Too Precious to be Casually Discarded

I had lots of questions about Christianity in college and for some years thereafter. Some of them were theological and philosophical (see “the problem of evil”). But others arose from current events: the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, the rebirth of feminism, the first Earth Day. 

On all these issues the good folk of my native Christian Reformed Church didn’t seem so good. Blacks needed to “be patient” and exercise their responsibilities before claiming their rights, it was said. The government knew better than dissenters on the war so we should shut up and obey Romans 13. The Bible put women in their place where alone they could be happy. And didn’t Genesis tell us to “subdue the earth” rather than coddle it?

It was enough to cost a fellow his faith. That it didn’t, in my case, owed a lot to the Reformed Journal.

Here were eyes that read the Bible with lenses less distorted by patriarchy, Cold War fears, and consumer capitalism. Here were voices deeply informed by Scripture, that conversed critically and faithfully with the Reformed tradition, that offered skeptical and wondering/wandering people like me a different slant on things. The Journal’s doughty example offered hope that we could honor our perceptions of a troubling world without sacrificing our love of a faith that was too precious to be casually discarded but too corrupted by its compromises to be simply accepted.  

I’ve been honored these past twenty years to be one of the many voices carrying on that tradition in a new century. And in what seems, recently, to be a new country. The American evangelical world to which the CRC has become almost entirely conformed, has so gravitated to a false messiah that Jesus’ question (Luke 18:8) should haunt us all: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” The rise of the Nones would indicate “no.” 

But in this Advent season we are called to also notice the small lights arising amid the darkness to point to a better day. The Reformed Journal tries to offer one such affirming flame. Yes, we have our own blind spots; no, we’re not perfect. But together with you, gentle readers, we carry on the effort to refract the light of Scripture and tradition through our own honest experience onto the trials and challenges of our daily life. And onto its joys, humor, and better possibilities as well.

We hope you find our efforts worth your time. In this season, we’re asking you to make it worth a gift too. Maybe you can follow me in giving a $25 donation every month, easy peasy via this link. 

Where does the money go? Our website’s in need of a major overhaul, we have to pay internet fees and small (very small!) stipends to our IT folks and editors, and our writers and editors gather annually for a very low-overhead retreat to discuss the year ahead. 

In all this we remain mindful of and grateful for your support. As a token of our thanks, you’ll receive not one, not two, but three! books to be published in 2025 by some of our associates. We hope you enjoy them and the Journal’s regular offerings.

* But Wait…There’s More — three new books from Reformed Journal Press in 2025

• The Traveler’s Path by Doug Brouwer, early 2025
• Green Street in Black and White: A Chicago Story by Dave Larsen, late winter 2025
• Grounded by Christy Berghoef, spring 2025

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* Give by check, mail to Reformed Journal, PO Box 1282, Holland, MI 49422

Thank you very much!