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Dr. Ron Gleason's Column
ETHOS -- March 3, 2005 ------ Please visit my web site at http://www.rongleason.org
A New Vision for Faith & Politics in America
Jim Wallis & Christian Social Ethics (I)
God's Politics: A New Vision for Faith and Politics in America
I love my work. I love what I get to do-and get paid for it-and
I love the people I get to interact with. I also love the challenges
that present themselves to me in my dealings in the church and in
the culture. It is a joy to be engaged and to engage others in this
thing we all call "culture wars."
It really is time for the Church of Jesus Christ to step outside
its enclave and debate the various ethical issues in society on
a different level, in a meaningful way, and from an unabashed and
unashamedly biblical point of view. For far too long the church
growth movement within Christendom has been obsessed with-well,
church growth. For some, "empire building" has been the
order of the day and the burning social issues that confront us
have been neglected.
Moreover, the Presbyterian and Reformed community desperately needs
a "social ethics" from a biblical perspective. As often
as not, someone like Mr. Wallis writes a book ostensibly looking
at social problems from a biblical position and we conservatives
merely throw our theological spitballs at him. I must admit that
I'm going to throw some spitballs at Mr. Wallis, precisely because
I will disagree with his exegesis of certain biblical texts and
also because-at the end of the day-Mr. Wallis is a member of the
liberal, religious Left.
By the same token, Mr. Wallis raises some very interesting and
provocative social issues that should be addressed by the Presbyterian
and Reformed community. Most people know what we think about abortion,
but do they also know how we stand on, say, poverty, the homeless,
and race? In the course of the upcoming issues, we shall take the
opportunity to look at these and other social issues. By virtue
of the fact that I have written quite a bit recently on the notion
of a just war, I do not intend to interact with Mr. Wallis on that
particular issue until I have discussed the remainder of this book.
An Exciting Challenge
One of my most recent challenges came from a breakfast meeting where
a fellow-Christian asked me to write a position/white paper on illegal
immigration from a biblical standpoint. In the course of that conversation
I commented to another friend at our table that I had recently been
watching and listening to a man named Jim Wallis debate Jerry Falwell
on Sean Hannity's TV and radio program. I confided that I thought
that Rev. Falwell had done an especially inept job of defending
biblical Christianity and that his rejoinders to Mr. Wallis were
that the latter was not truly an evangelical. While I agree with
Rev. Falwell's assessment, I could not help thinking that something
more substantive was needed to rebut Mr. Wallis.
My friend graciously offered to buy Mr. Wallis' book God's Politics
for me and I've begun reading it. At the outset, for those who do
not know me, I'll lay my cards on the table and state that I am
a conservative Presbyterian pastor in California. I am a member
of a conservative Presbyterian denomination (the Presbyterian Church
in America), have studied in Europe at the Free University of Amsterdam,
where I earned my Drs. degree, and have an earned Ph.D. in theology
from Westminster Theological Seminary. Christian ethics is a fascinating
subject for me.
For the longest time, conservative Christian Presbyterian and Reformed
pastors have been unwilling to engage the culture. It seems that
we're content to leave that to the academicians rather than taking
up the cudgels ourselves. It is past time for that attitude to cease.
Therefore I have resolved not only to read Mr. Wallis' book carefully,
but to respond to it. I have to warn you, however, that I don't
read some books in the orthodox fashion-from front to back. I tend
to "gut" the book by perusing the table of contents and
then read in a fashion that would appear to be "random"
to some. There is, I promise, method to my idiosyncratic madness.
Trust me, I'm a pastor. Yeah, right.
I'm explaining this because of the six parts in Mr. Wallis' book,
I chose to begin at Part V-that's 5 for COL Charles Reger. Why did
I start there? Quite simply, the sub-headings caught my attention.
In all likelihood after I finish with this section I'll jump back
to Part III: When Did Jesus Become Pro-War? I intend to answer that
question in detail, but for now I'll merely answer by saying, "A
long time ago."
Part V is particularly interesting, however, because the sub-headings
are: 1) Spiritual Values and Social Issues and 2) When Did Jesus
Become a Selective Moralist? Both of these are intriguing subjects
and questions. Again, the short answer to the question is: he never
did. The explanation of this answer is not going to please Mr. Wallis
and it might not even please Rev. Falwell. We'll have to see.
Pastor Ron Gleason, Ph.D.
Yorba Linda, CA
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