Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Greg Boyd - The Myth of A Christian Nation

I have not read Greg Boyd’s book, the Myth of a Christian Nation. However, I have listened to the series of sermons called the Cross and the Sword on which this book was based. In these messages, he very clearly describes the kingdom way and warns of the dangers of using political power to accomplish God’s purpose.

His core message is that political systems use “power over” to achieve their purposes. Jesus way is “power under”. He demonstrated this by willingly submitting to the cross. He has called us to follow his example. We must change peoples hearts, not regulate their behaviour. If the church starts using “power over” to do good, it distorts the gospel. When we use the power of the state to make society good, we ultimately harm our cause. Political power is destructive to the church. I would recommend these talks for all Christians.

Greg's claim that the United States is not God’s gift to humanity is obvious to many people living outside America, but it is encouraging that an American can see it too.

I recently listened to his message called Being Beautiful. This is an eloquent description of how we can advance the Kingdom of God by living like Jesus.

I will describe the weakness I see in his views tomorrow.

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