‘A change of ideology that is reaching a tipping point’

Well, it’s been a long – and dramatic – few years. Last time I penned this column for en, I had fairly recently moved from pastoring a church next to Yale University to pastoring a church in Chicagoland next to Wheaton College.

There were huge ministries, if occasionally controversial but mega-famous, scattered throughout America. A significant number of them then fell foul of what you might call the ‘church-too’ (aping the ‘me-too’ movement at the time) and well-known household names in the evangelical bubble were exposed, and scandals ensued. And then there was Covid… It’s hard to make sense of the last few years. What is God up to?

Usually, when you analyse these sorts of things there are emerging schools of interpretation of the state of play that you can then balance, assess, modify, and come to your own mind. One of the additional, shall we say ‘interesting’, elements of the current state of the church is very few seem to have secure and certain viewpoints as to what they think is going on. Obviously, God is in charge: ‘God is our refuge and strength…we will not fear though the earth gives way…be still and know that I am God’ (Ps. 46). With a doctrine of God’s sovereignty, we can claim peace in the midst of the storm. Still, it’s helpful to know what to do, and what do is usually best discovered through analysing the problem that can lead to potential solutions. We must trust – that’s for sure. Here are some of the interpretations that I’m hearing, and their strengths and weaknesses.