Snippet: Unbundling

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s one from Skye Jethani talking about a kind of faith “deconstruction” that can be healthy (on the Holy Post Podcast, Episode 497):

“I think there are people raised in, let’s say, white, suburban, evangelical Christianity for whom Christianity was bundled with certain cultural and political values and they’re realizing, ‘Now, wait a minute, they don’t have to be bundled together.’ You can still hold on to faith in Christ and express your politics this way or some cultural issues that way.”

I would add that is also true for a black or Hispanic urban Christian for whom Christianity has been bundled with certain cultural and political values. Or an African rural… You get the point.

I really find this term and idea helpful. If you study church history you see some seriously crazy bundling, but it’s much harder to see how we do it as well.

And some of the voices I’ve appreciated throughout my life are those that help us see where we’ve bundled faith in Jesus with a particular political perspective or denomination or theological tradition.

I’m not saying we can’t prefer a particular political approach or denomination or theological tradition. They just can’t be welded or inextricably bundled to the faith.

Photo by Max LaRochelle on Unsplash