RQ 7.2: A Very Personal Review

I'd like to claim a dispassionate stance in my review of this issue of Regeneration Quarterly, or for that matter any of my reviews, but that really isn't true. Claiming lack of opinion just means one can't perceive their own bias. In this case, it's impossible for me to avoid my personal life, so I'll start by explaining why. I know three of the authors. Andy Crouch, in re:RQ, writes of his campus ministry; I went to school while he was there. For about two years, I was in the group he led. Karl Wirth was also a leader in that group, and I knew him slightly better than Mr. Crouch. Finally, Amelia Dunlop is (I think) the sister of an important player in this review.

Let's begin. I make brief comments about most of the articles, then choose one or two points for the "Big Story" at the end. Except for the main story, I assume you at least have the article, because I don't want to do ten article summaries each time. I also have a dry sense of humor, which you'll see from time to time. The idea is to provide one person's reflections on the issue, with the desire to motivate others to contemplate more fully. Perhaps my comments make sense, perhaps you consider them complete rubbish; I hope they make you take pause, at least.

Short Responses

• Shame and the Cross, David Eagle. Points out a problem of FUNdamentalism, the paucity of material on serious problems like sexual abuse. I hope that as the movement grows, folks will take the time to grow abilities to cure in these areas. Mr. Eagle makes a small mistake, referring to "the cross" when he should really refer to "the crucifix". It's not the resurrection action here, but the sacrifical part of Easter that seems most revelant. A subtle difference, often missed, but vital in a suffering-based theology like mine.
• A Home for the Journey, Li Lian Tan. She finds a temporary solution to her spiritual wandering through physical wandering, and a more permanent and attractive solution through contemplation. Good. Contemplative = Attractive? Even better. I'd like to see such a monastery, too.
• My Body, Duffy Lott. The number of college-age women who have problems with food astonished me when I found out; some of my friends ventured one-third of women. (One of them was astonished that I did the research on treatment and support. It's part of agape, period.) While reading this, I thought of Eminem's song The Way I Am. Where were the parents at? They offered to help her diet? Can I bitchslap them? Articles like this make me want to go sign up for resident advisor positions, in the probably unrealistic goal of helping out.
• The Word of Life, Dieter Zander. Dittos (and you thought I didn't know Rush Limbaugh). The larger question is why was he so wrong and how do we fix it?
• More than a Talk Show, Sally Morgenthaler. I saw her name on an advertisement for some conference in this issue, which struck me as a little dirty until I saw the regeneration forum sponsorship. Just pointing out my mistakes, too. On the article, I think in terms of deep introspective relationships, Worship Team = Bad News. I'm concerned about the answer a bit, nevertheless. Have we just substituted conservative formulas of communion and anointing for songs and Powerpoint slides? If we're attracting seekers with ritual formula, that won't work either, because the pomp and circumstance we have will not win in the long term over TV and movies. We can't beat animatronic apes, and we need to focus on faith. If verticality does that, great!
• Good News, Bad News, Doug Rand. Remember, I consider serious practicing conservative/orthodox Jews under God's mercy, a huge difference from the assumption Mr. Rand and those in his article make. I also remember a story about Birmingham, Alabama, where the Southern Baptists published a list of 100,000+ people going to hell. That's a lot like his Jacksonville, and just as ineffective, I bet. His final proposal, "evangelical Christians should live visibly virtuous lives, form supportive communities, and engage positively with the rest of the world," I'll borrow later.
• Power with a Purpose, Jordan Seng. Great for you, Mr. Seng, but I don't know anyone with dream interpretation. I'm reminded of the tale of Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." What do I do?

The Big Story: Evanglical Action

The Big Story comes from Karl Wirth's article "Of the Making of Many Meetings there is no End", with clarification from Andy Crouch's leader.

Mr. Crouch exhorts us not to thump Bibles or hit others on the head with them. He mentions his time as a campus chaplain, and his witness of only one aggressive proselytizing act in nine years. He points out that current trends lean far away from past aggressive tacts, becoming very seeker friendly. Evangelism evokes violence, he thinks, because of the surface tendency of consumer culture. Pimping for toothpaste or diets, visible things, is fine, but deeper facts, like God, are very dangerous to discuss. We must break the surface soap bubble to spread the deeper truth.

