I Guess I'm "Liberal"

Guess I never thought of myself or TWOTP as liberal or conservative, just a fractured glimpse of something broken but still raised from the dead and daily stumbling towards Jesus. I say that because I got a letter titled "Saddened" from a pastor saying I was propagating the liberal-pluralistic-Unitarian movement and that I should start leading people to Jesus who alleviates all problems. Uhhhh...I don't think Ted watched any of the films he's criticizing, and most of his peculiar speech act could easily be discounted as silly,flippant, youthful and unattached to good fruit-producing struggle, but I'm assuming his "truth grenades" are shared by few others, so I thought I start this dialogue although I doubt many are interested. I tried to connect with Ted without any success and I'm not the wordsmith...(Get it? I stopped writing..because I'm not a wordsmith....Hahahahahaha!) Anyway, all that to say here's Ted's "saddened" email and a note from my pastor about the soil from which I come...again if any body is interested.

TED'S SADDENED LETTER

Hello,

As a pastor/church leader for the past 11 years, one who was fully schooled in the works of Hauerwas, Sweet, McLaren, & Bell, who grew up in a liberal-Mennonite church, I was deeply saddened by the advertisement I received for the Scott Alexander teaching series. I have watched the liberal-pluralistic-unitarian movement continue to try in vain to harness humanism to change the world. I have watched the world of evangelicalism, in it's attempt to put flesh on it's message, begin to swing towards this same tired, powerless belief system. I have watched wonderful friends leave for long term mission trips of mercy & service come back not with spirituality, but a social justice philosophy. I am so weary of seeing people trade in a gospel that has power for one that does not, & I am disappointed to see Work of the People propagating views that narrow the person of Jesus down to what we can do without him. There is such a rich expanse of Christianity that is not fundamental-right-wing-nonsense, but this liberal movement misses the kingdom of God in it's reaction. Both sides exemplify a narrow, lacking worldview. There is more than both of you realize. Evangelicals preach with words but no actions, pluralists/etc preach with work but no actual message (aside from humanism). When unitarians like Alexander feed a starving village but fail to address the issues of sin, hunger will always remain. Jesus provides freedom from the characteristics in people that cause hunger/greed/apathy/etc. Oh how I wish my compassionate liberal friends could see that they are leading the world into a place that is not free of problems & rejects the one who can alleviate them. I don't know what the point of writing this is, except that I'm bummed. So, please, stop spreading this stuff. Sigh.

Sincerely,

Ted

NOTE FROM MY PASTOR AARON EDWARDS

Ted,

I am not officially affiliated with The Work of the People but I am deeply connected to their mission because the church that I pastor shares the same soil as TWOTP. So I get the chance to see what Travis sees since he has taken root in the community. And what we see on a regular basis is dead things coming back to life and broken things being put back together. Our community is filled with homeless people and addicts who are at the end of their rope and they have taught us that being at the end of our rope is the easiest access to total surrender which then leads death which then leads to life. We are well aware that this process is only possible because of the One who had the ability to lay down His life and take it back up again. Its not just about Jesus, it is Jesus. TWOTP's purpose is not to push a liberal agenda or an evangelical agenda or humanism of any sort. It is to tell stories of hope and transformation. I haven't seen the Scott Alexander piece or the advertisement for it so I am not defending him or his beliefs but if you have seen even a small portion of the films that TWOTP has produced, you know that there is a wide variety of belief systems from a wide variety of brothers and sisters. Maybe there should be a disclaimer for people who may be confused, that the views of these pastors, theologians, and artists don't necessarily reflect our views, but really I think these films have done an incredible job of not only sparking healthy debate, but also to force us to get even more clear about our own visions/missions. Your email was a perfect example, you were very clear about what you believe and why you believe that both sides of the fence come up short when representing Jesus, recognizing our need for a Saviour, and what that may look like in action. You are a brother and you a part of the Body. Thank you for caring and thank you for your passion and desire for people to see that physically feeding the hungry without spiritually feeding the hungry will offer very little nourishment. We agree. But also please rest assured that Travis and Steve have talked and prayed and thought about everything you just said long before you just said it. So the only thing I would disagree with is your assumption that what you realize is more than what they realize. Please keep up the Kingdom work and thank you for perpetuating a healthy dialogue that can bring us all back to the foot of the cross where we are only left with one agenda, and that is His agenda to save and reconcile that which was lost.

Aaron Edwards
sOndays church