Everyone has a theology of church and culture. Two bad habits: 1. All culture is bad. 2. All culture is good. Neither option engages the culture. The question is: How shall we engage culture?

David Fitch believes American theologians Richard and H. Reinhold Niebuhr treat culture as one big lump that needs only a single strategy for engagement, and that we are all underthe influence of Niebuhrian thought on culture. Christendom has long assumed that we’re in charge and have power to influence. But the reality of post-Christendom in North America is that we’ve lost this power and influence. A Neo-Anabaptist critique, Fitch argues, might be helpful in this new space, centered around five points of divergence:

1. Jesus: Where Niebuhr saw Jesus as a principle to be applied, Fitch argues we need to see Jesus as a person, as the Lord whom we follow.
2. Culture: Where Niebuhr viewed the world as one monolithic culture—one that is Christian and has power—Fitch argues that we live in a world with many cultures, some that are in alignment with the reign of God and some that aren’t. Our job is in the realm of discerning these cultures.
3. Church: Niebuhr argued that his principles focused on leaders of the church speaking to those outside of the church, hoping to influence them. But Fitch argues that the churchneeds to be the locus of an alternative “visible” culture and community that can witness tothe larger world. The church has to be a way of life, visible to the world. We must first showhow to be a different community, and then let God use it with the credibility that we gain in the world.
4. Creation: Where Niebuhr characterized God the Father and creation as the source of Christian ethics distinct from Jesus, Fitch argues that this distinguishes too much between God and Jesus, and we need to bring them together, allowing Jesus to help us understand the Father and creation more fully.
5. Power: Niebuhr considers Jesus’ teaching as impractical regarding power, and that the withdrawal from power is unhelpful. But Fitch argues that a different power is needed, not through coercion, but through the Cross of Jesus. There are two kinds of power, the power of the world (the sword), and the power of the Spirit and presence. This changes the way we move into the world, making space for God to work as opposed to doing God’s work for Him. And this changes everything.

An article that David Fitch referenced in his session:

“Knitting While Detroit Burns?”: The Reformed “Both/And” versus the Anabaptist “First/Then”

For one day, witness to the culture by intentionally sharing power with the powerless. This might look like going to those who don’t have power in your community, and doing the following:

• Listening instead of speaking
• Putting another person’s needs first
• In your encounters with people, asking instead of telling
• Helping a person develop and perform as highly as possible, without taking credit
• Considering what it looks like to be present to people, instead of giving them principles to live by

Monuments are not just mere objects, they are signs that signify larger realities. In the case of the recent events surrounding Charlottesville, a Confederate statue was a monument signifying a certain kind of power and principality. These types of monuments speak into how weshould structure world, society, what rules our hearts and minds, and what defines what is real and trueand important. In addition, Lee argues, monuments demand loyalty and allegiance.

The Eucharist acts as its own kind of monument, a witness to the Kingdom of God through Christ. As such, it serves as a counter-monument to all the other kingdoms of the world (i.e., white supremacy, in the case of Charlottesville) that stand in opposition to God’s kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, there is equality at the foot of the cross. Unfortunately, many kingdoms of the world often lift up some at the expense of others. Many who receive the Eucharist also readily declare allegiances to other kingdoms. As the Western Church, we must guard ourselves against our tendency to co-opt the good things of God, given to us for the sake of shalom and peace, and use them for our own purposes and power. It’s all too easy for us to misappropriate the Eucharist to exclude or keep people out, contributing to racial, economic, and social division. Instead, we are called to grow as a kingdom of hospitality—so that we welcome the “other” as God’s image bearer.

But this is hard work, for a number of reasons. First, it is easier, in many ways, to keep the Eucharist in the realm of the individual, as a personal, pietistic encounter with God. It is easy to forget that it is asocial and communal act of the church, with a justice and shalom-oriented character. And we must fleshout these social, communal, and justice-oriented aspects of the Eucharist, helping our communities cultivate imaginations with this kind of Eucharistic character in mind.

