A Little Bit of Edwards for You

"The end for which God pours out His Spirit is to make men holy, and not to make them politicians."
I never knew Edwards could be so sassy. This quote has some bite to it, and I think that's what I like about it. I was raised to be a polititcian--to present myself as having it all together. I think this is the goal of much of popular Christian culture. We present Christianity as an alternative culture with our own family values, song lyrics, self-improvement books, and addictive, behavior-modifying beverages (coffee). Now, I'm a big fan of strong families, good lyrics, and personal change (so long as its not self-change). And believe me, few people enjoy addictive, behavior-modifying beverages more than I (on exceptional occasions to be sure). All this to say, I think the Christian community would do better to be holy in whatever culture they find themselves, than to create their own culture which they present as more holy. Having delivered my rant, I think there is a growing portion of evangelicals (most of whom wisely reject this stigma) who are saying exactly the same thing.