Some thought that Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Spirit on all people, initiated a radical equality, an equality that Paul later understands as abolishing all divisions between class, race, and gender (Gal. 3:28). Is not the “priesthood of all believers” the beginning of Democracy?  Indeed, Walter Rauschenbusch, the father of the social gospel, positively linked the ancient practices of Israel, Pentecost, and Democracy as a progression leading toward liberation and equality.

Others thought that Pentecost does not lead to our contemporary practice of Democracy because this Democracy leads to a minimal uniformity of “one person = one vote”, overlooking true diversity within a process of simultaneously affirming personal interests through anonymity (which literally means “namelessness”).  All true diversity is gradually reduced to voting interests and all cultural and communal identity is suspended within the black box of the voting booth.

I’m sympathetic to this second reading. It seems that Democracy (and the entire philosophical system of Liberalism, of which both conservatives and liberal are part) is a way of mitigating the “diversity that leads to division” (see previous post) and therefore promotes a false or thin unity as uniformity, rather than a true unity through diversity (see also Christena Cleveland’s thoughts on diversity and Chris Lenshyn on the loss of imagination).

In addition to this, Pentecost leads toward a very non-Democratic, intolerant statement.  Pentecost, and all those filled with the Spirit of Christ, declare that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).  For those committed to the spirit of the age, this exclusionary claim of salvation coming only from the Lord, not the State, not Democracy, not Capitalism, not Socialism is both provocative and dangerous (see this from those who would declare that Jesus is the “Lord of Peace” and not nuclear weapon).

What do you think? Beyond promoting diversity, what kind of politics is Pentecost promoting?

The idea that Babel is reversed goes something like this. Because humanity, in its pride, sought to raise themselves to God’s level, God confused them with multiple languages and they were scattered.  But in Pentecost, everyone hears the Gospel and therefore the curse of Babel is reversed.

From Forced Unity to Dividing Diversity

But truth is much deeper than this.  Babel, and the tower it attempted to build, was a forced unity that led an oppressive domination.  People don’t usually build towers like that back in the day: they are forced to build it. And what is a principle way of dominating oppressed people? Destroy their native language. The politics of Babel is in direct opposition to God’s bless that humanity should multiply and fill the earth (multiply in culture; not just in number).

What often is understood as the curse of Babel is also a blessing in the God is returning diversity to the world.  But in our fallen state this diversity leads to divisions, and racism, genocide, and enslavement have been the norm ever since.

True Diversity

Pentecost overcomes the forced unity of Babel, but also overcomes the dividing diversity after Bable.  In Pentecost each “hears in their own language”, not some universal language.  Diversity is not reversed, only the divisions caused by our fallen fear and panicked prejudice.

Pentecost overcomes Babel, by doing more than reversing it.

(While most would use some depiction of the Tower of Babel for this post, I instead used the cover from Thomas Hobbes’ “Leviathan”.  Think about it…it leads to my next post).

Also, these thoughts are related to the “Prodigal Diversity” signpost in Prodigal Christianity.

Tim Stidham is the pastor of NewHope Community Church (NW Indiana). He is the adjunct professor of Homiletics at Olivet Nazarene University. He received his D.Min in Preaching from Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS) and blogs at http://hdnazarene.com.

Robert Martin, by day, is a middle-aged software validation analyst in a small software company in Southeastern Pennsylvania. By night (or rather always), he is the Abnormally Anabaptist, trying his best to humbly follow God, examine life (his own especially), and seek to help others find and follow the King of Kings. He blogs at http://abnormalanabaptist.wordpress.com/.

Fred Liggins is a husband, father, friend, activist, coffee-drinker, beard-promoter, comma-lover, and bi-vocational pastor with Williamsburg Christian Church. He blogs at www.fredsforehead.com.

JR Woodward is the co-founder of Ecclesia Network and Missio Alliance, Director of Church Planting - V3, Author of Creating a Missional Culture, and Phd Student at the University of Manchester.  He blogs at jrwoodward.net.

Wende Lance, after seven years in ministry at a traditional church in Ashland, Ohio, resigned her position to pursue a more missional lifestyle. Currently, she co-leads a missional community, continues her DMin studies at Northern Seminary, works as a realtor, and blogs sporadically at www.wjlance.com.

