The Missional Mistake with Mark Galli

The Missional Mistake

In my next installment of The Elusive Presence, I begin a three-part examination of evangelical ecclesiology. It is often said that evangelical Christians don’t have a theology of the church, but I beg to differ. We very much have a working theology of the church, and I believe it is seriously, deeply flawed. Why? By now, the attentive reader will not have a hard time guessing. But that actually is the subject of the next two installments. For this first one, I mainly look at “The Unfortunate Pedigree of the Missional Church.” Disney Is Not So Family Friendly After All So Disney is threatening to pull out of Georgia for the state’s decision to disallow abortion after a heartbeat can be detected in the unborn child. As reported in Variety, quoted in a Rod Dreher column: Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger says his film and TV studios are likely to vacate Georgia as a production hub if the state’s controversial heartbeat abortion bill becomes law. Speaking with Reuters at Disney’s theme park in Anaheim, Calif., Iger said it would be “very difficult” for the content giant to remain in the face of the legislation. The bill seeks to ban abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, “I rather doubt we will,” he continued. “I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. Right now we are watching it very carefully.” Disney, famous for its family-friendly fare, apparently is disturbed that Georgia really believes in family values to the point of severely limiting the elimination of children. But I suppose humor might be the best way to process this sort of thing, as in the satirical Babylon Bee, “Disney CEO: 'To Avoid Filming Among Depraved, Immoral People, We Are Moving All Our Georgia Operations Back To Hollywood.” ‘Black Guns Matter’ Now for something completely different—a movement called “Black Guns Matter.” led by activist Maj Toure. This is what I found interesting: the refusal of this African American leader to play the victim card while acknowledging real injustice against black Americans. And his acknowledgment that more whites than blacks are killed by police. And his training people how to deescalate conflict so that groups don’t have to resort to violence. And his insistence that gun control is an attempt to keep blacks in their place. And his winsome and yet decisive character. Anyway, I’m not exactly sold on all his ideas, but watch the whole ten-minute video for a glimpse of a different way of facing into our racial tensions. ‘The Chalk of Champions’ Among the issues important for mathematicians is good quality chalk. Apparently, the supply is threatened. It’s a small thing in some ways, but I get it. How much more enjoyable a job can be when you are working with high-quality tools. Grace and peace,

Mark Galli Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today