Pastor James Hein: Worthy Goals, Unexpected Influences
Spurred by cultural tensions, motivated to spread a world ‘gospel-view lens’, and influenced by Jerry Seinfeld, blogger/podcaster Pastor James Hein’s thoughts will likely cause a reexamination of daily inner monologue. One topic that is particularly pressing to James is our view of and living-out of every day lives in the Christian faith.
James Hein: As a child and young adult, I went through the Christian motions, yet functionally what captured my heart was the same as every other person. This is the problem with American Christianity. I think many Christians have the gospel downloaded into their heads, but not operating on their hearts. It’s like when you download a new program or driver onto your computer. It’s not enough to simply download the information, you actually have to install it on the operating system in order to truly benefit from the information.
Gospel Lens
I’m afraid, as I did for many years, a high percentage of Christians are familiar with the information of God’s promises, but are still living their lives operating by the flesh, not faith.
I want more Christians to view the world through the lens of the gospel and consequently live confidently, humbly, gratefully and graciously to the glory of Jesus by faith.
An Eclectic Mix
Growing up, my most powerful influences were the observational comedy of Jerry Seinfeld, the sense of mystery and wonder generated by the magic of David Copperfield, and the ability I saw in my favorite professional wrestlers to cut promos that captivated people (which created my love of public speaking). I consider myself kind of an amateur version of all of those things rolled together.
Drawn to Milwaukee, WI by the diversity of race, money, and need, James describes his current home church’s location in Brewer Hill as ‘a uniting place’ being right in the mix of an impoverished neighborhood. In recent years, James has served hugely differing congregations. Throughout these changes, one thing has remained steady:
“I just don’t feel like myself if I’m not reading good Christian writing or trying to produce writing of my own.”
As for his own writing process, James says, “I’m better at deconstructing something than starting from scratch and creating something.” He lets the Bible offer commentary that he believes the world longs to hear.
A New(ish) Way to Communicate
James regards modern communication mediums as a miracle in the sense of accomplishing something that you can’t naturally accomplish through yourself. In this case,
Gospel proclamation has traveled through various mediums as culture and technology have changed. The game-changing moments in history have been the transition from oral transmission to written record (which led to books), and handwritten record to printed type (which allowed for widespread dissemination of materials and made the Reformation possible).
I think the Church still hasn’t quite fully caught up to the technology of the internet. When we do, we could see the next major chapter in the history of gospel proclamation. I enjoy venturing into that possibility.