Why I ThInk We Need to #ReimagineCHRISTIANITY...

[Reimagine Curator]

Why I ThInk We Need to #ReimagineCHRISTIANITY...

Skye Jethani believes the word “evangelicalism” “has been problematic for a while because it’s become associated with a certain cultural expression of Christianity that is not solely gospel-centered.” In the same way that social media reveals the negativity that has always existed in human nature, evangelicalism has always had what Jethani calls “ungodly undercurrents.” Now, certain events in culture have revealed evangelicalism’s unhealthiness.

 

According to Jethani, the evangelical church in the U.S. has somewhat ironically fallen into some of the same errors as the medieval Roman Catholic Church. “The abuse of power, the exaltation of leadership, the financial shenanigans that went on, the selling of indulgences,” he said, are all abuses of which we can see parallels today.

“In my experience,” said Jethani, “what has helped dramatically is to root your faith far more in immediate, incarnate, intimate relationships, rather than merely hitching your wagon to an institution.”

 

Originally posted here>>>

[Reimagine Curator]

With thanks to the Denison Forum:

 

Excerpted from How Does God See America? by Jim Denison, PhD, and Ryan Denison, PhD.

 

"Is America exceptional?

 

In the grand story of history, are we unique?

 

Take a few moments to read this excerpt from How Does God See America? (then request this book today in support of the work Denison Forum does to speak biblical truth in love to our culture.)

 

Even though the United States may have lost its desire to be God's city on a hill, we have largely retained that longing to have other nations look to us as an example. For better or worse, American exceptionalism is alive and well, as evidenced by the multitude of ways that we retain and fiercely defend our influence around the globe.

 

The problem is that we've forgotten why.

 

Perhaps there was always an element of pride in the desire to be that city on a hill, but, apart from the larger mission of establishing God's kingdom, that hubris has only increased in motivating Americans to dominate the world stage.

However, lest we judge our leaders too harshly, it's entirely understandable that when we can't find our inspiration from God, we would seek it from ourselves. If we don't have God as our standard, where else would we look except to each other?

 

When we have tried to reshape other nations in our image, some have been helped but others have not. This fact, however, is a critique only in so far as we recognize that there was a better alternative.

 

Absent the drive to be a city on a hill to expand God's kingdom, we're not convinced that such an alternative exists. Here we see both the capacity for good left within all people and the inherent limitations of living apart from a personal relationship with our creator.

 

In short, if the nearly four hundred years since the Pilgrims first landed have taught us anything, it should be that we are a people capable of doing much good, but that we will never be great without God.

 

I encourage you to request How Does God See America? today to keep reading more about our calling as Christians in our country. Yes! Please send me How Does God See America?We can be an exceptional people in an exceptional country—but only with God’s blessing.

 

Blessings, Jim Denison, PhD

CEO, Denison Ministries

 

P.S. For a limited time, and for your gift of $50 or more, you can also receive an immediate digital e-book download of Respectfully, I Disagree: How to Be a Civil Person in an Uncivil Time. May these books encourage you to live for God and by his biblical truth in a culture increasingly turning away from him. And may we look to God’s power above any earthly powers for true change to occur.

 

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