Category: Theological Thoughts

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How the CREC got on Tucker Carlson twice in one week

What would cause a small denomination of about 130 churches worldwide to have two representatives–in the span of seven days–interviewed by one of the most listened-to shows in the world?

It requires what I call “happy generalism.” You must desire an ecclesiastical culture that is at ease in the priestly world of Exodus and the heavenly world of thronerooms in Revelation, who sits in the Shire, Wessex, Middle Earth, and walks through wardrobes.

To have something worth sharing, you need curiosity about the world. In other words, you cannot be interesting unless you are filled with interests. A happy generalist must be saturated with imagination, ready to twist the plot at any second, prepared to explicate things from a unique angle, avoid cliches, and see the world through new eyes.

I guarantee you that this is not the fruit of public education nor a steady dose of Fox News; it is a mind equipped with the literature of the West, biblical preaching, abundant discourse and dialogues, festive meals, and champagne toasts.

I have seen congregations of 50 people achieve more publicly and intellectually than congregations of 5,000. No one should be allergic to growth, but we should all be allergic to incurious growth, the kind of increase that happens merely on emotive or entertainment grounds.

This week has been more than instructive. We have seen that good ideas articulated carefully, rooted in undaunted courage, can take you to some of the biggest platforms. In those places, you can tell millions that Christ is risen indeed, halleluiah!

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Racism and the Seatbelt Society

Various forms of racial/ethnic animosity are a common thread in a disenchanted world. It is far easier to find massive scapegoats to alleviate our people’s political and social sins or our own.

In this paradigm, we can live reactionarily, passing out guilt cards to everyone else and every people group but ourselves. Then, our mistakes can be atoned for and absolved by those who regurgitate the same priestly language. It’s “their fault” is not a 21st slogan. It is as old as midday in the Garden of Eden. This model chooses a seatbelt society specializing in safety but never giving heed to the adventure of responsibility.

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Critics of the Armor of God

It’s good to be back and see that the world acted just splendidly without my insights. I have used seasons like Lent to read and write more to a limited group. My substack account has filled that void, and I would encourage you to subscribe: https://drbrito.substack.com/. I suspect the world will be headed toward a more de-centralized writing platform allowing writers to use their gifts without much censorship. Substack has been wonderful in giving readers a sense of my journey in travels, writing, and projects.

I was also able to spend a significant time this season talking about my new book. Books like mine have a one-month momentum, which needs to be absorbed. I tried to use that short season to do 15 podcast interviews, including a talk at New Saint Andrews College’s Sword and Shovel Bookstore. The evening was wonderful and filled with delightful conversations.

Beyond that it has been great to hear of churches buying copies for Book studies. That was one of my central reasons for writing a book on a familiar text. I wanted folks to see the armor of God in the context of priestly warfare. I think the argument is compelling and has been compelling to various audiences.

Those who have seen my work as a kind of typological overreach have their concerns, and I respect them. But what I attempted to do is build the armor through priestly patterns, patterns that I believe are overwhelmingly present throughout the Scriptures. I have run away from mystical and esoteric interpretations, choosing the Scriptures to speak its own language with its raw simplicity.

I have further argued that Paul was not a bored prisoner staring into a Roman soldier and building his metaphor, but instead richly active, imaginatively using the categories from which he builds his entire pastoral theology (and if he did write Hebrews, the pattern becomes even more striking).

I may not have convinced everyone that there is something to consider in the priestly theme, but I have hopefully moved the ball in the right direction.

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The CREC and Postmillennialism

In this conversation, Kendall Lankford interviews Uri Brito, a pastor and presiding minister of the CREC (Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches). They discuss the background and purpose of the CREC, the concept of Reformed Catholicity, the importance of confessions and memorials, and the differences between amillennialism and postmillennialism.

They also address the sacred-secular divide and the need for a biblical perspective on history. The conversation challenges pessimistic views and encourages a hopeful vision of the future. In this conversation, Uriesou Brito discusses the importance of understanding the historical context of the Bible and how it applies to our own historical moment. He emphasizes the need to interpret biblical passages in light of the original audience and their specific circumstances.

