{"id":38492,"date":"2024-09-16T10:53:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T17:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38492"},"modified":"2024-09-16T10:53:45","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T17:53:45","slug":"brett-fuller-and-jim-wallis-two-prophetic-voices-for-america-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/brett-fuller-and-jim-wallis-two-prophetic-voices-for-america-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Fuller and Jim Wallis: Two Prophetic Voices for America today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brett Fuller\u2019s Dreaming in Black and White[1]<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In his book Bishop Brett Fuller shares how racism impacted his own family and how their response helped them to rise above the feelings of anger associated with it.\u00a0 Fuller shares how racism is systemically built into our nations systems.\u00a0 Fuller makes a call for reconciliation and how that needs to begin within the church.\u00a0 However, Fuller talks about the rarity of a truly multiethnic church and the struggles pastors and their churches face in attempting to practice reconciliation and become a mirror of the multiethnic scene surrounding the throne of God in Revelation.\u00a0 He does not condemn churches who choose to stay predominantly White, Black, Hispanic, etc.<\/p>\n

I would absolutely love to sit down with Bishop Brett Fuller and ask him several questions.\u00a0 First Fuller is very loving yet blunt with people who come to him for advice.\u00a0 With his bluntness, I in turn feel that I could be open in asking him questions that I struggle with regarding issues surrounding diversity and specifically Black culture.\u00a0 Fuller discusses the importance of getting to know and getting input from Blacks, working in conjunction with them to address racial issues.\u00a0 My first question would be, as I White Male living in a rural Midwest area, how do I myself or my students get to know Black people so that we can be an instrument of reconciliation?\u00a0 Another question I would like to ask relates to Chapter 3 in which he references 1619 as the year black America began.\u00a0 The United States of America did not exist until 1776 so in 1619 this land would have still been considered the New World and encompassed all of North, Central and South America.\u00a0 Does focusing on 1619 negate the experience of the Africans who were brought to America starting in the early 1500\u2019s?[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brett Fullers High Ceilings: Women in Leadership[3]<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuller in his book argues that Bible verses that discuss a man\u2019s authority over a women and a women\u2019s submissive state need to be viewed within the context of marriage and family.\u00a0 Verses that suggest a woman\u2019s role outside the family need to be understood within the cultural context that existed within the churches at that point in time.<\/p>\n

I appreciated Fuller\u2019s interpretation of the Scriptures and found it refreshing in a world where women still struggle to be accepted in position of leadership.\u00a0 In his chapter \u201cMoms, Ministry, and Church Government\u201d Fuller argues that church leadership should make accommodations for women in ministry who are also mothers.\u00a0 Next, he argues that Paul in I Timothy 3:1-2 is arguing that a polygamist cannot be an elder in the church when he states that and elder must be a husband of one wife and this verse does not exclude women from serving as leaders.\u00a0 My question would be in light of J D Vance\u2019s childless cat lady comment[4]<\/a> and Paul\u2019s admonition in verse 4 that an elder \u201cmust manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full\u00a0respect,\u201d[5]<\/a> do you feel that in order to be an effective leader within the church, man or woman, you should be a parent?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jim Wallis\u2019s God\u2019s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn\u2019t Get It[6]<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When Wallis published his book in 2005, America was in the midst of a war on terror, one that lasted approximately 20 years.\u00a0 Reading Wallis\u2019 book makes me wonder if things could have been different.\u00a0 However, when we look at the topics Wallis primarily addresses one can easily wonder if the church can really influence society and government in a Godly manner.\u00a0\u00a0 Wallis answers my question by stating \u201cThe politics of God is often not the same as the politics of the people of God.\u00a0 The real question is not whether<\/em> religious faith should influence society and politics but how.<\/em>\u201d[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Throughout his book Wallis uses scripture to address some of the biggest issues facing not only American society but also the world. Wallis uses examples of the prophets, such as Micah, Amos and Isaiah to suggest a better way to address today\u2019s issues.\u00a0 Like ancient Israel, Wallis gives examples of national sins and like the prophets, Wallis gives examples of people who are speaking out against those sins advocating a better way.\u00a0 He asks the question \u201cTo whom will Christians be loyal today?\u201d[8]<\/a>\u00a0 Will we be loyal to the government or to Christ and the global church? \u00a0\u00a0Wallis concludes his book with a chapter titled \u201cThe Critical Choice.\u201d[9]<\/a>\u00a0 Wallis suggests we have two choices, to either be cynical about the world and the church today or to be hopeful.<\/p>\n

Wallis writes \u201cThe conventional wisdom still says that liberal Christians have a social conscience and evangelicals do not, preferring to focus only on the personal morality of issues such as abortion and homosexuality.\u00a0 The media in particular keeps that perception alive.\u00a0 But the big story that most of the press (including religious press) continues to miss is how much that reality is changing.\u00a0 On at least three key social issues\u2014poverty, race, and environment\u2014evangelicals are exhibiting a growing conviction and conscience.\u00a0 In local congregations, poor neighborhoods and legislative halls, a new evangelical activism and advocacy is emerging.[10]<\/a>\u00a0 My question is twenty years after writing this, does Wallis still believe this statement to be true?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Brett Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White, <\/em>(United States: Brett E. Fuller), 2021<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Mark Charles and Soong -Chan Rah, Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery<\/em>, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP), 2019, 18.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Brett Fuller, High Ceilings: Women in Leadership, <\/em>United States: Brett E. Fuller), 2021.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Rachel Treisman, \u201cJD Vance went viral for \u2018cat lady\u2019 comments. The centuries-old trope has a long tail,\u201d NPR, July 29, 2024, https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/07\/29\/nx-s1-5055616\/jd-vance-childless-cat-lady-history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> I Timothy 3:4 (NIV).<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Jim Wallis, God\u2019s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn\u2019t Get It<\/em>, (New York, NY: Harpers Collins), 2005.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Wallis, 56.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Wallis, 151.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Walls, 343.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Wallis, 352-353.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brett Fuller\u2019s Dreaming in Black and White[1] In his book Bishop Brett Fuller shares how racism impacted his own family and how their response helped them to rise above the feelings of anger associated with it.\u00a0 Fuller shares how racism is systemically built into our nations systems.\u00a0 Fuller makes a call for reconciliation and how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"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":[3208,3250,2967],"class_list":["post-38492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fuller","tag-wallis","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492","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\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38493,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38492\/revisions\/38493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}