Another Pretty Big Book Giveaway! (over)

Update 2: It turns out that the first winner lives in Switzerland (How cool is that?!?), and after calculating the astronomical shipping costs to send 10 books he offered to let me draw another winner. Thanks for being a good sport Ralph and I’ll put a Seminary Dropout T-shirt in the mail for you soon.

So after drawing again, the final winner of the contest is: Sam Blair!

UPDATE:

Just like last time.

As a podcaster and blogger I receive TONS of books in the mail. Most are review copies I’ve requested for possible interviews, and some are just books publishers are promoting. Also, as a podcaster and blogger, I have a small house, and those books are taking over. Thus, it’s contest time. I’m not saying it’s a ginormous book giveaway, but it’s a pretty big book giveaway. These are quality books too. Some are new, some are old and a few have some markings and illegible notes in them I made while reading. I wish I could keep them all but ya know, the small house thing.

One lucky winner will received all 10 books shown below!

To enter simply subscribe to Seminary Dropout in iTunes, and leave a comment, any comment, in the comments section below. Remember, you must subscribe to Seminary Dropout in iTunes AND leave a comment. I thought about requiring a screen shot showing your subscription, but that’s too much work so subscribing is on the honor system. Yes, you could cheat the system to win a bunch of books about Jesus, but… seriously?!

Ok good luck! Entries will be accepted until Tuesday December 16th at midnight. I’ll announce the winner here the next day.IMG_0078.

Seminary Dropout 62: Kyle Canty on Privilege, Ferguson, and History

kc

 

Kyle Canty is a married father of three. He works for Lifeway as the P2 Missions and World Changers City Representative for Philadelphia. He is also an assistant pastor at Great Commission Church located in Philadelphia. He holds a B.S. (Bible) and M.S. (Christian Counseling) Degrees from Cairn University and an MDiv (Urban Studies) from Biblical Theological Seminary (Hatfield, PA) and is currently working on an DMin degree in Urban Missiology at Biblical Theological Seminary (Hatfield, PA). As an aspiring blogger he looks forward to writing more around the intersection of Christian theology, African American History and the marginalized. His blog The Rooftop can be found at thecityrooftop.com or follow him on twitter at @kcanman.

Kyle’s post on Christianity Today: Christ is the Answer to Our Race Problem


If you liked this episode then you might also like…

Seminary Dropout 007: Grace Sandra

Seminary Dropout 37: Christena Cleveland


 

Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout in iTunes

The Best Christian Crap Google+ has to Offer

If you’ve ever gone to a flea market or a gas station in the south you’ve seen it. Christian crap. It’s an easy formula. If you’re not going to use Jesus himself (ok caucasian Jesus), take something from pop culture, like anything, literally anything, make a pirated copy of it, add a bible verse, or just something vaguely spiritual or self help-ey, and throw it on a t-shirt, bumper sticker, beer koozie, or belt buckle. That’s printing money folks.

But where does the Christian with (non)discriminating taste and indifferent toward intellectual theft go to in the online world to enjoy such fine pieces of art?

Oh I’ll tell you where.

Christian Communities on Google +.

I joined a few of these because, well because that’s what bloggers are supposed to do, right?

Wow, just wow. These people have taken Christian crap to a whole new level. These aren’t actual products, just little motivational graphics to enrich your Christian-ish experience. I’ve compiled a few of the best here. You’re welcome.

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Jesus, I worry that you’re spending too much time with that asthma globe. It’s starting to affect your work life. Also, I think it may be putting off radiation.

 

1peter5-6--humble-yourselves-terefore-hand-of-god-3d-animated-heart-rays-of-light-from-heaven--clouds-powder-blue-golden-yellow

I mean I like it, but I wonder if there’s a font with more swords in it. Only two swords in Bible Hunter is not enough swords. Swords.

Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 3.10.01 PM

Jesus and his detached floating hand have got your back.

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We are a dove, a guy with a horn, a stair case, maybe some lightning(?), clouds, stars, and a lion on top of another lion for some reason.

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Now, that I’ve convinced you; Step 1 – Be handsome.

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The Care Bears want to wish you a happy Wednesday. You won’t believe what they have in store for Friday.

