Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Russell Moore’s Address to the ACNA Provincial Assembly

I have to apologize if I seem a bit disoriented.  I just listened carefully as Russell Moore gave his address to the Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and – you may need to sit down right now – I loved it.
It was edifying, challenging, engaging, digging very relevant truth out of Luke 4:14-30.  Not only did I enjoy it, I will have to watch again for my own edification.  And, no, there wasn’t any of the past annoying stuff, not even any straw men that I can recall. Yes I know, shocking.
I could speculate on what happened. Perhaps, as I recently suggested might be the case, he is toning down the social justice angle.  Perhaps he simply felt there were more important things for ACNA to hear.  I don’t know.  I do have to give credit where credit was due – Moore’s address was excellent.
His main theme was that there are two errant Christian responses to the secularization of culture: 1. Not taking secularism and its effects seriously enough,  2. Or taking secularization as inevitable, which in turn leads to accommodation or outrage.
He advocated a better way – embracing the challenge of proclaiming what has always been a counter-cultural Gospel and of being willing to be distinctive, to “bear our strangeness . . . knowing that the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ is enough.”
I urge not just Anglicans and Baptists, but all Christians to watch for yourselves.  It begins at about 53 minutes.


Yes, I just made a strong recommendation for something from Russell Moore. . . .  I may have to be very Anglican and drink strong ale this evening. 

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