6. The Right Questions
6
The Right Questions
Good faith Christians engage culture by asking what is wrong, what is confused, what is right, and what is missing.
One Sunday afternoon shortly after we moved to New York, the street in front of our Manhattan apartment shut down. Instead of yellow taxis rushing by our window, I could see an inflated bounce house in the middle of the street. Free hot dogs, cookies, and a game of kiddie-pool go fish had taken over our eastside lane.
“Rebekah, did you see this? Our entire street is closed off. Let’s get outside. The kids will love it!” After we made our way out, we noticed the local church was responsible for the block party. It was pretty cool and encouraging to see a church in New York serving the neighborhood. For us, it was an impromptu opportunity to meet a few neighbors—a welcoming party of sorts. (We chose to think of it that way at least.)
As the kids worked their way over to the inflatable, a fellow dad, with a British accent, walked up and said with a sarcastic laugh, “This is the one good thing the Christian church does every year.” As if hoping to bond over the criticism, he went on, “The Christians aren’t good for much else. So what brings your family to New York?”
I was about to break an unspoken rule of Manhattan life: don’t discuss faith (especially the Christian faith) in public or private with a stranger. It’s a major party foul, particularly at a block party and when making a first impression. But I didn’t ask for it; this conversation just came begging.
Face flushing, I said, “I write books, speak, and lead an organization that helps Christians know how to advance good in their communities. We call it Q.”
“Oh, okay. So . . . you are one of the Christians?”
“Yes, I am.”
Recovering his confidence, he responded, “Does that Q stand for queer?”
I laughed. “No, but we are a pretty odd bunch doing our best to relate the claims of Jesus to the world we live in today. The Q stands for ‘questions.’ What’s your name anyway?”
“Clive.”
“Nice to meet you, Clive. I’m Gabe. I get why you may not like Christians. We haven’t always been the best at demonstrating the ways of Jesus.”
You probably have a friend, or at least an acquaintance, like Clive. As the research shows, their perspective on the value of a church is pretty common these days. (Three out of ten Americans of no faith say a church is not a benefit to a community, and another three out of ten don’t know if it is or isn’t.) As a Christian leader, I rarely hear what people actually think. Fortunately, Clive didn’t know who he was talking to when he shared his honest opinion, so I got to hear his thoughts without the varnish of good manners.
When I acknowledged the fair criticisms Christians need to own, Clive relaxed and knew I was safe—not “religious.” But I was conflicted. The Christian faith has done so much good in the world, but as we described earlier, most people today have all but forgotten about it. I dislike leading off every conversation with apologies, yet it seems like the only way to an authentic conversation about faith.
That afternoon Clive and I began a friendship. We trekked through coffee shops, enjoyed impromptu stoop-side chats, and occasionally went together to social events. The more we got to know each other, the more clearly we saw all we had in common. Although Clive is a self-proclaimed agnostic, that didn’t stop us from practicing true tolerance for each other. We listened to each other’s thoughts even if we disagreed. We could discuss any social issue, no matter how controversial. We even worked together to serve our homeless friend Louis, who was wheelchair-bound and panhandled on our street corner. We’d make sure he was taken care of, especially when the weather turned bitterly cold.
What Clive and I have is a genuine friendship, one that sees past differences and looks for our commonalities.
To this day, he still refers to me as “you Christians.” And when something is going well in his world, he exclaims, “Your God must be listening!”—acknowledging our difference with respectful, but humorous, admiration.
In order to gain trust and credibility with those who are skeptical, and to demonstrate our love for them, good faith Christians need to learn how to listen well. Good conversations don’t begin with proclamations but rather by meeting people right where they are.
The Right Questions
In leading our respective organizations (Barna and Q), we have found ourselves occasionally perplexed by the way Christians—in the name of Jesus Christ—engage our culture. At times, we’ve been embarrassed. Of course more and more Christians feel the pressure to speak up and stand out for what we believe. But if we don’t check our posture in the process, we can do more damage than good to God’s mission in the world. Love is the preeminent godly virtue, and it must motivate how we live out our beliefs.
