I don’t know John Fea. We’ve never met. In fact, I had never even heard his name before I read his recent article in The Atlantic that seeks to frame evangelical support for Donald Trump as an aberration, atypical of authentic evangelicalism.
Zach, thanks for your article. I appreciate what you have to say, but have to disagree with most of it. This is not the sort of Evangelical Christianity that I have experienced in any of the churches that I have attended through the years. I am sorry for your negative experiences; however, there are layers to your arguments that I am not sure you addressed. I won't pretend to address these many layers in a short response; however, here is some pushback to your arguments. I would welcome further dialogue. However, I think the best dialogue is done face to face in a civil manner. I think it is good for us to "wrestle" with ideas. In the end, we probably agree on more issues than what we disagree.
1. Yes, Evangelical Christianity tends to emphasize the personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have contextualized the gospel to our Western culture. However, there is also a strong emphasis on community and living out your faith in the world. An emphasis on accountability and holding each other accountable to what the Spirit desires - holiness, righteousness, and the fruit of the Spirit. John Wesley's accountability questions and small groups are an example of this lived out not just in the late 1700's but also today. Theology is lived out in both the Church and everyday life.
2. Evangelical Christianity certainly has a strong emphasis in Compassion Ministry. Almost all large Compassion Ministries around the world are from the Evangelical Church. We regularly preach and live out the second commandment, "To love your neighbor as yourself." It is our responsibility and privilege to care for the orphans, widows, those in prison, the poor, and the foreigners. This is not just done as a one time short term missions trip, or one day in which we volunteer at a "soup kitchen" to appease our conscience. This is done as we interact with people everyday and how we spend our money. In fact, I believe Scripture has given this responsibility to the Church, not the government. Shame on us.
3. The Evangelical Church has a strong emphasis on both Truth and Grace. Justice and Love. Consequences for wrong behavior combined with mercy. How does the Church call out sin...the homosexual lifestyle vs. loving someone in that lifestyle. This is something the Church is trying to live out. Jesus extended mercy to the woman caught in adultery while at the same time told her to "go and sin no more." These are not easy things to do. It is not always lived out perfectly. If we only preach Truth, we can fall into legalism. If we only preach grace, it can become cheap grace and license. Jesus embodied the perfect balance of both Truth and Grace. It is our responsibility to figure out that balance with the help of the Holy Spirit..."To keep in step with the Spirit."
4. The Evangelical Church preaches and lives out that our hope is in Jesus Christ alone. It is not in any person - politician, celebrity, sports hero, etc. Our hope should not be in the next election. Our hope is in the transforming power of the Gospel to change lives and reconcile people to God. Anyone who believes differently is not a true Evangelical Christian. At the same time, is it okay to cheer for your country during the Olympics? Is it okay to be proud to be an American, or Brit, or from Mozambique, Japan, or Mexico? I certainly hope so...as long as our trust and loyalty remains to Christ first. Remember, God has a heart for all nations, people groups, and ethnicities. However, I do think it is the responsibility of every citizen to vote and care about politics and elections. The laws we make as a people is what governs any society. As Christians, we should be involved not only in politics but every sector of our culture. Is Christian Nationalism real? Yes. But to a lesser degree than what the left tries to paint the church. Evangelical Christianity does NOT preach or live out Christian Nationalism.
5. Is the Evangelical Church enamored with Trump or is he the "lesser of two evils"? Any of us can clearly write an article as to why an Evangelical Christian should NOT vote for Joe Biden. The list of wrongs, evil policies, and corruption that follows the Biden family is well documented and would require a long essay to list all of the reasons. Is it about the lifestyles of the two men or is it about the policies of the two men? Clearly the lifestyles of the two men are NOT aligned with Scripture. I challenge folks to read the Bible, then read the Democrat and Republican Party Platforms and discern for yourself which platform and policies are more closely aligned with Biblical Principles. On the surface, the only issue that the Democratic Party might align more closely with Scripture has to do with Compassion, and yet when we look at this in-depth their policies regarding the poor, orphans, widows, foreigners, and those in prison actually does more harm than good.
Is the Evangelical Church in love with Donald Trump or do they like his policies more than Joe Biden?
6. Not sure what you are referencing regarding Dr. James Dobson. Is Focus on the Family "rabidly homophobic" or do they recognize the teaching of both the Old and New Testament regarding the family? Are they appropriately calling out sin regarding the lifestyle of homosexuality and the problems regarding the destruction of the nuclear family? My wife and I have 7 adult children. Yes, we have read several of James Dobson's books. Many authors and most importantly the Bible has influenced our parenting philosophy. Not sure any of our parenting philosophies go against Focus on the Family Principles. We are blessed to have all 7 of our children following Jesus and serving Him in the local church. Five of them are in some sort of ministry position. We are more than grateful for this reality. Their faith is a product of the family, the church, and community. "There is no greater joy than to see my children walking in the Truth."
