This article by Pete Wehner is well worth the time. And I’m left again with the thought: “Are we even paying attention?” There is so much to absorb here… but some thoughts and quotes:
The aggressive, disruptive, and unforgiving mindset that characterizes so much of our politics has found a home in many American churches.
Aggressive? The church? I Insert two things here: the resurgence of Christian nationalism attacking racial issues with a vengeance, misusing “woke” and attacking a straw man. Also, the backlash against sexual harassment claims from women in churches and the doubling down of complimentarianism.
Yes. Aggressive.
Evangelicalism has shifted to a political religion in many ways.
The first step was the cultivation of the idea within the religious right that certain political positions were deeply Christian…
Start with just two things: Abortion and capitalism. Capitalism has become a fundamental doctrine to evangelicals, so it’s easy to label “woke” people as “socialists.” We create enemies.
We are experiencing a severe lack of discipleship. It is the hollowing out of Christianity:
“What we’re seeing is massive discipleship failure caused by massive catechesis failure,” James Ernest, the vice president and editor in chief at Eerdmans, a publisher of religious books, told me. Ernest was one of several figures I spoke with who pointed to catechism, the process of instructing and informing people through teaching, as the source of the problem. “The evangelical Church in the U.S. over the last five decades has failed to form its adherents into disciples. So there is a great hollowness. All that was needed to cause the implosion that we have seen was a sufficiently provocative stimulus. And that stimulus came.”
Again my question: do we recognize this? Do we care?
Apprentice 2 Jesus 