Reaching Out

Christians are called to spread the Good News of Christ.  Believers of all denominations and creeds, it would seem should be able to agree on this point of the faith.  As summer officially begins, we remember John the Baptist (see an excellent article here on how the Church once celebrated "the voice calling in the wilderness") and I note from friends that the time of short term missionary trips has started, it is a good thing, I think, to remember how integral this aspect is to the faith.

That being said, one of the nice things about the Internet Age is how connected we can be.  In writing this blog, I have been honored to see that it has been visited by people from around the world.  So, I thought I might offer a few lines of The Mainline (via Google translate) to those readers from the top three non-English language visiting nations:

In Russian:

"В коллекции конфессий, магистрали всегда были отражать Америки своего времени и места. История полна святые и грешники, близоруко заявлений и дальновидный заявления, не говоря уже о доктринальных дебатов, богословских дискуссиях и политических махинаций, все разыгрывается теми цепляясь за крест Христов. Если не однозначно американская история, а важной частью истории страны, он уже не тот, который либо может и не должен быть проигнорирован. "

- Mainline Христианство: Прошлое и будущее религией большинства Америки, стр. 5.

In German:

"Als Sammlung von Konfessionen hat die Mainline immer repräsentativ für die America ihrer Zeit und Ort. Die Geschichte ist voll von Heiligen und Sündern, kurzsichtig Verlautbarungen und visionäre Aussagen, nicht Lehrdebatten, theologische Diskussionen und politischen Spielereien erwähnen, alle gespielt von denen das Festhalten an dem Kreuz Christi. Falls nicht ein typisch amerikanische Geschichte, als ein wichtiger Teil der Geschichte der Nation, ist es nicht mehr ein, dass entweder oder ignoriert werden sollen. "

- Mainline Christentum: Die Vergangenheit und Zukunft von Amerikas Majority Glaube, Seite 5.

In Chinese:

“作為面額的集合，主線始終是反映美國的時間和地點。故事充滿聖人和罪人的，短視的言論和富有遠見的語句，更何況教義神學辯論，討論和政治把戲，抱住基督的十字架都打出來了，如果沒有一個獨特的美國的故事，它是民族的歷史的重要組成部分，不再是一個，要么可以或應該被忽略。“

- 主線基督教：美國的多數信仰的過去和未來，第5頁。 

One day, I hope to explore in more detail the relationship between the Christian faith, its spread, introduction (perhaps its reintroduction), and national expression.  While the Church/State relationship (in terms of religious liberty, secularization etc) is important, I have come to think that it is also only a part of the story.  In that regard, while there is much more that can and should be done when it comes to the American story, and of which The Mainline is a start, it is only a start and a part of the whole story that is the Christian story writ globally.

Kingdom Rock

Say hello to Truman.  He was my introduction to the themed Vacation Bible School called Kingdom Rock, that my kids are taking part in at our church.  It has been great to see the joy, fun, and excitement the kids have shown over this week, and to hear them sing the "stand strong for God" theme song over and over.


That being said, this isn't a post about the development of VBS in the United States, nor even the ends that churches pursue (outreach, ministry, Christian instruction) by having a VBS in their congregation.  Rather, it is about something I discovered on one of the things the kids brought home:  The character tags the kids are bringing home are made in China.





What struck me about this was not, per se, that it was "made in China" (I often challenge my students to find items that they bring to class that AREN'T made some place other than the United States), but rather what it might mean from a religious perspective.  According to a story in the Washington Post (read it here), China is home to the world's largest concentration of atheists (around 47%).  While it has been awhile since I took a probability and statistics class, you need not be an expert to realize that chances are quite good that at least some of the people producing the Kingdom Rock material, material that is teaching the essence of Christianity, are atheists. 

I will save the potential commentary on what it all means for another day.  But it is something to ponder, not just in an international economic sense, but also for matters of faith.  How does this show the global nature of Christianity?  What does it mean for faith in China?  What does it say about the faith in the United States?  As I sit writing this on a beautiful summer day in Indiana, I am tempted to think that as the twenty-first century progresses, these kinds of questions are going to be just as important to the story of American Christianity as what individual denominations do or do not do as part of the Mainline.