I think I might barf if...

I hear one more person say, "You have to feel complete in yourself before you can be in a relationship with someone else." Or, the "Christianese" version: "You have to be content in this season of singleness before God will give you a relationship."

Sorry for the break from Total Truth. It just struck me today what an absurd sentiment this really is. I may elaborate more later, if my brain ever recovers from 89 kids at VBS today -- and that includes 29 preschoolers!!

What is Total Truth?

(From a conversation recorded in Nancy Pearcey's book, Total Truth.)

"Your earlier book says Christians are called to redeem entire cultures, not just individuals," a schoolteacher commented, joining me for lunch at a conference where I had just spoken. Then he added thoughtfully, "I'd never heard that before."

The teacher was talking about How Now Shall We Live? and at his words I looked up from my plate in surprise. Was he really saying he'd never even heard the idea of being a redemptive force in every area of culture? He shook his head: "No, I've always thought of salvation strictly in terms of individual souls."

God has given me the grace of attending a church that views its task as transforming culture with the Gospel, so this concept was not foreign to me. But several years ago, it certainly would have been. And even had someone suggested to me that the job of the Church was to transform and redeem culture with the Gospel, I, like many (or dare I say most!) evangelicals today would likely have located that transformative power in political activism. How do we transform American culture? Well, by going to Washington and getting a bill passed, of course!

But have we gotten it backwards? A member of congress once told Pearcey, "I got involved in politics... because I thought that was the fastest way to moral reform. Well, we've won some legislative victories, but we've lost the culture."

If I haven't lost all of you by my long absence, discuss!

Worldview

world·view (wûrldvy)
n. In both senses also called Weltanschauung.

1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.

[Translation of German Weltanschauung.]


"Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital "T." Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality -- and the intellectual holding of that truth and then living in light of that Truth."
-- Francis Schaeffer


cul·ture (klchr)
n.

The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.

1. 1. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty.
   2. These patterns, traits, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture; oral culture.
   3. The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.

re·deem (r-dm)
tr.v. re·deemed, re·deem·ing, re·deems

1. To recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.
2. To pay off (a promissory note, for example).
3. To turn in (coupons, for example) and receive something in exchange.
4. To fulfill (a pledge, for example).
5. To convert into cash: redeem stocks.
6. To set free; rescue or ransom.
7. To save from a state of sinfulness and its consequences.
   
8. To make up for: The low price of the clothes dryer redeems its lack of special features.
9. To restore the honor, worth, or reputation of: You botched the last job but can redeem yourself on this one.

Coming Soon...

A post about Nancy Pearcey's book Total Truth. I know I'm probably the last person to read it, but in case I'm not, I encourage you to go out and buy it.

There's so much great stuff in it that the problem will be narrowing down what to write about!

Meanwhile, sorry for the long absence from the land of blogs. I've missed you!