He proof-texted and excised them from the context of their subjects’ lives and communities. Reverend Thompson spoke with truth, grace, and clarity when he forgave Roof and publicly longed for his salvation.īut Stanley cherry-picked these stories. ![]() Stanley also mentions Reverend Anthony Thompson, husband to the late Myra Thompson whom the racist Dylann Roof murdered along with eight others at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During Denhollander’s testimony at Nasser’s sentencing, she forgave him and Stanley is right that the words she spoke were a powerful witness to the transforming work of Christ. One example he mentions is Rachael Denhollander, an American gymnast who was the first to publicly accuse Larry Nasser, Team USA’s physician, of sexual abuse. Stanley gives us examples of what he believes to be model Christian engagement with injustice, highlighting those who bore up under suffering and forgave. Then that cultural relevance can help us win souls for Jesus. Get Christ out of politics by positioning Christians above the political fray to maintain and grow the Church’s cultural relevance. The last chapter reveals the blueprint for White moderate Christians to follow that leaves systemic injustice in place, protected from critique, ridicule, or substantive change. Shouldn’t we be content to just appreciate and enjoy his gift? It’s not a brash “America is the greatest country in the world.” It’s a more casual, “hey, our democracy isn’t the best, but it’s better than a lot of what’s out there.” It’s not the Puritan John Winthrop’s strident assertion that America is the biblical “city on a hill.” It is instead a warm offer to look at how good God has been to us here in this special place in time. Stanley’s message is polite, moderate, and sincere. He condemns the joining of Christ’s mission to historical travesties like the Crusades or Constantine’s reign. Stanley contends that Christian values undergird Western civilization, and the only way to change institutionalized injustices- like racism, sexism, or economic inequality - is to transform individuals’ hearts through Christ. The first nine chapters of this book are luxurious stone veneer covering the rotted, moldy walls that hold up WAFR. This is what I call White American Folk Religion, or WAFR. At first glance, Stanley’s advice may seem like the opposite of Falwell’s, but both approaches accomplish the same end of maintaining a race, gender, and class hierarchy masquerading as Christianity. Megachurch pastor and author Andy Stanley’s new book, Not in It to Win It, is a polished, persuasive push for White American Christians to recede back into the shadows away from nasty, polarizing politics in order to prioritize evangelism. thrust white fundamentalist Christians into the explicit fight for the United States to be a Christian Nation and gave the Moral Majority the political manual to build what we now know as the religious right. The 1980 book Listen, America! by Jerry Falwell, Sr. ![]() Audio playback is not supported on your browser.
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