Let me connect two conversations you may have never thought to connect: church polity and structural injustice.

(Haha! Only from a 9Marks guy, right?)

If you recognize the reality and relevance of one, you should be able to recognize that of the other. 1/7

For years, 9Marks has been teaching that church polity shapes individual Christian discipleship. Church polity teaches me that my Christianity is not about just me and Jesus. It means being a church member, which is to say, part of a family and body, with various duties. 2/7

The "rule structure" that is a church's polity broadens my sense of identity, shapes my values and ambitions with respect to Christ and his followers, and enumerates my responsibilities and obligations to this body. 3/7

If you as a Christian are accustomed to thinking in these terms, and not just individualistically, you should not have too hard a time transitioning to -- getting your mind around -- a conversation about structural injustice. 4/7

This latter conversation, likewise, recognizes the significance of rule structures (formal and informal) and groups to an individual's identity formation and moral responsibilities. 5/7

As with church polity, the conversation about structural injustice presupposes a world where ethics and value and meaning and identity are not merely individual but social. 6/7

All this means: if you have a generation of Christians who have been trained to disregard the significance of polity and church membership, we shouldn't be surprised when they struggle to understand the category of structural injustices, too. 7/7