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When we divorce our emotions we do not know how to be good listeners, we do not know how to show empathy. Instead, we think we are cowering to humanists or the nonbeliever and thus not effectively representing God. That is not always true, however. Learning to integrate our humanity with our theology does not make one an outright humanist. We have to understand that the gifts that God is giving us are to be used for His glory. So if I deny my emotions, I am not honoring God. I am actually suppressing a gift that He has given to me to have shared experiences with other human beings. That does not always mean it is going to lead to regeneration, but what it can mean is a reinforcement of biblical truth. And so in many moments where I am walking alongside those in mourning, I have followed the biblical admonition to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). While I know that our God is sovereign, this may not be the time for introducing this theological reality. Instead, I am going to simply sit with you here and walk with you through your season of loss. In these moments, we become more holistic in our apologetic as we approach others with our head, heart, and then hands. In my context this often lays the foundation for future conversations where I can verbally and theologically engage believed heresies that have surfaced as I have gotten to know people.
Forrest: How is the theme ‘inhabiting the City of Man, being the City of God’ relevant to this cultural moment?
Horton:
This is a conversation that I have with my students as I walk them through the nuances of Augustine’s theology. One of the components that I express to them about the City of God is that it helps us particularly in America because of our unique position. Throughout history, there has not been a democracy like ours. What I try to help students understand is that no matter who is in power in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, no matter what their worldviews are, the global mission of Christ’s Church — to make disciples of every ethnicity — is still intact. The reality of living in the City of Man allows us to be kingdom previewers of the City of God. So, our mission to express what righteousness, holiness, justice, empathy, compassion, righteous indignation, and truth-telling are — these are kingdom attributes that Christ embodies perfectly. So even when we fail to do that, even when we miss opportunities, the good news is that Jesus’
perfect righteous never retreats from us. We are still forensically not guilty and our citizenship remains in heaven. The reality is that the country of our origin, whether here today or gone tomorrow, does not change the fact that we are called to make disciples. Often the greatest pushback to this perspective is from my fellow Christians. The reason is the unholy weaving of the doctrine of Americanization that was employed mainstream in our culture, especially escalating post World War II, which meant that to be American is to be Christian, to dissolve your previous heritage, to take on a new heritage, and a new nationality. In the church, it is assumed that your identity in Christ has nothing to do with or has no room for dialogue on ethnicity, which is something we don't do with gender. If we did this with gender, we would have no skin in the game when it comes to the LGBTQ conversation or the sanctity of marriage conversation. We do not do it when it comes to economic stewardship because we talk about stewardship, employment, and work ethic, but when it comes to ethnicity all of a sudden, we are one in Christ. There is no Greek or Jew. But if we are only going to take a two-thirds interpretation of Galatians 3:28, then we need to be consistent. We either need to take a zero-third interpretation or a three-thirds interpretation. So the reason I feel led to dialogue with that in the City of God is because when we look at Revelation 21:44-26, it is the ethnicities which are bringing the honor of their cultures, heritage, and spiritual capital into the City of God to present to Him as a presentation for His glory. So the ethnicities of the regenerate, the full elect of God, the City of God, all the constituencies are a multiethnic, multilinguistic, multigenerational, populated city of those that God has elected and those whom He will save. Therefore, ethnicity remains present in the eternal state. This side of eternity, specifically in America, the church has bought into the lie that ethnicity causes division, and my pushback is the City of God shows us there is unity but still ethnicity. Thus, this is something we need to redeem as American Christians. It is a God-given gift. To affirm the ethnicity of a believer is not to usurp their identity in Christ, and I think this is an important counter to what many have believed stemming from the City of Man.
