The Church and Western Tribalism is a collection of essays by Rev. Dr. Rollin G. Grams on the challenge that postmodern, post-Christian, Western culture poses for the Church and Christians. Part of the shift in Christian missions in the 21st century has been to stop thinking of missions as 'from the West to the rest,' and part of this change in thinking involves a clear understanding of what the Church's mission to the West (and all those areas of the world that have been shaped by it) is. Persons interested in this book will find it on this blog's book shop (https://bibleandmission.blogspot.com/p/bookstore.html). What follows is the book's preface and table of contents.
Preface
Having written on
‘postmodernity’ in the past,[1] by early, 2016 at the
latest, I found that I needed a new term to describe changes that had been
taking place over the past few years.
‘Political correctness’ was in common use, and it did capture a
socio-political development that went beyond the ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ of
postmodernity. Social pressure to affirm
some groups and oppose others could not be considered postmodern in its
original sense. The term ‘tribalism’
came to mind, and not long after I started to use the term it was being used by
others—a number of people evidently came to the term independently. This only confirmed to me the appropriateness
of the term. A variety of other terms
have been invented to capture aspects of the West’s tribalism, such as,
intersectionality, woke, cancel culture, homophobia, ‘black lives’, and ‘white
privilege’. Western tribalism grows out
of postmodernity, but it is a post-postmodernity even as postmodernity was a
development of and from modernity (some suggested calling it ‘most-modernity’). Developments involve intensifying some
elements of the culture being left behind and locating them alongside new
concerns or characteristics, and a new cultural outlook is born.
We not only struggle to
understand such developments in Western culture; we also struggle to understand
how the Church is to exist in these changing times and what its engagement with
postmodern tribalism should be. Late
modernity sought to fold the Church into an increasingly post-Christian
culture. Early Postmodernity could essentially ignore a marginalized Church
while beginning to express concerns and doubts about orthodox Christians—the
Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelicals.
Late Postmodernity—Tribalism—is now out-and-out hostile to the
Church. The Church is suffering a
concussion through this blow: uncertain, unsteady, and unready.
The book includes several
short chapters under general headings.
The headings are categories descriptive of Tribalism, beginning with
this term. Following this are ‘Identity
Politics’ and ‘Tribal Victimhood’. The
next section is a discussion of several ‘Changing Virtues’ as Western society
moves to Tribalism. Societal virtues can
be discussed in terms of which virtues are primary, or cardinal virtues, what
is meant by virtues by the same name, and whether something is still considered
a virtue or not. A chapter on the
changing cardinal virtues of Western society is followed by discussion of
sexual impropriety, harassment, and abuse.
Then comes discussion of truth, unity, tolerance, forgiveness, and
diversity. The ban on conversion therapy
captures related ethical issues characteristic of Tribalism. Several chapters on freedom and one on
liberation conclude the section on virtues.
The next major category related to Western Tribalism is ‘Against
Nature’. A final section explores
aspects of the Church’s engagement with Western Tribalism, and two chapters
form the conclusion to this study.
Throughout the book, one
question is kept in focus: how does the Church respond to these cultural
changes in the West? Much more needs to
be said about this than is covered here.
Part of the issue is internal, since the identity of the Church in the
West has changed in a number of important ways as the culture infiltrates the
Church. This has been so not only as
mainline denominations have come to define themselves as representatives of the
culture rather than either Biblical or historical Christianity, but also as
Evangelical churches have lost their bearings.
In fact, the ‘cancel culture’ of Western tribalism expresses itself in
what I would call a ‘cancel Evangelicalism’ in many sectors of Evangelicalism
today. One of the great losses in our
time has been a concern with evangelism and mission in what is left of the
Evangelical movement, and it seems the term ‘Evangelical’ will increasingly be
used as a term to describe orthodoxy within denominations rather than a
movement across denominations. It might
survive as a term for Protestant orthodoxy in general. Yet the term is being wrestled by ‘Evangelical
tribalists’ from its historical meaning where ‘missional’ becomes
‘multicultural’ and diversity replaces unity as a value.
One aspect of the trouble
facing Evangelicalism is defining ecclesial identity in racial terms rather
than in Church traditions. Phrases like
‘black Church’ and ‘white Church’ are aspects of identity ecclesiology
(tribalism) that should be challenged in any discussion. Another problem is the growth of independent
churches that conceive of theological enquiry in terms of the Bible and the
contemporary, local church. Present
identities have little interest in history and theological tradition. Such are the challenges facing the Church in
this time of Western Tribalism.
