Musings: Notes From My Daybook

Writing from Pepperdine. I love any library with a reading room that overlooks the Pacific Ocean!

Next week I have been asked to speak to the Simpson Street church in downtown Atlanta. I'm honored for the invitation, even as I'm struggling with what I will say. Andrew Hairston, the long time minister, well respected and honored for his years both in minister and public service, has asked me to address the many and various challenges that face the church today. I have given him the title You Shall Be My Witnesses: The Gospel in a Pluralistic Culture.

As I understand my assignment the task is to both identify what are some of the challenges the church is facing and to offer some direction. Most of my thinking on the matter over the past two or three weeks is focused on the way Paul writes to the Corinthian church. Corinth, a large, urban center, was increasingly driven by many of the factors that drive our cities today. Free markets, pluralism, and opportunism would be some options for starters. Moral and ethical decisions were decided based on what sounded the best. Apollos was preferred over Paul because Apollos was "sexier."

But Paul takes the Corinthian church back to the gospel and, in particular, to the preaching of the cross to develop a response to the Corinthian context. Paul's approach is to use the gospel as the lens by which the church's challenges are to be pursued. Somewhere in all of that, it seems to be that we might find some direction for our course today.