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Just to be clear, John Hagee and Pope Francis are included in the same list.

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‘Faith, Courage, and Ebola in America’: Your pastors favorite sugar stick.

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Don’t um… don’t drink the manhood.

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“Brah, it’s just like nature, ya know?!”

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That’s not the Holy Spirit, that’s just recess lighting.

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This one is my favorite. So many questions. Is that kid Jesus?! Why is the Hulk picking a fight with him? Copyright infringement much?!

My Christian Resume

Let me cut to the chase. My new friend Shane is letting me do a guest blog for the sole purpose to promote “Ragamuffin Retreats” a three day retreat on the Love of God. So as to not waste your time here’s the quick shout out: The word Ragamuffin might resonate with you from Brennan Manning’s book “The Ragamuffin Gospel” or maybe from Rich Mullins album: “Liturgy, Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band.” Or maybe you like cats? You’ve just googled ragamuffin, and now you are staring at a picture of a cat. It’s awkward. Especially if you don’t like cats. Or maybe you are of the select few that have seen the movie “Ragamuffin” that was based on the life of Rich Mullins. Either way, at the heart of the movie and our retreats is not about Rich or Brennan. It’s about Jesus. What we’ve seen so far is that it seems that God is using these “Ragamuffin Retreats” in a variety of ways. For some it’s rest & spiritual renewal, but for others it’s fellow ragamuffins opening up their brokenness and experiencing God’s “furious” love. Ragamuffin Retreats at it’s core is a three day retreat to have a conversation with both those who know and don’t know yet about God and his great love for ragamuffins. We are just continuing the conversation that started with the movie, and actually started long before the retreats. We aren’t re-inventing the wheel here. If anything, our hope is simple, that whomever might find their way to one of these ragamuffin style retreats they might discover what our friend and brother Brennan preached for over four decades that “God more than loves them He actually likes them.”