Table of Contents
Preface …….……………………………………………………………..……….6
TRIBALISM
Some Characteristics of the West’s Postmodern
Tribalism …………..………….8
Culture Wars, Worldviews,
and the Church …………………………...………..15
Public Toilets and the New Rationality of Western
Tribalism ………………….17
The Seven Demons
of the West’s New Tribalism ………………..….………….22
Enquiry and the
LGBT+ Debate:
From Teacher to
Lecturer to Dialogue Partner to Warrior ……..…………….…26
After Western Tribalism,
What? ……………………………………...………....29
IDENTITY POLITICS AND ECCLESIOLOGY
The Rise of Identity Ecclesiology
……………………………………….…....…32
When Use of the Diagnosis 'Spiritual Abuse'
Becomes a License for Bad Pastoral Care ……………………....……....37
The Misnomer ‘Homophobia’ and its Theological
Implications ……....……..…40
Identity Ecclesiology: Regarding Willie James Jennings’
‘Can ‘White’ People be Saved?’, and a Positive
Alternative in a
Biblical Theology and Ethic of Unity
…………………………………………...42
Racism, and an Ecclesial and Missional Perspective
…………………………... 53
TRIBAL VICTIMHOOD
The Ethics of Tribal Victimhood versus Biblical
Vulnerability ……..………… 63
Tribal Victimhood and the 'New Justice':
A Reflection on the Kavanaugh Hearings …….………………..……… 66
Tribal Victimhood, the Changing Face of Justice,
and
Paul’s Words to the Roman Church .………….………….....……... 74
Types of Racism, and an Ecclesial and Missional
Perspective ………….…...… 78
CHANGING VIRTUES
The Changing, Cardinal
Virtues of Western Society ……………………..…….. 88
Some Christian Thoughts on the Culture’s Recent Outrage
Over Sexual Harassment, Impropriety, and Abuse ………………..…..... 91
Functional Truth: A Question of Truth for the South
African Church …..……... 95
Stay or Leave?
Is John 17 Grounds for Staying in
Mainline Denominations in Our Day? …………………………...…….
103
Biblical Bases for Christian Toleration
……………………………………....... 107
A Process of Punishment vs.
A Process of Forgiveness ………………….…… 111
Is Diversity a Christian Virtue? ………………………………………….…..... 114
The Missionary Call of Christian Counsellors
and Pastors in the Post-Christian
West ……………………..………..... 117
Conscience and Freedom ……………………………………………..……...... 120
The Changing
Meaning of Freedom: From Conscience to Coercion …..…....... 124
Freedom: A Universal Human Right versus
A Value
within a Particular (i.e., Christian) Tradition …………….…….. 127
Christian Freedom in a Postmodern, Western World ………………….…........ 129
Misunderstanding
Righteousness:
Liberation Theology and the Commands of God ……………….…...... 132
AGAINST NATURE
From Naturalism to Anti-Naturalism:
Understanding the
Enemy in Today's Culture Wars …………....……..
136
The Antinaturalism of Late
Postmodernity ……………………………........... 144
When Marriage is No Longer Understood as a Moral Act
……………....….... 150
CHURCH AND STATE
Toward a Biblical Theology of Government and the Nations ……….…....….. 154
‘Isn’t Someone’s Refusal to Provide
Services for
Immoral Celebrations Just Bigotry?’ ……………………..…….…..… 156
The Christian
Wedding Cake Maker and the Supreme Court …………...….... 158
Biblical Teaching versus
Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism …………. 161
ENGAGING WESTERN TRIBALISM
The New Tribalism of post-Postmodernity
and
Christian Mission to the West …………………………………… 171
Christian Mission to the Post-Christian West ………………………...…….... 174
Post-Christian Culture and Changes in the Workplace
……………..………... 180
Christians Should Not Attend Homosexual Weddings ……………..……..…. 184
Adoption and Postmodern Tribalism ……………………………………….... 189
Christmas and a Post-Christian Culture ……………………………..……..… 191
How ‘Social Justice’ Becomes Idolatry in a
Post-Christian Culture and in Progressive
‘Christianity’…………………….. 195
CONCLUSION
Christ For Culture in a
Post-Christian World …………………….………...... 197
Understanding Western Culture
and the Church’s Mission, in
1,000 Words …………………….……. 201
[1] Rollin
G. Grams, Rival Versions of Theological
Enquiry. Prague: International
Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005.
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