Hey everyone!
If you didn’t catch it, check out this week’s episode of The Fascinating Podcast, which features the three of us talking about leaving colonized faith, the future of the American church, and a whole lot of pop culture. Also, keep a lookout tomorrow for a special, extra episode of Shake the Dust featuring a new poem that Jonathan just wrote. We’re going to start adding some other types of audio to the podcast feed (at some interval we haven’t yet established), and this recorded spoken word poem is the first of these little experiments. Let us know what you think! And now, without further ado, let’s get to this week’s highlights.
Sy’s recommendations:
Since we’re about half-way through Holy Week, I thought I would share this reflection from Sarah Bessey published on Palm Sunday. It’s a reflection on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the many expectations of violence and nationalism that it upends. She notes how painful it must have been for Jesus to watch the praise of so many people transform into betrayal and abandonment over the course of the following week, as their own desires for power and status stop all but a few faithful (women) followers from remaining with him to the end. Bessey’s love and earnest excitement for the coming of Jesus is clear in her words, and it’s a gift to get to read people who have caught such a clear glimpse of what God’s Kingdom can look like when we seek it first.
On Tuesday, Talia Lavin put out a really thoughtful and personal article on her popular Substack publication, The Sword and the Sandwich, discussing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida. The law would prevent teachers from discussing gender identity or queerness with elementary school students. Lavin zooms in on one aspect of the Republican talking points: the idea that discussing these issues with children is “grooming” them for abuse. She argues that it is in fact silence about gender and sexuality that drives shame, confusion, and naivete in queer children — all prerequisites for exploitation. Drawing on personal experience and statistics, Lavin also points out that the increasingly popular Republican tactic of painting political opponents as child predators actually obfuscates and encourages real abuse. It is a sobering reminder that hatred has consequences that reach far beyond the corruption of the individuals who give into it.
Suzie’s recommendations:
As representative Ayanna Pressley tweeted, a “concrete ceiling” shattered last week with the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to sit on the US Supreme Court. Politicians, pundits, and people from all walks of life have expressed the deep emotions surrounding this moment. But The New York Times had a particularly moving piece which includes excerpts from interviews with ten women members of the Black Law Students Association at Harvard, Justice Jackson’s alma mater. It highlights the challenges that Justice Jackson faced throughout her confirmation hearing — challenges that these women find all too familiar. The students also express mixed emotions of joy at Justice Jackson’s eventual triumph and frustration that it has taken this long. And the article touches on the hope at the possibilities this confirmation unlocks for so many Black women and girls. Representation is a matter of justice and it matters to God. As Christians, we should celebrate steps forward that deeply impact the flourishing of our neighbors, as this article makes clear.
Perhaps nowhere does the theological pertain more to the political than in matters of crime and punishment. The views we hold regarding divine justice often directly translate into how we frame our notions around the criminal justice system. In his recent talk at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Anástasis Center Founder and Executive Director Mako Nagasawa explains why he believes that God’s justice is restorative, not retributive. He argues that such a belief is not new, but was actually the dominant idea behind atonement theories prior to Protestant reformers like John Calvin. Nagasawa, a professed Protestant evangelical himself, points this out not as a polemical statement, but as a follower of Christ whose faith is also deeply formed by Orthodox and Catholic traditions. I highly recommend watching both the talk and the Q&A session afterwards. The latter includes, among other things, information on a cohort that Nagasawa will be leading this summer that dives deeper into these topics.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
I watched Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed on Discovery+. The three part docuseries chronicles the meteoric rise of Hillsong Church on a foundation of celebrity and corporatized Christianity that permitted and covered up spiritual abuse and sexual predation. If you are a follower of Jesus and Hillsong’s music fills your Sunday morning sets and YouTube playlists then this might be a documentary for you. But if you are a pastor or leader who envies their platform and reach or desires to emulate their practices and tactics, then this most certainly is for you. I don’t say any of this to pile on, ridicule, or condemn Hillsong. I say this because we must take a serious look at ourselves and ensure we are in relationship with the Risen Jesus and that we desire to bear witness to Him. Platform-building is not part of the Great Commission. We must interrogate motivations, pursue rigorous formation, and reject the temptation to gain the whole world.
Childlike faith is something Jesus said is a worthy pursuit, but I did not used to cultivate it. That was until I had children and now every night I read The Jesus Storybook Bible with them and remember that some things are not as complex as I often make them out to be. Childlike doesn’t equal immature or naïve, but it does mean a sincere, profound belief and trust in God’s love and goodness that would be a gift to the complex times in which we find ourselves.
Thanks for reading! We hope you all have a very happy Easter weekend, and see you next week. He is risen!
The KTF team