim\u2019s written a good book, and I was happy to endorse it \u2014 albeit with the caveat that he and I disagree significantly on some theological issues like the nature of God and the nature of scripture. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-church","category-emergent-church"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Theoblogy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-10-02T12:35:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-13T22:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/masochism.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/\",\"name\":\"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-10-02T12:35:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-13T22:04:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/\",\"name\":\"Theoblogy\",\"description\":\"The Tony Jones Blog at Patheos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?","description":"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?","og_description":"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/","og_site_name":"Theoblogy","article_published_time":"2009-10-02T12:35:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-13T22:04:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/masochism.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/","name":"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-10-02T12:35:03+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-13T22:04:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2009\/10\/02\/are-evangelicals-slightly-masochistic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Evangelicals (Slightly) Masochistic?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/","name":"Theoblogy","description":"The Tony Jones Blog at Patheos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}