Just Kamping

Update, 13 Oct 20*** I wrote this blog in the midst of unrest within America (it’s still going on). In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots, I chose to speak against what I believed was the acceptance of Critical Race Theory within mainstream evangelicalism. Looking back, I believe I was uninformed as to the complexity and nuances of the cultural moment. This post (and the others) was reflexive in nature and I do not believe it added anything of value to the conversation taking place in our neighborhoods (with the exception of the gospel as portrayed in Pt III). Going forward, I will seek to carefully choose the topics I write about and ensure I’m well informed before posting. I still believe Critical Race Theory is harmful, though :)***

I’ve hesitated to write this post because the implications are presumably costly. Whenever one desires to throw his or her voice in the kaleidoscope of dissenting opinions, he or she assumes the risk of facing the dissension of friends. That may have been my biggest roadblock. But it is worth the risk when the surrender of our God given indelible rights would be a much costlier burden. That is, when we refuse to speak (no matter how small our platform- like this blog) out of fear of dissension or admonishment, we sacrifice the God given right to express ourselves into the world, and we then depress into a human existence that’s little by little dehumanizing itself. Like a machine that’s never used and through time loses its function, we too will experience a breakdown when we refuse to speak. I invite the dialogue of my friends, especially those of differing opinions. Let’s work together to ensure no voice is dissuaded from speaking for fear of repercussion. May we all remember, it’s much riskier to be silent.

In such a moment as this, the probability of being misunderstood or labeled or disregarded or cancelled is high. Why would one seek to place upon himself the yoke of ideological absolutism? Why would someone choose to publicly affirm a position or ideas, knowing the position or ideas is/are not favored among the collective, especially when the collective holds positional power to cancel your friendships, your career, and your public voice?

The answer to these questions and many more is, “because it’s what Jesus calls us to”.

What do I mean? In the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ gifts us with the obligation to not only bind ourselves to the ideologically absolute truths of his kingdom, but to stand upon them while confronting deeply flawed sinful behaviors and ideas that threaten the fidelity of the church to its husband. In love for Christ and his bride, every member of Christ’s church has the responsibility of identifying the insidious sirens that sing the songs that entice our ears. We have the obligation to call our brothers and sisters away from the rocks of worldly ideologies that appear beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean- the ideologies that shipwreck our faith.  

To begin this series, I’d like to publicly affirm that:

God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

And

Liberation into such an inheritance comes through new creation, predicated upon the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and an individual’s faith in response.

I’d like to publicly deny that:

Some things related to life and godliness are withheld from certain homogenous sections of society by oppressive homogenous sections of society.

And I deny that

Liberation into such an inheritance comes through struggle against homogenous power structures within society, including the church.   

Going forward in this series, I hope to convey that I sympathize and empathize with others who have experienced evil, oppression, and/or shame on the basis of ethnicity, sexuality, socio-economic status, etc. I’d be lying to say I did not experience some form of this myself, specifically socio-economically, maybe professionally. My hope is not to invalidate the experiences of people. Rather, I wish to convey that experiences are not sufficient lenses through which to see the truth, they’re only aids. And I hope to convey that I believe in reform of governmental institutions, policies, and practices if there is sufficient evidence to show partiality, inequality, or depravity. However, I reject any reform that would respond with partiality, inequality, or depravity.  

If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, here it is: embracing critical theory (a social gospel), aligning with its proponents, sharing in its struggle…is apostasy. You cannot be yoked to Christ and the world. You cannot be yoked to Christ and see the conflict of this world as black vs. white, gay vs. straight, rich vs. poor, Christians vs. Atheists, oppressor vs. oppressed. We wrestle against powers that influence what is common to us all: sin. And sin in its deceit will deflect attention from itself and highlight other people or things, that we might fight them and not our common enemy. As Christians on our journey in this world, we must accept responsibility for distinguishing light from darkness through the completely sufficient word of God, and we must confront dark ideologies that threaten our brothers and sisters…even if those ideologies are sweetened by the voices of our friends.

(or sweetened by the voices of the celebrity pastors we’ve stored away in our idol closets)

In PT II. I will discuss why some within the social gospel movement say, “preaching the gospel to societal problems solves nothing”, and why “preaching the gospel” is exactly what we need.