Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of my thoughts from Soong-Chan Rah's book, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. As one of my professors at North Park Theological Seminary, I have been challenged and also encouraged by Soong-Chan's thoughts and insight into how the church has formed (in healthy and unhealthy ways) in a Western context.The Next Evangelicalism is in many ways a prophetic call for the Western church to face its rampant individualism, consumerism, racism, and move on a more holistic and life-giving trajectory. Soong-Chan points out some of the pit-falls of our (Western church culture's) affinity towards things like church growth and mega churches, the "Emergent Conversation", and an imbalance in our theology of celebration over suffering.
This is an important book for those who believe in the Church, and are committed to serving her well into the 21st Century.
1 comment:
So I'm one chapter into the book and am incredibly challenged by it! I find myself confronted by the harm that excessive individualism has on our culture and faith expression. I'm looking forward to your continued thoughts bro and was hoping to share a thought that I had.
Rah talks about the manner in our church culture deals with sin. We are convicted of our individual sin. We are moved to confess and turn from our individual sin. We feel better about ourself and our relationship with God having been absolved of said sin. As I considered that I wondered what it would look like if we were convicted of the corporate sin and systems of oppression and evil we participate in. What would a corporate confession and repentance look like when it comes to corporate sin? How would we as a body and as individuals be spurred to move by such an act? I wonder if we would still be ok with ignoring or tolerating the gross displays of segregation, racism, and classism in our own town of Muskegon? I wonder what would be affected by the conviction of corporate sin. Anyway, lookin forward to more.
Post a Comment