Max Lucado’s Endorsement of Jen Hatmaker: What it Means and Why it Matters

1/13/2020 In the past couple of years, Jen Hatmaker has received quite a bit of attention, not only as a New York Times best-selling author and social media sensation, but also as one of the most high-profile Christians to affirm same-sex marriage. This ignited a controversy that lit up the blogosphere with equal parts disagreement and praise. Despite being given the boot by Southern Baptist retailer LifeWay, her following has slowly gained steam, establishing her as a successful podcaster (her podcast, For The Love! is regularly found in the iTunes top 10 list of its category) and a persuasive voice in the progressive Christian movement.    Her shift on same-sex marriage isn’t the only indicator that her beliefs about Christianity have changed. Since its launch in 2017, Hatmaker’s podcast has been a veritable “who’s who” of progressive Christian leaders such as Sarah Bessey, Rachel Held Evans, Pete Enns, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Richard Rohr, Jeff Chu, Mike McHargue (“Science Mike”), Barbara Brown Taylor, Austin Channing Brown, Lisa Sharon Harper, Rachel Hollis, and Glennon Doyle. As I’ve written about previously, progressive Christianity affirms a different gospel.  Hatmaker has ushered in 2020 with a new podcast series called For the Love of Faith Icons, in which she will interview “our most beloved faith leaders as we ask our deepest questions and hear where they’ve found peace and strength to endure.” Hatmaker notes that each of these leaders “show us that our faith can expand, evolve, and be inclusive while never losing the heart of the Gospel and our belief in a God who is full of grace and mercy.” The first leader Hatmaker invited was Evangelical pastor Max Lucado, a best-selling author whose books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Beloved by young and old alike, there is almost no conservative or evangelical community that hasn’t been impacted by Lucado’s work.   Lucado began the episode by singing Hatmaker’s praises, indicating that he is a fan of her work and saying, “I think so highly of you. You energize me, to listen to your podcast…you make it so easy and delightful, and yet profound at the same time.”  While Lucado implied that he doesn’t agree with everything Hatmaker teaches, nevertheless he took several opportunities to make the point that unity is paramount. He said, “And so you and I, when it comes to the table, whether literally the Lord’s table, or figuratively the community table, you’re my sister, and I’m your brother.” He alluded to the idea that it’s important to maintain unity with people who claim the name of Christ as long as they affirm the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. “I think I can find fellowship with Richard Rohr, right?…Even though we come from two entirely different worlds.” This is a troublesome statement because of what Richard Rohr teaches. The Rohr Factor    Richard Rohr is a Franciscan Friar whom Jen Hatmaker considers to be a spiritual father and faith hero. On a recent episode of her podcast, she praised him as “one of our best teachers, hands down.” She promoted his book, “Universal Christ,” and noted that she has followed him for years and has quoted him in several of her books.  Richard Rohr believes Jesus died, was buried, and was resurrected. However, Rohr’s views on Jesus, the Bible, and the cross are unorthodox. He separates Jesus and Christ into two separate entities, with Jesus being a “model and exemplar” of the human and divine united in one human body. And in Rohr’s view, Christ is a cosmic reality that is found “whenever the material and the divine co-exist—which is always and everywhere.”  For the rest of the post…

Faith: Easter time to ponder great sacrifice and joy

By Curtis Shelburne
Religion columnist 

Faith: Easter time to ponder great sacrifice and joy

4/12/2022

“Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate,” wrote author, pastor, theologian, and modern-day martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And he continued, they liberate us to contemplate “the ultimate meaning of life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope.”

I am quite sure that when Bonhoeffer spoke of the cross and the Resurrection as “freeing” us, he did so on purpose. If I’m not mistaken, Bonhoeffer’s words above were written while he was imprisoned by the Nazis. In prison, he alludes to the freedom we can find anywhere as we choose to center on Christ’s sacrifice and power rather than focusing always on “our own fate” and thus living fear-molded lives, enslaved even if we seem to be free.

Sometimes I find myself taken by surprise by a stark contrast as I’m listening to a speech or reading an article or a book, and it occurs to me, “There’s depth and wisdom here. This person has a center, a foundation, a universe that’s larger than self. This person is grounded in truth, and I need to listen.”

And the contrast? It’s unmistakable. It’s between what is genuine and deep, and what is a thin veneer or convenient mask. With regard to faith, it’s faith that genuinely seeks God’s truth and thus enlivens the whole heart, mind, and soul. It’s “sold out” to God and not just seeking favor from a sect or a pet set of superficial and divisive traditions. With regard to public discourse, the contrast is between wise words coming from a grounded truth-seeking soul and poison words “offered” by the type of soul-shriveled politician whose main focus and heart’s desire is to divide us, stoke enmity, and by manipulating us, grasp power.

Through the long centuries, this has always been true.