Mr. Wirth describes his assimilation into the Christian Fellowhsip at his university, moving from casual seeker to spending over 20 hours a week. At the same time, his relationships with nonmembers and even his roommate dwindled. After college, in five years, he attended over 500 church events, and saw his old roommate (only a few miles away) three times. And he did no social justice work and didn't go out with non-Christian work friends. Two years ago, he and his wife broke the cycle and become more active in the world, and wonders why more people don't do the same.

First, my personal story: Mr. Crouch may have not seen aggressive proselytizing, but it certainly occurred while he was there. Perhaps his supervisory role, like police, kept it quiet on his watch. I also knew the most aggressive folks on campus, so that added to my total. I was prophesied to once, as a freshman. (Humorously, I knew several people in the group pressing who knew I was Christian. You'd think they'd check these things.) I was quite aggressive at least twice in my undergraduate career as well, at least once advertising for Mr. Crouch's group.

Regarding Mr. Wirth's article, I was a relatively infrequent attender of the group in which he was a leader. I once remarked to another leader that "it felt like there was a point system" in said community. He basically affirmed the idea, that the leaders tended to focus on those who came more frequently, attended retreats, and the like. (Unsatisfied, I completely dropped the group a few months later, for that and other reasons.) Now, I consider their response completely backwards. Shouldn't the most energy be spent on the weakest Christians and the seekers, not the strongest ones? Different question, though, as I want to concentrate on the policy of Christian exclusion.

As I read this the first time, I felt a reaction bordering on outrage, that one could do what was described and call oneself a Christian. My notes say "Wow. Scraps? You abandoned Christianity. Culture of self!" Immediately, Matthew 25 came to my mind, verses 44-46: Then they will answer and say, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?" He will answer them, "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Then, the more reflective portion of my soul arose, reconsidering my potentially unrighteous rage. I remember the evangelical nature of the group and community, and the history of seclusion among American evangelicals. It's assumed that one would only want to deal with other evangelicals. This leads to evangelical TV [right now, I can choose from Odyssey and Worship, Christian music videos, on the Pax affiliate, complete with prayer hotline]; evangelical music [the Fish, and other Contemporary Christian Music]; evangelical literature [catalogs from Zondervan ChurchSource and the Left Behind series]; and so forth. They ran because modern America, the mainline, wouldn't accept them, accusing them of the Bible thumping Mr. Crouch describes.

I also think of myself, my professed tendency to have active religious people as friends, my paucity of non-Christian friends in late college, my choice of a Christian roommate for junior and senior years, and my proclivity to loneliness. I think of the difficulty I had making friends at work, and how a couple months ago I wrote to a old (Catholic) work friend about how I was looking for more Christian friends. So the reasoned portion takes hold, and I rolled back from outrage to disappointment, with a little confusion. How does one become active and not deal with seekers and nonreligious? I take dance lessons, play softball with my work (school) group, play frisbee, and hang out with my coworkers. In all these groups, the majority of people are not Christian.

I'm pleased Mr. Wirth and his wife realized their error, but that does not mitigate the seriousness of the problem. Another explanation comes from Mr. Crouch, who notes the discomfort of general people to speaking beyond the surface. Given the desire to talk spiritually, the ease of conversing with fellow church members, and the difficulty of chatting with others, it doesn't surprise me that one sees their roommate less than once a year. Why go to that trouble?

The answer is simple. I'm no fan of overstating the "Great Commission", the end of Matthew's Gospel, but it applies here. Christians are called to spread the Good News. Not to mention Matthew 25. Or Luke 4, how Jesus describes his mission by reading from Isaiah, the quote on my About Me page. Or from the epistle of James, chapter 2:17 - "So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (Note, though, the presumption of faith, even in Matthew 25 where people know God.)

Yet we still have communities like the one Mr. Wirth, Crouch, and Molnar knew. They happen a lot, even among older folks, like the big suburban megachurches, "Six Flags over Jesus", and the like. We can't let this happen. Sure, some of us need the time in communion, especially the troubled and new, but that doesn't mean all of us. Let's get out there, proclaiming through our actions. Mr. Wirth tries humor at the end, perhaps to lighten the charge. I say strengthen it! Mr. Rand's proposal, "Christians should live visibly virtuous lives, form supportive communities, and engage positively with the rest of the world," works here, not neglecting the community or the message, but also engaging and showing virtue. Onward, Christian Soldiers! How will we save the world, or even ourselves, if we're not out there stuggling and fighting and seeking mercy?

Written July 2001.