Andrew, You Can’t Do That!

A friend called the other day. He was a bit amped up. Though many miles away, it was clear he had some energy to unload. “Why have we not heard anything from [I will write more about this group he questioned somewhere down the line] in the aftermath of the Penn State Affair?” The issue in this context flares up over the ongoing internecine, inner-tribal, intramural squabbles over Gospel and Justice. Or, in the way some are framing it, “What is the Gospel? vs. What are the implications of the Gospel?” We are such good moderns when it comes to our linearity.

Getting a few things done this morning before a week of Baptist meetings – Annual Meeting of the BGCO and a the New Baptist Covenant 2 Regional Meeting. Sandwiched between those two meetings will be our weekly Wednesdays Are for Others at Snow Hill. I ran across a post by Andrew Jones, a.k.a. Tallskinnykiwi.(Love the new banner!) He dares write about a school in a garbage city. I could not help but think of the scuffles over Gospel and Justice reading this and guessing some would as soon shout, “Andrew, You Can’t Do That!”

Except, at our Annual Meeting of the BGCO we will hear reports from the Baptist Homes for Children and Baptist Retirement Villages among others that illustrate how we spend Cooperative Program dollars supporting orphans and the elderly – certainly matters of justice in our world. Then during the New Baptist Covenant Regional meeting there will be several calls to action in direct confrontation of economic practices that force people into bankruptcy and on to the streets.

Somehow we have got to stop bifurcating the Gospel evidenced in the life and declarations of Jesus from each other. The prophets announced God’s judgment for the same neglect.