Christian Tribalism A Threat To The Church
July 7th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Mickey Maudlin is a Senior VP at Harper One which published Rob Bell’s controversial book, Love Wins. Over at News & Pews, the Harper One blog, he writes about the controversy surrounding Bell’s book and his post had this bit I thought was interesting:
As a young evangelical, I was socialized to see the biggest threat to the church as theological liberalism. But now I think the biggest threat is Christian tribalism, where God’s interests are reduced to and measured by those sharing your history, tradition, and beliefs, and where one needs an “enemy” in order for you to feel “right with God.” Such is the challenge facing the church today and what the reaction to Love Wins reveals. So the success of Love Wins fills me with both hope and fear. But it has also made me thankful that I work for a publisher that is independent of these church wars and allows us to concentrate on books that offer hope and light. Because, with Rob, I really do believe that love wins.
I am ashamed to admit, but as a young evangelical I got sucked into the Christian tribal wars. Eventually, my outlook matured and I realized just how destructive it was to carry the banner of pseudo-orthodoxy and wage wars of words on my Christian brothers and sisters. Dissatisfaction with that tribalism nearly led me to lose my faith entirely.
I can only imagine how a non-Christian must view our bickering. I also wonder how grieved God must be to watch his children fight each other instead of following his command to show love to a world that so needs it.