If you are still reading, knowing that Shane invited me to do a guest blog, I was wondering what I might write about. I even asked him what he thought I should do for his blog. I decided that I would write about a simple experience that I had at the last Ragamuffin Retreat in Pennsylvania. I was on a walk with my friends Matt & Sarah during one of our breaks, having a smoke. I can’t really remember what we were talking about other than we needed to quit smoking because it’s going to kill us one day. Of course I’m convinced that the insane amount of Mcdonalds I have will kill me first. But I just had a beautiful baby four months ago and I want to be around so, like many new parents, I want to get healthy so my wife doesn’t have to say “Your Dad couldn’t see you graduate college because he liked putting tar in his lungs.” If you are of the camp that is wondering why I’m not mentioning smoking is a sin. We’ll, if it’s not obvious I’ll spell it out. It’s not a sin. Not anymore than the big mac’s I eat. Both are trying to kill me. And yet, as C.S. Lewis once said, “Anything in excess can be a sin.” I could go on with the argument, but not just because I’m bored with arguing about this topic, but also that’s a rabbit trail I just don’t want to continue. That’s another blog, for another time. So if you do think smoking is a sin. In love, let’s just agree to disagree. Anyway, I don’t remember how it came up, but we started talking about the movie “Ragamuffin.” Most of us are in awe that God has used it to such a great extent that He has. It’s mind blowing really. Going from nothing to a thing. Because after all a movie is just that: a thing. Then going from a thing to being some-thing that God would use to change hundreds if not thousands of lives. Love it or hate it, that is exactly what God has done. And trust me I feel the same way about the movie. In a lot of ways I love it, and yet it is definitely filled with flaws that I utterly cringe about. I hate those flaws. Matter of fact, even those that despise the movie, I probably have more against it than anyone. But it’s funny. I’ve come to love the movie way more because of the flaws. I think God knows how prideful I can be and how easily I can take credit for His work. If by some miracle I was able to make a movie with no flaws, there would be a high risk that with all the lives being changed by God through the movie (and not by the movie) that I would go “Look at what I did.” But the plethora of flaws in the movie help me to go, “Awesome look at what God is doing through the movie, despite the movie.” And here’s an even weirder fact. I actually love the flaws now. Because both in front of the camera, and behind the camera they have become part of the story. The story of God’s grace. Why would I want them out? So I can go after my glory? Continue to build my kingdom. Don’t hear me wrong, I’m not advocating for failure and imperfection and shoddy work. Matter of fact I think, we, the church have done decades of damage in Jesus name because we do things poorly and lazily. Claiming, “Well it’s for the Lord.” So it’s okay that it’s crap? Poor sermons, poor evangelism, poor music, poor movies…But that’s another blog, for another time. So we were talking about all these sorts of things, when my friends tell me something wonderful. “Hey, my friend is a Pastor at this church, and they saw the movie and wanted to bring you in to speak.” “Cool,” I said. “But than they googled you” and their ‘board’ said no.” I smiled and said, “Okay.” My friends continued to tell me that they saw my acting resume, and saw some movies I had done when I first got started and decided to not have me come because I shouldn’t have done those movies. As my friends went on talking I abruptly interrupted them and said, “They we’re right. I shouldn’t have done those movies.” Matter of fact I’d encourage you to NOT google me. When some people sin you don’t have the luxury to look it up via the internet. With me…you do. I came from a context of Christianity where I was simply told “Christians don’t go to Hollywood.” I disagreed. I think they were wrong. I still do. But here’s what was sad. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know any Christians in Hollywood. They were there. I just didn’t know where. What I’m trying to say I didn’t know where the trail blazers were who we’re showing us, teaching us, how to be missional with our faith if you are an actor or in the entertainment industry in general. I hadn’t heard the wonderful sermons by Tim Killer yet on “Contextualizing vs. Contending the Gospel”. All of this mixed in with I had sinful rebellion in my heart. Rebellion not in the context of “I shouldn’t do this movie and I’m going to do it anyway.” Rebellion in I’m not going to listen to them (The Church) because they don’t think I should even be in Hollywood so I’m just gonna figure this out on my own. This mixed with a whole lot of stupidity. My thinking at the time was “Well, I know this movie is bad, but if my character isn’t sinful than I can do it and be a witness.” Stupid I know. But I think in some ways I genuinely had a good heart when I was making bad decisions. I did witness. I did share the Gospel. I was a light in some respects. But, years later I heard a great sermon when the pastor simply said, “Just because God does something good through your badness, doesn’t make you good. It Just means God’s good.” Simple yet it echoed some of my past thinking even if I didn’t verbalize it. God changed me. Thankfully. Years later I had some good wake up calls from friends who just plainly told me I was making bad decisions. Then I got plugged into a church, and had the pastors give me some great guidance, and advice how to make decisions in the future. It’s still not crystal clear all the time. Sometimes it is. Sometimes its an obvious sin issue. Sometimes it’s a conscious issue. Sometimes you have to ask yourself is this a time to “Contextualize the Gospel of Jesus” or “Contend” for it? I can still hear Tim Keller’s voice when some podcast I heard on this sermon (Look it up in case I’m quoting it wrong)…in the middle of this sermon he was saying someone once asked him “Where’s the line between contextualizing and contending for the gospel?” And his response was, “That’s ministry.” I assume he meant that’s the whole point of ministry. That what we are doing (The Church) we are trying to figure that out constantly. I know I am. Yeah we need to test the spirits, and especially our own. Test the motives of our heart when we make decisions in our work, and opportunities that come our way. Is this for His glory? Or mine? Is this to make Jesus famous or myself? Not everyone will agree with you. And they don’t have to. Your lives should always be lived in community, but should still be lived for an audience of one.

