A vitally important thread. Much isnt new, but is so in the…

1. The increased burden of sifting fact from fiction is one that only the economically privileged have the bandwidth to keep up with day-to-day, especially w/the SPEED of news generation we've seen in the last 6-10 years. This contributes to polarization & significantly... 2/12

... disadvantages blue collar America (on the left and the right) in an info economy, and is a massive catalyst for populist sentiments that make it exponentially harder for already-weak institutions to lead or swim against the tide (see Yuval Levin's "A Time to Build"). 3/12

2. I cannot agree more effusively with @sometimesalight's point re: social media & narrative. Social media platforms function as counterfeit institutions (social spaces that form identity via narrative, connection via shared purpose, & virtue via participation). 4/12

Prior to SocMed's ubiquity(approx. 2010), sifting/weighing primarily happened in traditional institutions (esp. churches) where perspectives tempered by wisdom, virtue, & relationship both evaluated & prioritized info. They served as both refuge & filter, solvent & catalyst. 5/12

Counterfeit Institutions like SocMed falsely promise the BENEFIT of connection w/o the BURDEN of formation. Being content/virtue agnostic is itself a purpose w/deep moral implications, shaping us toward expressive individualism & (over time) epistemological nihilism. 6/12

3. @DavidAFrench said in our interview that he believes the primary diff b/w public figures whove stayed consistent vs gone off the deep end during the Trump era (eg @ericmetaxas) is whether theyre anchored in healthy institutions. This is VITAL. 7/12 https://t.co/ayDslWjUc6

When Evangelical institutions are more shaped by their counterfeit, they function as mere platforms w/o a formative purpose (e.g. Great Commission). Expectations of leaders follow suit, making everything @sometimesalight describes THAT much harder for those who need it most. 8/12

4. We're living thru epistemological crisis, but not b/c secular post-modernism won out. Just as "no creed but Jesus" is a creed, "no formation, just expression" IS formative. Institutions w/o formative purpose (i.e. platforms) cant HELP but form expressive individualism. 9/12

Levitical laws were liturgical narratives shaping Israel's orthodoxy THRU orthopraxy (& why @drmoore's article is so on-point). Evangelicals outsourced our orthopraxy to the culture wars, our epistemology to SocMed, & our orthodoxy to nationalism. 10/12 https://t.co/jFq1gAnOEU

This is not about politics. This is about our country, about the rule of law, and about the sanctity of human life. https://t.co/rYidlxRvfE
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) January 11, 2021

5. Lastly, far more than democracy @ stake: the Church's witness. Last wk's insurrection is culmination & escalation of everything post-evangelicals feel so genuinely frustrated w/, but I wont belabor what I've already written re: @ length below... 11/12 https://t.co/t2r6wQtzNa

"Secularism is not the prodigal son who fled a good and loving home, it\u2019s the estranged spouse of evangelicalism\u2019s extramarital affair with individualism."

This is a thesis that has been incubating since before the pandemic hit, but... (1/5)https://t.co/gD0IP58HVw
— Brad Edwards (@cbradedwards) September 8, 2020

Culture war fallout will likely "winnow" Evangelicalism, w/refugees falling into @msgwrites's boxes. B/c witness is to both Xp & His Bride, I suspect which will largely depend on whether the baby(Institutions) is thrown out w/bathwater(Counterfeits). 12/12 https://t.co/KKiSA6ZE2r

EXPANDED THREAD on the fracturing of evangelicalism:

I keep thinking about what I\u2019m observing as I talk to other pastors & ministry leaders around the country and I think that evangelicalism is fracturing into at least 6 distinct groups:

1/14 pic.twitter.com/lR5xkApYn2
— Michael S. Graham (@msgwrites) December 21, 2020

A vitally important thread. Much isnt new, but is so in the air we breathe we forget how RECENT it is & therefore how unaccustomed we r to coping w/it. At the risk of hijacking her great observatns, theyre pivotal to points others have made re: Institutional Evangelicalism...1/12

More from For later read

You May Also Like