“Zizek, Obama and the Emerging Church” February 24, 2008
Posted by Zack in Minnesota , trackbackYou know something interesting is going on when Mennonite pastors are writing posts with titles like “Zizek, Obama and the Emerging Church“.
Check out the post and discussion around it — it’s a good early example of the dilemma that Obama is presenting to the Revolutionary Christian community: Get involved and help a good man do good? Or be enticed by just one more worldly politician with a conversion story and compassionate rhetoric (just like George W Bush)?
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B”H
Hey Zack,
You know something’s up when you see mention of the RIJ blog in Christianity Today. Check out this excerpt from an article entitled, An Efficient Gospel by Pastor Tim Keel.
“And here is the encouraging news: when Christians proclaim this richer gospel, the “gentiles” around us are intrigued.
A socially progressive journalist named Zack Exley has been documenting a massive cultural shift that is happening among young, theologically conservative evangelicals. Writing for the left-leaning, semi-socialist magazine In These Times, Exley has chronicled his journey into the surprising world of socially conscious, justice-oriented evangelicals who are living out their faith in increasingly radical and sacrificial ways. In his article “Preaching Revolution” (complete with a Che Guevara-ized portrait of Jesus on the red magazine cover), Exley wrote:
“Recently, I blogged a series of essays titled ‘The Revolution Misses You’ in which I called for progressives to revive the forgotten dream of practical yet radical change. Friends and colleagues immediately scolded me for using ‘extreme’ terms such as ‘revolution’ and ‘radical.’ ‘You’ll only alienate people,’ they said. ‘This will come back to haunt you.’ At first I was surprised by what felt like a dramatic overreaction. But I soon realized why I had fallen out of sync with the progressive mainstream on the use of the R-words: I had been spending time listening to and reading evangelical Christians who are preaching revolution.”
Exley’s blog, “Revolution in Jesusland,” has followed his pilgrimage across America to communities that embody this spirit of demonstrating the kingdom of God—not just for themselves in the transcendent then and there, but also for others in the immanent here and now. He is one of many people who would otherwise have written off Christianity who are ready to give the gospel another hearing (or perhaps better, viewing). They are realizing that salvation is more than what had previously been advertised.”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/001/3.19.html
PS: I don’t know if you are aware of an upcoming event which will bring together several hundred folks for a weekend gathering on a farm outside Chicago in June. It’s called the P.A.P.A. Fest. (That’s People Against Poverty and Apathy) Two years this event was held on the property of Shane Claiborne’s parents in Tenn. You can check out their website http://papafestival.org/ and get more info there.
**Two years ago this event was held …..