Fuzzy Theo-logics

Abstract

I have never warmed up to theological visions that make a hard and fast distinction between the church and the world. I have always found such distinctions inaccurate, if not downright farcical. It is a pious and noble idea to think that the church functions as a community of believers who live a qualitatively different life than the rest of the people in the society in which they live. The correlate to the church as a “set apart” community entails that “the world” or secular society lacks kindness, mercy, or awe at the transcendent mysteries of life. This distinction does not hold up under empirical scrutiny and turns out to be more of a desire than a demonstrable reality. My first problem with the “godly church vs. godless world” theoretical construct is that it does not resonate with my pastoral experience and observations of actual church people. On most days, it is hard to tell the difference between what they do “inside” church and what they do “outside” in other aspects of society. I have witnessed shockingly godless behavior among church people while they were doing churchy things. My second problem with this fantastical construct has to do with the fact that many of the so-called “secular” arenas of human life often bear witness to people acting with care and compassion toward others and showing respectful curiosity at life’s mysteries. This is not to say that I cannot detect any difference between what goes on in the church fellowship hall and the shopping mall; it is just that the lines have always seemed rather fuzzy to me. There are deeper levels to my unease with sharp dividing-line theories like Luther’s two kingdoms theory and with more contemporary neo-Aristotelian Protestant virtue ethics. As a Reformed pastor and practical theologian, I object on principle to the idea that some part of creation has been abandoned by God and turned over to malignant forces of godlessness. Theologically, I see all of creation as coming from and belonging to God. This world is God’s world—always has been, is now, and always will be. Corruption, evil, rebellion, and dehumanization stem, in my admittedly Calvinian-Augustinian view, from the disordering or twisting of things that are created good. If some parts of creation were to be truly abandoned by God, I believe that they