A creative reshuffling of
Conservat Jim Wallis
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which cmiscd them to fccl alienated- from the churdics. Our o \ ~ nsynthesis of faith came out of a descripthc sliimd struggles of our group, whosc roots tivc st:itcment about ;i publication that seeks to riinged from New Left to conservative evangelical sc‘rv~‘:IS i\ forum for iill <:merging conscioiisiicss. Its 1):ickgrouncls ;ind tr;iditions. The Post-American w a s mcssagc is I)oth old ;ind ~icw-a radical understandc~stabIiJicdto givc ;I voicc to new strcarns of Chrising of 1)itlicnl filith and discipleship. TIE col1text tian radicalism Iicing fed at many points and from of American po\vcr ;illcl glohil dorniiiancc lnilkcs tlivcrsc traditions: I<v:ingalicnl, Anabaptist, ncformtlic iioed for “1)ost-;iiiicrican” visioii prticulidp c:d, Catholic, charismatic, refngcxs from rcligious critical. Thc! pldic:itiori, first :IS :i taldoid and now lil)cr:iIisin, converts from the New Left. 11s ;I monthly miigiiziiic, h;\s received wide s\lpport Sincc thcn wc hnvc witiicssed thc growth of a ;irno1ig people scckirig to rediscover thc meaiiing I I ~ Wgeneration of evangelical Christians that Iias of tlic GospcI for tlicir livcs and tlicir tiincs, pcooplc cwmc of i11ic1 is rnaking itself lieard. A 100~dy Ixing drivcn to :I ncw rmdcrst;incling of tliemsc!lvos, thcir iiation and tlicir Cliristian rr!s~~onsibilitics. coiiiiectd, cross-confc!ssion;11 consciousn(:ss is finding hasic contradictions between the demands of 1Iaiiy :1re coming to Iiclicvc thi~tthc: Gospel is a disciplcship :ind thc assumptions of heric:in wcnlth riidiciil prcrnisc: in its demand and cqxicity for ;incl p o w r . This growing awarciiess poses a direct p w ” i 1 ti;insf(~rrriatiori;in its social ethic tli:it clriws to the comfortiiblc rclationship of the ehnllciigc! toward jristicc, p~iicciiild community; in its spiritiial c:hiircli with the politicd iind economic status quo. i l l i d intellectlliil p o w r tliiit g(:li(:ratesbclicf. Thc ~ n l l I’hc triiditiorial American civil religion, which blcsscs to discipl(diip, tlic call to follow Jcsus Christ, detho sociill order rathcr than calling it into question, m i l d i il fdillncntill brciik with tho dominant now iiiiclcr sttrious ;ittack. From miny cluarters is \riillics illid conformist l>iltt(:rns of the majority cdthis civil rcligion is Iieing Iiiirncd for what it is-misture. That cdl is <?spc!ciiillyurgcnt for those of LIS 1 ) l ~ ~allegiance d which lIsL1iilly dcgent!riltes into in tlw richrst, rnost powcrful nation i11 the world. outriglit idolatry. TIic power brokers of Church and Tliosc: of 11s wlio began piil~lisl~ing thc Post-AnicriState llii\t! actively participated in fostering the c m two y c m ago wcrc seinin:iry studcn ts wlio came AlIlcrici1il Captivity of tlie Cllurch ;incl hive bcnctogotlicr I)ccausc of our common rcjcction of tlic fitcd from it. The \.er-y meaning of thc Gospcl had perrncating Amctric;in ethos i i d a inutual belicf that I~ocomc I)lurrcd, o w congrcgations wcrc oftcn unt h t iiltcr1iiiti\*cslap somewhcrc in r:idical o1)cdicncc a l h to in;ikc thc choicc betwt:en the Cross and the to Chist :lnd his Gospcl. Some of us Ilild come to Flag, arid tlie Christian way of life was cquated ii Chistkin comrnitniont in the initlst of iiiitiwilr and civil riglits strtlgglcs. Others cijlne to ill1 a ~ ~ r c n e s s with thc: hincricnii way of lifc: in direct opposition to ld>lical tcacliing. The transforming dynamic of of tI1c ~ e ~ n ; i n dofs t ~ i c i rCi1rIicl. TiiitI~ commitments -. __.- - . - ... .__ tlic. Gosp:l \viis c!xcIiaiigcd for :I rnnteriulistic :ind JIM WALLIS is cditor of thc Post-Atiicricnri, il voicc in nntionnlistic faith tlint enjciys thc! fruits of prospority tlic r;ipidly growing rnovcmcnt of C1iristi:ui ev:iiigclicnls aiirl poiwr. A11 this is lxing strongly challenged by tlcvotcci to radical social cii:inge. ?‘his is orw in an onii IICR‘ ~t\~iii~gclicill insurgency. going scrics of iirticlcs in wtiicli wc ask leaclcrs of movemerits encl orgnnizatioiis to spcnk out on what t h y are viirigcfical Chistiails Iiitve tditio1i:illy :lI)out. Hcadcrs intcrc‘stccl in more inforrnation ;JJout the iiflhmed thc Lordship of Christ and Post-Atnctican md its vicwpoint ;ire invited to write to Post-Anic!ricon, P.O. Box 102, Dtcrlicld, Ill. 60015. tli(1 ;iu tliority of Scripture over their livcs. T h e are hc Pas[-iimcrican is coinmitted to radiciil disciplcship.” So bcgins
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