So I say all that to say. Here’s why I was so happy. When they told me this: “That this church decided to NOT have me come.” I smiled. Why? Because ten years ago. I would have been crushed. The people pleaser in me would have been going crazy. I would have been so angry, even with the tears in my eyes. I would have wanted the pastors number, I would have wanted to flown to that state and spoken with the board myself. To prove myself. To explain to them why I made bad decisions in the past, and the good God I serve loves me and has forgiven me…and would they too? Not so I could have a speaking gig. But so they would like me, and not think bad of me. Strangers. As far as I know they don’t even exist, except in theory. And yet, I would have been on a mission to get them to “think good of me.” What is that all about? Well, it’s a familiar idol I tend to worship. And that is the idol of people liking me. I praise Jesus and give Him glory, because when I heard the news that I was banned from coming to speak, I was okay. I wasn’t upset. And I realized ‘Oh, thank God. He’s been changing me. He’s truly been sanctifying me in this area. Growing me. Helping me find my identity in the Gospel of His son. Versus my own Christian Resume.” We tend to do that don’t we? To think there is such a thing. Even if we know, that we know, that we know the gospel of Jesus. We still tend to think that there is such a thing as a “good Christian.” Remember the story of the Prodigal Son? One was lost in his Un-Righteousness and one was lost in his Self-Righteousness. The only hope for either of them is have an identity that is the gift of Christ’s Righteousness. The only thing on our Christian Resume should be: Forgiven. But why do we do it? Well, I don’t know…except to say Martin Luther once said, “Religion is the default of the human heart.

At this same retreat, we had a special treat, a very popular Christian, speaker, activist, etc…and when I was introducing him I told the small group of ragamuffin retreat attendees…”I’m not having this guy come speak because he has some impressive ‘Christian Resume’…because in the light of the Gospel of Jesus…no such thing exists.

Thank you for your time. And thank you Shane for letting me be a guest on your blog. Pray for me as I continue to learn what it means to both Contextualize and Contend for the Gospel and continue to let Jesus be my object of worship and not be on a Crusade to get people to like me.

Jesus Christ is crazy about you,

David Leo Schultz
@davidlschultz

Ragamuffin Retreats
www.ragamuffinretreats.com

6 Things about Father Factor

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You may have heard around the blogosphere and social media sites that a book called ‘Father Factor’ will be out on October 14th and is available for pre-order now. A friend of mine, Andy Campbell, is the editor and gathered 40 men, including myself, to write essays about fatherhood as a Christian.

Here are 6 important thing you need to know about the book.

1. The excerpts I’ve read are amazing. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll shake your head. You can read the excerpts yourself here, including mine.

2. Until October 20th you can get the book at a 35% discount when ordering from the White Cloud Press website here.

3. White Cloud Press is an independent publisher so buying this book is a great way to support independent publishing.

4. FATHER FACTOR could be a great book for small group study sessions in churches and there’s special discount of 50% is available for small groups ordering in quantities of 10 or more.

5. Some of the authors, including myself, are available for talks and presentations at local bookstores or churches.

6. Some very amazing people have had a few things to say about this book:

In many ways, Father Factor is a work of art, a beautiful collage of humanity and soul, a thoughtful collection of stories detailing the lives, dreams, and fears of America’s fathers. The essays in this book will make you laugh, bring you to tears, and at times, cause you to rethink your approach to parenting. But most of all, Father Factor will fill you with hope. – Matthew Paul Turner, author of “Our Great Big American God”

Sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking, this tender collection of stories from fathers opened both my eyes and my heart anew. Thank God for men like these! The children will honour them in the gates for this wise, honest, and necessary work. – Sarah Bessey, author of “Jesus Feminist”

These wonderfully readable accounts of father-son relationships are both candid and inspiring, exploring issues that touch many of us in deep ways. But they prod to go even deeper, pointing us to the ways our relationships with our human fathers shape–and all too often distort–our conceptions of the One whom we have been taught to address as “Our Father who art in heaven.” – Richard Mouw, Theologian & Past President, Fuller Theological Seminary

From creating life to enduring death, Father Factor takes us through the tumultuous, often humorous, sometimes heartbreaking journey of fatherhood and faith. This is not a how-to manual; there are no lists of right and wrong, no simple strategies, no easy plans for becoming the perfect Dad. Instead, through this rich array of personal stories from fathering and being fathered, readers will feel inspired and challenged to examine their unique role as a parent, partner, and adult child as this book throws open wide windows for grace, forgiveness, and a Father’s love. – Jamie Wright, Author/Blogger of theveryworstmissionary.com

This book inspired me to pray for fathers, encourage fathers and believe in the important work of fathering! Pulling from culturally diverse and compelling experiences, Father Factor gives voice to the strong men of faith who are shaped the Father’s love. This collection of inspiring stories affirms the various routes that fatherhood can take and shows that regardless of history or cultural context, men of faith can be powerful and vulnerable fathers. A true eye opener to the complexities and beauty of fatherhood. – Christena Cleveland, author of Disunity in Christ

The Bible Doesn’t Believe in a ‘Plain Reading’ of the Bible

Sometimes you hear people advocate for a ‘plain reading’ of scripture. I believe that scripture isn’t meant to be molded into anything we want it to be. However, all too often I fear what people are saying when they advocate for a ‘plain reading’ is that we shouldn’t put ourselves in the shoes of the first recipients of the scriptures, in their context and customs, that we should trust that original language translated into English perfectly captures the idea that was meant to be conveyed.

