A reader writes … “I’m the classic kid who grew up Evangelical”

A reader writes …

Dear Brian,
I know you are very busy and maybe won’t even read this but thank you so much for your brave writing, I’m sure you get quite a lot of grief over it but I wanted to encourage and thank you. I am the classic ‘kid who grew up in the evangelical church’. My dad was a pastor and my whole life was church and the evangelical bubble ( including being a missionary) until my late 20’s when all my understandings of God started to fall apart. At the risk of making this too long let’s just say that huge career disappointment, long term unemployment after coming out of full time christian ministry, having a disabled child and university study that raised many questions made my 30s the time of getting rid of all the paradigms and christian culture I had grown up with. I just read Rachel Held Evans memoir and we could be spiritual twins in many ways.
I read ‘Generous orthodoxy’ this year and it was so good. So good to hear I was not the only one with big questions about the evangelical way of church. So good to hear a bit about how other Christian traditions view such things as the cross and the kingdom of God. This has led me to reading writers from Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox streams, which has basically saved my Christianity because I can now see that it is possible to experience God organically without having to ‘know’a whole lot about him, it’s been awesome. I am starting my Masters degree in Anthropology next year and my thesis topic is the new trend in evangelical Christian missions of moving from ‘soul saving’ to justice based ‘incarnational service work, and if this is a result of emerging theology, I quote you and N T Wright in my thesis proposal. My university is secular, but they find the topic fascinating. Keep writing, looking forward to reading your new book.

Thanks for writing … and thanks for your encouragement. It’s an exciting time to study anthropology, and especially the intersection of anthropology and religion. In your studies, be sure to explore Rene Girard. You’ll find amazing insights there.