..the real clash of cultures is happening not among governments, but between churches; specifically between churches in the West””that is, in Europe and the U.S.””and churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Last year the Washington Post ran a story about the growing tension between Anglican and evangelical churches in the West and their daughter congregations abroad. While many churches in Europe and America have shriveled as they drift from biblical Christianity, their counterparts in the global south have thrived. These missionary plants haven’t gotten the memo about rewriting two thousand years of Christian orthodoxy. And they’re puzzled and more than a little worried when Westerners come bearing the sexual revolution instead of the Gospel.
The next paragraph gives us the view as seen from Africa, [blockquote]“Homosexuality is equivalent to colonialism and slavery,†said Bishop Gitonga of the Redeemed Church in Kenya. “It’s not biblical and cannot bring blessing to Christians.â€[/blockquote]
Indeed, I have heard from TEc circles that, “The rest of the world will catch up with us” on several occasions.
I have come to loathe that phrase – “the right side of history”. When
I hear it, I think of Jesus, upon whom the vicious might of the Roman
Empire crushingly descended. Surely, he was on the wrong side of
history, dying a criminal’s death in a backwater of the Empire. And
yet his ignominious execution eventually upended Caesar.
A completely throw-away phrase.