49: Dr David Fitch: Church on the Wrong side of Power

Feb 21, 2024

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S3 E8: Dr David Fitch: Church on the Wrong Side of Power

What happens when the church uses the power of the world to accomplish the purposes of God? You get the Church on the wrong side of power, with a reckoning that needs to take place. Today I talk with David Fitch about his new book, Reckoning with Power, Why the Church Fails when it’s on the Wrong Side of Power. In this work he describes three kinds of power the world uses, and contrasts it with the kind of power that God has. Indeed this is a reckoning of power moment, and Fitch’s book is a wonderful guide. Trigger warning, while our conversation spans theology, politics, culture, and ecclesiology, and made my brain explode a few times, we do talk about modern political figures and events openly.

Fitch has been a pastor for 30 years, planting 9 churches, he is the Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary Chicago, IL where he runs a few of their doctoral and masters programs. He is the author of many books, a writer for Missio Alliance, a blogger, and a cohost of the Theology on Mission podcast.

You can purchase Fitch’s new book here: https://rb.gy/3k9zlc
You can find Fitch’s podcast here: https://rb.gy/9ycm3m
You can subscribe to Fitch’s substack here: https://davidfitch.substack.com/

Time Stamps for the episode:
02:31 Call me Fitch
08:17 My second conversion
15:12 A different kind of power
20:45 4 kinds of power
26:16 Using worldly power for God’s purposes
29:38 The temptation of authoritarian leaders
34:41 Why January 6th was not a wake up call
40:40 Sequestering God’s power to the inner life
45:41 Promised land nationalism vs Acts ecclesiology
51:29 When worldly power mixes with theology
57:07 Politics and the pulpit
1:01:55 Weaponized ideas
1:06:36 Conclusions

All Music for this episode is provided by Axeltree

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