Lee gives two Scripture passages that describe our task: First, he cites 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, where the Eucharist was being served in different ways to different groups (rich vs. poor). Paul saw the Lord’s Supper as a witness to the classism that was dividing the church in Corinth. One cannot proclaim one body and one cup and practice classism in this way; it is a betrayal of the heart of the Eucharist. Second, Lee shares Luke 14:15-24, the Parable of the Great Banquet, as a vision for what the Kingdom of God might look like at the Eucharistic table. The big question of the parable is: Who is going to make it in, and who are the VIPs at the table in this kingdom? Luke is clear: It is the poor, the blind, the lame.

At the heart of the Eucharist is hospitality—God’s invitation to sinners to taste of his goodness. When the church heeds the call to practice hospitality and welcome in the poor, the blind, the cripple, it’s a sign that the kingdom of God is here now.

Books Kyuboem Lee referenced in his session

When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

Family Properties by Baryl Satter

Race and Place by David Leong

American Apartheid by Douglas Massey

Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Wolf

Practice hospitality by reaching out to and inviting someone different from you out for coffee, or if possible, over for a meal in your home or space—even if it requires you to be uncomfortable.

The Anglican Church in North America has a mission statement: “Reaching North America with the transforming love of Christ.” But Anglicanism has largely been absent from the African American experience, and the reasons for this are many. African Americans are often portrayed as statistics, or as victims of their history or environment. But African Americans are not simply acted upon; they are actors. They need Jesus. What they don’t need are human saviors. If the Church is to reach African Americans, the Church can’t come in with the attitude that they are somehow better than the communities they serve. The Church must actually care about the reality African Americans face, and disciple them through relationship. Moreover, the Church must develop a plan for reaching African American communities—becoming a part of them, serving them, evangelizing them and integrating them into community. It is impossible to reach North America with the transforming love of Christ without thinking about people of color. 

Esau articulated several important things to consider as we move towards a more diverse church:

• We must develop a plan towards church planting in inner-city communities, where the majority of African Americans live, that goes beyond mere outreach and coming in to give services. It must involve becoming a part of these communities and serving there, then developing ways to integrate the people there into our church communities.
• We must be unrelenting advocates for those who suffer, particularly in these communities. As Esau mentioned, this crucial question needs to be addressed: What is your concern for the poor and the marginalized?
• We must take seriously some of the statistics that Esau mentioned, like that 36% of Evangelicals believe that racism against African Americans is a major problem, while 88% of African Americans believe it is. And our responses to statistics like this are important.  
• The Church must get over what Esau called a “shadow battle” with a distorted black religiosity. The majority of black Christians in North America are faithful, orthodox followers of Jesus. Anglicans must get over this shadow battle against a black liberalism that has never been the dominant voice of the black community. The inability to get over this dilutes our witness.  
• Esau suggested one of the first steps to reaching African Americans could be on college campuses, amongst the emerging black middle-class students who are attend these institutions. 
• There must be intentional plans at all levels to devote time and resources to the recruitment and development of African Americans into leadership positions in the church.

Books:

Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart

Free At Last: the Gospel and the African American Experience by Carl Ellis

Articles by Esau:

“After Lemonade: The Future of Black Christians in the Diaspora“, The Witness, May 2018

“The invisible: African Americans in North American Anglicanism,” The Living Church, May 2016

Commit to getting having a deeper conversation with a person of color that you know.  Or if you don’t know someone specifically, find some space in your city or locale (coffee shop, restaurant, etc.) where African Americans live and commit to being present there regularly.  

There is a great deal of concern in the Church over the rise of “Nones,” and the rise of atheism in general in our culture. Many argue (Charles Taylor, et al.) that, with the rise of the modern world, a “disenchantment” occurred that split the natural world from the transcendent, and this has given rise to the movement of so many away from the Church and into atheism (lack of belief in God). Cavanaugh suggests this argument is misguided, however, and wants to reframe it through the lens of a biblical critique of idolatry.  

