All You Need is Agape Love
The following summaries highlight the pivotal points of authors Brett Fuller and Jim Wallis. In each text, the authors encourage readers to rethink the status quo and strive for something bigger: racial reconciliation, women in spiritual leadership, and prophetic politics. They challenge us to engage. Jim Wallis said it well, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”[1]
Dreaming in Black and White
When reading Brett Fuller’s Dreaming in Black and White, I felt each story’s weightiness and resonated with his desire for racial reconciliation in the United States. Fuller shares several personal stories of the hurts he experienced as an African American man and the history of pain and injustice his family faced. Furthermore, Fuller exposes the wrongs the black community continues to come up against. We have a long way to go. Fuller emphasizes that often, what is deemed as reconciliation is only addressing the symptoms and not getting to the root. Firstly, he argues that getting to the root requires heart change. This heart change comes from the transformative gospel message of Jesus Christ. Fuller writes, “I believe it has to be God and his truth—has to intervene and rewire the inner systems of belief and response in the human heart.”[2] Furthermore, Fuller calls readers to reach for a higher love. He refers to agape love or the “God kind of love.” [3] This sacrificial, unconditional love, as displayed by Jesus on the cross, “creates the foundation that allows others to be whole and fulfilled.” [4] This “God kind of love” moves us to seek to understand the experiences of others even when they are uncomfortable or, as Fuller suggests, get the culture right. Fuller urges readers to acknowledge that the African American experience in the United States differs from that of whites. Fuller calls attention to the importance of culture by using the example of the multi-ethnic church he pastors and the challenges and rewards of its calling. Lastly, to begin the reconciliation process, Fuller provides three statements we can use: 1) I feel your pain, 2) I am sorry, and 3) How can I help? Fuller cautions readers not to retreat in bitterness but to walk in love and be the difference they are trying to create.
- What was the process like for you coming to terms with your position as being pressed between two worlds (to explain the black world to the white and the white to the black)? Was it something that happened naturally, or was there an inner struggle with this calling?
- I live in an African country with strong racial divides. My dream has been to get people from different ethnic groups in the same room to talk to each other, but I have trouble knowing where to start. What suggestions or first steps might you have to get this started?
High Ceilings: Women in Leadership
Fuller’s High Ceilings: Women in Leadership takes a different approach to the traditional interpretation of Scripture surrounding women’s leadership in churches. Fuller holds to the complementary egalitarian arena of thought: Within the bonds of matrimony and family, men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities. Outside of the familial context, positions of authority and responsibility should be equally available to females and males.[5] He presents the idea that the scripture oft used to limit spiritual leadership roles for women within the church was, within the context, a conversation concerning roles within the confines of the marriage relationship, not the church. Therefore, he encourages readers to reconsider the context in which the verses were written. Fuller writes, “The context for God setting up authoritative lines between a man and a woman was marital order, not competency.”[6] Early in the discussion, the author highlights the reality of the Fall and its impact on the authoritative lines between man and woman in the marriage relationship. Because of the Fall, God established these boundaries. Fuller reiterates that these boundaries do not have to do with capacity, but the order God established allows marriage to function best.[7] Furthermore, the authoritative lines were never to be used as subjugation of women but rather for husbands and wives to demonstrate agape love (God’s type of love) towards one another. Fuller defends women’s spiritual capabilities, giftings, and callings. Ultimately, the authoritative lines present in a marriage relationship are not to be placed on women in the same way outside the marital union, and thus, fuller concludes women can be used in spiritual leadership.
- What are some of the psychological barriers that keep people from accepting this complementary-egalitarian view?
- Have you witnessed individuals who held traditional views concerning women in spiritual leadership positions change their perspective? What helped them reach that point?
