“The church exists today as resident aliens, an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief. As a society of unbelief, Western culture is devoid of a sense of journey, of adventure, because it lacks belief in much more than the cultivation of an ever-shrinking horizon of self-preservation and self-expression . . . . When we … More QUOTABLES: Adventurous Colony in a Society of Unbelief
The human ego is a sly and persistent bugger. Our bent toward self-centeredness is an ever-present menace in times of well-intended Christian living. You never know when and where the individual ego, under the strong influence of the Enemy, will take and distort an otherwise good, God made gift. The Enemy will often lead our … More When ‘Togetherness’ Isn’t Enough
“Whenever a people are bound together in loyalty to a story that includes something as strange as the Sermon on the Mount, we are put at odds with the world.” – From Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony by Hauerwas & Willimon
“The basis for the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount is not what works but rather the way God is. Cheek-turning is not advocated as what works (it usually does not), but advocated because this is the way God is — God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. This is not a … More QUOTABLES: The Cost of Following Jesus
I’m sharing some noteworthy excerpts from one of my favorite, most influential books — “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony” by Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon. Chapter four addresses Christian social ethics as faithfulness to the community’s normative story — in this case the Jesus-shaped story. “The habit of Constantinian thinking is difficult to … More Resident Aliens 4
I’m sharing some noteworthy excerpts from one of my favorite, most influential little books on church engaging culture — “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony” by Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon. Chapter 3 is my favorite chapter of all, recasting the entire Christian life and experience of salvation as the invitation into a new, … More Resident Aliens 3
Chapter 2 of “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony” by Hauerwas & Willimon engages the issue of the church’s engagement with the powers-that-be. In typical Hauerwasian fashion, they suggest the church focus it’s energy on being the church — a distinct, alien tribe that remains faithful to it’s own life shaped by in the … More Resident Aliens 2
Already 21 years old, “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony” is a little book by the Duke duo Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon that purports to offer “a provocative Christian assessment of culture and ministry for people who know that something is wrong.” Two decades later, something is still wrong. This book speaks powerfully … More Resident Aliens 1
“Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that — whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent — I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the … More PHILIPPIANS 12: Resident Aliens (1:27-28)
Jeremy L. Berg 