{"id":5348,"date":"2010-01-22T06:23:31","date_gmt":"2010-01-22T06:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-red-sta.html"},"modified":"2010-01-22T06:23:31","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T06:23:31","slug":"law-at-the-jesus-creed-red-sta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-red-sta.html","title":{"rendered":"Law at the Jesus Creed: Red State, Blue State (by David Opderbeck)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lawbook.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Red State, Blue State, Law and Mission<\/p>\n

My “law” post for this week will diverge a bit from the topic of “law” per se<\/i> to discuss why I believe a missional<\/i> approach to “law” is vital.  <\/span>The springboard for this post is an essay from “Q Ideas<\/a>” by Ken Wilson, “Science and the Evangelical Mission in America<\/a>.” (Now on the website<\/b><\/a>.)  <\/span>Wilson’s essay is specifically about the relation between faith and science, but I think the missional principles he discusses apply equally to the relation between faith and law.<\/p>\n

Wilson suggests that the mission field of North America can be characterized by two broad people groups:  <\/span>those with a “Red Sensibility” and those with a “Blue Sensibility” – “Red” and “Blue” being the terms the media uses to distinguish between conservative Republican-leaning and liberal Democrat-leaning states, respectively. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is Wilson’s use of missiological categories to describe opinions about politics and science useful and appropriate?  <\/span>Should a “missional” approach to questions such as law, politics and science involve adapting to these cultural assumptions rather than confronting them?<\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Wilson offers the following as characteristics of these
\ngroups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Red Sensibility<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Blue Sensibility<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Votes Republican<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Votes Democratic<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Considers Earth 10,000 years old<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Considers Earth 4.5 billion years old<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Thinks species are fixed<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Thinks species related by common ancestry<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Views environmentalism skeptically<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Views environmentalism positively<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Regards climate change skeptically<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Regards climate change as real<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

High church attendance<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Low church attendance<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

People who share a “Blue Sensibility,” Wilson argues,
\nrepresent a mission field the Church should be reaching.  <\/span>As Wilson notes, “this is a big<\/i> mission field:  <\/span>roughly half the population of the
\nUnited States leans blue.”  <\/span><\/p>\n

We will not<\/i> reach
\nthis people group with the heart of the Gospel, he says, unless we clear away
\ncultural barriers that make them feel unwelcome in our churches.  <\/span>Such barriers include opinions about
\nscience and politics that are hostile to common cultural assumptions and that
\nare not, in themselves, vital to the heart of the Gospel.  <\/span>Wilson suggests that someone who is a
\nregistered Democrat, or someone who accepts evolutionary science, should not
\nfeel the least bit uncomfortable about these characteristics in a church that
\nis missional towards Blue Sensibility people.<\/p>\n

I think Wilson articulates something very important about
\nhow the Church in North America should understand itself.  <\/span>Are we truly serving the Mission of God
\nby issuing “declarations” and other public statements that declare war on Blue
\nSensibility beliefs in the legal and political arenas?  <\/span>Why is it really that a registered
\nDemocrat, or a scientist who accepts the evidence for evolution, almost
\ncertainly would have to fear revealing those facts in many of our
\nchurches?  <\/span>To what extent is our
\nprimary concern the preservation of our own cultural privileges rather than the
\nextension of grace to others?<\/p>\n

At the same time, I think Wilson sidesteps two tricky
\nquestions:  <\/span>(1) how do we draw the
\nlines between core and non-core values? ; and (2) what happens when the “Blue
\nSensibility” really conflicts with something the Christian community considers,
\nor ought to consider, a core value? 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The response to question (1) requires a separate post (or,
\nmore likely, a book-length response!). 
\n<\/span>In short, my response would revolve around the person of Jesus Christ
\nand the fruits of the Holy Spirit. 
\n<\/span>This would mean, for example, that the sanctity of life and the sanctity
\nof marriage are values that must remain basic for the ethical formation of the
\nChristian community.<\/p>\n

The response to question (2), I think, is well summarized in
\na video
\npresentation<\/a> by theologian Stanley Hauerwas about leadership.  <\/span>Hauerwas notes that, as a leader, “you don’t have to win all the time<\/i>.”  <\/span>Hauerwas is speaking here about
\nleadership in the local church, but his observation is generalizable to the
\nChurch’s leadership in society. 
\n<\/span>Our leadership in areas we believe are vitally important – life,
\nmarriage, concern for the poor and oppressed – is not about “winning” in the public
\nsquare through lawsuits, lobbying, or debate, even if all those activities
\nmight have their place.  <\/span>In fact,
\nwe “win” – or better, the Mission of God is fulfilled and people are blessed –
\nas we follow the paradoxical way of the cross.  <\/span><\/p>\n

What would comprise a
\nmissional approach to issues of life and marriage that doesn’t primarily
\nemphasize “winning” in the public square? 
\n<\/span>In what areas of law and policy, if any, is “winning” a valid goal for
\nthe Church?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red State, Blue State, Law and Mission My “law” post for this week will diverge a bit from the topic of “law” per se to discuss why I believe a missional approach to “law” is vital.  The springboard for this post is an essay from “Q Ideas” by Ken Wilson, “Science and the Evangelical Mission in America.” (Now on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw at the Jesus Creed: Red State, Blue State (by David Opderbeck) - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/01\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-red-sta.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law at the Jesus Creed: Red State, Blue State (by David Opderbeck) - 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