Matt and Jonathan,

Thank you so much for your updates from South Africa.  I greatly appreciated living vicariously and learning about the saints in that part of the world.  It sounds like it was a fruitful and tremendously important trip given the need there in South Africa.

Jonathan, your last post left me musing on something, then Mike's mystery quote sealed it for me.

How different is the United States from the Union of South Africa when it comes to the needs and threats against the church?  Particularly, Jonathan, I was thinking about this summary point you shared:

According to one pastor with whom we spoke, that battle for the gospel is on two completely different fronts. Among much of the White population, the battle is against secularism, post-modernism, epistemological authority, and the same things we're battling in the West. Among much of the Black population, Scripture is treated as authoritative among many. The battle is against (i) ATR (African Traditional Religion, e.g. ancestor worship) and (ii) Charismatics a la Trinity Broadcasting Network (called "The God Channel" in S.A.) and prosperity gospel. Talk about two different battles--both post-modernism and TBN!

For several days I was thinking, "But isn't that a fair description of what occupies the attention of Black and White churches in the U.S.?"  Aren't we battling various forms of superstition and false religion (not much ancestor worship, to be sure, but other claims for the supremacy and essentialness of "culture," etc.) and TBN and prosperity gospel here?  "Both post-modernism and TBN?"

You made mention of the tendency to nod or give signs of approval to a speaker, even when you don't necessarily agree with what's being said.  That's been part of how many (myself included) have tried to explain how it is thousands of people could listen to Jeremiah Wright Sunday-to-Sunday and not hold his political views.  In the U.S., that was seen as somehow excusing the inexcusable.  In South Africa, perhaps the visitor sees that as some curious aspect of "indigenous culture."  But I think it's the same thing.

And McKinley's quote underscores why it's important that we see this dynamic right here where we live, not just "over there."  Folks on TBN sound a lot like us at times.  They use similar words and ideas, and yet mean something far, far different with different and sometimes disastrous consequences.  The hocus pocus in Creflo Dollar's teaching is no less disastrous, imo, than the syncretism that combines ancestor worship and Christian practice.  I think it's the same thing.  Both having a cultic, controlling influence over people... damning some and hindering others.

So, let me plead for something that I'm sure Jonathan would agree with.  Let's confront at home the things that we find odd, curious, wrong, shameful, ignorant and unfortunate abroad.  For my money, TBN is a much bigger (popular) problem than the New Perspective and post-modernism.  Maybe 10% of my folks know anything about these things.  Maybe 10%.  But nearly the entire congregation dips into TBN on occasion or has someone who appears on that channel that they appreciate, but who is less than sound on critically important issues.  Can we please prime the book and article publishing machine and YouTube and web and every other medium to counter the paganism that masquerades as "church" and "Christianity" right here where we live?

Without hesitation, I could point to a dozen books that I think would be helpful on post-modernism, emerging/emergent, and so on.  But I can't recommend more than 2-3 that address prosperity errors or other falsehoods frequently viewed on TBN.  And that's where too many American Christians live.  I think the USA is much the same as the USA.  We need to work on that.