On Engaging the Community, pt. 1

Every once in a while, more than it should really, a case comes up in the media of another Christian, or conservative, deciding not to engage in helping change the culture. It has happened again, this time in Minnesota.

The Rev. Gregory Boyd pastors Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, with a large congregation that, until recently, had as many as 5,000 in attendance every Sunday. According to an article published by Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times, he is pro-life and "believes that homosexuality is not God's ideal." Yet at the same time, he has staked out a position that today's evangelical Christian involvement in politics is too nationalistic, even idolatrous.

Here is the source, from AOL: Laurie Goodstein, "Disowning Conservative Politics Is Costly for Pastor," The New York Times, July 30, 2006. Found at http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/disowning-conservative-politics-is/20060729195809990004?ncid=NWS00010000000001.

According to the article, to illustrate his points, he delivered a series of six sermons before the 2004 presidential election, entitled "The Cross and the Sword." This was a call for the church to disengage from politics and the culture war, particularly in claiming that America is a Christian nation, and in opposition to homosexuality and other forms of sexual immorality expressed in the culture at large. It seems that the Rev. Boyd’s rationale for this is that the church has become too intertwined with patriotism, the Republican Party, and support for the U.S. military.

Before I go any further, I want to be clear about two things. One, though I strongly disagree with what I have read so far, I am not going to refute arguments I have not fully heard. It would not be fair to anyone reading this, or to the Rev. Boyd, for me to denounce his ideas before I have had a chance to first determine how he has chosen to articulate his position. Therefore, I will address what he says after I have done some research, probably posting sometime in the next few weeks.

Two, I will say up front what you can expect from me. I am going to give a passionate demonstration of Truth through what I write here. This means that I am not going to dismiss the arguments of the other side through emotional appeals, but instead question assumptions through the use of Scripture and sound doctrine. It means that I am not going to lash out in anger via the written word, but that I will try my best to speak the truth in love, against the sin and for the sinner. And it means that what you read here will be the best way I can make the case for why Christians can, and should, engage others in public as well as private life.