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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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