Maybe the most important episode to date!
Once evangelicals were on the frontline of social issues. Now the often take a backseat. What happened? And more importantly, from where might a renew of evangelicalism come?
This episode of Theology on Mission offers an exclusive report with Thich Troung from the Lausanne Young Leaders Gathering as part of a larger conversation about looking to world evangelicalism as a corrective to American evangelicalism. In the previous episode Geoff announced that all of us, even Billy Graham and Christianity Today, were not true evangelicals but were still recovering from a fundamentalist hangover. This episode fills that out and points a way forward.
David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw discuss the classic evangelicalism of the past (before the onset of fundamentalism) and look to the Lausanne Movement for inspiration (resources below).
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND WRITE US A REVIEW
TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD.
Our #TheologyGoneBad contest began last week and we announce the first round of those qualifying for the monthly and grand prize.
This next week’s #TheologyGoneBad theme will be about “Leadership”. All the rules and how to enter are here.
Resources for classical and world evangelicalism:
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity ~ Philip Jenkins
Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West ~ Lamin Sanneh
The Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism ~ Brian Stanley
Introduction to World Christian History ~ Derek Cooper
Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage ~ Donald Dayton
Lausanne Movement
What American Evangelicals Miss ~ MaryKate Morse
On Being on the Wrong Side of History ~ David Fitch
The Scandal of the Evangelical Memory ~ Geoff Holsclaw
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.