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Vintage21 Church
downtown Raleigh, NC
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Rob Davis
Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 90
Location: Raleigh, NC
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Curt Hamilton
Joined: 13 Feb 2008
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:38 am Post subject: |
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There is a big break in goals between the focus on the family type movement and the family structure you are talking about. The goal of the focus on the family movement is to insulate your kids from culture and keeping them from being contaminated by the sin in it. This is a far cry from preparing children to be discerning consumers of culture and agents of redemption who might get knocked around in the process. It's easy to beat your bible and call people out on sin if you're insulated from culture but it's tough to form authentic relationships with lost people when you are separated from culture because of your parent's "protection."
You don't go this direction, but Gary Thomas' point that marriages are to make each other holy could be turned in to the endemic navel gazing apparent in the conservative evangelical movement. If you move from seeing marriage as happiness to holiness you can still concern yourselves only with your own sin and making each other, and your children, as holy as possible. I like your point about all sound theology being pointed outward and I think that is the root of the disconnect. If are desperately concerned with living a "holy" life where you focus on eliminating your own sin you can easily end up with a family that's equally self centered. And without a strong example of parents who are willing to put themselves out there and take risks as agents of redemption in culture children will probably not become that themselves. |
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Rob Davis
Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 90
Location: Raleigh, NC
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| Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:16 am Post subject: |
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| curt wrote: | | You don't go this direction, but Gary Thomas' point that marriages are to make each other holy could be turned in to the endemic navel gazing apparent in the conservative evangelical movement. If you move from seeing marriage as happiness to holiness you can still concern yourselves only with your own sin and making each other, and your children, as holy as possible. I like your point about all sound theology being pointed outward and I think that is the root of the disconnect. If are desperately concerned with living a "holy" life where you focus on eliminating your own sin you can easily end up with a family that's equally self centered. And without a strong example of parents who are willing to put themselves out there and take risks as agents of redemption in culture children will probably not become that themselves. |
Yeah, I haven't read Gary Thomas' stuff in a long time, but I don't think that's the direction he goes with it. But, I think this could mean we need to reconsider what holiness really is. Growing up holiness was definitely more about "the outside of the cup" than the heart. But, in Scripture we are commanded to be holy. So, what does that mean? Also, there are passages that talk about being "separate" from the world - what is that? I think there's a huge misunderstanding here. In that sense, the world is not the people in the world, but the world is the values, systems, etc. that are opposed to God. So, being separate from the world, being holy, is about finding identity in Christ alone, and following Him, in the midst of the world's way of life (which we are all part of, not just non-Christians). So, with that line of thinking, our marriages are to be a light in the darkness, but not because of us or because we hole ourselves off from the world, but rather because we follow Jesus in the midst of the world. We are the city on a hill. And, as that city, we are constantly pointing away from ourselves and toward the Light that illuminates the city.
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