Mike Slaughter
In the summer of 1972 I received my license to preach in the United Methodist Church. I am currently in my 50th year of active ministry. During those years I have experienced vital mission movements that Jesus followers have participated in, with committed leaders marching and fighting for civil rights and working together to alleviate poverty. Great evangelical leaders were full participants in the movement. Civil rights leader John Perkins from Jackson, Mississippi, author of Let Justice Roll Down; Tony Campolo, Wake Up America!; Ronald Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger; Phyllis Tickle; Maxie Dunham, to name but a few, were demonstrating how to be the church in the world – loving God with heart and mind, making others more important than self.
I have seen a turn in the last two decades where Christians in the name of Christ are making idols out of political leaders, being silent in the face of growing white nationalism and denying science in the name of personal rights.
This past week Carolyn and I took three of our grandkids (10, 8 and 4) to a tourist attraction that features the biblical tale of Noah’s Ark and other related exhibits. The experience was not on my playlist, but it was something they wanted to do since they had free tickets. Out of the thousands of guests spread throughout the park, we were the only five wearing masks in the crowded indoor exhibits. We might have been in the midst of a super spreader event. When have personal rights superseded the rights of others?
I spent two hours after our encounter explaining to our grandkids that dinosaurs weren’t on the Ark. They existed millions of years before humans. We also talked about the displayed timeline that claimed the earth started in 4004 BC with the creation of Adam. I fear my grandchildren may grow up to deny a faith that refuses to love God with both heart and mind – a distorted faith that puts self above others.
I had the privilege of interviewing Rachel Held Evans a few years ago about her own cynicism and doubts about the faith after reading her book, Evolving in Monkey Town. Take a few moments to watch the interview.
1 comment
Join the conversationCraig Horn - August 1, 2021
I have several issues with this article, Mike.
Yes, the woman in the video was in a spiritually abusive (not allowed or safe to question) church. She needs to heal from that, is true. Your interview style was superb, very much so. An interviewer does not preach during the interview. If we were to answer her concern about the fantastical, “Is it even believable?”, story of the resurrection I would have her read the NT from the perspective of how much of it is eyewitness accounts. Dr. Luke did Luke and Acts as a research paper (interviews way likely). Paul says “Don’t believe me? Ask the eyewitnesses (including Simon’s sons). John says “…what I have seen and touched, etc”. At some point one either believes eyewitness accounts or not, but they are there.
Mostly, I’m sorry but I have to say it, I have issues with your dismissiveness of young earth perspective. I hold that perspective. Perhaps this narrative did not fully reflect the actual conversation but, as given, is arrogant and divisive, disrespectful of an opposing viewpoint. Why not teach them “Kids, there are two points of view here and I want you to see both. This is mine. This is theirs”. This world needs less polarization into Us vs Them, not more and you lost that teaching opportunity. As a young earther I cannot fully reconcile evolution with my beliefs, but once the sun was made I trust in a literal day and take it from there. Neither, as a scientist, can I fully reconcile the religion of evolution as an observed fact. (Genetic drift and variation, eg. We have many breeds of dog that don’t at all look alike but in the end they are all still dogs, not something else). So I am caught in that limbo of knowing the theology of both sides, holding my personal beliefs and recognizing that in the end we are all one body (Eph 4:4).
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