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Happy July 4th San Marco Church! I pray that you enjoy the holiday weekend with friends and family. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers for our family as we traveled on vacation. I always find that travel expands my perspective and enriches how I understand my faith and the world. For the next couple of Sundays, I will offer insights from a new book that a colleague just published. Rev. Dr. Michael Beck’s book entitled “Distortions” explores 6 different schools of thought that are distortions of the teachings of Jesus. All of these perspectives contain some of the basic values of our faith, but each one eventually endorses ideas that create obstacles to living as Christ calls us to live. Healthy faith requires that we filter these perspectives in order to avoid misunderstandings. One of the distortions that I will discuss is Christian Nationalism. This is the perspective that God specifically favors one’s country over all others. Beyond merely expressing gratitude for one’s country, Christian Nationalists may forget that Jesus’ kingdom is “not of this world.” Christian Nationalism endorses a view that leads to less compassion for immigrants and even an imperialist approach to sharing the gospel. Jesus was not an imperialist, and his teachings indicate limits on how we understand patriotism. We can love our country without elevating our country above God’s kingdom that includes people from all nations. The other distortions we will discuss include “churchless Christianity, prosperity gospel, Jesusless progressive Christianity, consumer Christianity and Conservative Family Cults.” I will explain these different distortions on Sunday and then the following Sunday I hope to focus on the distortions about which you want to learn more. This means I’m seeking your engagement in examining this topic. If any of the categories I listed inspire your interest or questions, please email me at stevehart100@gmail.com with specific questions. I will do my best to tailor my messages based upon those questions. After Sunday’s worship service, you may have more questions or comments. My goal is to shape the message based upon God’s leading which will be manifested in your comments or questions. Thanks for your prayers and support of San Marco Church. I look forward to seeing you all in worship Sunday! Steve Hart
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