The biggest problem with this is that the Bible doesn’t believe in a plain reading of the Bible.

…and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand…  -From 2 Peter 3

Why is it hard to understand Peter? Just read it plainly.

My Fellow White People, 6 Things We Need to Get Straight

I originally wrote this post with Ferguson, Missouri in mind, but sadly it addresses something happening all of the country, so I’ve made some small edits to address not just Ferguson, but Baltimore, New York, Charleston (sadly the list keeps growing) and all of the other places around the country that are experiencing similar injustices. I posted it after hundreds if not thousands of blog posts had been written.

Part of the reason why I waited so long to speak up about Ferguson was because I was wrestling and wondering if the world needed another white voice contributing to the conversation. I’ve decided to proceed with writing about it because this piece is intended to speak to other white people, and not signal to people of color that I’m ‘one of the good ones’, also, there have been people in my life that have told me things that were hard for me to believe, and if it had been anyone else talking, I wouldn’t have received it, but because I loved and trusted that specific person, I was able to receive and believe what they were saying. If I can be that person to anyone and say that white privilege is real, there is a big problem, and we need to do things differently, then this will have been worth it. Furthermore, I’ve become convinced that silence is not an option.

I don’t have all the answers and I’m not perfect. Christians many times have no problems admitting in general that we are sinful people, that we can be self-serving and unloving, but when it comes to the specific sin of racism we often claim we are immune. So if I can be uncomfortably honest and transparent, I’ll say that although I don’t know of any forms of racism in my heart, ugliness is not beyond me, so it is plausible that there may be racist ideas, and thoughts in the hidden recesses of my soul, and if there are, I pray that when they are revealed to me, God will eradicate them, and heal and cleanse me from that unrighteousness. Yes, God has made me a new creature, but often I forget to put on that ‘new self’.

So let’s talk about 6 things we have to realize…

1.) Hard facts and statistics show white privilege is real.

The example most widely known is the rate of arrests of black Americans for marijuana as compared to those of white Americans. The rate of use between the two races is similar while the rate of arrest is staggeringly uneven. How do you account for this? The only plausible reason is that whites are treated far more favorably than blacks. That’s white privilege.
But you don’t smoke pot, so you’re not privileged, right? Not so fast. Marijuana arrests are just most well-known and often cited example. Have you sent in a resume to a company you want to work for and received a call back? In all likelihood white privilege had a role in that call back. Easily acquired housing? White privilege. Been given the benefit of the doubt by authorities? White privilege. It’s real and it’s pervasive.
Many of us mistakenly believe that white privilege = racism, so when we hear someone talking about white privilege we think they’re saying – all white people are racist. That’s not the case. We benefit from white privilege whether we want to or not. That’s not to say we shouldn’t fight against the system that perpetuates white privilege, we should. One thing is for sure, not acknowledging it does not make it go away, and doesn’t make it better.

2.) There are good reasons why a black officer killing a white man doesn’t elicit the same response Ferguson, Baltimore and other cities are getting.

My Facebook wall tells me that an unarmed white man named Dillon Taylor was shot by a black police officer in Utah. This case and its lack of media attention has been lifted up by many as proof that it is whites not blacks who receive unfair treatment.
So let’s think this through. Why hasn’t this received the media attention that Ferguson has? Because there is not a systematic problem of the criminal justice system treating white people unjustly. There is also not, a tidal wave of support for the black officer who killed Taylor, nor to my knowledge, a GoFundMe.com site for him as there is for Darren Wilson. In all likely hood the black officer will face justice, while the Darren Wilson will receive at least $234,910.00, from his Gofundme site, a goal that was reached in 8 days. If Wilson does face justice, it will be because of the media attention, and protests. In America if you kill a person of a different race, you go to jail if you’re black, and you get rich if you’re white. The system is broken and needs outside accountability to act justly.