According to Cavanaugh, the Bible is silent on atheism because it is assumed that atheism is not possible for most human beings. The Bible does have a lot to say about idolatry, but not always in the ways we have typically understood the term. Cavanaugh argues that idolatry in the Scriptures is far more about behavior than it is about belief. It is less about a conceptual error, but rather about error in devotion. In other words, idolatry exists both towards the transcendent and immanent realms (worship of others “gods” and worship of things in the natural world alike). Humans are worshipping creatures whose devotion falls on all kinds of things that are not God. As David Foster Wallace once said: “In the day to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism, there is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships…”. Cavanaugh goes on to consider nationalism and consumerism as two examples of how idolatry exists in our current cultural context. Both demand loyalty/commitments from us, both are manifested in symbols/rituals, both employ narratives of salvation, etc.

As we consider our current cultural context, this biblical critique of idolatry is one way we can consider the church’s engagement with the world. We can acknowledge that we all have devotions and commitments (idols) that are not God; and underneath everything we do, we’re all longing for transcendence. This is the basis for a sympathetic outreach. In the end, however, the only way to oppose a false enchantment is to offer people a better enchantment, one that is rooted and grounded in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. We need to proclaim that the world is enchanted by the true God, who came to us in material form. And we need to show that Christianity is a practice of seeing and enacting the presence of God in all things.  

Cavanaugh suggests the Eucharist as a means to demonstrate this reality each and every week, arguing that it is not just some superfluous ritual, but a different, richer way of dealing with the material world, and an important way for us to reject the artificial division between secular and sacred. “So the formal sacraments of the church are the burning focal points of God’s presence in material reality.” And we need these “focal points,” not only to train our senses to see God’s presence everywhere else, but also to change our desires and longings away from our idols and towards God.

Books by William Cavanaugh:

Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement with a Wounded World

Migrations of the Holy: Theologies of State and Church

Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire

Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ

A speech and book Cavanaugh referenced in his session

“This is Water” Commencement Speech by David Foster Wallace

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Consider a friend or acquaintance who is a non-Christian/atheist/None who would be open to an honest conversation about worship/idolatry. Present Cavanaugh’s argument to them and have a conversation about it. What is worship? Can we worship material things? What does that look like? And do you think it’s true that this is tied to a longing for transcendence? 

or

Take an hour to reflect, either by yourself or with a small group, on the modern-day idols you worship. What are the beliefs, rituals and symbols, grand narratives of providence and/or salvation, and employments of sacrifice that are involved in these “idols?” How have these influenced you?

The gospel is political because it concerns how we order our lives in relation to neighbor, strangers, and enemies. Christian discipleship is about following Jesus into the world as he embodies and proclaims the reign of God—a reign that is made concrete when we love enemies, welcome strangers, have mercy, seek peace, etc.

The politics of the Gospel offer a third way beyond partisan politics. But this third way is difficult in a culture that is so highly partisan, divided and, in many ways, marked by a triumphalism that contaminates all sides. Triumphalism, as Jennifer McBride defines it, is arrogant or self-righteous confidence in a set of ideas or beliefs that closes down productive learning—confidence in political or religious ideologies that is disconnected from embodied engagement with the world.

A non-triumphal witness is necessary for two reasons: 1. Flourishing of a common good in our pluralistic democracy, and 2. Faithfulness to the crucified Christ. But we also need a public witness that is bold, as we attempt to remain faithful to our Christian witness. How might we participate in our culture in a way that is both non-triumphal and retains our distinctive Christian witness? McBride suggests that it comes through a disposition of confession and repentance.  

Confession – a pattern of speaking arising from humble acknowledgement of complicity in specific injustice and the church’s inherent entanglement with society’s structural sin.  Repentance – the church’s concrete social and political engagement that arises from taking responsibility for such sin. Energized by courage and hope because the church can become a vehicle of concrete redemption and participates in God’s healing transformation of this world.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer views the Church as called out, chosen for a mission, but not specially favored, morally or physically. He asks, “How do we go about being ‘religionless-worldly’ Christians? How can we be ekklesia, those who are called out, without understanding ourselves religiously as privileged, but instead seeing ourselves as belonging wholly to the world? Christ would then no longer be the object of religion, but something else entirely, truly lord of the world.”  The importance here is being in solidarity with the world.  

If we are not morally superior to the world, McBride says, we need a public witness that is not based on privilege or asserting power over others. What does it mean to be chosen?  The church is chosen to carry on the work of the incarnate crucified and risen God.  The church’s election is not for itself, but the church is chosen to exist for others, for the world. And it does so, by taking the form or the shape of Jesus in public life. 

Jesus belonged wholly to the world by taking the form of a sinner, culminating on the cross by taking responsibility for sin. Jesus was in solidarity with sinners in three ways: 

1. He assumed sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) (solidarity with humans).
2. He was baptized with sinners in response to John’s call to repent.  In being baptized by John, Jesus numbers himself with the transgressors.
3. Refusing to be called good, Jesus accepted responsibility for sin as a convicted criminal on the cross.  

Bonhoeffer comments, “In an incomprehensible reversal of all righteous and pious thought, God declares Godself guilty towards the world, and thereby extinguishes the world’s guilt; God treads the humble way of reconciliation and thereby sets the world free.” Ultimately, Jesus displays a posture of repentance.  Jesus’ posture displays an active determination that judgement falls on him and not on others. This is the definitive expression of goodness and love.  

We need to declare Jesus is Lord and participate in our culture through a disposition of repentance—demonstrating sorrow and confession for our own sinfulness and complicity in society’s structural sin. This makes for a non-triumphal witness to Christ, a witness that breaks through partisan politics and establishes solidarity with sinners. 

Books mentioned by Jennifer McBride: 

Whiteness and Morality by Jennifer Harvey

Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Think of a friend, family member, or acquaintance who is anti-religion or church. In a way that feels natural, have a conversation with them about their experience of you (as a Christian) or religion/church in general, and pay attention to moments where it might be appropriate to confess to them your failure to live out Christ’s commands, and ask for their forgiveness.

David O. Taylor’s central theses:

1. Art and mission is not a replacement for traditional efforts in mission.
2. Art and mission can go places where traditional missional efforts cannot.
3. Art and mission can do things that traditional mission cannot.
4. Art and mission can take a host of expressions and perform a wide range of purposes.

Taylor’s central question: How might the arts participate in the mission of the church? He goes on to give numerous examples in a wide array of artistic mediums, from visual arts to music to church buildings to art ministries. Our encounters with various forms of art, including our physical, bodily encounters (singing, dance, liturgical movements), all have the ability to shape us in ways that only art can.

Ideas matter, and the content of the Gospel message in our churches is necessary to the life of the Church. But we also have to remember that we are all in the business of storytelling, culture- shaping and heart-forming. In order to change a society, we have to capture people’s imaginations. And the arts are crucial to this endeavor. Typically, Taylor argues, conservative Christians don’t take the arts seriously enough. If Christians are to shape the imagination of the public square, it will be due to the body of Christ, everywhere across the globe, releasing artists to remain faithful to their vocations. We need to cultivate works of art that enable us to name and celebrate all that is good in the world, art that helps us to articulate the world’s brokenness and inspires us to do something about it, art that invites us to want the good and the Source of all that is good.

For so many people today (including the “Nones” in our culture), it is difficult to imagine how the Gospel could be good news. People fail to feel that God is a loving and good God. They see no tangible evidence of the Gospel in their personal, social, and public lives. This is why the arts matter. The arts enable people to grasp the Gospel, to feel it deeply, and believe what may seem improbable or impossible about the kingdom of God. Any time art allows human beings to become whole or makes tangible the Shalom of God in the world, it fulfills the mission of the Trinity.

Books W. David O. Taylor referenced in his session

For the Beauty of the Church by W. David O. Taylor

The Theater of God’s Glory by W. David O. Taylor

Contemporary Art and the Church by W. David O. Taylor

Worship and Culture by Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey

A ministry W. David O. Taylor referenced in his session

David Bailey’s Arrabon

Show an artist hospitality by inviting him or her into your home or taking them out for coffee. Take time to truly see their work. If you don’t know an artist personally, support the local arts scene by going to see a new singer/songwriter, taking your family to a local art exhibit, purchasing items handmade by a local artisan, etc.