In a recent conversation with a national Christian media executive, I was reminded that we often shoot one another within the evan-gelical community rather than work together against the enemy. On the surface, that's a valid observation. I have felt the pain from attacks within our circles. And I'm sure I've lobbed a few finely honed barbs of my own. But I am concerned about an insistence upon unity for the sake of the Gospel that is increasingly focused on the unity and not on the Gospel itself. The standard rationale given is that we need to stand together to fight "the opposition"-by which one usually means the continuing decline of our culture. If you don't go along with the mainstream of evangelical thought and take up the crusade against the current villain, you are considered a malcontent, a troublemaker.
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1 [ Back ] Bruce L. Shelley, "An On-Again, Off-Again Love Affair," Christianity Today, vol. 43, no. 10 (1999), 54.
2 [ Back ] See Focus on the Family program aired on August 17, 1999 or go to the web site at www.family.org and search on Mellon Bank.
3 [ Back ] For a full accounting of the activities of The Anti-Saloon League, see Wayne B. Wheeler's series "The Inside Story of Prohibition's Adoption," printed in the New York Times, March 28-April 2, 1926.
4 [ Back ] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 151-52.
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Issue: "Wish List for the 21st Century" Jan./Feb. 2000 Vol. 9 No. 1 Page number(s): 34-36
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