31 David Fitch on Freedom From Faith that Divides

“Let’s forget nation-state politics until we can engage practically the injustices going on in our towns and villages in which we live.”David Fitch is the B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary in Chicago. He is also the founding pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community- a missional church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Many of you may know Fitch as a leading voice in conversations about culture and missiology. You can find more about him on his website reclaimingthemission.com and this podcast Theology on Mission.We find ourselves in a precarious and liminal time. And many of us grieve our angry culture that seems obsessed with antagonism. In his book the Church of Us vs Them, Fitch contends that the Church has been swept up in this Us-vs-them mentality that has turned us into an ‘enemy-making machine. This episode expolores how we got here and how we can free ourselves from a faith that feeds on division. And because this episode is about handling antagonisms, I take the opportunity to throw Fitch a few hand grenade questions! So stay tuned and see how he handles them!“When we extract belief out of practicing it in our everyday lives, it turns into a banner, an ideological cause that we rally people around. And we lose sight that God actually wants to work into our lives - transforming our lives into a way of life that witnesses the kingdom before the world.”