Brito also highlights the slow and steady growth of the kingdom of God throughout history, starting with the seed and leading to the establishment of happy nations and an everlasting kingdom. He addresses the role of suffering in post-millennialism and the need for a theology of martyrdom. Brito encourages believers to be actively involved in their local churches and to align their homes with the teachings of Scripture. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of a new beginning and consistency in the Christian life.

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How to be Happy and Fat as a Christian

Shrove Tuesday is a glorious excuse to feast like the Hebrews, swim in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory guilt-free, and do what hobbits were made to: have a second breakfast. Christians should be notoriously bold about eating, and they should be notoriously known for getting together to eat. As a matter of fact, eating together is the virtue that toppled empires. While the Egyptians ate at elaborate banquets, God sent locusts to consume and eat their banquets. Of course, God will not allow competing parties in his world. If they attempt to compete for Banquet Hosts, God will consume them.

So, how do we enter into God’s banquet? Where do I RSVP? The requirement for entrance to this banquet is not acute taste buds or a culinary degree; it is the badge of love. “Better a dinner of herbs with love, than a fatted calf with hatred and disobedience,” says the Lord.

Fatness as Blessing

In our evangelical attempts to outdo the ascetic movement, we often talk timidly about the extra slice of pizza we had, or we say even apologetically, “I sure ate a lot last night!” But in the Bible, apologies about eating can seem outright tasteless. We don’t have to dig too far in the Bible to see that the idea of “fatness” carefully considered is a good thing. For example, the word “anointing” means to “make fat.” The Hebrew word Dashen means to be fat, grow fat, and become fat.

In fact, Psalm 23, a favorite to many, uses that precise language. In Hebrew, it reads: “You fatten my head with oil and my cup overflows.” Shrove Tuesday is an additional opportunity to criticize our sensitivities, wash away the grammar of cultural pietism, and embrace the fatty bacon like a gift from God.

God is not stingy about butter, and under ordinary conditions, as Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit, children of the living God should ask for a double portion of pancakes.

The Abuse of Food

And this leads me to my final point in this brief but fat-filled exhortation, and that is that we only abuse the gift of food when we forget that food is a blessing to a forgiven community. Unrepentant communities don’t know how to eat correctly, and as a result, their food is merely consumed and not celebrated.

On the other hand, the Church’s table is good and right and wholesome and beneficial because it is covered by the blood of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ. Jesus was food for us, and now we eat the food of the table with the hearts of forgiven saints. Solomon says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” The mercy of confession is what makes food glorious and delicious.

Tomorrow, we are going full-steam into a 40-day culture of repentance. For many, this will mean fasting and meditating and focusing in greater detail on our lack of gratitude for the gifts of God. We have eaten without understanding, communed without confession, watched without discernment, entertained ourselves without the table, and found refuge in feeble fortresses made by human hands. We have rebuked our children for their lack of love while we have been unloving to our spouses and our own children.

We have 40 days to flesh this out, but tonight, eat well, laugh goodly, and love your neighbor like God loved the fat of the lambs in Israel’s sacrifices. Don’t be shy! Jesus gave his life for the abundant table we share tonight!

Let us pray:

O, Lord, how beautiful these last days have been! Prepare us now on this last day of Epiphany for the gifts of your table. When we forget you, we forget life itself; therefore, give us the fat of Israel’s sacrifices, yay more, give us the fulfillment of Israel’s sacrifices, Jesus himself. For the riches of Solomon’s house and the banquets of Pensacola do not come close to the glory of the marriage Supper of the Lamb. As we stand at the end of Epiphany and the entrance gate to the Lenten Season, may our hearts long for the kneeling bench of forgiveness, the peaceful ethos of a clean conscience, and the benediction of a loving God. Cleanse our hearts that we may eat as unto the Lord and may live as unto the Lord, for we pray unto the Lord of forgiveness who declares our hands clean to eat and drink, amen!