3.) ‘Waiting for the facts’ before passing judgement, doesn’t always hold water.

If an officer is killed in the line of duty we want blood, if an unarmed black man is killed by an officer, then we want everyone to “wait for the facts”. The problem is, unless the fact that – an unarmed black man was killed, changes, there are no other facts that could possibly justify what happened. Societies rules state (and almost no one would disagree) that a police officer should be able to defend him/herself, which would include returning lethal force with lethal force. When an officer faces less than lethal force, there’s no reason to return with lethal force. Police are armed with pepper spray and stun guns for this reason.

4.) Putting on a police uniform doesn’t give a person license to do whatever they want. 

You hear often about our brave men and women in blue. I think that’s true for most police officers, it is for the ones I know personally. However, you don’t get don’t get to be brave and shoot anything that moves. We exalt the police for putting their bodies on the line, and we should, but then we can’t also praise and defend one when he decides to shoot instead of putting his body on the line, and risk a beating.

5.) Death is not an appropriate punishment for being less than an upstanding citizen.

A big deal has been made that Michael Brown was a suspect in a robbery that took place before he was shot. Who among us believes that execution is a proper punishment for robbery? This is silly and to use it as some sort of justification for what happened seems to me to be motivated by racism.

6.) We need to perform a heart-check before we speak, even if what we’re saying is true & just.

Even when we’re saying something good, it doesn’t always need to be said by us, and at all times. Before we speak out against racism I think we need to take a long, hard look at our hearts and ask ourselves – Am I speaking out against racism because it’s the right thing to do right now, or am I speaking out because I want people to hear me speaking out. To be clear, silence is not an option, but neither is self-righteous finger-waging. 

But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. James 2:9

Seminary Dropout 50: Margot Starbuck on God, Writing & Public Speaking

Margot Starbuck

Throughout the years Margot Starbuck has worn many hats, she’s been a chaplain to people with intellectual and physical disabilities, she painted and sold plungers, she’s swam next to a guy with epilepsy so he wouldn’t drown. I did say she wore many hats.
Today you probably know her from one or more of her many books, her contributions to publications like Today’s Christian Woman or Red Letter Christianity, or maybe you’ve heard her one of her many speaking engagements. Margot speaks about God’s love with fresh honesty, love and compassion.

 

Some memorable moments from the show:

I think a lot of us are walking around just slathered in shame. Tweet: 'I think a lot of us are walking around just slathered in shame' -Margot Starbuck http://ctt.ec/daSK2+

#AdultsDontThinkLittleKidsCanWalkBigDogsButTheyTotallyCanTweet: #AdultsDontThinkLittleKidsCanWalkBigDogsButTheyTotallyCan http://ctt.ec/w9rFy+

Karate belts & ribbon cost money, words are free.Tweet: 'Karate belts & ribbon cost money, words are free.' http://ctt.ec/5D7bu+



Margot’s latest book is Not Who I Imagined: Surprised by a Loving God.

From our earliest days we long for love and acceptance. First from our parents, blood pressure then from peers, and eventually from romantic interests. We look into their faces, searching for a smile, a look that says, I love you exactly as you are. Don’t change. We long for the same gracious acceptance from God. But despite the Christian gospel of unearned grace and unconditional love, too many of us feel as though we’re still not quite good enough as we are. We can’t believe that God accepts us. And often this is because those who represent God to us on earth–our parents, other Christians–have not looked upon us as we are with expressions of unrelenting love. -Publishers Description-


Remember our current twitter campaign:

Hey @JenHatmaker, I’d love to hear you on Seminary Dropout! #JenOnSDTweet: Hey @JenHatmaker, I'd love to hear you on Seminary Dropout! #JenOnSD


 Are you coming to the Seminary Dropout Google Hangout tonight (8/20/14) at 7pm CST?
RSVP or just show up here.


