{"id":38168,"date":"2024-09-05T18:59:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T01:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38168"},"modified":"2024-09-05T21:09:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T04:09:53","slug":"you-got-the-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/you-got-the-part\/","title":{"rendered":"“You Got the Part!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My friend got to the cast list before me and blurted out, \u201cYou got the part!\u201d\u00a0 I got the lead role in the upcoming school theatre production.\u00a0 I got the part I auditioned for but now I was overwhelmed with what that entailed.\u00a0 Much of the success of the show would be tied to my performance.\u00a0 At that moment, I realized it is much easier to be a consumer of entertainment than a producer.\u00a0 We humans love to be entertained.\u00a0 We seek, prioritize, and, to some extent, crave entertainment, which is everywhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Politics and entertainment have merged today, so one can hardly tell them apart. Terms like \u201cpolitical theatre\u201d and \u201cinfotainment\u201d describe what we see in political debates and streaming news coverage\u2014the media build-ups opposing candidates like prize fighters at a weigh-in.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Consequently, politics seems to seep into every aspect of our lives\u2014from late-night TV and morning sports highlights to Disney films and even the checkout at the grocery store. As political content has become more polarized and entertaining, it has also become divisive, causing many to fear sharing who they support for fear of negative repercussions.\u00a0 In their book, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies <\/span><\/i>[1]<\/span>, N.T. Wright and Michael\u00a0Bird seek to address these fears and our current political moment to help Christians faithfully witness while confronting the disruptive and troubling “powers” at work in the world.\u00a0 In this post, I will look at two concepts from this book that most resonated with me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kingdom-Vocation<\/b><\/p>\n

Early in chapter one, these two concepts emerge when they state:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe believe that the Church’s answer to the global crises of our day is, in sum, the kingdom of God. The Church’s message and mission rest on the notion that God is King, God has appointed Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the Church’s vocation is to build for the kingdom!\u2019 Our working hypothesis is that the kingdom of God is not from this world, but it is emphatically for this world.\u00a0 The Church’s kingdom-vocation is not only what it says to the world, but is also what the Church does within and for the sake of the world.\u201d[2]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First, they bring to the forefront the primary occupation of the Church, which is to build for the kingdom.\u00a0 They further clarify in their above statement that this is done in both word and deed.\u00a0 The Church\u2019s message is the \u201cGood News\u201d that Jesus Christ is King.\u00a0 He has conquered sin and death, defeating the \u201cpowers\u201d of darkness through his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.\u00a0 However, Wright and Bird contend this message should not be reduced to a subjective, individualistic message but instead worked out in a community, stating, \u201cOf course sin, forgiveness, reconciliation with God and with one another, continue to matter. But for the first Christians, these were realities to be worked out in actual community, not simply private transactions between God and the soul.\u201d<\/span> [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

In researching my NPO, I have explored the concept of Rugged individualism and have come to understand the harmful impact it has had on both American society and the American Church.\u00a0 One of the primary effects is isolation, contributing to the widespread \u201cLoneliness Epidemic.\u201d[4]<\/span>\u00a0 For Christians, it is crucial to understand the \u201cKingdom-vocation\u201d as carried through words and deeds in the community context.\u00a0 In this way, as the Church embodies God’s justice, peace, and power in humility, it vocalizes the Kingship of Jesus in the world through action.\u00a0 It speaks truth to power as it loves the unlovely, cares for the immigrant, and contends for the powerless.\u00a0 A historical example of this comes from the words of the Roman Emperor Julian in the late 4th Century:<\/span><\/p>\n

We must pay special attention to this point, and by this means effect a cure. For when it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked by the [pagan temple] priests, then I think the impious Galileans [Christians] observed this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy. And they have gained ascendancy in the worst of their deeds through the credit they win for such practices. . . . The Galileans also begin with their so-called love-feast [open meals], or hospitality, or service of tables\u2014for they have many ways of carrying it out and hence call it by many names\u2014and the result is that they have led very many into atheism [denying the Greco-Roman gods].[5]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Roman Emperor called his priests to engage in charitable work to beat Christians at their own game. The Church\u2019s faithful obedience to the teachings of Christ spoke truth to power and challenged the Roman Empire.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On The World\u2019s Stage<\/b><\/p>\n

The second concept Wright and Bird make clear is that the Kingdom, while not from this world, it is <\/span>for <\/span><\/i>this world, and therefore, the Church cannot afford to withdraw from politics.[6]<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the Church faces what it thinks is a binary dilemma: whether to retreat and stay safe or engage in conflict with the culture. According to Wright and Bird, a proper Biblical perspective is neither retreat nor fight but actively participate in the world to benefit it.<\/span><\/p>\n

N.T. Wright said recently in a podcast interview when speaking about Jesus\u2019 agenda of God\u2019s kingdom and what the whole Bible is about, \u201cIt’s not about how humans go to be with God, it’s about how God comes to be with humans, and what happens when he does.\u201d[7]<\/span><\/p>\n

In this highly entertainment-driven cultural moment, a helpful metaphor is found when seeing the world as a grand theatre.\u00a0 Wright and Bird introduce this idea by saying, \"\"<\/a>\u201cHistory is the theatre of divine glory, and all history will culminate in a dramatic moment when<\/span><\/p>\n

God puts the world to rights through Jesus.\u201d[8]<\/span>\u00a0In this metaphor, the Church as the Body of Christ has a crucial role.\u00a0 Theologian Kevin Vanhoozer puts it this way:<\/span><\/p>\n

The disciple’s vocation is not to play-act but to tear off the masks that occlude one’s true identity in Christ. Those who play their parts well are witnesses to reality, to the word of promise and truth fulfilled in Jesus Christ. To play our part well, however, we need to play with others. Our calling in Christ is ultimately a corporate vocation\u2026The drama of doctrine reaches its appropriate conclusion, then, only when it is performed by the whole church.[9]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Simply put:\u00a0 \u201cWe Got the Part!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1] \u00a0N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, <\/span>Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies <\/span><\/i>(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024).<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Wright and Bird, <\/span>Jesus and the Powers<\/span><\/i>, 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Wright and Bird, <\/span>Jesus and the Powers<\/span><\/i>, 66.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, <\/span>Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, <\/span><\/i>2023, Retrieved from https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Julian, <\/span>Letters. Epigrams. Against the Galilaeans. Fragments, <\/span><\/i>trans by Wilmer C. Wright, Loeb Classical Library 157, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1923), 123.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Wright and Bird, <\/span>Jesus and the Powers<\/span><\/i>, 36.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] N.T. Wright, \u201cCNLP 674 | N.T. Wright on Christians Buying Into The Culture Wars, How the Gospel is Political, And Advice on Leading Through the Election Without Losing People,\u201d Sept.5, 2024 in <\/span>The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast<\/span><\/i>, produced by The Art of Leadership Network, MP3 Audio, 1:37. https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-carey-nieuwhof-leadership-podcast\/id912753163?i=1000668451960.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8] Wright and Bird, <\/span>Jesus and the Powers, <\/span><\/i>6.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, <\/span>The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology,<\/span><\/i> (Lousiville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), 397.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend got to the cast list before me and blurted out, \u201cYou got the part!\u201d\u00a0 I got the lead role in the upcoming school theatre production.\u00a0 I got the part I auditioned for but now I was overwhelmed with what that entailed.\u00a0 Much of the success of the show would be tied to my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3251],"class_list":["post-38168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-wright-dlpg03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38168","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\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38168"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38197,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38168\/revisions\/38197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}