22AR27-26

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AR 27:26 - Tim Keller's "third-way approach," critiqued

In this issue:

POLITICS AND CULTURE - constructively critiquing Tim Keller's "evangelistically front-facing 'third way approach'"

WOKEISM - when we find ideologies "can't be reformed from within"

Apologia Report 27:26 (1,579)
July 27, 2022

Update on our health: We're over the worst of the flu without too much trouble and are doing ok, but still feel rather weak. Thank you for your prayers.

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POLITICS AND CULTURE

"Let's Contextualize Tim Keller" by Trevin Wax (The Gospel Coalition, Jun 7 '22) -- finds "James Wood's 'How I Evolved on Tim Keller' <www.bit.ly/3RkHTnn> as 'the best' representative of constructive critique of Keller's evangelistically front-facing 'third way approach' to political engagement. 'The evangelistic desire to minimize offense to gain a hearing for the gospel can obscure what our political moment requires,' Wood writes.

Wood (associate editor, First Things) "agrees with Aaron Renn's assessment <www.bit.ly/3nMhCRt> of the church now inhabiting the 'negative world,' in which society has turned decisively against Christianity's moral vision. Keller's strategy worked for the 'neutral' but not for the 'negative' world, and his pursuit of a 'third way' often keeps him 'above the fray' - unwilling to get his hands dirty in the rough and tumble world of politics, where pragmatic choices and concessions must take place. ...

"In his follow-up, 'This Article Is Not About Tim Keller,' Wood clarifies <www.bit.ly/3ySgz8M> his appreciation [to] Keller ... leading to the impression that, in a noble attempt to avoid tribalism, too many Christian leaders imply a moral equivalency between political options. ...

"All ministry models have strengths and weaknesses, and no one is better than Keller at pointing them out. Nobody's model of ministry is above critique. ...

"Too much of today's discourse leads to an all-or-nothing approach in which any theologian, writer, leader, pastor, or politician is put in the 'good' or 'bad' category. This reductionist approach impoverishes us. ...

"[A] close reading of Tim Keller allows for various conversations about the best political posture, depending on the 'season' the church finds herself in." Wax summarizes the four "seasons" according to Keller.

In conclusion, Wax reports that "In a recent episode of Mere Fidelity, Keller claimed <www.bit.ly/3ABRC2v> that Christianity is not a religion that fits easily into ideological categories. It's not a middle road but a 'patchwork of extremes.' And yet, the search for a 'third way' on every issue, something Keller often does, comes from a peacemaking impulse that is as much temperamental as theological. 'Sometimes I overdo it,' he admitted.

"That self-awareness - the sensibility to recognize that God is at work in many ministry models and through many types of people - comes from a confidence grounded in Christ's righteousness, unwavering faith in God's sovereignty, and trust that the Spirit will bring fruit from the faithful preaching of the Word. Whatever parts of Tim Keller's methods and model survive the next 50 years, I pray those characteristics of openness and curiosity will be evident."

As conflict grows in complexity, so grows the feeling that resolution is hopelessly elusive. Thank God for hope! (Now, what to do about my need for patience....)

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WOKEISM

"Laying Siege to the Institutions" by Christopher F. Rufo (Founder/Director, Battlefront <thebattlefront.com>) -- begins by reviewing "what has happened to our institutions since the 1960s [and] the rise of new and radical ideologies in America that now seem commonplace - ideologies based on ideas like identity politics and cultural revolution. ...

"Abandoning hope of a Russian-style revolution, [leftist dreamers] settled on a more sophisticated strategy - waging a revolution not of the proletariat, but of the elites, and specifically of the knowledge elites. ...

"This march through our institutions, begun a half-century ago, has now proved largely successful. [T]he revolutionary ideas of the '60s have been repackaged, repurposed, and injected into American life at the institutional level.

"Most Americans are shocked to discover this. We've all seen the outrage of parents over the past two years as they learned that their young children were being divided according to their skin color and deemed oppressed or oppressors in public school classrooms. Parents began expressing their outrage against critical race theory not only in school board meetings, but at the polls. This made big news in last year's gubernatorial election in Virginia, and the demographic of the now-widespread voter rebellion shows that it crosses party lines.

"There has been a similar response following the more recent revelations about the Walt Disney Company - a company founded 99 years ago and associated in the public mind with wholesome family entertainment.

"I've been reporting on Disney for more than a year, and I have good sources inside the company. I broke a story last year about Disney forcing employees to engage in a critical race theory training program that denounced America as fundamentally racist, had its white employees complete a 'white privilege checklist,' and included exercises on 'decolonizing' bookshelves. ...

"Disney eventually deleted information on the controversial training program from its internal website. But all things remaining the same....

"The lesson I've drawn from reporting on institutions that promote ideologies such as critical race theory and radical gender theory is that they have been captured at the structural level and can't be reformed from within. [Just the thought that this "can't be reformed" conclusion might be applied within the church is heartbreaking.] So the solution is not a long counter-march through the institutions. You can't replace bad directors of diversity, equity, and inclusion with good ones. The ideology is baked in. That's why I call for a siege strategy.

"This means, first, that you have to be aggressive. You have to fight on terms that you define. ...

"Second, you have to mobilize popular support. This requires ripping the veil off of what our institutions are doing through real investigation and reporting so that Americans can make informed choices. ...

"The public now opposes critical race theory by a two-to-one margin, and it is being hounded out of schools and other places. This kind of action is a model for dealing with every ideology and institution that is undermining the public good and America's future. ...

"With public institutions like K-12 education, another crucial step is to decentralize them. It is centralization and bureaucratization that makes it possible for a minority of activists to take control and impose their ideologies. ... [I]t ultimately means something like universal school choice, placing power in parents' hands. Too many parents today have no escape mechanism from substandard schools controlled by leftist ideologues. Universal school choice - meaning that public education funding goes directly to parents rather than schools - would fix that.

"Conservatives have for too long been resistant to attacking the credibility of our institutions. ... Our institutions are dragging our country in a disastrous direction, actively undermining all that makes America great.

"To some extent, the institutions are now destroying their own credibility." Rufo concludes, in part: "An elite class, representing a small number of people with influence in the knowledge-based institutions, are acting in their own interest and against the interest of the vast majority of the American people...." Imprimis (Hillsdale College), 51:4/5 - 2022. <www.bit.ly/3RlCPyT>

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