{"id":39155,"date":"2024-10-28T10:13:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39155"},"modified":"2024-10-28T10:13:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:13:08","slug":"a-lordship-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-lordship-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lordship Problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow, there is so much to chew on from this week\u2019s reading <\/span>Losing Our Religion:\u00a0 An Altar Call for Evangelical America <\/span><\/i>by Russel Moore. I am a little fired up so I apologize in advance for any leakage of pain and passion.\u00a0 Not only did this book spark something deep within, but I am sitting with my husband watching the Michigan\/Michigan State football game and. . . . . Well, my team is trailing slightly.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I was reading, my mind rehashed a recent occurrence in my faith community that happened during the Covid-19 pandemic.\u00a0 In some respects, it may have been viewed like a good vomit, cleansing, or baptism, but in other respects, it was experienced as a betrayal.\u00a0 Maybe betrayal trauma?\u00a0 (Thank you Tammy Dunahoo for naming that).\u00a0 Some people did not want to wear masks, even if it meant saving the life of a fellow follower from contracting COVID-19.\u00a0 So they left because they didn\u2019t want to wear a mask.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Services were live-streamed and a variety of creative opportunities for engagement were offered to help people connect in a time of isolation when the world was on lockdown. When places of worship were reopening their physical doors, our church welcomed congregants back but continued to wear masks.\u00a0 Our church encouraged the wearing of masks to protect the health and safety of our vulnerable loved ones.\u00a0 People left.\u00a0 Young and old.\u00a0 There was an underlying attitude of \u201cYou are not going to tell me what to do\u201d.\u00a0 Maybe leaking a little hyper-individualism?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a problem or maybe it is more like a wicked problem or a wickedness problem.\u00a0 However you define the problem, I wonder if there is a Lordship problem.\u00a0 Is Jesus king?\u00a0 When Jesus is Lord of a person\u2019s life, is it not the goal\/purpose to submit to His authority.\u00a0 We believe who He says He is and He fulfills His promises. We love Him and trust that He is in control.\u00a0 We love others as He first loved us and gave himself up for us. . . even if it means wearing a mask to save the life of a loved one.\u00a0 Moore quoted poet and novelist Wendell Berry when he spoke to a group of concerned environmental activists as saying, \u201cThe great problems call for many small solutions.\u201d\u00a0 [1] Moore goes on to say, \u201cGenuine revival in the church comes, one by one, soul by soul; the temple built stone by stone.\u201d [2] This is a good reminder to \u201c<\/span>stand at the crossroads and look;\u00a0 ask for the ancient paths,\u00a0 ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls\u201d. [3]<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This attitude of the heart, disregarding the authority of scripture and the Lordship of Christ, was not only prevalent during Covid but as author Russell Moore shares data from political scientist Daniel Williams, \u201cTheir politics haven\u2019t changed (except becoming more extreme) and their sense of religious identity hasn\u2019t changed either.\u00a0 The data show that they are liberalizing, to be sure, but only on the specific sins they want to commit – especially when it comes to premarital sex.\u201d [4]\u00a0 Ouch!\u00a0 Could it be that in there lies a wickedness problem. . . picking and choosing what sins are okay to commit?\u00a0 If it is true that genuine revival in the church comes, one by one, soul by soul, then it seems to me that the call to action, then and now, is repentance.\u00a0 To wake up and realign our lives with the movement of God in our time for all time.\u00a0 \u201cWake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.\u201d [5] It seems like there is a sin problem and the solution to the problem may call for many small solutions, person by person. . . perhaps God is calling the church (myself and everyone who bears the identity of Christian or follower of The Way) to repent of the specific sins we choose to commit, justify, or excuse away and live in the freedom that is found through repentance, denying self, taking up His cross and fully-following Him.\u00a0 Believing AND living as Jesus is Lord of our lives, in ALL things.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a recent blog post titled \u201cReclaiming Sin: Have We Thrown the Baby out with the Bathwater?\u201d, Dr. Jason Clark states, \u201cFor Christians, it is impossible to understate the centrality of Sin\u2014yours and mine\u2014and its consequences and that the only remedy is found in Christ. So why do we hardly ever talk about sin anymore?\u201d [6] YES!!!\u00a0 It is almost as if we see naming our sin, confessing it to others, and repenting of it as a catalyst towards trauma instead of healing.\u00a0 As Moore states, \u201cMaybe when we\u2019re lost enough, we can re-find the Way.\u00a0 Maybe only when we lose our religion will we again be amazed by grace.\u201d [7]<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Russell Moore.<\/span> Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/span><\/i>, (New York:\u00a0 Penguin Random House), 21<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Ibid, 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Jeremiah 6:16<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Moore, 38.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Ephesians 5:14<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Jason Swan Clark. <\/span>Reclaiming Sin: Have We Thrown the Baby Out with the Bathwater? Re-understanding Sin, and Its Role in Our Spiritual Journey.<\/span><\/i> Accessed October 26, 2024, <\/span>https:\/\/www.spex.so\/p\/reclaiming-sin-have-we-thrown-the?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=3emo3i&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Moore, 254.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, there is so much to chew on from this week\u2019s reading Losing Our Religion:\u00a0 An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russel Moore. I am a little fired up so I apologize in advance for any leakage of pain and passion.\u00a0 Not only did this book spark something deep within, but I am sitting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"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":[2310],"tags":[2489,1817],"class_list":["post-39155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-moore","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39155","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\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39156,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39155\/revisions\/39156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}