[Vision2020] Politics?

[Michael]

Scott Writes:

 

By Dale's logic, I should just rely on one of them - Terry Morin for example
- and be able to determine Christ Church's priorities.

 

 

Me:

 

I don't know if I follow.  The brush isn't very broad here; the topic isn't
whether Wilson is Satan or whether or not slaves got to drink iced tea; the
topic is just whether Christ Church is really all that politically
motivated. I thought this was a good point Dale made, albeit perhaps not as
strong a piece of evidence as he suggests.  At the very least, please accept
this historical event as symbolic of what I and many others take to be our
true political bent.  We had someone 'in power' and what happened?  He
decided to go to the East coast to plant a church, and nobody around here
threw any fit about it; I never even knew somebody from our church held any
political office and I know a lot about our church.  Hmmm.  

 

Terry Morin is an interesting example here.  Terry left the church when
Wilson was more involved explicitly with politics and had a different view
towards politics.  This was also when the church was very small (about a
year before I came and about the same time my wife's family moved here)
still in great flux, etc.  I actually appreciated some of the documentation
on Terry's sight, which I informed Wilson of.  But even if Terry's view is
correct about what happened then, does this really say much about the church
now?  

 

If you don't like painting with broad brushes based on one paradigm case,
then why not get to know all the elders and all the members and all the nsa
students and all nsa faculty?  Try out some of Wayne's induction, or even
mine.  Why did I come here for example?  Well, just months into my marriage,
my first wife had left me a couple times, and it looked like we were headed
for divorce; I read Reforming Marriage, heard some good things about the
community here and moved here temporarily to get marriage counseling.  I
went back home, the divorce was unfortunately in place, and so I decided I
liked this church more than the one at home.  So I moved back and here I am.
I married again and have four children.  I've been a business owner here for
years and painted Terry Morin's house (and Pam Steg's, although I didn't
pick the colors); we got mineral spirits on part of his grass and replaced
the patch with the wrong kind of grass.  I'm now a Grayfriar student and
write for Credenda. Jones and I read through Flannery O'Conner last year and
Leithart is my favorite theologian.  I got my B.S. in philosophy at the U of
I under my favorite teacher.  Now, am I a political storm trooper brought in
by Taliban Wilson?  Of course not.  I think Christians taking much stock in
politics is bad.  Not only do I think ministers and churches qua churches
should not take explicitly political postures (generally speaking), I wonder
if it is healthy if Christians as mere local citizens should be as concerned
as folks here on Vision2020 seem to be.  I think folks from Christ Church
have been arrogant and rude to people outside the church here locally.  And
I think they have been rude to me.  And I'm sure I have been rude to other
people over the last 10 years. And I sure as hell know folks outside the
church have been rude us.  We are all sinners.  We each seem to have to
competing gospels.  Let's have a showdown shall we?  The side who's gospel
is more effective to establish love, integrity and morality in the community
wins.  You can have your politics; my claim is that your politics is your
god.  It isn't my god; the state is not my god.  Let's see if your god can
love like our God can.  Up for the competition?  May the best god win.

 

Yours 

Michael Metzler

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