{"id":21892,"date":"2019-02-28T12:10:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T20:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=21892"},"modified":"2019-02-28T12:10:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T20:10:40","slug":"people-of-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/people-of-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"People of The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,\u00a0and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar\u2019s decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus![1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Jame\"\"<\/a>s Davison Hunter\u2019s To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World <\/u>builds on his previous work, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America<\/u>, by continuing to describe the complexity of culture. He reveals the naivete of the American church in believing that changing individual minds and hearts, becoming a special interest group in Washington, or focusing on change \u201cfrom the bottom up\u201d will make the cultural difference that truly changes the world.[2]<\/a> Hunter addresses the religious right, left and neo-anabaptists and why none of their approaches will bring about a cultural shift. He concludes by providing an alternative approach as \u201cfaithful presence\u201d and describes the need for this presence in all sectors of society in order to truly have influence that brings about transformation. He notes, \u201cA healthy body exercises itself in all realms of life, not just a few.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

In reading Hunter\u2019s work, I was struck by his historical account in chapter five and reflected on the reference in Acts 17 about followers of The Way, <\/em>as the early church was called. Obviously, their influence was significant as they are described as stirring up trouble throughout the world<\/em>. These cared for the poor, widows and orphans, engaged with political leaders, and in Acts 17 we read Paul\u2019s exchange with intellectuals in Athens. They were people of little and people of great means, uneducated and the elite. Though persecuted, literally, they never took a victim posture as Hunter describes of the religious right today. The American church\u2019s \u201cdominant religious narratives make it all but impossible for Christians to wield political power in a way that is not motivated by ressentiment<\/em> over perceived injury by the secular culture.\u201d[4]<\/a> Instead, people of The Way<\/em> believed in the God\u2019s original mandate to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Not as a conquest, as the current rhetoric is propagating in \u201csaving America,\u201d but as a \u201cfaithful presence\u201d embodying the Kingdom of God as salt and light, an alternative to what is, through a multi-faceted, layered network.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Hunter uses the people of the Babylonian exile as an example. The setting of Jeremiah\u2019s prophetic promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is often overlooked when quoted in some circles today. The promise of a future and hope was given to people who were taken captive, living in a land they did not call \u201chome\u201d and among a people they were starkly different from. Yet, the instruction to them was to make themselves at home there. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.\u00a0Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters to get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away.\u00a0Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.<\/em>[6]<\/a> To grow in number and not dwindle away sounds familiar to \u201cbe fruitful, multiply and fill the earth\u201d in Genesis 1:28.<\/p>\n

As Hunter argues, using the statistics of Christians in America, the majority is not necessarily what provides effective influence. Simply \u201cfilling the earth\u201d in number has not brought about culture change. Could it be that being fruitful <\/em>and subduing the earth<\/em> is what Jeremiah described as making themselves at home and working toward the peace and prosperity of the city and praying for it?<\/p>\n

In 2015 Pastor Larry Osborne published a popular book entitled, Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture<\/u>. He uses the story of Daniel as an example of Jeremiah\u2019s instruction. He focuses on Daniel\u2019s optimism, humility and wisdom as keys characteristics as Hunter defines as \u201cfaithful presence.\u201d He shows Daniel\u2019s rise in influence in government and the voice he was given with the Kings he served while staying true to his values and faith. He also outlines some church history and then poignantly addresses the Church in America saying, \u201cThe periods of our greatest influence were not necessarily the periods of our greatest faithfulness\u2026a powerful church is not always a faithful church.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Acts 17:6b-7 NET<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World <\/em>(New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010), Kindle Loc. 386.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., Kindle Loc. 1328.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> John Crosby, “To Change the World,” First Things<\/em>, no. 213 (2011): 63.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., Kindle Loc. 1324-1336.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Jeremiah 29:5-7 NET<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Larry Osborne, Thriving in Babylon <\/em>(Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2015), Kindle Loc. 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,\u00a0and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar\u2019s decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus![1] James Davison Hunter\u2019s To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World builds on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-21892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hunter","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21895,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21892\/revisions\/21895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}