 

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5 Reasons I’m Not an Evangelical (and 5 reasons I am)

Before I started blogging I had a big tent view of evangelicalism. Basically anyone who claimed to follow Jesus as their Lord & Savior, and gave some kind of authority to the Bible, I considered an evangelical. I’ve grown to realize, this isn’t most people’s definition of evangelical. This is important because in the past on this blog and on Seminary Dropout I’ve described myself as an evangelical. I don’t know if I’ll keep using that term to describe myself. It’s not that my theology has changed so much as I’ve either had the wrong definition, or the definition has evolved into something else.

Either way I think it’s important to outline the ways I am and am not an evangelical.

1. So far as being an evangelical means reading the
Bible as a flat document absent of thematic messages
throughout, I am not an evangelical. 
Tweet: So far as being an evangelical means reading theBible as a flat document absent of thematic messages... http://ctt.ec/AcFBr+

So far as being an evangelical means believing
in the authority of God through scripture,
I am an evangelical.

kj

My friend Micah J. Murray has pointed out in the past, the problem of ‘the Bible clearly says’ mentality. The problem being that when that phrase is invoked, the Bible many times does not clearly say what that person thinks it means when taken in the context of the Bible as a whole. We can take isolated verses and sentences from the Bible and construct a theology that fits our worldview just fine, but the Bible demands to be read differently.

This does not however mean that I don’t believe in the authority of scripture. As N.T. Wright says in his book ‘The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God- Getting Beyond the Bible Wars’,

…the phrase ‘authority of scripture’ can make Christian sense only if it is a shorthand for ‘the authority of the triune God, exercised somehow through scripture.’

Almost all of the following reasons are based upon this first one.

 

2. So far as being an evangelical means seeing science
as the enemy of faith or even rejecting the bulk of science
on grounds of faith, I am not an evangelical. 

So far as being an evangelical means reading the creation
story the way it intends to be read and seeing the power,
glory, and goodness of God in that story, I am an evangelical.

file0001753589015You may have heard the logic; the book of Genesis tells the story of God creating the universe and the first man Adam, Jesus refers to Adam as a historical figure (a dubious claim), therefore if you don’t believe that God created the world and Adam in 6 24-hour days a few thousand years ago, then you have to believe that Jesus was either a liar or mistaken, and was certainly not the messiah.
From my view, a failure to read the scriptures as the type of literature in which they were meant to be written is the culprit here. The creation story was never intended to be a historical document.
As for Jesus referring to Adam as a historical figure, I think that’s quite a leap. You know how you and your friends get together and talk about Harry Potter, or Don Draper, or Walter White? And you know how when you say their names you’re always sure to say ‘Remember when fictional character, Harry Potter, battled other fictional character, Voldemort?’ or ‘Hey can you believe how much Don, who is in no way a real person, drank on Mad Men last night?!’ or ‘Wow I can’t believe the invented person of Walter White, IS the danger?!’ I think you see where I’m going with this.

 

3. So far as being an evangelical means keeping doors
closed to women in the church and at home, I’m not an evangelical.

So far as being an evangelical means following the Bible’s
example of putting people in roles in the church and at
home based on gifting rather than gender, I am an evangelical. 

Because I believe in God’s authority via scriptures, I must acknowledge the biblical witness of women leaders in the church such as Junia, and taking seriously Paul’s admonishment for believers to stay single if possible, which logically means that it is impossible for God’s only desire for women is that they be wives and mothers.

 

4. So far as being an evangelical means participating in
culture wars that make further enemies of the people
Jesus came to love, I am not an evangelical.

So far as being an evangelical means showing people the
love of Jesus no matter what, even if that means giving
up certain ‘rights’ as Americans, I am an evangelical.

The recent Hobby Lobby debacle  serves as the perfect example. Some might be surprised to know that I actually have somewhat ‘conservative’ opinions about the case.  My apprehension comes in when the cost of standing up for certain rights, even when going through the proper channels, only further ignites the culture wars and gives people like those Jesus befriended reason to become the enemies to Christians. To be clear, I’m not calling for HL or anyone else to violate their conscience, what I am saying is that perhaps it should be more important to refuse to stoke the fires of a culture war, than own a multi-million dollar business. Perhaps the strongest Christian witness would be to close up shop and turn down future millions rather than make an enemy out our neighbors. The end doesn’t justify the means.

