Watch Brave New Films coverage of SC Primaries — with me January 26, 2008
Posted by Zack in South Carolina | write a commentMy friends at Brave New Films are interviewing various nefarious characters from the political world (including me) about the South Carolina primary. Check it out — and watch Brave New Film’s commentary on the primary lasting all night.
It’s official. Jim Wallis said it on Jon Stewart. January 23, 2008
Posted by Zack in New York | 4 commentsThere are these moments, in the progression of mass movements—or in mass changes to cultures—when someone says, “This is happening!” It has been happening for decades, but at a certain point a critical mass of people inside and outside of the movement have become aware of it, have talked about it, and then people start to declare it in mainstream public forums. Jim Wallis did that on Jon Stewart last night:
Tags: Jim Wallis, jon stewart, religious rightThe dominance of the religious right over our politics is finally finished…
But the even better news is that now a new generation has come of age and they’re applying their faith to the biggest issues each of us faces: the moral scandal of poverty, the degradation of the environment which we call God’s creation, climate change, Darfur, human rights…the exclusive use of war to fight evil and the cultural assault on your three year old and my four year old.
The country isn’t hungry for a religious left to replace the religious right. They don’t want to go left or right. They want to go deeper. They want to go to a moral center.
Two in Five Dems are Born Again Christians January 21, 2008
Posted by Zack in California | 5 commentsThe Barna Group, the premier Christian opinion research firm just completed a fascinating study. I want to fully digest it before writing more, but this really stands out:
Tag: Barna groupParty Lines and Faith Allegiance
Faith affiliation does not neatly follow party lines: about two out of every five registered Democrats are born again voters, while roughly three out of every five Republicans is classified by the Barna team as a born again. Analyzing the interplay between faith and party reveals some unique relationships.
The Revolutionaries on Campus January 20, 2008
Posted by Zack in Ohio | 3 comments
Last Sunday, while in Columbus for Rootscamp, I met up with a staffer from Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), a para-church campus ministry organization sort of along the lines of Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
I don’t know all the ways that these orgs are different from each other, but CCO seems to be the one most representative of the Revolution I’ve been writing about on this blog. According to its organizational statement, “The CCO partners with colleges, churches and organizations to develop men and women who live out their Christian Faith in every area of life.” The org has a particular focus on teaching a “Christian world view” that allows students to maintain their faith without isolating themselves from the mainstream of campus life—and life after college. And they work in partnership with local churches so that students can make the transition from youth to adulthood while being part of an intergenerational church community (as opposed to spending 4 years in fellowship with only people their own age — after which it could be hard to go back into a regular church).
The “Christian world view” that CCO teaches seems to be very much based on Kingdom Theology, which is one of the intellectual foundations of the “Revolution in Jesusland.” Kingdom Theology teaches that Christians must work to redeem a broken world, including fixing broken lives and fixing broken communities and social systems.
The most remarkable thing about CCO (as well as Campus Crusade, Navigators and InterVarsity) is their level of staffing and organization. These orgs have from one or two up to a dozen or more staff PER CAMPUS chapter. Are there any campus orgs on the left that have anywhere near that kind of staffing level? I think the Center for American Progress’ campus network Campus Progress has just over a dozen staff total. Campus Crusade has more than a dozen staff serving the Ohio State University campus alone.
Talking to the CCO staffer, I was struck not only by the level of staffing and resources, but also by the sophistication and depth of the operation. Staff spend much of their time learning and studying with each other. And many spend their summers in an intensive program where staff and students live and study together while working on community projects.
The difference isn’t funding. It’s that these Christians are motivated by a big dream, one that makes sense to them. It’s a long term plan for the redemption of the whole world—to carry out “Jesus’ Redemptive Work and Salvation” as “the body of Christ.” On the left, it’s hard to get talented people to stay in local jobs that don’t lead quickly to big titles or big recognition. But Christian Revolutionaries can be clear about how something like mentoring just a handful of students on campus fits into their grand plan. Therefore, they are able to recruit and develop leaders from the ranks to do that important work and build long-term solid orgs.
Tag: CCO“Christian” vs. “Christ follower” January 18, 2008
Posted by Zack in | 7 comments“Christian” is to “Christ follower” as “Liberal” is to “Progressive.” It’s not quite that simple, but here’s a Mac ad parody that shows the way many Christian Revolutionaries are using labels to mark the change taking place in their lives, communities and theology.
This video highlights the way much of US Christianity has become defined by superficial symbols and even religious consumer items, purchased from the “Christian Industrial Complex.” There are several move parodies like this to watch if you click over to GodTube.
This video is on GodTube, which I’ve blogged about before.
Tags: Christ follower, Christian, GodTube.comAmerican Idols January 15, 2008
Posted by Zack in Connecticut | 4 commentsI haven’t been on the road full time visiting actual Revolutionary Christian communities for the past several weeks. It seems other considerations, such as earning a paycheck and having a place to live, have caught up with me a little bit.
