Along with many others, I have read The Evangelical Manifesto with great interest. For the most part, I believe it reads extremely well. It speaks into a major (though sometimes unspoken) issue in our day: the gap between what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus and what secular society thinks of Christ-followers. The recent fast-selling book unChristian, for example, explains that “Mosaics and Busters (the generations that include late teens to early 30-somethings) believe Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered.” Apparently acknowledging the bad rap, the Evangelical Manifesto explains that evangelicals “have become known for commercial, diluted, and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential and religious happy talk.” Again, the Manifesto observes:

“We repeatedly fail to live up to our high calling, and all too often illustrate the truth of our doctrine of sin. We Evangelicals share the same ‘crooked timber of our humanity,’ and the full catalog of our sins, failures, and hypocrisies is no secret either to God or to many who know and watch us. Indeed, with many of our prominent figures recently caught in scandal and hypocrisy, our failures often rise up today and shout their contradiction of all we claim to be and say.”

I think this is healthy, and accurate. We need less swagger and more broken-hearted boldness, so that we can speak humbly and clearly about the evils of our day. I was also very glad for the doctrinal standard it laid out for what it meant to be an evangelical. Namely:
1. The belief that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is the only name by which we must be saved.
2. Christ was a penal, substitutionary sacrifice for sinners.
3. Radical God-wrought conversion is necessary for Christian faithfulness. (That is, we cannot work our way to God by our own goodness.)
4. The Bible is inspired by God and the supreme authority for our life and thought.
5. Christians must at-once lay hold of Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord.
6. The return of Jesus Christ is our “blessed hope.”
I also echoed the concern that evangelicalism be defined theologically and not politically, confessionally and not culturally. And I heartily agree that evangelicals should be known not so much for what we’re against as for what we are for; our message (by definition) is one of good news.
So it was with all this as the backdrop that I read of some evangelical leaders being concerned that the Manifesto itself was political — a veiled, subtle attempt to displace issues like pro-life and the defense of marriage in favor of other matters. I was honored that Dr. Guinness, one of the members of the document’s Drafting Committee, was willing to field a few questions from me on this matter. He permitted me to publish his response, only requesting that I mention these are “hasty responses on a hectic day! Above all we are not out to attack or exclude anyone, but to call for reforms that make us all better followers of Christ. So we hope people will not make knee-jerk reactions, but study, think , and pray.” The following post is my interview with Dr. Os Guinness.
Related: Marvin Olasky, writer for World Magazine and author of the newly re-released The Tragedy of American Compassion, pens a glowing endorsement of The Evangelical Manifesto.
[HT: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]

The latest estimate suggests over 100,000 fatalities from Cyclone Nargis, and the counting continues. To make matters worse, Myanmar’s leaders are apparently unwilling, for the time being, to allow humanitarian or medical aid to enter their country. As the delay persists, the death toll is likely rising. In the face of this horrific disaster, John Piper offers six ways to respond:
1. Be softened to the pain nearby.
2. Pray for the followers of Christ in Myanmar.
3. Pray for the millions of unbelievers near the calamity and far from it.
4. Pray for those of us who live in the seeming security and prosperity of America.
5. Give money to replenish the coffers of compassion “since you also are in the body”.
6. Muster a team from your church, and when the doors are open, be ready to go.
Read the whole thing.

The latest recording of The Boundless Show refers to a Slate article which tells the sad story of a helicopter parent. Entitled I Left My Son in San Francisco: Learning to quash my alpha-mother tendencies and let my kid grow up, Bonnie Goldstein writes of her 19 year-old son’s failure to launch:

I have been working on curbing my rather overbearing alpha-mother tendencies. During Nate’s final year of high school, I impersonated him online, filling out and submitting 11 versions of the Common Application for undergraduate admission. The guidance counselor at his private school told parents such “clerical” support was expected. It became my full-time job.

Read the whole thing. In an interesting discussion, the panel also discusses what sounds like a fascinating new book entitled A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting. From the book’s website:

Armed with hyperconcern and microscrutiny, parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the lumps and bumps out of life for their children today. However well-intentioned, their efforts have the net effect of making kids more fragile. That may be why the young are breaking down in record numbers or staying stuck in endless adolescence.
What’s more, parents are seeking status and meaning in the achievements of their children. The trouble with turning tots into trophies is that the developmental needs of the young are sacrificed to the psychological needs of adults. But the biggest problem with pushing perfection may be that it masks the real secret of success in life. As any innovator will tell you, success hinges less on getting everything right than on how you handle getting things wrong. The ultimate irony is, in a flat world you don’t make kids competitive by pushing them to be perfect but by allowing them to become passionate about something that compels their interest.

The author, Hara Estroff Marano, is an award-winning writer and editor-at-large for Psychology Today, which published this lengthy review article of the book.

In light of the slowing economy, and perhaps because this is an election year, Uncle Sam will soon be sending out checks. Those eligible will receive up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples), and parents will receive an additional $300 for each eligible child younger than 17. This is a significant amount of money for many of us, my family included. In response, John Piper wrote an excellent article a few days ago, making this observation:

Nobody in the world will see you spend your money on yourself and conclude that Christ is your treasure. They will assume you are just like them, no matter how loudly you thank God for this boon. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend it on yourself (the way we do with most of what we earn). Not everything we do can look different from the world—eat, pay utilities, fill up the car, wear clothes (even thrift-store clothes). And yes, we hope (somehow) that spending on ourselves in some way contributes to our being more Christ-exalting people.

That spawned some conversation in the blogosphere over whether Christians had any obligation (presumably stemming from Rom. 13:1 and other such texts) to spend the money to stimulate the economy, since that is what the government clearly wants us to do.
Other questions also arise. Is The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 a workable solution to an economic problem? Or is it merely a means to a very short-term rally? And if Christians give away their stimulus dollars to missionaries overseas, might we negate some possible good that the government is anticipating? These and several other questions are presented by Tim Challies to David Kotter. Mr. Kotter is currently the Executive Director of CBMW, but has previously served both as a pastor of a local church and as a finance manager for Ford Motor Company. A scholar and a gentlemen, Mr. Kotter shares significant wisdom and insight to help us think Christiantly about the money many of us will be receiving. His conclusion:

As Christian voters, we should not be fooled by fiscal maneuvers that take money from one group of people and give it to another in the name of boosting the overall economy. The economy only grows if more goods and services are produced, not when money is transferred from one person to another.
Finally, we can be grateful that economic stimulus plans are restricted to this world. The One who spoke the universe into existence and owns the cattle on a thousand hills does not need a plan to boost the domestic prosperity of heaven. Jesus Christ is the ultimate treasure whose glory will infinitely outshine any pleasure we might receive from a rebate check.

Read the whole thing.