01-07-2018, 10:22 PM
The church I attend declared a 6 week series going over 2017 headlines and the proper Christian response to them, as though there is one proper response to such broad, looming issues. I've decided to save the time and gas money by sitting it out. The head pastor is a great guy and the content of his sermons are mostly agreeable, but with his commentary on social or political issues I maintain cynicism...even when I agree with him. I can already tell by the sermon titles that it would be wasted time.
Not surprisingly, he comes from a Western philosophical view on the role of politics and cultural issues. It's neither conservative nor liberal, nor libertarian nor green, but with key philosophical assumptions that present it as just another version of democratic republicanism that we've endured in America for so long. This is not particular of my church only most churches in America fall under this rubric to varying degrees. The social religion of the looming spectre of 21st Century Nice Guy Jesus: grumpy with religious folk, safely predictable, openly and emphatically not racist or sexist. Someone who would hold a "reasonable view" by today's standards; one that would fit well as a foil between two extreme viewpoints on a talk show.
Instead, I had a quick Bible study with the family in the morning. Nothing elaborate, since my kids are on the younger side. It was more to mark the occasion than anything else; to plant a quick flag in the ground for the month or so ahead. It was better than nothing, and it's certainly better than what I would hear for my normal Sunday routine this time.
Not surprisingly, he comes from a Western philosophical view on the role of politics and cultural issues. It's neither conservative nor liberal, nor libertarian nor green, but with key philosophical assumptions that present it as just another version of democratic republicanism that we've endured in America for so long. This is not particular of my church only most churches in America fall under this rubric to varying degrees. The social religion of the looming spectre of 21st Century Nice Guy Jesus: grumpy with religious folk, safely predictable, openly and emphatically not racist or sexist. Someone who would hold a "reasonable view" by today's standards; one that would fit well as a foil between two extreme viewpoints on a talk show.
Instead, I had a quick Bible study with the family in the morning. Nothing elaborate, since my kids are on the younger side. It was more to mark the occasion than anything else; to plant a quick flag in the ground for the month or so ahead. It was better than nothing, and it's certainly better than what I would hear for my normal Sunday routine this time.