One Little Word Newsletter - July 25th, 2022
A political disruption, Jim Harbaugh's surprising thoughts on life, and a helpful correction of Marilynne Robinson's theology
I’m putting the last touches on this Sunday newsletter on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon. We’re starting to get settled in here, in Fort Worth; our house is beginning to feel like home. It's the hot days of summer, of course, so for my kids swimming is an everyday thing. We did enjoy a quintessential Texas experience, taking in a rodeo Friday night at the stockyards. It was a lot of fun.
I’m very excited about the classes I’m teaching in the fall as part of the Faith and Culture concentration at Texas Baptist College here. I turned in my syllabi for the first two: Human Dignity and The Church and the Culture. I am really looking forward to getting into the classroom and engaging with students.
Updates on my work
My friend Tasha Calvert directs women’s ministry at Prestonwood Baptist. She has a great new podcast and invited me to join her where we discussed cultural engagement, disunity in the church, and our use of social media.
I also had the privilege of joining, a while back, the Virtual Roundtable Series for an episode called “Think Before You Tweet” with Bob Roberts where we discussed how to remain faithful with social media in a hostile social media world. Bob is doing really amazing work with his organization called Glocal.
One of my tweets was included on Your Voice with The Baptist Paper on modeling discipleship at home. Whenever I see this pop up, I’m always a bit nervous, wondering which tweet made the list! But this was one I can be proud of. Seriously, the folks at The Baptist Paper are doing fantastic journalism. This was the tweet:
While Christians have a common set of beliefs, we have an uncommon set of callings. Some are called to more public ministry, others to more quiet vocations, some to focus on specific issues, others to a more general focus. We need grace and appreciation of others’ gifts.
My latest piece for World examines the new electoral shift in America, which challenges long-held assumptions about immigrant communities. Here is the crux of it:
We are witnessing a political disruption that should cause us to examine previously held electoral shibboleths. The first, held by both parties, is that “demography is destiny.” The Democratic Party built its electoral strategy on this, pouring money into places like Texas in vain hopes that an emerging Hispanic majority would vote blue. The Republican Party, smarting from losing the 2012 presidential election, released an autopsy that essentially ratified the Democrats’ wish-casting. The second shibboleth is related. It’s echoed by some on the right who fear an increasingly diverse electorate. The “Great Replacement Theory,” as it’s often called, says that immigration hurts conservatives by only bringing into the country voters who are bound to vote blue. Both shibboleths are wrong for the same reason: Diverse immigrant communities are rarely monolithic.
Lastly, I joined Lauren Green of Fox News to discuss the latest polling on abortion and the next steps for the pro-life movement.
What I’m Reading
Chris Crawford has some helpful commentary on a new update of the Electoral Count Act of 1887. I think this is a really important piece of legislation that helps ensure a peaceful transfer of power after a Presidential election and hopefully, avoid a repeat of the post-election mess from 2020/2021.
Chris Stirewalt, who worked in TV journalism for many years, has an excellent analysis of news and journalism accuracy where he addresses the argument of whether journalists should always present equal coverage or not always. He writes, “…forced to choose, I will lean heavily on my understanding that “equal” acknowledges proportionality and say that we should always do our best to be balanced.”
I enjoyed reading this USA Today article about Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh speaking at a pro-life event last Sunday. I loved this quote:
I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born.
I enjoyed reading this great piece at Lifeway Research by Marissa Postell on the lessons churches are learning post-Covid and the importance of the embodied church. She had some great interviews with key leaders.
I always enjoy reading Samuel D. James. Here he has a great perspective on the power of winsomeness when it comes to being pro-life in his reflection for Digital Liturgies. For some reason the idea of being winsome, which is essentially just being kind and gentle while holding on to your convictions, has become controversial of late.
Jason Thacker has an important ERLC piece that expands on Roe's implications:
Abortion was never simply about abortion; it represents an entire way of viewing the social order through the lens of individualism and moral autonomy.
Jessica Hooten Wilson, author and scholar in residence at The University of Dallas, has a thought-provoking piece about Maryline Robinson’s fiction. While finding so much to enjoy about Robinson, she nevertheless laments the lack of cross-centered theology in her work.
In order to be spurred on to participate in Christ’s redeeming work in the world, I think we have to have eyes that see evil as well as good.
As someone who enjoys Robinson’s fiction, I am thankful for Wilson’s helpful correction here.
Lastly, my friend Ed Stetzer has a helpful reflection on ecumenicism: the idea of holding firmly to your theological convictions but being open-handed toward other traditions and working together for the sake of the gospel. As a convictional Baptist, I believe this. I’ll always be proudly Baptist but am delighted to work with folks across Christianity who uphold Christian orthodoxy.
Books I’m Reading
Here is what I’m reading right now. I’m about halfway thru a fascinating biography of former President Jimmy Carter, His Very Best. And I’m nearly done with Cold Civil War by Jim Belcher. This book is provoking some interesting reflections.
And as always, you can buy my latest book, The Characters of Creation here or wherever books are sold. You can read an excerpt I posted here a few weeks ago, or one that was published by Christianity Today a few months ago.