God’s Politics
In God’s Politics, Jim Wallis looks beyond the Right and Left ideologies and proposes a new option: prophetic politics. He emphasizes the importance that people of faith do not seek God to be on our side but for us to pray to be on God’s side. Wallis suggests the Right and Left arguments and debates are at a deadlock. Therefore, as an alternative, Wallis presents the idea of prophetic politics. Ultimately, the prophetic religious tradition is conservative in terms of family values, sexual integrity, and personal responsibility and progressive, even radical, in terms of issues like poverty and justice. It affirms good stewardship of the earth, supports gender equality, and seeks peacemaking and conflict resolution concerning foreign policy.[8] Furthermore, prophetic politics would not solely look to the government for the answers but would creatively forge new civic partnerships. This includes community organizers, social entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, faith-based communities, parents and young people. [9] Wallis argues that as people of faith, it is essential to look at the prophets in Scripture to understand God’s politics. The prophets held those in charge (judges, rulers, kings, employers, etc.) accountable. Those in power were called to the greatest accountability. The prophets spoke for the “least, the last, and the lost.”[10] Prophecy is about articulating moral truth, and it is not private. Wallis writes, “True faith cannot be kept inside the narrow boundaries of the ‘sacred,’ as some would suggest, but is intended to be ‘salt and light’ in the midst of what is often called the secular world. [11] Overall, Wallis challenges readers to engage through the lens of faith, not ideologies.
- Where do you see prophetic politics best displayed today? Who is doing it well?
- Do you know any online communities where healthy dialogue concerning prophetic politics occurs? What other resources do you recommend on this topic?
[1] Jim Wallis, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, Kindle ed. (New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2008), 374.
[2] Brett Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White, Kindle ed. (United States: BookBaby, 2021), 112.
[3] Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White, 159.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Brett Fuller, High Ceilings: Women in Leadership, Kindle ed. (United States: Self-published, Brett Fuller, 2021), 6.
[6] Fuller, High Ceilings, 14.
[7] Fuller, High Ceilings, 15.
[8] Jim Wallis, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, Kindle ed. (New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2008).
[9] Wallis, God’s Politics, 76.
[10] Wallis, God’s Politics, 32.
[11] Wallis, God’s Politics, 80.
About the Author
Elysse Burns
9 responses to “All You Need is Agape Love”
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Great summaries Elysse! I am hoping the authors will be able to respond to your questions. If you could only pick one to ask, which would it be?
Hi Ryan, Thank you for your question. If I had to choose one question, it would be about practical steps to get different groups of people together to discuss their experiences.
Hi Elysse, Thanks for bringing up the prophetic Christian position. As I read his book and even reading other blogs, I get a visceral reaction which I think is because I hear him putting voice to my thoughts. I wasn’t able to see that until I read it again in your post, so thank you. I have dear friends and family who are on different “sides” of everything political. Because of my work includes the need to raise money for the people in our care, I have been extremely guarded about sharing my political views. However, I do share my values and say they are grounded in Christ. Sometimes it seems like a cop out but maybe for this time and place in my life that’s ok. Living where you are, how do you discern when and how to use your words?
Hi Diane, Thank you for your question. I often just feel that it is necessary to speak up, especially when it involves unjust acts towards people.
Elysse, I love the depth of your questions to Dr Fuller from reading High Ceilings. From your perspective, are egalitarian gender roles in society able to be separated from the household roles? What insights do you have as to the cross-cultural transferability of these ideas? Do you observe egalitarianism as part of Western liberal democracies? How does it compare with Matriarchal societies like India? Are there any cautions around assuming this works in majority world cultures?
Elysse, I appreciate your inspectional reviews in this post. I also look forward to answers from Fuller to your questions should you have the chance to ask them. Great work!
Hi Elysse, I love your vision for getting people from different ethnic groups together. I pray that you’ll gain inspiration from Fuller while we’re in DC.
Elysse, you ask some excellent questions. I hope you can ask these of the authors. What have you tried in your context to help bridge the ethnic gaps?
Elysse, you mention Fuller’s reference to the need for “heart change.” What sorts of heart change apply to the concepts discussed by Wallis?