Admittedly, a blog entitled ‘God in the Wasteland’ seems a bit stark! Allow me to offer a brief rationale. David F. Wells, professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the Boston area, wrote a seminal four-part book series critiquing the past and present state of theology and the Christian church amidst our prevalent post-Christian culture. As I pondered over a blog title that would both capture and communicate my thoughts and experiences about life in Minneapolis, I thought of Wells’ second book in that series, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams. That nailed it–the search was over.
Mind you, I’m not suggesting Minneapolis is a wasteland. Rather, I’m simply facing the reality that life in the city (even for Christians), while exciting and rewarding, is often filled with hardship, suffering, loneliness, doubt and despair.
But amidst this seemingly stark dilemma, God is there. I’m hopeful because of the Gospel. This blog is a humble attempt to embrace the city and the church with all its beauty, diversity, contradiction and ruin, with the God who made it.
So if you tire of a version of Christianity that holds forth vacuous promises and rosy platitudes and could use a little dark side amidst Western sanitized “nice” faith absent of bite, this blog’s for you.
Wells was right: God is alive in the wasteland.
Soli Deo Gloria (Latin for Glory to God alone)
Michael L. Johnson
