Jonathan Leeman — president of 9Marks and author of Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule — joins James Spencer for the eleventh episode in the faith and politics series.

Leeman uses "political" functionally rather than partisanly: all of life falls under the rule of Christ, and the local congregation is meant to exemplify what that rule looks like. His central image is the embassy. Soil is just dirt until an authority consecrates it as belonging somewhere — and when a congregation gathers in Christ's name, it becomes something like the temporary geography of his kingdom, holding a deputized authority to declare who belongs and what the gospel is.

From there: why the Bible functions as a constitution rather than a legal code, and Leeman's distinction between straight line and jagged line issues — those where the path from text to political conclusion is direct, and the far larger set where Christians can reason faithfully and land in different places. He argues most of the trouble in churches comes from treating the second kind as the first.

He closes on where political formation actually begins.

Go deeper: Christians & Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Chapters:

00:00 9Marks and what it exists to do

01:33 Which church, and what "political" means

04:57 Philemon and resituating what's already there

08:43 Why an embassy

11:04 Consecrated soil and the geography of the kingdom

15:33 What church authority actually is

20:23 Delegated versus deputized

22:06 The scattered church as political threat

23:50 Telling governments their limits

28:03 The Bible as constitution, not case law

34:41 Sending people into political vocations

41:07 Wisdom from God to do justice

43:04 Straight line and jagged line issues

46:38 Where political formation begins

 

Jonathan Leeman &mdash; president of 9Marks and author of Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule &mdash; joins James Spencer for the eleventh episode in the faith and politics series.
Leeman uses "political" functionally rather than partisanly: all of life falls under the rule of Christ, and the local congregation is meant to exemplify what that rule looks like. His central image is the embassy. Soil is just dirt until an authority consecrates it as belonging somewhere &mdash; and when a congregation gathers in Christ's name, it becomes something like the temporary geography of his kingdom, holding a deputized authority to declare who belongs and what the gospel is.
From there: why the Bible functions as a constitution rather than a legal code, and Leeman's distinction between straight line and jagged line issues &mdash; those where the path from text to political conclusion is direct, and the far larger set where Christians can reason faithfully and land in different places. He argues most of the trouble in churches comes from treating the second kind as the first.
He closes on where political formation actually begins.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/christians-politics">Christians &amp; Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>
Chapters:
00:00 9Marks and what it exists to do
01:33 Which church, and what "political" means
04:57 Philemon and resituating what's already there
08:43 Why an embassy
11:04 Consecrated soil and the geography of the kingdom
15:33 What church authority actually is
20:23 Delegated versus deputized
22:06 The scattered church as political threat
23:50 Telling governments their limits
28:03 The Bible as constitution, not case law
34:41 Sending people into political vocations
41:07 Wisdom from God to do justice
43:04 Straight line and jagged line issues
46:38 Where political formation begins
&nbsp;

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why.

Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don’t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text.

Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors.

Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith.

Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why. Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don&rsquo;t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text. Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors. Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="http://thinkingchristian.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://thinkingchristian.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1793101185691000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0pRkBIb9TL81w5uxzgoS8C">thinkingchristian.org</a>

Thinking Christian with Dr. James Spencer reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Each week, James, co-host Dr. Ashish Varma, and guests (biblical scholars, theologians, pastors, and authors) take up the questions Christians face: politics and Christian nationalism, technology and AI, biblical manhood, suffering and mental health, how to read Scripture well, and what faithful discipleship looks like now. Calm, careful, and grounded in the text. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian: Bible, Theology, and Culture

Jonathan Leeman on the Church as Embassy | Faith & Politics #16

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/02ed8bc2-482e-42b1-9707-b4b30157b713/transcript