5. So far as being an evangelical means refusing to interact
with theology that doesn’t match up perfectly with your own,
I’m not an evangelical.

So far as being an evangelical means believing in Jesus
first and allowing him to dictate what else you believe, thus
freeing you to interact with theology that you don’t believe
in without fear because you are above else rooted in Jesus,
I am an evangelical.

If being an evangelical means that above all else Jesus is Lord & Savior, than it only makes sense that nothing else can be, including certainty. I believe that Jesus is who he says he is as much as a human can believe anything. Most other things I believe in with an open hand. We all have biases against certain theologies and beliefs but if those biases keep us from studying and engaging, that doesn’t make us faithful, it makes us anti-intellectual. If we’re secure in our beliefs (chiefly belief in Jesus), then we won’t have fear when confronted with other beliefs. We also must believe that God gave us our intellect so that we can discern between good and bad beliefs, not avoid them all together.

These aren’t the only issues I wrestle with concerning evangelicalism, but they’re the major ones. Now if you do hear me refer to myself as an evangelical, you’ll know just what I do mean and what I don’t mean.

Have You Accepted President Obama As Your Personal Lord & Savior?

In episode 19 of Seminary Dropout I talked with Scot McKnight about a book he had just edited and published with Joe Modica called ‘Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not’. The book was an evaluation of Empire Criticism.

believe

Empire Criticism as McKnight explains in the introduction ‘refers to developing an eye and ear for the presence of Rome and the worship of the emperor in the lines and between the lines of New Testament writings.’

McKnight goes on to give an example – ‘A simple reading of Luke 2 reveals Luke using the following terms for Jesus-Savior and Lord, and alongside those terms are the terms of good news (gospel) and peace. Now it so happens that empire critics call to our notice that these are the precise terms used of Caesar in Rome, the very rems broadcast throughout the empire on declarations and in letters and on countless inscriptions visible in all major cities in the empire.’

Does the Bible contain criticism of the concept of empire (namely the Roman empire in the case of the NT writers)? Most definitely. Was this the primary purpose of the gospel? By no means. The primary purpose of the gospel is to tell the story of God reconciling creation to himself. Those are generally the findings of JLCN: Empire Criticism is there, but it’s not the New Testaments primary purpose.

Never-the-less to say ‘Jesus is Lord’ was to necessarily say ‘Caesar is not’! The first objective of the gospel writers was to proclaim the rightful place of Jesus first and foremost, but the purposeful inference is that if Jesus is Lord, Caesar can not be.

It’s as if their allegiance to Jesus is burning so bright that all other allegiances fall apart in it’s flame.

During my talk with McKnight in episode 19 I had thought (but not a thought that I could articulate on the fly and formulate a statement to bounce off of him). My thought was that, at first glance you might think that the young Christian wearing a Che Guevara shirt with dread locks mouthing about how the government needs be overturned is the exact type that needs to read the message of JLCN, and that might be true. However, I think that person may be more of a straw man, than a real life application for most of us. I mean seriously, I don’t run in to that guy very often. I do run in to Christ followers who are irate because Barack Obama has failed to bring about peace (most often through violence), prosperity, and joy to their lives. In fact, my Facebook feed is full of these people.

There’s a great C.S. Lewis quote – ‘Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.’

In the same vain, maybe to follow Christ means not thinking less of the empire, so much as thinking of the empire less. Because frankly, thinking less of the empire gives the empire more power than it merits. Thinking less of the empire may indicate that we’ve given the empire a place in our hearts that it doesn’t deserve or belong. You can only be profoundly disappointed in something that you have profoundly trusted in. I think constant preoccupation with politicians and government may reveal that we’d rather have accepted them as Lord and Savior. Granted, we may not see them as a good Lord and Savior, but we only become so angry because we have fervently looked to them for things that Jesus was meant to provide.

Don’t hear me only picking on the religious-right either. The same vitriol was there during the last administration and we’ll surely see it in the next.

The problem is not what we want from our government so much as it is a disproportionate faith that it can fulfill those longings on a level that only Christ has the power to fulfill.