Rich Nathan blogs up to the his church’s “Justice Revival” April 15, 2008
Posted by Zack in Ohio | write a comment
I’m going to the “Justice Revival” at Vineyard Columbus tomorrow. This is a really exciting development in the ongoing “Revolution in Jesusland.”
The revival could be a fairly controversial event for pastor Rich Nathan to host at his church. It is amazing how radical churches can become without raising their members’ partisan hackles, so long as they don’t use certain words. As it turns out, “conservative” Americans are just fine with beautiful radicalism as long as you just stay away from certain hot-button signifiers. These churches are rejecting the left-right debate by dealing with substance instead of labels and hollow political terms. Nevertheless, by hosting an event that is dedicated primarily to “justice” instead of personal salvation, Nathan risks setting off a trigger.
Leading up to the event, Nathan is writing a series on Jim Wallis’ blog. Here are his first four posts:
- What doing justice means to my church: It is not enough if my church is known as a great worship center, or a great preaching church. The New Testament demands more.
- Is Social Justice a Distraction from the Gospel? The ultimate goal of the kingdom goes beyond the salvation of us as individuals (wonderful as that is) and involves the restoration and renovation of the entire universe.
- Lifeboat theology vs. Ark theology: God wants to redeem ALL of creation, not just a handful of souls.
- Border-blenders and Corner-dwellers: I look forward to a day when an evangelical church that does a Justice Revival not only doesn’t create any controversy, but hardly raises an eyebrow.