At other times, we’ve been delighted and deeply encouraged by how confident followers of Jesus have embraced their unique mission in our time. Theirs is a distinctive outlook, confident and clear about how to engage the mission of God in changing times. They recognize there are no words that can substitute for an encounter with the Holy Spirit. “My message and my preaching were very plain,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. “Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would not trust in human wisdom but in the power of God” (2:4–5).
Over the past few years, with input from friends like Pastor Jon Tyson at Trinity Grace Church and Pete Richardson of the Paterson Institute, I have tried to develop a model for how Christians can think well about and act in faithfulness when engaging our culture. As you might expect from the guy who founded Q, the theme revolves around asking the right questions. The model invites us to think long-term about our approach while being faithful to respond in the moment when something is clearly going wrong. The following four questions, and the answers, can help you challenge yourself and your community to demonstrate good faith with conviction, compassion, and creativity.
Q. What is wrong?
A. Stop and confront.
In recent history, “What is wrong?” is one question Christians have had no problem answering. Anything that offends us receives quick criticism, even condemnation. In our earlier book, unChristian, in fact, we unpacked the claim that many people believe Christians are the most judgmental people they’ve ever encountered.1
So what’s new about this question for today? Nothing really, except how we respond. When Christians find something that is wrong—unjust, immoral, or outright evil—we must stop and confront it. But how we confront what is wrong will make all the difference.
A few years ago journalist Kirsten Powers lived this in her vocation. When the story about Dr. Kermit Gosnell of Philadelphia was developing, she was one of the first to call out the news media for not covering it. Kirsten is a self-described liberal Democrat, but she knew the evil story of a doctor killing three infants born alive during attempted abortions must be told, even if it made people uncomfortable. In a USA Today piece early on in the story’s development, she called out the media for not giving the story the airtime it deserved. “Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven’t heard about these sickening accusations? It’s not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page.”2
This was a bold move because many in her industry and political party are pro-choice abortion advocates. She risked her relationships and reputation to stop and confront their silence.
The response to her piece was moving. Over the next several days, every major news outlet began leading with the story at the top of their news broadcasts. You likely know about this horrific injustice only because of Kirsten Powers—a person who put good faith into practice.
Q. What is confused?
A. Clarify and compel.
When there is confusion about key issues in our society, Christians ought to bring clarity to a situation and then compel others to act. Most Americans would acknowledge not knowing what to do about major global crises like the Ebola epidemic or the refugee crisis in the Middle East and across Europe. Even so, as Christians, we are called to bring clarity out of the confusion. The enemy loves a confused church (and society). He likes nothing better than to keep us feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems, cowering in our corners, ineffective and despondent.
Good faith Christian Jeremy Courtney, who lives with his family in Iraq, is not confused. Having committed to serving Iraqis during the war, he moved to Baghdad and began helping children receive life-saving heart surgeries. In a place where there was no quality medical care, especially for children, he and his team have saved countless lives.
In the summer of 2014, when the ISIS threat began to arise throughout northern Iraq and Christian persecution headlined the news, Jeremy was on the ground to clearly communicate what was taking place. He was the first to help Christian leaders recognize the complexity of the situation. It wasn’t only Christians being persecuted. Yezidis and Shia and Sunni Muslims were also being killed, tortured, or forced to flee from their villages. Anyone who did not pledge allegiance to the radical Islamist ISIS mandate—including Muslims—was under threat, and it was critical for Christians to know these facts. Otherwise we might play into the ISIS goal of leading a Christian-versus-Muslim holy war.
Blogger, New York Times bestselling author, and friend of ours, Ann Voskamp, became aware of the situation by visiting northern Iraq for herself. Jeremy hosted her with the intention of helping Ann get a better understanding of those who were fleeing the ISIS threat. They spent time in refugee camps in northern Iraq and heard the stories of young girls and families who had lost everything. Her confusion about what was happening was clarified, and Ann was compelled to act—and to invite others to do so.
