The Sons of Our Fathers.
I just finished listening to a NPR interview of Frank Schaeffer, the son of the late Francis Schaeffer. You can listen to it here. It was both disturbing and intriguing. While I would disagree with Frank Schaeffer on a number of points, which I will not take time to articulate here, I can certainly understand his complaints with modern evangelicalism.
No doubt, his story is shared by many believers who were raised in well meaning families that became distracted from the gospel by politics and an over realized eschatology, i.e. the kingdom of God is fully matured. What was surprising to me, but should not have been, is that even the brilliant Francis Schaeffer was in desperate need of the gospel.
I am not so naive as to believe that the church has not been in as bad or worse shape than it is now. Nonetheless, I am deeply concerned that ship is quickly coming apart from the inside out and it is a direct result of the failure to preach Christ and him crucified. God will preserve His church, he has promised no less, but I fear we may only be left with a small remnant to proclaim the gospel to the next generation.
posted by Thomas @ 7:17 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I thought that was a very provocative, and largely disturbing, interview. Yes, as you point out, there are some insights in it. It's good to be soberly reminded about the dangers of the church's mission becoming political.
I have long believed that the religious right is wrong with their approach to meeting their objectives. Those of us who profess Christianity should focus on changing the hearts of our opposition rather than overpowering our opposition with raw politics. We might say that the "P" in politics represents power -- banning together to overpower our opposition. That is not the method Christ gave to us in Matthew 28: 19 & 20 often referred to as the Great Commission.
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