I hope you find this response helpful and realize that others have a very different experience regarding the Evangelical Church.
I have read a lot of Dr. Fea's writing and subscribe to his website, Current. He is often critical of evangelicals, and especially of Trump, but yeah, he has his blind spots. It's tough to defend Dr. Dobson at this point.
I guess maybe black people cheering was less about O.J. and more about the politics of the LAPD at the time, police brutality. A lot of their catharsis was bigger than O.J. I can understand that. But at the end of the day, two people were murdered.
I think most people thought we based our decision on race. Race never came up in the topic of our deliberation, or even how the LAPD treated black people.
Like, regarding Fuhrman, none of his comments really …
The thing with Fuhrman was once his credibility was shot, you really could discount anything he said. He was definitely a liar — he lied on the stand — and when he came back to the court, he took the fifth on everything. Why would you trust anything he said? He was the detective that found all this evidence: the blood on the Bronco, on the back fence, on the glove … all of that created reasonable doubt.
Was there a moment in particular during the trial that really swayed your decision towards reasonable doubt?
Yeah, when they started talking about the blood evidence. There was, like, a milliliter of blood they couldn’t account for. And they found blood on the back fence of Nicole’s condo, and that particular blood also had the additive in there. That additive is only found in [a test tube of blood], so why would the blood sample on that back fence contain that additive unless somebody took the blood from the test tube and placed it there?
Do you think O.J. was framed?
I don’t know if he was necessarily framed. I think O.J. may know something about what happened, but I just don’t think he did it. I think it was more than one person, just because of the way she was killed. I don’t know how he could have just left that bloody scene — because it was bloody — and got back into his Bronco and not have it filled with blood. And then go back home and go in the front door, up the stairs to his bedroom … That carpet was snow white in his house. He should have blood all over him or bruises because Ron Goldman was definitely fighting for his life. He had defensive cuts on his shoes and on his hands.
O.J. only had that little cut on his finger. If [Goldman] was kicking to death, you would think that the killer would have gotten some bruises on his body. They showed us photos of O.J. with just his underwear just two days after, and he had no bruises or anything on his body.
I am pretty sure we know some of the same "John Fae(s)." And Dobson - just wow.
Zach, thanks for your article. I appreciate what you have to say, but have to disagree with most of it. This is not the sort of Evangelical Christianity that I have experienced in any of the churches that I have attended through the years. I am sorry for your negative experiences; however, there are layers to your arguments that I am not sure you addressed. I won't pretend to address these many layers in a short response; however, here is some pushback to your arguments. I would welcome further dialogue. However, I think the best dialogue is done face to face in a civil manner. I think it is good for us to "wrestle" with ideas. In the end, we probably agree on more issues than what we disagree.
1. Yes, Evangelical Christianity tends to emphasize the personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have contextualized the gospel to our Western culture. However, there is also a strong emphasis on community and living out your faith in the world. An emphasis on accountability and holding each other accountable to what the Spirit desires - holiness, righteousness, and the fruit of the Spirit. John Wesley's accountability questions and small groups are an example of this lived out not just in the late 1700's but also today. Theology is lived out in both the Church and everyday life.
2. Evangelical Christianity certainly has a strong emphasis in Compassion Ministry. Almost all large Compassion Ministries around the world are from the Evangelical Church. We regularly preach and live out the second commandment, "To love your neighbor as yourself." It is our responsibility and privilege to care for the orphans, widows, those in prison, the poor, and the foreigners. This is not just done as a one time short term missions trip, or one day in which we volunteer at a "soup kitchen" to appease our conscience. This is done as we interact with people everyday and how we spend our money. In fact, I believe Scripture has given this responsibility to the Church, not the government. Shame on us.
3. The Evangelical Church has a strong emphasis on both Truth and Grace. Justice and Love. Consequences for wrong behavior combined with mercy. How does the Church call out sin...the homosexual lifestyle vs. loving someone in that lifestyle. This is something the Church is trying to live out. Jesus extended mercy to the woman caught in adultery while at the same time told her to "go and sin no more." These are not easy things to do. It is not always lived out perfectly. If we only preach Truth, we can fall into legalism. If we only preach grace, it can become cheap grace and license. Jesus embodied the perfect balance of both Truth and Grace. It is our responsibility to figure out that balance with the help of the Holy Spirit..."To keep in step with the Spirit."
