William Cheriegate asked me to expand on the following remark in my post on Transmillennialism – not least for the benefit of those who ‘grew up in the midst of a conquering American “christian” empire’:

To my mind, the Bible has lower expectations about the nature of the impact of the people of God on the world around it.

The expansion has become something of a story in its own right, a summary of how I think the biblical narrative situates us in the world, shapes our calling as a distinct people of God, and sets the scope of our expectations and ambitions.