—I’d like to write about three topics over the next month:
The image of God
Sin and guilt
Life together in the church
In short, I want to explore how Christian anthropology, hamartiology, and ecclesiology might encourage, confirm, clarify, and correct our thinking.
There is no way to speak about these issues that can possibly hit all the right notes. Even among those who agree on the same big ideas, there is still the question of what to emphasize and which audience we are trying to reach.
1. Are we trying to rebuke neo-Confederate sympathizers?
2. Are we trying to guard against a godless, entirely mainstream, leftist agenda seen all around us in sports, media, and entertainment?
3. Are we trying to correct Christians who see everything through the lens of electoral politics?
4. Are we trying to convince black brothers and sisters that we care and that we are listening
5. Are we trying to help honest Christians worried about mobs and riots?
6. Are we trying to encourage godly police officers who feel discouraged and abandoned?
7. Are we trying to critique woke pastors dividing their churches?
8. Are we trying to critique timid pastors who don’t dare say anything?
9. Are we trying to express lament for obvious racial injustices past and present?
9. Are we trying to help confused white Christians who wonder if they are guilty of sins they didn’t commit or if they can disagree with any part of the social justice agenda without being racists?
These are all important questions, and one would be right to address any of them. But short of an entire book, it would be hard to meaningfully address all of them.
My aim is to work theologically through a few issues, trusting that many of the audiences can be appropriately addressed along the way. No approach will be without its critics. Like everyone, my read of the current situation depends on an imperfect sense of what I see in my circles, among my friends, and on my social media feed. Inevitably, I will emphasize some points more than others, highlighting those points I think are either underappreciated or misunderstood. I’m sure I won’t say everything that needs to be said.
And yet, sometimes it’s worth saying something even if you can’t say everything.
As Christians we should always be eager to reason carefully and winsomely from God’s word.
While I don’t believe every controversial issue surrounding race in this country is theological in nature, I do believe that every culture-wide conflict is bound to have a number of theological issues at its core.
The issues in the early church may have looked like practical disagreements about meals and food and ceremonies, but the Apostle Paul saw in them the most important issues of the gospel. Paul always brought his best theology to bear on the most intractable problems facing his people. We ought to do the same.
Charles E's space 