Tools for Monday: What is Your Stance? (Part 1)
As the young people say, “It’s been a minute.” We have not convened on our church blog in some time! Why? Much of it has to do with the Old French term “vicissitude,” which simply refers to the ups, downs, twists, and turns of everyday life.
Our goal in the next few weeks is to come up for air from the ongoing vicissitudes and provide some blog articles for spiritual growth during the season of Lent. Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5. It is our hope that your Lenten journey may be better equipped and edified by the articles. At the very least, we hope they will give you some food for spiritual thought in an otherwise hectic Spring season.
We begin the conversation with a question: What is your stance? A stance in this case does not refer to a specific belief system or doctrinal statement. Christians already have plenty of those. The stance we’re concerned with in this article has to do with underlying biblical convictions that prompt action. A stance helps you do something with your faith.
This method of considering “stances” was made popular in some theological circles by a Christian ethicist at SMU named Robin Lovin. Yet, he also made the term more understandable for the masses. Lovin specifically defines a Christian’s stance as his or her posture in dealing with the world. In other words, convictions in the believer’s life, which are given shape by Christ, work together to form a guiding posture for how we respond to the challenges of life and culture. Consequently, an effective biblical stance can help us be in the world but not of it (John 17:11, 16).
Throughout Christian history, we can identify four primary stances among Christians. Each stance has a biblical basis and can be helpful dependent upon the diverse and complex kinds of situations we face. Next week, we will describe the four primary stances, share some strengths and weaknesses of each, and discuss how the stances can help us activate our faith in practical ways.