Roaring Lambs or Bleating Lions? Andy Crouch, Nate Barksdale
October 1, 2000
Dream with us of an America transformed. At a sold-out concert at the Las Vegas House of Blues, hundreds of fans of the hottest pop sensation of the year sing along to lyrics that unabashedly proclaim dependence on God. On national television, an innovative and much-lauded musical artist reads from Scripture. The major media, no longer bastions of anti-Christian prejudice, take faith seriously, and novels written by Christian authors and dealing with explicitly Christian themes hold several slots on The New York Times best-seller lists. Meanwhile, the nation's highest political leader repeatedly and publicly acknowledges his need for God and his reliance on faith. This is a world in which Christians are no longer second-class hangers-on in a secular culture. It is a world in which the gospel is presented on MTV, ABC, ESPN, and the highest-profile Internet sites. It is a world in which believers no longer feel ashamed.
Sound like an impossible dream? Wrong. It's the United States of America, circa 2000 A.D.
Thanks to (in order of appearance) Moby, Lauryn Hill, John Grisham, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, President Clinton, and innumerable other prominent figures who weave the language and beliefs of Christianity into their public life, we're at a truly weird moment in modern American history. Much to the frustration of secularists, America is awash in professions of faith. And though neo-Buddhist health gurus and Harry Potter-emboldened proto-pagans (not to mention Joe Lieberman) are certainly getting air time, good old fashioned Christians-the kind who talk a lot about Jesus-dominate the scene.
With uncanny timing, a moderately obscure book written for the Christian market in 1993 has resurfaced and, with the aid of a heavily ...
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