Vincent E. Bacote - The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life

ZONDERVAN

The Political Disciple

Copyright 2015 by Vincent Bacote

ePub Edition March 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-51608-8

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bacote, Vincent, 1965

The political disciple : a theology of public life / Vincent Bacote.

pages cm (Ordinary theology)

ISBN 978-0-310-51607-1 (softcover)

1. Christianity and politics. 2. Christian leadership. 3. Political participation. 4. Public officers. I. Title.

BR115.P7B1426 2015

261.7 dc23

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Cover design: Micah Kandros

Interior design: Beth Shagene

Editorial: Madison Trammel, Lauren Niswonger, Bob Hudson

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 /DCI/ 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my wife, Shelley,
and our two daughters,
who lovingly support me
as I pursue Gods call on my life.

CONTENTS

GENE L. GREEN

O RDINARY THEOLOGY. THESE TWO WORDS TOGETHER sound like an oxymoron. Were accustomed to thinking about theology as the stiff and stifling stuff found in ponderous tomes written by Christian scholars in ivory towers, places far removed from our ordinary lives. We live on the street, in our homes, in places of business, in schools, in gyms, and in churches. What does theology have to do with the ordinary affairs of our daily lives?

We want to bring the Bible into our lives, to be sure, and we attend church to learn about Gods Word. We read our favorite passages and wonder how ancient stories about Noah on the water or Jesus on the water relate to the checkout at the grocery store, the hours at work, the novel we read for pleasure, the sicknesses we endure, the votes we cast, or the bed. How do we construct a bridge between the biblical worlds and the twenty-first-century world as we seek to follow Jesus faithfully? The distance between our local shopping center and Pauls forum in Athens (Acts 17) seems like an unbridgeable canyon. What does the Bible have to do with the wonderful or difficult realities we face on the baseball field or in the city? How do we receive Gods Word, which is truly for all people, at all times, in all places?

Its an old question, one the church has been asking for centuries. The Bible is a historical document with contemporary relevance. But were also aware that it doesnt seem to speak directly to many situations we face. There is no obvious biblical view of nuclear war, a kind of destruction unknown in the ancient world. What about epidemics such as AIDS, an unknown disease in the ancient world? The Noah story describes a dramatic climate change, but does that cataclysm have anything to do with global warming today? Through the centuries, Christians have understood that the Bible cannot be simply proof-texted in all lifes situations. Yet we still believe that the Bible is Gods word for us in our complex world. Enter theology.

The word theology comes from a couple of Greek terms: theos and logos. Theos means God and logos means word. Simply stated, theology is words that express thoughts about God. We hold beliefs about God such as God is love (1 John 4:8). We understand that Jesus died for our sins and that we have a hope that transcends the grave because of the resurrection of Christ. All these are theological statements. We have received Christian theology through our parents, church, and Scripture reading, and we attempt to find how biblically based belief relates to our lives. We do theology as we take Scripture and our inherited theology and seek to work out what God is saying about the issues of today. Every Christian is a theologian.

Ordinary theology is, really, just another way to say theology. The expression emphasizes how theology is part of the ordinary stuff of daily life. Food is a theological topic. We can think about buying food, the need for food, those without food, selling food. What does the Bible have to say about food supply, hunger, and generosity? To ask that question is to think theologically about food. What about government welfare or foreign aid? We can think through the whole of Scripture and apply its perspectives and teachings to such issues. This is theology. And it is something every Christian can and must do. We believe that the gospel is relevant not only to our inner life, but to life in the world. The road we travel as ordinary Christians is to do ordinary theology as we work Gods message into all aspects of daily life.

The Ordinary Theology Series has a few goals. The first is to take up the common issues of daily life and think through them theologically. But another purpose of the series is to invite you to develop your skills as a theologian. These small books are examples of theological method but also a welcome into the necessary, challenging, and joyous task of doing theology. Were all called to follow the example of the first great Christian theologian whose day job was netting fish for a living. Peter did not receive training in the rabbinic schools as had Paul, yet he was the one who first understood and stated that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). He also opened the door of faith to the Gentiles as he came to understand that God accepts every person, regardless of ethnicity (Acts 10). Each of us can make a theological contribution to the church, our family, our community, and our own life. For your sake and the sake of others, be a theologian.

One final word about format. Each chapter begins with a story, and theological reflection follows. Theology happens in We go to Scripture and the deep well of Christian theology as we develop our theology in the place where we find ourselves. God is concerned about people and places and does not ask us to divorce ourselves from them as we follow and serve Christ. And he gives us guidance on how to do that. So, enjoy the read! And again: be the theologian.

Y OU NEVER KNOW WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN YOU GO TO the store on an errand. In the summer of 2012, I was minding my own business in the Whole Foods Market in Wheaton, Illinois, when my colleague Gene Green came up to me and said, Vince, would you like to write a short book on political theology for a series Im putting together? Before I knew it, the word yes came out of my mouth. Although I had thought about writing other books on related topics, and though I had taught many courses on political theology, it never occurred to me to write about it until that conversation.

But this book is not a survey of political theology like the ones I assign to my students. There are already many good books out there, such as Elizabeth Phillipss recent Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed (London: T & T Clark, 2012). So what am I doing in this brief volume?