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Radical Centrist take...
Beyond
Evangelical | The Blog of Frank Viola Following Jesus Beyond the
Culture Wars
I wrote the following post on Saturday, November 3,
2012 . . . 3 days before the world knew who the next USA
President would be. And at Jonathan Merritt’s
suggestion, I decided to wait and publish it today.
Here it is . . .
–
Saturday: November 3, 2012
When I publish this post on Wednesday, the United
States will know who their next President is for the
next four years.
Upon learning this news, one part of my country is so
angry right now their eyes are crossing. Others are so
depressed they feel lower than a whale’s navel.
Still others are euphoric . . . or relieved.
And then there are those who aren’t paying attention
and don’t care two hoots.
A reminder to all: Jesus of Nazareth is still on
the throne. Everything is under His control.
Whether “your man” won or lost, Jesus is our ultimate
hope for this world.
That said, a new book that may help Americans to think
through where their country stands politically is
Jonathan Merritt’s A
Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture
Wars.
(The title of this post comes straight from Merritt’s
book.)
In some ways, Jonathan Merritt’s book is a follow-up to
Carl F. Henry’s classic work, The Uneasy Conscience
of Modern Evangelicalism, Hal Miller’s seminal
piece The
Uneasy Conscience of Modern Evangelicalism, and
James Barr’s Beyond Fundamentalism . . . only
with a stronger political emphasis added to it.
Kristen
Powers, Fox News Political and USA Today
contributor, wrote the Foreword to Merritt’s book.
Cal Thomas (USA Today columnist and Fox News
contributor), Ed Stetzer (president of LifeWay
Research), and Ronald Sider (author of Rich
Christians in an Age of Hunger) wrote strong
endorsements.
In addition, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight
highlighted Merritt’s book numerous times on his blog.
Last week, I interviewed Jonathan Merritt on his new
book. Here it is . . .
![A Faith Of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond The
Culture Wars -<br /><br /> By: Jonathan
Merritt</p><br /> <p>]()
Jonathan, why did you write this book and what
is the main thesis?
Jonathan Merritt: I wrote this book because I saw so
many young Christians who had grown frustrated by what
the Christian movement in America had become. Their
disillusionment stems, in part, from the American
church’s partisan political entanglement. These
Christians love Jesus but they don’t think the church
should be the handmaiden of either political party.
I understand the frustration of my peers because I grew
up in the inner-sanctum of the religious right. My dad
was President of the largest protestant denomination in
America, the Southern Baptist Convention.
Jerry Falwell was a family friend who paid for my
college education. Growing up in this context, I
witnessed the way the church has become intertwined with
partisan politics. A
Faith of Our Own provides hope that there is a
better way.
Any work that challenges traditional or status
quo thinking is going to be attacked. And some who
can’t refute an argument on its own merits will
misrepresent it by creating straw man scenarios.
Has your book been misrepresented at all? If so, what
have the misrepresentations been and what is your
response to them?
Jonathan Merritt: Yes. Such is the burden of most any
creative work, I suppose. Some say this book is
anti-religious right. That isn’t true. I believe the
Christian Left is equally complicit, and I point that
out.
Others say it is pietistic, that I encourage Christians
to become apolitical and do good works instead. This is
not true either, for following Jesus cannot be purely a
private matter.
Others claim that I’m just promoting political
liberalism. That’s also false. When I call for a
ceasefire in the culture wars, I’m not asking people to
keep fighting, just for the other side. I’m talking
about a different approach altogether.
The fact that the book has endorsements from
those on the Right and the Left should clue any
thinking person into the fact that the above
assertions are misrepresentations of your book. Thanks
for clarifying your position for those who may be
swayed by inaccurate reviews before reading the book
themselves. Moving on, what do you see happening with
the future of evangelicalism?
Jonathan Merritt: Contrary to what some believe,
evangelicalism is not (and has never been) monolithic. I
think it will continue to be a banner under which a
range of Christians will be able to gather. As this book
shows, however, I think we are seeing a less-partisan,
less-polemical, less-power hungry _expression_ of the
faith arise. And this, I believe, is a good turn.
I agree. That’s what I’m observing as well in
the broader body of Christ as I travel and speak into
different settings. What does “a faith of your own”
mean and how do God’s people move “beyond the culture
wars,” as you put it?
Jonathan Merritt: The title of the book, comes from a
story of a faith struggle I had in seminary. A friend
recommended Faust by Goethe and I read the following
quote: “That which you have received as heritage, now
discover for yourself, and thus you shall make it your
own.”
In that moment, I realized that I could maintain
respect for the faith of my father and grandfathers but
I also needed to make it my own. As it turns out, this
is a call to all those who desire to follow Jesus in
this era. When considering Christian history, Albert
Schweitzer once said, “Each successive epoch found its
own thoughts on Jesus, which was indeed the only way it
could make him live.”
Who specifically should read your book and why?
Jonathan Merritt: A
Faith of Our Own is for Christians who are
discouraged, disillusioned, or disenchanted with how
partisan the American church has become. Unlike similar
books–that curse the darkness without lighting a
candle–this book will force readers to dream and hope.
That’s much the same audience for my book, Beyond
Evangelical, which has resonated with countless
Christians who are disaffected by the Christian Right
and the Christian Left categories. In that regard,
voices like yours, Scot McKnight, Roger Olson, N.T.
Wright, Leonard Sweet, Greg Boyd, and the late Michael
Spencer are resonating with more and more evangelicals
today who are looking for a way beyond the Right and
Left paradigms.
See also 20
Reasons Why the Christian Right & the Christian
Left Won’t Adopt Me
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