Kevin Scott is co-pastor of a sustainable church plant in Noblesville, Indiana, acquisitions editor for Wesleyan Publishing House, and a frequent speaker on how God brings redemption and healing in pockets of the kingdom. Kevin writes about sustainable Christianity at kevinscottwrites.com and is author of the forthcoming book, ReCreatable: How God Heals the Brokenness of Life (Kregel, March 2014).

Seth Richardson is an Anglican with anabaptist proclivities. His home base is St. Andrew’s Church in Little Rock, Arkansas where he oversees discipleship-related things. Seth has also been an adjunct instructor of hermeneutics at Ouachita Baptist University, and sometimes he explores lived theology on his blog, This Place.

Joshua Lee Henry is a missional leadership coach and also leads several ministries with Pathway Community Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He blogs at joshualeehenry.com.

Kevin Williams is the Minister of Evangelism at The Branch Church in Farmers Branch, Texas. He has two degrees from Abilene Christian University, a BA and MA in Christian Ministry, and most recently an MRE in Missional Leadership from Rochester College. Kevin and his wife, Jill, live in Dallas, TX and he blogs at www.hipstianity.wordpress.com.

Josh Rowley is a pastor (teaching elder) in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For the past nine and a half years he has been serving with a church in San Carlos, California, and in June he will begin a new call in Vancouver, Washington (First Presbyterian). He have degrees from the University of Colorado, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary (where he studied missional leadership under Al Roxburgh and Mark Lau Branson). I blog atwww.postyesterday.com.

Scott is an avid reader of both theology and culture who has been taught more by his special needs students than he is aware. He has been attempting to cultivate communities of Jesus-followers in his hometown of Syracuse alongside his wife and three daughters. Blog: https://scottemery.wordpress.com/

Zach Hoag is an author, minister, and blogger living in the least religious city in the least religious state in the US: Burlington, Vt. He loves his insanely intelligent wife and two little girls, Gemma and Pippa (whose middle name is “Wright” because Zach also loves N.T. Wright). Zach blogs at http://www.zhoag.com/

The lesser things it is NOT primarily about:

1. The of the end of the world.
2. The identity of the anti-christ.
3. The timeline of  saints departure.

Hear this from Eugene Peterson, commenting on Rev. 22: 8-9, where John falls down to worship the angel and is rebuked:

The way St. John’s Book of Revelation has been treated by many of his readers is similar to the way he himself treated the revealing angel, but without the promptly heeded angelic rebuke.  It is difficult to worship God instead of his messengers.  And so people get interested in everything in this book except God, losing themselves in symbolhunting, intrigue with numbers, speculating with frenzied imagination on times and seasons, despite Jesus’ severe stricture against it (Acts 1:7).  The number of intelligent and devout people prostrate before the angel, deaf to his rebuke, is depressing and inexcusable.  For nothing is more explicit in this book than that it is about God.  It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the end of the world, not the identity of the antichrist, not the timetable of history. (Reversed Thunder, 187)

This Friday I’m defending my dissertation (I’m sure dreaming I was in a plane crash last night had nothing to do with that…).  My doctorate has been a wonderful and stressful 6 years in the making (you can see all my academic accompishment here).  Needless to say, I’m glad to be finishing and I’m looking forward to the next phase of life (which is really going to mostly consist of all the other stuff I’m already doing, but hopefully with a bit more blogging).

Hopefully I’ll begin regular posting beginning next Monday.

In circumstances where I am surrounded by shallow commodities, I tend to become shallow myself.

Albert Borgmann, Power Failure

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If we are what we eat, are we also what we consume?

Ty Smack Down

1.  What is the relationship between practitioners and academia in the missional movement?  Outside of missional theology, our approach seems driven by pragmatism undergirded by pseudo-scholarship.  In other words, we’ve already come to our conclusion through experience and then we seek to back it up with biblical scholarship.  (Is that fair?  Is there traces of anti-intellectualism in this approach?)  In regards to APEST, there seems to be a disconnect between what commentaries/bible scholars/church historians have said in regards to Eph. 4 and what practitioners are saying.  How do we bridge this gap and have these two groups in closer dialogue?

via Reclaiming the Mission/ David Fitch | Reflections from living life in Mission where theology, culture and ministry intersect.