4. The Evangelical Church preaches and lives out that our hope is in Jesus Christ alone. It is not in any person - politician, celebrity, sports hero, etc. Our hope should not be in the next election. Our hope is in the transforming power of the Gospel to change lives and reconcile people to God. Anyone who believes differently is not a true Evangelical Christian. At the same time, is it okay to cheer for your country during the Olympics? Is it okay to be proud to be an American, or Brit, or from Mozambique, Japan, or Mexico? I certainly hope so...as long as our trust and loyalty remains to Christ first. Remember, God has a heart for all nations, people groups, and ethnicities. However, I do think it is the responsibility of every citizen to vote and care about politics and elections. The laws we make as a people is what governs any society. As Christians, we should be involved not only in politics but every sector of our culture. Is Christian Nationalism real? Yes. But to a lesser degree than what the left tries to paint the church. Evangelical Christianity does NOT preach or live out Christian Nationalism.
5. Is the Evangelical Church enamored with Trump or is he the "lesser of two evils"? Any of us can clearly write an article as to why an Evangelical Christian should NOT vote for Joe Biden. The list of wrongs, evil policies, and corruption that follows the Biden family is well documented and would require a long essay to list all of the reasons. Is it about the lifestyles of the two men or is it about the policies of the two men? Clearly the lifestyles of the two men are NOT aligned with Scripture. I challenge folks to read the Bible, then read the Democrat and Republican Party Platforms and discern for yourself which platform and policies are more closely aligned with Biblical Principles. On the surface, the only issue that the Democratic Party might align more closely with Scripture has to do with Compassion, and yet when we look at this in-depth their policies regarding the poor, orphans, widows, foreigners, and those in prison actually does more harm than good.
Is the Evangelical Church in love with Donald Trump or do they like his policies more than Joe Biden?
6. Not sure what you are referencing regarding Dr. James Dobson. Is Focus on the Family "rabidly homophobic" or do they recognize the teaching of both the Old and New Testament regarding the family? Are they appropriately calling out sin regarding the lifestyle of homosexuality and the problems regarding the destruction of the nuclear family? My wife and I have 7 adult children. Yes, we have read several of James Dobson's books. Many authors and most importantly the Bible has influenced our parenting philosophy. Not sure any of our parenting philosophies go against Focus on the Family Principles. We are blessed to have all 7 of our children following Jesus and serving Him in the local church. Five of them are in some sort of ministry position. We are more than grateful for this reality. Their faith is a product of the family, the church, and community. "There is no greater joy than to see my children walking in the Truth."
I hope you find this response helpful and realize that others have a very different experience regarding the Evangelical Church.
I have read a lot of Dr. Fea's writing and subscribe to his website, Current. He is often critical of evangelicals, and especially of Trump, but yeah, he has his blind spots. It's tough to defend Dr. Dobson at this point.
Thank you for this article, Jack. I completely share your lived experience. At least in my first eighteen years of life.
https://www.vulture.com/2016/04/oj-juror-people-v-oj-simpson-right-and-wrong.html
I guess maybe black people cheering was less about O.J. and more about the politics of the LAPD at the time, police brutality. A lot of their catharsis was bigger than O.J. I can understand that. But at the end of the day, two people were murdered.
I think most people thought we based our decision on race. Race never came up in the topic of our deliberation, or even how the LAPD treated black people.
Like, regarding Fuhrman, none of his comments really …
The thing with Fuhrman was once his credibility was shot, you really could discount anything he said. He was definitely a liar — he lied on the stand — and when he came back to the court, he took the fifth on everything. Why would you trust anything he said? He was the detective that found all this evidence: the blood on the Bronco, on the back fence, on the glove … all of that created reasonable doubt.
Was there a moment in particular during the trial that really swayed your decision towards reasonable doubt?
Yeah, when they started talking about the blood evidence. There was, like, a milliliter of blood they couldn’t account for. And they found blood on the back fence of Nicole’s condo, and that particular blood also had the additive in there. That additive is only found in [a test tube of blood], so why would the blood sample on that back fence contain that additive unless somebody took the blood from the test tube and placed it there?
Do you think O.J. was framed?
I don’t know if he was necessarily framed. I think O.J. may know something about what happened, but I just don’t think he did it. I think it was more than one person, just because of the way she was killed. I don’t know how he could have just left that bloody scene — because it was bloody — and got back into his Bronco and not have it filled with blood. And then go back home and go in the front door, up the stairs to his bedroom … That carpet was snow white in his house. He should have blood all over him or bruises because Ron Goldman was definitely fighting for his life. He had defensive cuts on his shoes and on his hands.
O.J. only had that little cut on his finger. If [Goldman] was kicking to death, you would think that the killer would have gotten some bruises on his body. They showed us photos of O.J. with just his underwear just two days after, and he had no bruises or anything on his body.