Why Church in the World?

Church in the World was birthed out of my own experience as a pastor trying to navigate the political unrest of the past few years. The election of Donald Trump, responses to police killings of black men and the COVID-19 pandemic's arguments over vaccines and mask mandates dominated the headlines. The turmoil split churches, drove believers out of the church, and even left many pastors wondering whether they could continue in ministry (and many did quit).

While my church weathered these fairly well, there were still a lot of questions and tense times. Being an urban church, I have people in my congregation from all different political persuasions, some of whom handled the unrest well and some who didn't. I was not immune to the ministry anxiety.

I felt it...deeply.

In the process, it didn't take long to realize that the division happening in the church was not really about Bible or theology, people were choosing sides largely based on their political tribe. I made one, largely unsuccessful attempt to remedy this by doing a three-week class I called "Church in the World," where I walked through various passages from the Bible that are often used to inform Christian political views. Long story short, it did not go as I planned. I realized that we just didn't have the language or the perspective to navigate these conversations well. We were well-versed in Culture War language and the latest social media talking points, but had difficulty articulating a biblical vision for Christian political engagement.

At the time, I was working on my Doctor of Ministry degree, trying to decide the topic of my project. This class made it crystal clear. I needed to find language to disciple my people so they can be equipped to handle - not just the outrage of the day, but future issues we can't even foresee.

I dove into Scripture, Church history, tradition, and read various theologians and Christian political scientists to see how Christians throughout history and in other cultures related to the government. The result is the "Church in the World" course.

My goal for the course is not to rehash debates about current issues or political figures. The minute we do that, defenses come up and people retreat to their tribes.

I have a firm belief that as Christians, our tribe is the people of God. But what I've found in all of the political debates is that:

• American Christians tend to be more American than Christian.

• Conservative Christians tend to be more conservative than Christian.

• Progressive Christians tend to be more progressive than Christian.

If there is one goal I would like to accomplish through Church in the World, it's to turn this on its head. It's not my purpose to make Christians more liberal or more conservative. Instead, through Church in the World, I want Christians to embrace our identity as the people of God FIRST and hold a bit more loosely to our other identities.

Whether you're a pastor, lay-leader, small group leader or just a Christian interested in learning more about how you might engage your world as a follower of Jesus, I think you'll benefit from my quest.

Keep checking this blog to see how Church in the World does that. And if you're so inclined, get the course and use it in your church or small group!