When she returned, she immediately leveraged her talent (writing) to share what she had seen. Ann knew there was a lot of confusion around what the church could or should do to help. So she clarified and asked her readers to get involved and make a difference. She compelled people to act: “Defy evil with love. Defy trafficking by trafficking hope. The world needs people who defy cynical indifference by making a critical difference—and that could be us.”3
The result was over $1.2 million raised in a matter of days. Funds were wired to Preemptive Love Coalition,4 Jeremy Courtney’s organization in Iraq, to provide much-needed medicine, food supplies, education, and investment for women to begin new businesses, even while living in transition. All of this was possible because a couple of good faith Christians decided to bring clarity to a very confused situation and to compel the faith community to act.
Q. What is right?
A. Celebrate and cultivate.
This is the fun one. You might think we Christians would be really good at celebrating good things, but it seems to be the place we need the most improvement.
We should be the very best at spotting what’s good. Our taste for goodness should be so well cultivated that, whenever orderly, right, abundant, generous, and flourishing work is on display, we call it out, support it, and encourage it. Even if it doesn’t come from a Christian.
Herein lies our problem. Many Christians are inclined to believe we should celebrate only good things labeled “Christian.” Or we should celebrate only good work that results in conversions or personal salvation. This view reflects an underdeveloped theology of common grace.
In his classic book How Now Shall We Live?, the great Chuck Colson encourages Christians to have a more robust view of God’s work in the world:
Evangelism and cultural renewal are both divinely ordained duties. God exercises his sovereignty in two ways: through saving grace and common grace. We are all familiar with saving grace; it is the means by which God’s power calls people who are dead in their trespasses and sins to new life in Christ. As God’s servants, we may at times be agents of his saving grace, evangelizing and bringing people to Christ. But few of us really understand common grace, which is the means by which God’s power sustains creation, holding back the sin and evil that result from the Fall and that would otherwise overwhelm his creation like a great flood. As agents of God’s common grace, we are called to help sustain and renew his creation, to uphold the created institutions of family and society, to pursue science and scholarship, to create works of art and beauty, and to heal and help those suffering from the results of the Fall.5
Celebrating and cultivating anything and everything that is good and right is part of our call as Christians, even when that goodness is springing from someone other than a Christian. Too often, when a non-Christian solves a great injustice, produces a great work of art, or helps people overcome evil, we silently think it’s interesting but are careful not to celebrate it. Why? Do we fear God isn’t getting the credit, so we don’t want to add our voice to it?
Our friends at Paste magazine, led by editor Josh Jackson, are great examples of calling out goodness. They created an entire brand based on celebrating the “signs of life in music, film, and culture.” Because good faith motivates their work, they’ve become experts at spotting and celebrating the good.
Or consider designer and fashion mogul Sid Mashburn, who created a brand that celebrates his tailors. Most design shops place these hardworking craftspeople in the back room, out of sight. But in Atlanta, Sid celebrates their hard work and their giftedness at creating beautiful suits. They do their work on the showroom floor for all to see and celebrate. As a good faith Christian, Sid values the dignity of every worker and wants those who encounter his designs to do so as well.
The film Selma tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership of the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Does it make a difference whether a Christian produced, directed, or acted in the film? No. This work of art is a good and true story that must be told. There is a long list of films full of truth and goodness, and Christians should be first in line to support and celebrate these works.
Think of rap artist Lecrae, who recently won a Grammy for his brilliant hip-hop music. In the often misogynistic and violent world of rap, he is a light that tells the truth about goodness in the world. Fans have responded, including many peers who have since collaborated with him on new projects. Lecrae doesn’t shy away from being honest about things that are wrong, but he also knows how to celebrate goodness wherever he finds it.
