Damein Schitter, a Senior Pastor focusing on political discipleship and cultural engagement, tackles the intersection of faith and politics. He argues against the trend of privatizing faith, advocating for a revival of political discipleship rooted in Jesus's teachings. Pastor Damein outlines four postures for the church's cultural engagement, emphasizing 'incarnation'—a mission of love and redemption. He challenges listeners to avoid cynicism and revolution, instead embracing a transformative gospel living as a powerful witness in society.
Pastor Damein emphasizes the need for a revival of political discipleship rooted in Jesus's teachings, advocating transformative gospel living as an engagement strategy.
The podcast outlines four postures for church cultural engagement, stressing that the incarnation approach promotes redemption and love in societal interactions.
Deep dives
Postures of Political Engagement
Four primary postures shape how Christians engage in political life: fortification, accommodation, domination, and incarnation. The fortification posture involves guarding the integrity of the faith against external cultural threats, emphasizing the need for clear boundaries between Christians and the world. While it highlights the necessity of maintaining holiness, it can lead to withdrawal, where individuals become isolated and disengaged, failing to acknowledge that the real source of temptation may lie within. The accommodation posture seeks collaboration with the world, striving for the common good, but risks compromising core beliefs to gain acceptance, often resulting in a loss of distinct Christian identity.
The Importance of Coordinates
Christians should navigate political engagement using three coordinates: creation's design, creation's destination, and redemption's direction. Creation's design reflects God's original blueprint for humanity, emphasizing the inherent dignity of all people, which underpins the concept of justice. Creation's destination envisions the ultimate purpose and maturity God intended for creation, guiding how believers assess societal progress. Redemption's direction acknowledges the world as good yet fallen, urging Christians to engage purposefully with society while embodying God's redemptive love as they aspire to foster mutual flourishing.
Temptations in Political Discipleship
In pursuing political change, two main temptations emerge: retreating into cynicism or revolutionizing the approach. Cynicism arises from frustration with slow progress, leading believers to withdraw from engagement and abandon hope in God's power. Conversely, revolution entails taking political matters into one's own hands, disregarding faith-based approaches in favor of aggressive tactics. Instead, Christians are called to seek reformation by embodying the gospel's transformative power, embracing the complexities of public life while maintaining integrity and compassion in their interactions.
The Test of Attraction and Offense
A key measure of effective Christian engagement in the political sphere is the balance between being attractive and offensive. Christians should aspire to be attractive by exemplifying love and compassion while simultaneously being willing to speak truth and face opposition. This duality reflects the nature of Christ, who both challenged societal norms and drew people to him through compassion. A genuine faith will result in interactions that inspire curiosity and thoughtfulness about the Christian faith while also occasionally provoking discomfort due to differing values and convictions.
Senior Pastor Damein Schitter finishes our July series, Following Jesus in Politics, preaching from 1 Peter 2:13-17. In doing so, he challenges the prevailing trends of privatizing and partisanizing faith and advocate for a revival of political discipleship grounded in Jesus's teachings.
Pastor Damein also presents four distinct postures the church can adopt in its cultural engagement: fortification, domination, accommodation, and incarnation. The latter calls for the church to move into the world with a mission of redemption and love. This helps us avoid the twin temptations of societal change: retreating into cynicism or pushing for revolution. Instead, following a long tradition of biblical figures and contemporary Christians engaged in politics, Pastor Damein advocates a path of transformative gospel living as a potent witness. This allows us to embrace our identity as loved and chosen people, free from self-righteousness, and grounded in the sacrificial love of Jesus.
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