ONE OF THE STRANGE DIFFICULTIES of twenty-first century Christian faith in America is that it is so flat.  In our attempt to make and keep things simple, we have committed a unfortunate reduction.  The “heaven or hell gambit” has been very powerful in conversion, and rightly so.  More and more, though, I find people (students in particular) using my own beliefs against me.  We have taught them, on some level, to strain for gnats.  A big draw for me concerning N. T. Wright has been his ability to “re-inflate” the balloon of historical Christianity for me, something deeply rooted in the covenants to Abraham and Moses and David and that has been fulfilled in Jesus and now invites people like you and me to be a part.

The frustrating thing is that many Baptists (and Christians in general) are so content with the cart that they’ve forgotten the necessity of the horse.  That horse, I think, is a vital and viable view of the kingdom of God.  So it was with great surprise that I flipped through the most recent issue of Christianity Today and found an article by Russell D. Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary about the broad strokes off the Gospel message and its implications for all of creation.  Let’s face it, caring for a world that will go up in flames sometime soon is not a very encouraging thing, and it’s been the inadvertent view for many of us for too long.

Sure, the article reads a lot like N. T. Wright-lite, but that’s okay.  It’s a step in the right direction.  Is it something new?  Yes and no.  The language has always been there, but the thrust has not.  At least not in my own experience.

I strongly encourage you to check out the article, “A Purpose-Driven Cosmos,” here.  Can’t wait to share it with my students next quarter.