Have yourself a Merry Nicene Christmas

Lisa SpencerLeave a comment

No, this is not one of those nerdy academic posts.  On this Christmas day I wanted to sketch out some brief thoughts over some observations I’ve made recently that really points to something broader I’ve witnessed in how we can make false choices with respect to the Christian faith. And particularly, this time of year with reflections of Christmas and the purpose for which we celebrate this unprecedented occasion of the incarnation. So I will get to the title in a bit.

Let me start with a gospel music production that we watched last night. The program was mostly music (and it was pretty spectacular too!) interspersed with acting scenes centered on three characters whose lives, we learn after awhile, are interconnected.  The overriding message I got was Jesus is a means to make your life better. If you have the Lord and tragedy happens you have the power to “speak life.” You feel empty? Try Jesus. You witnessed a miraculous event points to the fact that you need God.

What was missing for me in this presentation is why God the Son, eternally existent with the Father humbled himself and left his throne of glory. It was to rescue us from our sin, the sin that plunged humanity into sin because of the events that happened in Genesis 3.  This sin that we are all born into, that impacted all of God’s good creation into anticipated decay and ongoing corruption (see Romans 8:20). From Gen. 3:15 onward in the Old Testament, God promised a reversal of this curse. The incarnation was for the purpose of fulfillment of God’s promises to redeem a people for himself not so much to fulfill our every life demand. Continue reading →

We’re really not making this up: a personal tale about CRT’s impact (guest post)

Lisa Spencer14 Comments

Not a day goes by that I don’t open up social media to find some kind of spurious rebuttal of concerns about CRT, labeling it as a boogeyman conjured up with hysteria by people who really don’t want to address racism in this country. And yet, stepping back from the battle over CRT, which in my opinion, has turned into a battle over words that obfuscate the real issues about the ideas in play, even the casual observer has to see that something has fundamentally changed about the way race is not only being addressed but also the way racism is being perceived. In the past 5-6 years, we have drastically shifted from a desire to mitigate racism through fair treatment of individuals to making everything about race that actually works against the desired goals of the long struggle for civil rights.

To quibble over words and technical definitions of CRT severely undermines what has been taking place with the social justice paradigm over the past few years. Whatever you want to call it, real people are being swept up in this ideology and regurgitating its doctrine that unfortunately is even impacting the church and relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ. On that note, please consider this post from guest contributor Kevin Briggins that he originally posted on his Facebook page.  I think it really spells out why so many people are raising concerns and why I wanted to host it here. It’s a bit longer than my usual posts but definitely worth the read. 

By Kevin Briggins, Guest Contributor

It has been brought to my attention that I haven’t been very clear on my engagements on race and culture. Some have said my engagements have been one sided, so I feel the need to clarify some things and to paint a broader picture of my engagements on race.

The 2016 presidential election was a major turning point in the life of our church in Augusta. This coincided with our church moving from a suburban setting to an inner-city setting in late 2015. This change in setting put us in closer proximity to poverty and with the reality of true historical racial division. The church we merged with was a dying church that had become the victim of “white flight” and unfortunately had not engaged the new community around it. This was something we desired to change as we didn’t want to be a church that drove into the inner-city for Sunday services and then drove back out with no community engagement, which is the practice of many predominantly black and white inner-city churches. We had several church members and pastors move into the community and we were also thinking of ways to engage the community. At the time our church was predominantly white and middle class with a mixture of black, Hispanic, and Asian families. We were also a Reformed (non-traditional) Southern Baptist church. I’m saying all of this to lay the context for what begin to happen in 2016. Continue reading →

On Christians and elitism: maybe we are all guilty

Lisa SpencerLeave a comment

Former Christianity Today (CT) executive editor, Mark Galli, recently wrote a pretty honest piece here about the ways in which the culture of CT promoted a kind of elitism that cozied up to American culture to appear respectable. The implications being unlike those other Christians who rail against the world. The response was interesting to see, especially with chants of “I told you so,” indicating that of course that is what CT does.

