7. Unite Spirit and word and justice
Why are so many evangelicals nervous about the work of the Spirit and also about social justice? We need an evangelicalism that unites Spirit and word and justice.
In Matthew 22:23-33, Jesus is engaging the Sadducees in a debate about marriage at the resurrection. He hits these religious leaders hard with these words: “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” It’s clear that Jesus thinks that these religious leaders don’t even know what the Scriptures say about the resurrection, let alone the power of God to do supernatural, astonishing, world-transforming things.
Their errors of biblical interpretation and superficial, corrupted faith arise directly from the fact that they do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Yet, Jesus knew both. In verse 33, we see that the crowds were “astonished” (amazed) when they heard him (as in Luke 9:43 and Acts 3:10). Jesus had the ability to amaze with his words as easily as with his signs and wonders – both produced the same reaction. This is because Jesus walked in the power of the word and the Spirit. We must seek to know both too.
Living in the power of the word and Spirit is about expressing the fruit of the Spirit, being generous and content, caring for the poor and broken, and loving our enemies.
8. Be the church and stop with the partisan politics
God calls God’s church to be a distinct people, with a distinct ethic, a distinct story, a distinct peace, a distinct community, a distinct diversity and a distinct witness. As Stanley Hauerwas says, “The first responsibility of the church is to be the church … The church doesn’t have a social ethic – the church is a social ethic.” Put another way, “The church doesn’t have a social strategy; the church is a social strategy.”
As the new humanity in Jesus Christ, our life together is political.
We’re not talking here about Republicans or Democrats or some other form of party politics. Evangelicals are often too closely aligned with specific political parties. But no secular political party represents Christ. A faithful church abandons the reach for politics, power, influence, wealth and prestige. Rather, it imitates the foolish weakness and scandal of the cross.
9. Pursue peace in a divided world
We are living in a divided and conflicted age. Evangelicals could contribute to this, or we could choose to be people of peace.
God calls the church to be a people of peacemaking and reconciliation. The Messiah is our peace and he’s abolished the conflicts and enmities that divide people (Eph 2:11-14). Peace and reconciliation are at the very heart of the new humanity in Christ.
10. Restore justice
Too often, evangelicals are seen as not really caring about justice. This can’t continue, without doing terrible damage to our tradition and our churches.
Restoring justice involves educating ourselves about injustices in our neighbourhood, society and world.
We must also educate ourselves about what it means to be a good and just neighbour for those exploited, on the margins, or suffering injustice.
Restoring justice involves talking openly and honestly about the issues. Talk about the injustices, deaths, discriminations and atrocities. Talk about the lives and humanity of black and white and other people. Talk with people from right across the spectrum – black and white, old and young, poor and rich, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and women and men.
11. Care about creation and the environment
The church cannot join fully with God in his mission while it neglects its responsibility to God’s creation. And I see no way that we can be disciples of Jesus without a passionate concern for his creation and a desire to heal the planet he gave us.
Creation care is missional. It’s essential to a missional church and theology. And it’s crucial to discipleship. Creation care is a gospel issue. The gospel calls the church to care for the world God has given us to steward well.
12. Seek a generous, humble and loving evangelicalism
In this piece, I’m asking us to move away from a narrow, fear-based, exclusive, anxious, partisan, politicised and combative evangelicalism, to one that is generous, inclusive, humble and love-based. This is a true evangelicalism and a true witness to the euangelion.
This true evangelicalism honours what evangelicals have always said they hold dear: the power of personal conversion, the supremacy and Lordship of Christ, the glory of the gospel, the authority of the Bible and our call to go into all the world and make disciples.
And this true evangelicalism grasps and responds to a fuller gospel story, which calls us to a prophetic, alternative way in the world. What is this way in the world? We let the Bible move us into a passionate love for Jesus Christ. We tear down false divides and join God in mission. We welcome culture as a conversation partner, and look for signs of God’s presence in the world. We seek discipleship in community, and live lives in contrast to the individualism and consumerism of our age. We’re humble enough to listen and learn from many voices. We unite Spirit and word and justice. We reject partisan politics and abandon the reach for politics, power, influence, wealth and prestige. Instead, we seek to imitate the foolish weakness and scandal of the cross. In the process, we discover that this generous, humble and loving evangelicalism is also a prophetic, compelling and biblical faith.
