Let me begin by saying how much I adore NT Wright and emphasize how much of an impact this man and his work have made on my life. Honestly, he was an INTRICATE piece of the puzzle of my transition out of Evangelicalism and into the wilderness I find myself wandering around these days.
Yes - I would NOT be where I am today if it were not for him.
These days, however, I find myself having moved beyond the place where he took me. Very far, actually. Through his books (especially Surprised by Hope) he took me by the hand and led me (sometimes dragged me) out of my very deep Evangelical Theology and opened up a door that led to an entirely different world of thought.
I am forever grateful.
But, like I said, I’ve moved beyond the place to which he took me and I came to this realization while chatting with him. When we talked back in Spring 2020 I was at a place where I had all but abandoned the doctrine of hell and when I motioned for him to come with me in the conversation to talk about it … I don’t know … I could sense that his brakes went on and it wasn’t going to be something we were likely going to agree on.**
(** Although I had abandoned it, I could tell he was holding on to it even though he was holding on to a VERY, VERY different version of hell than the one many of us were raised with.)
And you know what? - THAT’S OK.
I’ve moved beyond the place where Wright brought me and that doesn’t make me any better than him or him any better than me. Instead, it just means that my journey has taken me in a direction that his hasn't and even though he’s a thousand times more knowledgeable than me and a million times more theologically sound than I will ever be … I don’t really care.
He has his reasons for holding on to the doctrine (as different as it is from Evangelicalism’s understanding of hell).
AND.
I have my reasons for trashing it.
He thinks one thing, I think something drastically different and yet I adore him, his work, and the impact it’s had on my life and journey - I recommend his books to EVERYONE.
I wanted to tell you today that it’s OK to move beyond the place where some of your biggest mentors have brought you. In fact, YOU SHOULD move beyond the places where they bring you because life and faith are all about growth and change and evolution.
Keep growing.
Keep changing.
Keep searching.
Keep going.
And if you do, then you know what? That means that your mentors and the teachers you’ve admired throughout your life did their job because a good teacher will always raise up students who move past him/her/them.
Much love,
Glenn || SUPPORT THE SHOW: PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE
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Want to share the episode with friends and family? Here’s one of my favorite NT Wright quotes, feel free to pass it along on your social media pages.
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“There's this story in chapter 10 of Mark's Gospel where Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd of his groupies are making their way through the streets of Jericho. People are trying to get a glimpse of Jesus, the crowd is growing - Mark paints a pretty hectic scene.
Suddenly a blind man named Bartimaeus cries out, "Jesus, have mercy on me!"
He wants help.
He wants healing.
He wants Jesus to make things right.
He wants to see.
BUT.
What does the crowd do? What do the disciples do? Do they bring him? Do they carry him to Jesus? Do they clear the way so this man can get the help he needs? You'd think so, you'd hope so ... right?
But instead Mark tells us that, "many sternly ordered him to be quiet."
Ouch.
I've come to realize lately that there is a Bartimaeus living inside of all of us …”