Pope Francis isn’t afraid to engage any person, topic, or issue, and his joyful embrace of children, disabled people, and prisoners marks him as a person who sees good wherever he goes, even where others easily overlook it. When he visited the US last year, Barna asked people their opinion of him. One out of five Americans said, “Pope Francis has caused me to make changes to my spiritual life.” Among Millennials and Gen-Xers, that statistic was one out of three. It’s not only the pope’s ability to recognize and celebrate goodness that endears him to so many. But it certainly doesn’t hurt.
These examples may feel out of reach, but don’t let that intimidate you. Everyone who is earnestly seeking to serve Jesus can do Kingdom things. Finding goodness in the world around us opens doors and begins relationships. Consider your own neighborhood, school, or city. Who are the unsung heroes working in your community to do good? Find and celebrate them. Who is working for justice so more people can flourish? Who is caring for those with special needs or coaching the peewee baseball, hockey, or football league? Pat them on the back, send them a note of encouragement, and thank them for the good they do. In an age of selfishness and self-infatuation, their lives stand in stark contrast to the prevailing ethos and help others see a better way.
Let’s learn from these examples and become known by what we are for.
Let’s acknowledge the common grace and goodness happening all around us.
Let’s trust God to use his image-bearers for his good purposes, even if they don’t recognize him.
Q. What is missing?
A. Create and catalyze.
This question is often the hardest to answer. To point out what is missing in the world requires imagination. As poet David Rowbotham wrote, “Imagination precedes fact”—and he was right.6 New forms of culture—not-for-profit organizations, art, business, music, film, schools, clubs, magazines, books, and on and on—cannot be created unless someone first imagines them.
This is where good faith Christians have a stunning advantage over those without faith. We’ve been given a glimpse into the future, which can and should shape our imaginations as we partner with God in his work to renew all things. Tim Keller says that Revelation 21 and 22 make it clear that “the ultimate purpose of redemption is not to escape the material world, but to renew it. God’s purpose is not only saving individuals, but also inaugurating a new world based on justice, peace, and love, not power, strife and selfishness.”7 In the end, brokenness, injustice, violence, greed, lust, and all sin and its effects will be overcome, wiped out so the world can be re-created in harmony with God’s original intent.
This vision of the future should infect how we imaginatively engage our work, relationships, and society. We can walk forward with hope and joy because we know the good ending to the story we are living in.
God has chosen to work through us despite our shortcomings. He wants us to take bold, imaginative steps of faith that offer the world a vision for how things ought to be.
Sarah Dubbeldam did just that. Tired of seeing the way women were portrayed and displayed across the covers and pages of magazines, she imagined the way it ought to be. She knew the value of women is so much more than perfect makeup, tiny waist size, and eye-popping cleavage. So much was wrong, but Sarah decided not to focus on condemning it. Instead, she created something. She imagined a better way and made it a reality.
Four years ago Sarah founded Darling magazine, a quarterly magazine that celebrates “the art of being a woman.” She committed to never retouch photos (even though they conduct more than thirty photo shoots for each issue). Everything in Darling would be 100 percent authentic. Sarah wants her magazine to offer women the opportunity to “discover beauty apart from vanity, influence apart from manipulation, style apart from materialism, sweetness apart from passivity, and womanhood without degradation.”8 She saw a distortion, imagined a better way, and then created something that was missing.
Now, in Anthropologie stores nationwide, Barnes & Noble, and several high-end designer boutiques, Darling is the magazine of choice on their shelves. Sarah’s leadership and creativity are catalyzing a deeper conversation among women and in her industry. Women appreciate a magazine that is honest about their roles in the world, and that respects their intellect and isn’t trying to profit by selling unattainable perfection but instead celebrates the beauty in women who are “not just here, but here for a purpose.”9
Ask yourself, What is missing? How has God uniquely gifted or positioned you to create something or support someone who is imagining a new and better way? As Andy Crouch says, “The only way to change culture is to create culture.”10
May we be the kind of good faith Christians who shape the future by asking the right questions and then confronting what is wrong, clarifying what is confused, celebrating what is good, and creating what the world is missing. Relying on God’s guidance, you never know where these questions may lead.
Maybe right into the Oval Office.