{"id":103425,"date":"2021-06-24T17:02:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T21:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=103425"},"modified":"2021-06-24T17:36:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T21:36:43","slug":"rns-at-71-christian-author-philip-yancey-still-believes-in-amazing-grace-despite-the-countys-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=103425","title":{"rendered":"(RNS) At 71, Christian author Philip Yancey still believes in amazing grace, despite the county\u2019s divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you could talk to evangelical leaders right now or to people in the pew, what would you tell them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I go back to that beautiful discourse in John Chapters 13 to 17, which is Jesus\u2019 last time with his disciples. He\u2019s turning over the whole thing to them. And they haven\u2019t really proven themselves. In fact, they\u2019ve proven themselves unreliable. So, what did he do? He washed their feet. And he said to them, this is your stance in the world. You\u2019re a servant, you\u2019re not the leaders. Then he said, you should be known by your love. And you should be known by your unity. Those three things.<\/p>\n

Yet so often the church seems more interested in cleaning up society, you know, returning America to its pristine 1950s. That\u2019s the myth we have \u2014 we are making America pure again, cleaning it up.<\/p>\n

Jesus lived under the Roman Empire, Paul lived under the Roman Empire, which was much worse morally than anything going on in the United States. They didn\u2019t say a word about how to clean up the Roman Empire, not a word. They just kind of dismissed it.<\/p>\n

So, why are we here? Well, we\u2019re here to form the kind of community that makes people say, \u201dOh, that\u2019s what God had in mind.\u201d We\u2019re here to form pioneer settlements of the kingdom of God, as N.T. Wright puts it. It\u2019s about demonstrating to the world what the whole human experiment is about.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remember why we are here. We love people, we serve and we show them why God\u2019s way is better. Let\u2019s concentrate on that rather than tearing people down or rejecting them or denigrating them in some way. We\u2019re here to bring pleasure to God. I believe we do that by living in the way God\u2019s son taught us to live when he was on earth.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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"Let's remember why we are here. We love people, we serve and we show them why God's way is better. Let's concentrate on that rather than tearing people down or rejecting them or denigrating them in some way." Philip Yanceyhttps:\/\/t.co\/7e1On2Ipk0<\/a><\/p>\n

— Bob Smietana (@bobsmietana) June 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n