However, I’m hoping to visit a different community for a week or so every 6 or 7 weeks, and do more in-depth writing about each one—what the community is up to, what I learn about the Bible and the Church from them, and stories of the people I meet along the way. Who knows…maybe it could become a Revolution in Jesusland book. Please suggest communities for me to include in this project! Post a comment or email me at info@revolutioninjesusland.com.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep bringing you the Revolution, which exposes itself intimately online on tens of thousands of blogs, church sites and sermon podcasts.
Today, check out Pastor Eric Stillman’s recent three blog posts on Idolatry. (Part I, Part II, Part III.) This is a major theme I’ve heard preached in dozens of churches. I always thought that Idolatry just applied to the worship of statues, etc…. But the Revolutionaries preach about an expanded meaning of Idolatry—and I’ve been surprised, in my own gradual reading of the Bible, that this is not a stretch at all, but is very blatantly there in both Old and New Testaments.
The expanded Idolatry means putting anything ahead of God in your life. Material possessions, prestige, sex, work, a business, a hobby…those are all frequent idols for American Christians these days. But what does it mean to put God ahead of all those things (none of which Christians are against)? It means you do what God wants. And you only enjoy those kinds of rewards when God intends you to enjoy them in the course of doing what he wants. But what does God want? That’s a BIG question, and it’s one that every community answers in the course of studying the Bible and deciding how to live it out.
Fortunately for the world, the Revolutionaries believe God wants Christians to serve the poor & oppressed, fix broken systems and other beautiful things.
Eric Stillman takes on that topic in a post that (not accidentally, I’m sure) immediately preceded the Idolatry posts. Stillman’s church is embarking on a two-year project to read and study the Bible cover to cover. As he explains in his post, they’ll be stopping every six weeks to devote church gatherings to testimonies about members’ struggles to live out the Bible. If you’ve always been curious how evangelicals can believe the Bible is true, and not resort to stoning adulterers, Eric’s post (called “Living out the Bible (except the part about stoning people…)“) can shed some light on that.
Obama’s message to (all?) Christians January 15, 2008
Posted by Zack in Uncategorized | write a commentHopefully, for Obama’s sake, his campaign won’t talk about his “call” only to black Christians, but white Christians also. Check out this Washington Post campaign diary:
GREENWOOD, S.C. — The brochure being handed out in South Carolina shows a picture of the candidate with his hands together and eyes closed. In large letters, it reads “ANSWERING THE CALL.”
Inside, voters learn of a candidate who was “CALLED TO CHRIST” and even larger letters is a “COMMITTED CHRISTIAN” and is quoted saying, “I believe in the power of prayer.”
Barack Obama’s campaign in South Carolina is targeting black voters, and one of the ways he’s doing it is appealing to a connection based on shared religious faith.
His campaign would benefit from telling his story of conversion and faith to predominantly white evangelical churches everywhere too. For such a strategy to be meaningful, though, the message can’t simply be “Obama is a Christian with the same faith story as you.” Rather, the message needs to include concrete examples of how being a follower of Jesus will lead him to be a better president.
Christians today are especially conscious that simply identifying as a Christian doesn’t mean too much. They want to see Christian leaders walking the walk. Huckabee connects his faith with compassionate (sounding) positions on immigration, education and other social issues. But I’ve been getting the feeling that Obama’s advisers aren’t making the connection.
Tags: 2008, barack obama, Mike HuckabeeIs Huckabee the choice of Christian revolutionaries? January 13, 2008
Posted by Zack in Uncategorized | 5 comments
There’s an interesting article in the NYTimes today about young evangelicals supporting Huckabee against the hesitations of many of the leaders of their parents’ generation. But are the Revolutionaries into Huck? My anecdotal evidence suggests that the revolutionaries are split between Huckabee, Obama and giving up on politics altogether.
The article tells about a grassroots online campaign worth checking out called Huck’s Army. It was started by two 19 year old Christian activists. Unfortunately for Huckabee, these kinds of online organizations have not yet found a way to actually move enough votes to make the difference on February 5, or “Tsunami Tuesday.”
Tags: 2008, Mike HuckabeeAirport porn filter subverts attempt to subvert empire in Jesus’ name January 12, 2008
Posted by Zack in Missouri | 3 commentsI was just trying to read some other essays on Josh Brown’s blog (see previous post) at the airport while waiting for a plane. The public wifi blocked all of his more radical posts with the following warning:
Young Christian businessman: Capitalism is upside down system January 12, 2008
Posted by Zack in Uncategorized | 2 commentsHere’s a fascinating long series written by a young Christian about Capitalism & Christianity. His posts mostly generated a lot of discussion in the comments, making it a very interesting view into the economic intellectual instincts among this group.
This is a series of thoughts I gave concerning capitalism and how at times it goes against the grain of the kingdom of God. Along with my struggles with launching a new business and the tension between making profit and fleshing out the values of God’s economy.
and
Tag: Questioning CapitalismSo here’s the deal. I’m not a communist. I’m not a socialist. I think both systems are flawed. But honestly, I’d also like to be able to tell you that I’m no longer a capitalist. Unfortunately, it would be rather hypocritical and ignorant of me as a small business owner and as someone embedded in a suburban community to ignore how heavily influenced I am by this economic system of capitalism.
