Left behind?

A Christian surge overseas creates problems for the U.S. religious left | Marvin Olasky

You've probably seen this before in screeds from the religious left: claims that conservative Christians have twisted Christ into a god made in their own image. For example, the Huffington Post website earlier this year ran a claim by Jim Rigby of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin that "many Christians seek a white male king . . . [Europeans] could not see Christ in non-male, non-European, and non-Christian people because they were limited by their theology."

PCUSA pastor Rigby concluded with a call to teach our children to abandon "the dictator Christ of this culture." But is the idea of God with authority the product of our culture? This summer I worshipped at a house church in Beijing, and last summer relished a service in a Zambian megahut. Crucially, those Asians and Africans see Jesus as Lord, not just a pal. Secondarily, they have conservative positions on homosexuality, gender, etc. Our Daniels of the Year illustrate this development.