I was thinking about how to explain Jesus’ atonement to your average person-on-the-street for an article ByFaith asked me to do as part of their series on Calvinism.
Then I realized that I never hear that word anymore, with one exception–sports. Sports has remained one of the few hallowed grounds of secular society, and now bears much of the weight of our theology. Shame and guilt, victory and defeat, saviors and redemption–sports maintains those categories. Sports, art, and sex now carry our secular longing for transcendence.
It’s worth reflecting on as a point of contact with a rapidly de-Christianizing world. For now, please let me know any thoughts on my attempt to explain the doctrine of atonement in a world that has tried to outgrow shame.