Daniel Darling chimed in with some insightful commentary about elitism itself in this piece here. I think it deserves some attention because it transcends the specific charge that Galli is getting at;

In other words, elitism is more of a posture than a position. This tendency shows up in a variety of ways and tempts people across the political spectrum. It can be folks who like to broadcast on Twitter or in op-eds or bestselling books about how terrible evangelicals are. It can be furrowed-browed fans of certain Bible teachers who think nobody ever preaches a Bible passage correctly (except for them, of course). It can be “above-it-all” types who rightly eschew left and right extremes but are insufferable in communicating both their own heroism in this and their discovery, after 2,000 years of church history, the perfect model of cultural engagement.

Right. Elitism is a posture of superiority that proclaims the upper moral position while throwing disdain on that group or those Christians that just aren’t measuring up (like me and my tribe!). So elitism also shows up with our posturing over how well we are able to comprehend what is right and take others to task for not really getting it, for the sake of the kingdom. To be honest, I’ve seen quite a bit of this in the social justice wars. Pro-social justice, CRT friendly advocates denigrating those who have challenged the anti-racism and CRT paradigm as compatible with a Christian worldview as not really being concerned about justice (like them!). On the flip side, I’ve seen posturing in opposition that loves to point out the errors of the social justice warriors and their lack of commitment to scriptural fidelity, how those Christians are destroying the church (not like us!). That’s not to say there aren’t legitimate critiques to be had. There certainly are! The issue is more about the posturing that sticks its nose up on those unfortunate rubes that just aren’t getting it. And you can be sure this applies as much to those chanting “I told you so” as the charges Galli brings up with CT. As Darling writes; Continue reading →

Beware of the boldness idol

Lisa SpencerLeave a comment

Let me say right out the gate that this post is not a slam on boldness. I think in our present cultural moment there is a need to be bold and stand on Christian truth. There are cultural pressures at work that seek to undermine the fabric of Christianity and an increased hostility towards an historical witness of the Christian faith.

In recent years, I’ve observed how positions on issues are more determined by what is felt, particularly with a group identity at stake, than what actually is, especially when you have Christian doctrine and ethical applications at stake. People, even Christians, are being swayed by the mood of arguments, over objective reality. It can be hard to speak into this paradigm but necessary nonetheless.

Scripture calls us to speak truth in love. That means we should be willing to say what needs to be said in the face of opposition particularly when we believe an erosion of Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy is at stake. We should be willing to defend the faith against people and ideas that oppose it. Continue reading →

At a loss

Lisa Spencer4 Comments

I’m going to get real honest in this post. Sorry. When it comes to the CRT wars and broader discussions on social justice, I’ve reached a point where I’m at a loss….for many things.

Particularly for those who profess Christ as Lord and proclaim authority of Scripture as the ultimate lens, I’m confused how there is acknowledgement that CRT has some compatibility issues with Scripture but then there is strident defense of why we need to keep this paradigm.

As Bruce Ashford points out here, treating people according to identity group and hanging or dismissing sins according to those groupings is no way to view the world.

My friend Pat Sawyer works with this material in his profession and demonstrates a significant fluency in it as can be seen in his 3 part series here, here and here. And yet, he concludes where this paradigm conflicts with Scripture.

Even Danny Slavich’s very thoughtful analysis and more favorable treatment here for CRT as a “tool” also cautions against the contradictions.

These are not shrill voices that refuse to understand the complexities involved with what CRT is trying to address, but those who have carefully engaged with the material with a desire for reconciliation on better race relations. And yet, there is a consensus of concern and contradictions that in my opinion do not warrant hanging on to this paradigm even as a tool.

I chimed in recently here to see what happens when ideas are put into practice, particularly in the church. And when I think of the unity we are to have in Christ as Scripture commends, I’m at a loss how racializing everything brings about this unity and ultimate healing.

Continue reading →