I Wonder

Am I courting trouble? You’ve read about people getting in trouble with their blogs, right? College students getting expelled because they post information about themselves which they should have kept to themselves, stewardess getting fired because of photo of herself in a company jet, job applicant not getting hired because he dissed the boss (who was leading his hiring process) online… etc. People doing the hiring and firing and admitting these days often search the net for info about individuals to see if what they find jives with what the applicant or employee professes. I actually think it's a good thing, but ...

I’m teaching a class at church and was (politely) pegged as a little too liberal for posting information about text criticism of the Bible (did the Gospel writers have a common source that they all used for information), and in the same class I was a little too conservative for posting information on a very conservative Baptist website (on a page other than the one to which I referred, they said the King James is the only English inspired version). That's okay. It really was a good discussion.

Then there are all the posts I make here in this blog, revealing hints here and there of some not-always-conservative-evangelical ruminations. But some of what I write about is over-the-top conservative evangelical right-wing American. A balance? Schizo? Wishy-Washy? Or just, questions.

Hmm… How private is this blog? You’ll see I’ve changed the photo of myself, and taken away some of my profile info. Paranoid? Guilty? Might I get fired? Maybe just surprise (or scare) some of my friends and family? I don’t think that’s the case. So I just continue… but I’m guessing there’s still some holding back on my part. I don’t think it would be good for ANY of us to tell everyone what we REALLY think.

Side note – sort of related. Afghan muslim converts to Christianity. Being tried in official courts, might be hanged. If courts don’t convict him, the clerics are inciting the people to tear him limb from limb.

I think my limbs are safe in your company... whoever you are. ;=)

Outside These Walls

Missionary to Zambia.
Tribes practice polygamy.
Leaders become Christians.
What spiritual counsel does the missionary offer about the multiple wives of Christian leaders?
How imperative is the denying or practicing of polygamy for the spiritual standing and Christian witness of these new Christians?
What impact on the faith and lives of these people will result by requiring the new Christians to choose only one of their wives and discard or divorce or deny the others?
What impact if the new Christians are encouraged to keep their wives?
Missionary chooses not to advise new Christian leaders to separate from multiple wives and choose only one because of the negative community and cultural and personal harm it will do to many people.
Missionary not popular with supporters back home for encouraging polygamy.
No longer a missionary.
True story.

I was reminded of this 1980’s situation while reading recently from the book, Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. The author, Lamin Sanneh, describes what she calls the post-Christian West. Makes sense to me. The “West” – USA, et al – is NOT a Christian society these days. She then describes the amazing spread of Christianity in other regions of the world and refers to this as post-West Christianity because the faith that is spreading doesn’t look like the usual conservative evangelical Christianity of America – often very Pentecostal, focus on personal piety and relationship with Christ, little or no emphasis on the issues that American Christians have come to see as most important – abortion, homosexuality, bias against Christians in schools and media, influencing national politics, etc.

Very thought provoking. Christianity has only “looked” as it does among us conservative evangelicals for a couple hundred years. What will Christianity look like in 100 years? Will some of the things we think are so important right now not be so important in the future? Is the West’s version of Christianity the only right one? I wonder what my missionary friend thinks?