When a Famous Christian Dies | Daniel McCoy

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/when-a-famous-christian-dies/  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ One of the sadder facets of building a personal library is pausing every few years to realize how many of your favorite authors are now dead. I recall the first cold splash when glancing through my shelf and seeing Colson. Geisler. Nash. Absent from us, present with Jesus. Made me sad…but grateful. In the years since, I realized something sadder. It seemed every time a famous Christian died, it became a new digital Gettysburg: Christians clamoring to the fresh front of the social media civil war. If funerals are notoriously awkward for not knowing what to say, Facebook fixes that. Social media becomes something of a lip-loosening liquor that turns some into sentimental drunks, gushing adoration for the deceased—while others get mean, rattling off reasons the world is better off now. Meanwhile, recent years mean losing another wave of evangelical leaders. Voddie Baucham, James Dobson, John MacArthur, Tim Keller, Tony Campolo. And even typing that incomplete list, I anticipate combustible comments forming in readers’ minds. Campolo—really? Wasn’t he too liberal to be considered Christian? Or, You think MacArthur was a good Christian leader? I’ve got receipts. It’s grim how ungracious Christians can be toward each other after one of them dies. And even when we’re not outright denouncing the deceased, we might feel the need to digitally distance ourselves from them when we can’t risk the impression of being aligned with their brand of Christianity. Because even if they’re technically a brother or sister in Christ, if we’re being honest, weren’t they just too (fill-in-the-blank)? Wasn’t Dobson too political? Wasn’t Baucham too divisive? Wasn’t MacArthur too chauvinistic? Wasn’t Keller too devoted to third-wayism? Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ Get our Premium podcast feed featuring all the breakout sessions from the RENEW gathering early.  https://reallifetheologypodcast.supercast.com/  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW