Glenn, I’m really enjoying your postings. Perhaps it was your time outside the US that’s giving your voice a more global perspective, which is something I appreciate. Thank you for providing this book summary and your take on it. It is always illuminating to see how our brothers and sisters in another faith tradition see things.
I am tracking along with your analysis; however, there seems to be one glaring omission to the list of “Challenges of Post-Christendom societies”.
From someone living in America’s Attic (Canada), I’m hearing quite the racket downstairs and it’s coming from the evangelicals. From their shouting, it’s clear they are feeling tremendous resentment and rancor from not being ‘in charge’ anymore. It is fueling their “God is on our side” campaign to try to regain control over the levers of power to force a re-institution of a Christendom society.
They believe the fight is existential. It’s a matter of survival of ‘our way of life’ and possibly the nation itself. So, just like in a life-or-death street fight, the gentlemanly Marquess of Queensberry rules of boxing do not apply. It is okay to use any tactic to prevail, and it is considered advantageous to partner with anyone if they can help get you what you want.
Sadly, that positions Christians as just one among many other power-seeking lobby groups fighting to grab hold of the steering wheel that controls the direction of society. Unfortunately, that demeans and denatures us. As others have described it, it reveals that at our core, we esteem winning over our witness.
Os Guinness used the metaphor of an empty jar to describe our society today. He said sometimes even after a jar is empty, if you unscrew the lid and take a sniff, you can sometimes still get a whiff that reveals what was once in it. That’s describes our post-Christendom society. We are living in an era where only the faint aroma of Christendom remains.
What we do about that, I don’t know. But I do agree that we cannot hope to turn back the clock and try to witness and live as though we were still in a pre-Christendom world like the early church.
CS Lewis said something somewhat crassly but with realism, “Necessarily, one has to court and woo a divorced woman differently than you would a virgin.” Meaning, a divorced person has had their eyes opened about a few things. There’s history and likely some hurt. So, it’s best we recognize who we are trying to woo and adjust our approach accordingly.
Glenn, I’m really enjoying your postings. Perhaps it was your time outside the US that’s giving your voice a more global perspective, which is something I appreciate. Thank you for providing this book summary and your take on it. It is always illuminating to see how our brothers and sisters in another faith tradition see things.
I am tracking along with your analysis; however, there seems to be one glaring omission to the list of “Challenges of Post-Christendom societies”.
From someone living in America’s Attic (Canada), I’m hearing quite the racket downstairs and it’s coming from the evangelicals. From their shouting, it’s clear they are feeling tremendous resentment and rancor from not being ‘in charge’ anymore. It is fueling their “God is on our side” campaign to try to regain control over the levers of power to force a re-institution of a Christendom society.
They believe the fight is existential. It’s a matter of survival of ‘our way of life’ and possibly the nation itself. So, just like in a life-or-death street fight, the gentlemanly Marquess of Queensberry rules of boxing do not apply. It is okay to use any tactic to prevail, and it is considered advantageous to partner with anyone if they can help get you what you want.
Sadly, that positions Christians as just one among many other power-seeking lobby groups fighting to grab hold of the steering wheel that controls the direction of society. Unfortunately, that demeans and denatures us. As others have described it, it reveals that at our core, we esteem winning over our witness.
Os Guinness used the metaphor of an empty jar to describe our society today. He said sometimes even after a jar is empty, if you unscrew the lid and take a sniff, you can sometimes still get a whiff that reveals what was once in it. That’s describes our post-Christendom society. We are living in an era where only the faint aroma of Christendom remains.
What we do about that, I don’t know. But I do agree that we cannot hope to turn back the clock and try to witness and live as though we were still in a pre-Christendom world like the early church.
CS Lewis said something somewhat crassly but with realism, “Necessarily, one has to court and woo a divorced woman differently than you would a virgin.” Meaning, a divorced person has had their eyes opened about a few things. There’s history and likely some hurt. So, it’s best we recognize who we are trying to woo and adjust our approach accordingly.
Thanks Glenn. This fits really well with what i will be looking at during my sabbatical. I will add the book to my reading list 😊