Endangered Gospel

How Fixing the World is Killing the Church

John C. Nugent

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781498291668
• eBook ISBN: 9781498291675
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

For centuries, Christians sought to rescue people from this world. Today, we're trying to fix it. While this shift is helpful in some ways, in other ways it can be quite dangerous. Endangered Gospel flips the script on this conversation by stressing the core gospel truth that rather than ushering in a new world through social activism, God's people already are the new world in Christ. It's not our job to make this world a better place, but to be the better place God has already made in this world. That's good news! If we let go of this truth, we become servants of the world and not God. We also lose the great joy and abundant life that God intended us to have in community. Jesus himself said that the world will know we are Christians by our love for one another--not the fervor of our activism. Social action makes us feel relevant and alive, but it can't be the center of our new life in Christ. Endangered Gospel explores how we might enthusiastically embrace the social dimensions of the gospel without divorcing them from the church or forcing them on the world. Read this book, hear the gospel story afresh, and embrace the good news of God's kingdom!

Part One:

The Case for a Better Place

1

Yearning for a Better Place

Endangered Species

I first visited Sea World in junior high. My experience was mixed: I was amazed by the creatures, but bothered by all the preaching. Everywhere I went, someone was lobbying to preserve some nearly extinct animal. It was Spring Break; I didn’t want to sit through lectures about endangered species—however adorable manatees may be. I was there for thrilling rides and exotic sights. Show me the sharks!

I’ve come a long way since junior high, and so have the manatees. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act and numerous other initiatives, the population of these docile sea cows has increased 500 percent since 1991. As of January 2016, they are scheduled to be downgraded from “endangered” to “threatened.”1 This is what happens when people of good will join together and mobilize for a common cause.

But marine mammals may be the least of our problems. The wider world is in considerable danger. Wars rage among volatile countries. Terrorists strike unsuspecting cities. Mass shootings frequent the most developed countries. Poverty is a global phenomenon, gendercide still plagues Eastern regions, and pollutants contaminate major water supplies. This world remains a dangerous place. But is it so endangered that Christians must mobilize to protect it?

Christian Activism

Christians have long acknowledged that this world is broken. To us this is old news. Sin has been wreaking havoc on this world since the garden of Eden. What is new is how eager Christians are to do something about it. In the past, we’ve wanted to save people from this broken world. Nowadays, we want to fix it. We want to end war, purify water, feed the poor, and eradicate all forms of discrimination. We don’t just want to talk about it; we want to do something and make a difference.

This Christian desire to “do something” goes way back. Second- century Christians did something by rescuing abandoned babies from Roman gutters. Medieval men and women took vows of poverty and chastity to better serve the poor. Fearless Christians harbored Jews who were fleeing from Hitler’s soldiers.

Since the early twentieth century, liberal Christians have been working hard to make this world a better place. Meanwhile, evangelical believers debated whether the church should pursue social justice or just stick to saving souls. That debate is mostly over: God cares about both, and so should we.

I agree that Christians should do something. God has indeed called his people to do something. But I wonder, has God really called us to fix the world? Is this what Jesus meant by calling us salt and light? Are we even capable of fixing this world? Is it something that God has empowered us to do?

We May Not Be Able to Change the World

James Davison Hunter has written an insightful book about changing the world.2 Hunter is a devout Christian who believes that the church has a vital role to play. He is also an astute sociologist who examines history, observes trends, and identifies the causes and effects of world change.

Many people believe that big changes happen when ordinary individuals stand for what is right. They roll up their sleeves, enter the fray, and fix whatever ails society around them. This is how pop culture likes to portray what turns the tide of world history. The “movers” and “shakers” are heroic and humble people who do something.

Hunter disagrees. That’s not how the world really changes, he argues. Culture changes from the top down, not the bottom up. Though bottom-up movements achieve specific goals, their achievements are often short-lived and limited in scope. Exceptional individuals accomplish great good on a local scale and positively impact the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people. But lasting change happens, Hunter argues, when elite persons who are close to the center of social power rally the masses around a movement that is already growing in momentum. Though such movements draw from the frustration and activism of grassroots folk, they take off only after elite leaders champion their causes.

Hunter further explains that the ability to shape culture is concentrated in elite institutions with a monopoly on the tools of cultural manipulation. Even powerful elites cannot change the world by themselves. They need to be connected to overlapping networks of social, cultural, economic, and political influence. When such networks join together with a common purpose, they can and do bring sweeping change.

Just ask the manatees. These vulnerable mammals found protection under a series of federal and state laws, with violators facing stiff fines and possible imprisonment. The Marine Mammal Protection Act took effect in 1972, the Endangered Species Act kicked in a year later, and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act followed in 1978. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service then began coordinating the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan in 1980. Nearly a decade later, Florida’s Governor and Cabinet directed their state wildlife agency to pressure specific counties to reduce manatee injury and death.3

Yet lasting change required more than political persuasion. So performing artist Jimmy Buffet partnered with Senator Bob Graham to launch the Save the Manatee Club in 1981.4 Wealthy philanthropists were encouraged to support this cause. Others could also sponsor a manatee with modest contributions. Meanwhile, high-profile theme parks rallied behind them with impassioned pleas looping repeatedly over loudspeakers to raise awareness among countless patrons waiting in park lines. Only a multipronged, coordinated effort of this magnitude could get the job done—and, decades later, it did.

Whether we like it or not, Hunter seems to be right. Changing the world takes complex networks of elite people in strategic places with abundant resources.

But What about the Bible?

If you are like me, you are probably thinking that Hunter’s top-down, power-politicking explanation doesn’t sound biblical. What about Jesus’ mustard seed teaching? Didn’t God call Abraham away from the power center of Babylon in order to make him a great nation? Didn’t God bring the Israelites out of the cultural epicenter of Egypt to continue that work? Didn’t Jesus mostly ignore the important political players in the Roman world of his day? Didn’t he pick a ragtag bunch of bumbling Galileans to represent his cause?

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Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Part One: The Case for a Better Place
• Part Two: The Bible’s Story of a Better Place
• Part Three: A Better Place in Action
• Bibliography
• Appendix: Answers to Practical Questions