On my run this morning, I listed to a podcast from Speaking of Faith, the radio series produced by American Public Media. The podcast, titled "Evangelical Politics: Three Generations," featured excerpts from a panel at the 2008 National Pastors Convention--a panel featuring Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne.The podcast is available through iTunes, or you can go to the Speaking of Faith website to find three different versions:
- the podcast version (53.09)
- the full audio version (1:32.05)
- the full video version (1:32.08)
The discussion is a fascinating one, as it illustrates how three godly, thoughtful Christians can understand Biblical teaching on the relationship between politics and the Kingdom of God in strikingly different ways. Ultimately, as Krista Tippett, the moderator, points out, the relationship between the evangelical church and contemporary politics isn't an either/or proposition. Thoughtful Christians can disagree (sometimes strenuously) on this issue, and just as the body of Christ needs the foot, the hand, the ear, and the eye, the body of Christ probably needs all three of the perspectives presented on this panel.
One question not really addressed (at least in the shorter podcast version) is how the church embodies these different perspectives without balkanizing itself into a new denominationalism based upon the relationship between church and politics (e.g., local churches adopting blanket identities as "Colsonistic," "Boydian," or "Claibornean" churches). How does the local church welcome, enable, and embody all of these perspectives without adopting one and squelching or demonizing the others?
