Topic: SERVE: Announcing the Kingdom

In AD 150, a letter to Diognetus claims that Christians deny the Greek gods, eschew greed, remain faithful in marriage, and welcome persecution. They respond to abuse with love. This is the church before the watching world. Or is it?

Freed Hardeman University Bible Lectureship 2023. Niebuhr’s attempt to trace 5 avenues for Christian engagement with culture remain helpful at the descriptive level. But knowledge is only half the battle. Wisdom is the other. Descriptive work becomes problematic when it assumes prescriptive work. In this speech, I suggest the time is always right for Christian engagement, but the various tactics ought to play a secondary role to the larger vision. Each avenue offers merits and perils. Regardless of the avenue to which one is inclined, I call for humility that leads to deeper wisdom, theological awareness that leads to a broader perspective, and courageous action that leads to a faithful story.

Corinth was an ideal place for a speaker with a message. There was one catch. People came to hear a speak, not to received a message. Paul, called by a crucified and resurrected Lord, embracing the counter-cultural message of the cross, defied all expectation. He determined to be a “know nothing” preacher. To know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is Paul’s mission statement in Corinth (1 Cor 2:2), and my mission at West Side.