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It’s time to listen to Bonhoeffer’s prophetic message

• Apr 7th, 2022

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As the humanitarian crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine worsens, and evidence mounts of the widespread abuse of human rights and multiple breaches of international law, a charity dedicated to promoting the contemporary relevance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is calling for the churches to learn the lessons of the 1930s. Project Bonhoeffer supports all efforts by Christians to stand up against this war of aggression, and to speak out against those who attempt to justify it in the name of Christianity.

In the 1930s Bonhoeffer, together with other members of the German churches, put forward a strong critique of those church leaders who supported the Nazis’ aggressive nationalist ideology. Anti-Nazi Protestant leaders put together the ‘Barmen Declaration’, which has become a touchstone for Christian resistance to state co-options of church authority. Bonhoeffer drew attention to the error of ‘an alien ideology concealed in a Church seal.’ Today, in response to the call from Patriarch Kirill for God to bless ‘Holy Rus’ and so put a stamp of approval on the actions of the Russian military, Orthodox theologians have revisited the Barmen Declaration to produce a powerful critique of Kirill and the Russian hierarchy.

A spokesperson for Project Bonhoeffer said: “The Barmen declaration clearly rebuffed the notion put forward by ‘German Christians’ that the Church and its message should be become the cultural property of the nation. In contrast to the notion that the war is blessed by God, the declaration emphasised that the word of God is and must be separate from the word of a civil power. We stand in solidarity with Orthodox theologians and clergy, particularly those within Russia, who are speaking out against this inexcusable war and the complicity of Kirill. We call on Orthodox and other Faith Communities to bear witness to the message of Bonhoeffer for our times – that wars of aggression and the Christian message are incompatible”.

Project Bonhoeffer seeks to raise awareness of the prophetic witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in dark times.

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Three reasons I doubt Russian Christians need more Bonhoeffers

ANDREY SHIRIN  

Some of the Christian martyrs of Russia.

Earlier this month, Christianity Today ran a piece on whether Russian Christians need more Bonhoeffers. By “more Bonhoeffers,” the author apparently meant leaders who would speak up on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Christian leaders from Italy, Switzerland, Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria have given their input. Unfortunately, views of Russian Christian leaders themselves were not represented in the article, nor were views of leaders of Russian Christian leaders outside Russia.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian in Nazi Germany. He was a leader of the Confessing Church, a movement that resisted Nazi efforts to unite German Protestants under the umbrella of a single organization loyal to the regime. His writings were noticeably impacted by these circumstances. Bonhoeffer ended up joining the failed plot to kill Hitler in 1944. For this, he was arrested and eventually executed.

Over the last century, there has been no shortage of Russian Christians speaking prophetically to the powers that be. Many paid dearly. Metropolitan Pyotr (Polyanskiy), acting patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, was shot after he spent 12 years in jail and exile. Nikolay Khmara, a Baptist minister, bled to death after he had his tongue cut off. There have been countless others.

That said, the prophetic voice of the Russian Orthodox Church generally has been subdued. This is mostly due to Symphonia, a specific arrangement with Russian czars that that Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed for centuries. The church aligned itself with the czars’ policies. In return, the church enjoyed the privileged status of the state religion. This arrangement persisted during the Communist time, even though the Communist government was atheist and enshrined the separation of church and state in the constitution.

But even those Russian Protestants who had no hesitancy about witnessing prophetically to the power on spiritual issues generally steered clear of speaking up on political matters. This was for three reasons, which also make me reluctant to buy the notion that Christian leaders in Russia need more Bonhoeffers.

First, Russian Protestants believe the church should generally steer clear of politics. Partly this is due to their history. Under the Communist regime, they were routinely accused of furthering a capitalist agenda by other means. They were blamed for being politicians in disguise. In response, they stressed that they were people of faith, not politicians.

These reflexes remain with many of them, particularly with older ones. But there are theological considerations as well. Faith should not be wedded to political agendas of the day, no matter how compelling the latter may be.

Second, laudable as he is, Bonhoeffer is a Western character shaped in large part by Augustinian spirituality, which remains somewhat alien in the Christian East. Russian Protestants have a rich prophetic tradition. If they are to have a model figure for these times, they may be better off drawing on their own prophetic voices.  Given that there has been no shortage of these voices, Russian Protestants do not need to be lectured by Westerners about which Western prophets they should select as their models. Digging into their own history for dealing with issues of current times will serve them better in the long run.

Third, and related, are Bonhoeffer’s methods, particularly his participation in a plot to kill Hitler. The tragedy that is developing in the Ukraine must not be minimized. But Putin is no Hitler. Nor would an attempt to murder Putin serve Russian Protestants particularly well, should a prominent Russian evangelical be implicated in this plot. One can only imagine the disaster this scenario would unleash on Russian Protestants, who even now are perceived by many as agents of Western influence.

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