The Black Letters Matter Too: The Shallow Theology (and Politics) of the Red Letter Christians

As should be obvious to anyone, the political climate these days is pretty divisive, and often in the center of that divisiveness is Donald Trump.  This polarization is not just in the world in general; there has been a lot of debate within the Church on how to approach someone like him, who may push for some things Christians want like not allowing wanton late-term abortions but in other ways represents things that make it hard to support him.  I’ve long advocated for a nuanced, fair, but critical view of Trump (and any politician, really), as I’ve made clear on this blog, but what tends to happen is tribalism instead.

It is into this environment that the so-called Red Letter Christians (RLCs) have tried to speak up over the last several months, putting out public statements condemning Trump and his policies.  Many on the Left, both secular progressives and progressive Christians, have praised these statements as showing “principled” Christianity as opposed to those hateful Christians who voted for Trump.  The organization gets its name from the fact that many Bibles print the words of Jesus in red letters to distinguish them from the rest of the text.  As one of its leaders and founders Tony Campolo has tried to put it, RLCs allegedly ask this simple question: What if Jesus actually meant what he said?  They then try to build what they believe to be a more authentic version of Christianity over and against traditional evangelicalism.

As should be clear to anyone who has read some articles on this blog, I’m far from a fan of Donald Trump, and I’ve been critical of him as well as many Christians who I feel blindly defend him no matter what he has said and done.  Thus, there is no doubt that some of the criticisms of Trump and politically conservative Christians by RLCs are correct.  That said, there are some serious problems with them, as they are an organization with double standards, a pitiful approach to exegesis, and ultimately very shallow theology that is informed more from their feelings and the world than any robust treatment of Scripture or careful reasoning.  Don’t get me wrong; I do not intend to question anyone’s salvation, and no doubt people who identify as RLCs have done a lot of good charity work.  Nonetheless, it is not an organization to take very seriously as a strong theological voice for any scripturally-minded Christian.

Why Kobe’s Death Was So Jarring

I had just finished teaching Bible study last Sunday when I looked at my messages and saw a friend had texted that Kobe Byrant had died in a helicopter crash.  I couldn’t believe it; in fact, the first thing I did was check ESPN as well as other major news sites to see if they said anything, and at that point they had not.  That gave me some small hope that maybe the story was inaccurate or even a hoax, but the reports quickly poured in that confirmed the news: Basketball and Laker legend Kobe Bryant had died.  It was very surprising, and the news kept getting worse.  Thankfully, a report that all of Kobe’s children were on board was wrong, but then five deaths turned to nine, three of which were young girls.  One of them was Kobe’s 13 year old daughter Gianna, who had recently been seen often at basketball games with him.

I typically am not overly affected by celebrity deaths because, like the vast majority of people, I obviously do not know them, though of course I am sad for them in a general human sense.  However, I pondered Kobe’s death throughout the week and kept up with news about it, and I know I’m not alone in that.  Even my mother, who’d rather watch a Korean drama than an NBA game any day of the week, made a comment about how impactful Kobe’s death was on the general culture, referring back to the reaction to the death of JFK Jr.  Others have also compared this death to Princess Diana’s in terms of its overall effect.  For some reason, this celebrity death felt different to many people.