So Many Books, So Little Time

I wanted to let you know that I have been reading the books on recommended on my reading list (earlier post). It is surprising how well books you randomly choose to read seem to tie together.

In Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches of Conservative Christianity (Dave Shiflett, 2005), we read the background leading up to this summer's tumultuous Anglican/Episcopal conflict. The author quotes Philip Turner, an Episcopal theologian on the church's crisis:

         He quotes English theologian P.T. Forsythe, "If within us we have nothing above us we soon
         succumb to what is around us," and then concludes that his church has become empty at the core.
         That vacuity is reflected in the theology that currently dominates ECUSA's pulpits. The
         standard sermon in an outline runs something like this: "God is love, God's love is inclusive,
         God acts in justice to see that everyone is included, we therefore ought to be co-actors and
         co-creators with God to make the world over in the way he wishes."

If we reject the authority of a loving and holy God in favor of what seems acceptable to our culture's whims, we lose our stability, the core of our being.

I have also been reading Lauro Martines' Fire in the City: Savonarola and the struggle for the soul of renaissance Florence. In a church history class I took 30 years ago, Savonarola was dismissed as a fanatic. This author acknowledges the friar's obsessions but believes that his motivation was truly the renewal and reform of the Church, not personal glory. Savonarola spoke to a church noted for corruption at the highest levels and to the, shall we say, unsanctified populace of Florence. In contemporary parlance, he was at times "speaking the truth to power" in his church. This was at least part of the reason he was excommunicated by Rome and later executed.

These books cause me to reflect on the dangers of obsession and the dangers of bowing to cultural relevance. They also remind me that there is a cost to humbly defending the faith. This will often lead to harsh and unfair criticism from those who might take a less serious view of Christian discipleship. Yet, our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world face persecution and death in making their stands for Christ. It's something to think about.