A Fresh Perspective

Sarah Pulliam Baily of the Religion News Service recently reported that six Christian leaders, including Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, have created a new coalition called "Imago Dei," Latin for “image of God,” to encourage people to treat one another with respect. Samuel Rodrigues, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who is leading the cause declared, “I want Christians to not be known for what we oppose but for what we propose.” The campaign declares: “For the image of God exists in all human beings: black and white, rich and poor, straight and gay, conservative and liberal; victim and perpetrator; citizen and undocumented; believer and unbeliever.” Let’s hope the leaders of this campaign and those who join them will actually live out the commitments such a theology demands.   The clear implication of this declaration is that we are all God’s children, the divine DNA resides in all of us, we all have the Spirit, we all b...

The conversion of the Roman jailer in Acts 16 was a favorite text of mine in my evangelical beginnings. What was it that compelled the jailer to become a follower of Jesus? I hardly think it was the message itself. There is nothing in the text to suggest that the jailer’s conversion had anything to do with the reasonableness, truthfulness, logic, coherence, or appeal of the message itself. What made the difference was the jailer’s experience of the message lived by Paul and Silas. It was the earthquake and what transpired afterward. Paul and Silas refused to flee. Had they fled the jailer would have been held accountable for their escape. It may have cost him his life. The jailer is emotionally, psychologically, and physically shaken. He comes trembling: “What must I do to be saved?” It was his experience that changed his perspective, that opened and readied him to receive the good news Paul proclaimed. It has been fascinating to observe the cultural shift in perception a...