Not all spiritual formation is created equal. Just because you read your Bible, pray, and go to church every Sunday does not mean you are being renewed – as Colossians 3:10 says – in the image and knowledge of your creator.
A very good litmus test for us as followers of Jesus is…do we look like Jesus? Do we love what Jesus loved? Do we love whom Jesus loved? Do we speak as Jesus spoke? Do we embody what Jesus lived and died for?
That has been the historical definition of a Christian for generations: little Christs.
With the rise of Christian nationalism in our present day, many outside the church look at Christianity in America and wonder, what does it actually mean to be a Christian?
One of my favorite books in the last year was Making it Plain: Why We Need Anabaptism And The Black Church with Dr. Drew G.I. Hart. So I wanted to bring him on the show to talk about the history of anabaptism. The history of the black church. And what we can learn about following Jesus today.
Drew is an author, speaker, and professor of theology at Messiah University in Pennsylvania. With a decade of pastoral experience, Drew is a leading voice in Christian ethics, black theology, and anabaptism.
Topics Covered:
- Drew’s upbringing in “Black evangelicalism”
- The difference between “Black Evangelicalism” and “Black Liberation Theology”
- The history of Anabaptism, its victories and vices
- The multicultural reality of Anabaptism globally
- The Christendom mindset and its influence today
- The history of colonial conquest in America and the birth of the Black Church
- How The Black Church balances out Anabaptism
- What went wrong with Christopher Columbus and his spiritual formation
- Why liberation theology is often resisted
- The Black Lives Matter movement and why it is so often resisted
Resources Mentioned:
- Show Sponsor: Planning Center
- Making it Plain: Why We Need Anabaptism And The Black Church by Drew Hart
Show Sponsor: Planning Center
This episode is brought to you by Planning Center, helping you sync all your ministry details across your whole church.
Planning Center has become so essential to how I manage a team, that it’s almost impossible to consider local church ministry without it anymore.
Today, I want to leave you with a PCO pro-tip.
Does this sound like a familiar situation? It’s the end of the week. You’re about to leave the office when you suddenly think: Did all of our volunteers confirm for Sunday? You scroll through the schedule and sure enough—there’s a gap.
Instead of allowing yourself to spiral into a panic, try this:
In Services, Planning Center has gap alerts. Turn them on, and you’ll get a heads-up days before service if positions are still unfilled or unconfirmed. No more end of the week scrambling.
Speaking of less scrambling, did you know you can access everything you need for rehearsals right from the Service media player on your phone? Lyrics, chord charts, arrangement notes—it’s all right there, so you’re not hunting for files in the middle of hitting those power chords.
To see what else you can do to make your Sundays easier, go to planningcenter.com/blog.
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