THE CULTURAL EXCHANGE – EXILE –
DANIEL
THE TENSION
THE POST-CHRISTIAN ERA
“IT HAS BEEN A BAD DECADE FOR GOD AT LEAST SO FAR. DESPITE THE RISING POPULARITY OF POPE FRANCIS, WHO WAS ELECTED IN 2013, GOOGLE SEARCHES FOR CHURCHES ARE 15% LOWER IN THE FIST HALF OF THIS DECADE THAN THEY WERE DURING THE LAST HALF OF THE PREVIOUS ONE. SEARCHES QUESTIONING GOD’S EXISTENCE ARE UP. MANY BEHAVIORS THAT HE SUPPOSEDLY ABHORS HAVE SKYROCKETED. PORN SEARCHES ARE UP 83%, FOR HEROIN, IT’S 32%.
HOW ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS DOING? NOT THAT WELL. “LOVE THY NEIGHBOR” IS THE MOST COMMON SEARCH WITH THE WORD “NEIGHBOR” IN IT, BUT RIGHT BEHIND AT NO. 2 IS “NEIGHBOR PORN.” THE TOP GOOGLE SEARCH INCLUDING THE WORD “GOD” IS “GOD OF WAR,”
A VIDEO GAME, WITH MORE THAN 700,000 SEARCHES PER YEAR, THE NO. 1 SEARCH THAT INCLUDES “HOW TO” AND “WALMART,” BEATING ALL QUESTIONS RELATED TO COUPONS, PRICE-MATCHING OR APPLYING FOR A JOB”
GOOGLING FOR GOD, SETH STEPHENS-DAVIDOWITZ, 2015
A MAJOR CULTURAL SHIFT
FROM AUTHORITY TO AUTHENTICITY,
“I MEAN THE UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE WHICH EMERGES WITH THE ROMANTIC EXPRESSIVISM OF THE LATE-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, THAT EACH OF US HAS HIS/HER OWN WAY OF REALIZING OUR HUMANITY, AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIND AND LIVE OUT ONE’S OWN, AS AGAINST SURRENDERING TO CONFORMITY WITH A MODEL IMPOSED ON US FROM THE OUTSIDE, BY SOCIETY, OR THE PREVIOUS GENERATION, OR RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL AUTHORITY.”
CHARLES TAYLOR
FREEDOM FROM …
OUTSIDE
SOCIETY
RELIGION
PREVIOUS GENERATION
AUTHORITY
THE TRANSITION: HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
THE OVERTON WINDOW,
THE RESULT,
FROM THE CENTER TO THE FRINGE
FROM STRANGE TO A THREAT
FROM CONTROL TO PENALIZATION
RESULT?
FROM A MORAL MAJORITY TO A SHRINKING MINORITY
GUT REACTIONS,
FEAR,
SELF PRESERVATION,
COMPROMISE
SYNCRETISM
BETTER RESPONSE,
A CREATIVE MINORITY,
A CREATIVE MINORITY IS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN A WEB OF STUBBORNLY LOYAL RELATIONSHIPS, KNOTTED TOGETHER IN A LIVING NETWORK OF PERSONS, IN A COMPLEX, AND CHALLENGING CULTURAL SETTING, WHO ARE COMMITTED TO PRACTICING THE WAY OF JESUS TOGETHER FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE WORLD
“TO BECOME A CREATIVE MINORITY, IS NOT EASY, BECAUSE IT INVOLVES MAINTAINING STRONG LINKS WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD WHILE STAYING TRUE TO YOUR FAITH, SEEKING NOT MERELY TO KEEP THE SACRED FLAME BURNING BUT ALSO TRANSFORM THE LARGER SOCIETY OF WHICH YOU ARE A PART. THIS IS A DEMANDING AND RISK-LADEN CHOICE.”
CHIEF RABBI JONATHAN SACKS
SELF-IDENTITY
EXILES,
SYNCRETISM: EXILE: SEPARATISM:
THE TRUTH: MENTORED BY REDEMPTIVE HISTORY
PAUL/CEASEAR
CHINA/MAO ZEDONG,
HITLER/BONHOFFER
“JESUS CHRIST LIVED IN THE MIDST OF HIS ENEMIES. AT THE END ALL HIS DISCIPLES DESERTED HIM. ON THE CROSS HE WAS UTTERLY ALONE, SURROUNDED BY EVILDOERS AND MOCKERS. FOR THIS CAUSE HE HAD COME, TO BRING PEACE TO THE ENEMIES OF GOD. SO THE CHRISTIAN, TOO, BELONGS NOT IN THE SECLUSION OF A CLOISTERED LIFE BUT IN THE THICK OF FOES.” BONHOFFER
COMMUNISM/THE BERLIN WALL
THE EARLY CHURCH/
APPLICATION:
JESUS
DANIEL
BREAKING COVENANT
THE BABYLONIANS
FAITHFULNESS AND FRUITFULNESS IN EXILE
