some hard thoughts...

This is something I've been thinking about for the last several months. Thought I would post it here, not because I'm expecting feedback, but because I like to at least try to be more public about these things. But feedback would be much appreciated (if anyone reads this...)! The audience I'm targetting is American Christians. And also, please don't be offended...I recognize that these thoughts aren't shared by a lot of people and if you know me well, you know that I'd love to talk about this in person if you'd like to! Thanks. -d


“God bless the whole world, no exceptions? - someone’s thoughts on justice and peace and loving enemies”

“Perhaps our well-intentioned efforts to bring all things under the lordship of Christ, American Christian culture has been guilty of baptizing unrepentant social systems and structures. Is it sufficient to ‘sprinkle’ the culture of a city or nation-state and dub it ‘Christian?’” -Lee C. Camp, "Mere Discipleship"

In the last few years, I have become increasingly disenchanted with the pop Christianity the American church often sells, where grace has become cheap, there are 10-steps to everything spiritual, and people have become numb to things going on in the rest of the world. I also have been greatly disturbed by the self-centered sense of privilege that is embedded in the very fabric of our culture, with Christians being no exception, giving birth to soul-numbing materialism that keeps us from engaging in social solutions to problems in our immediate surroundings and those that impact our brothers and sisters in our larger Global Church. These things allow us to be okay with the way things are and be ignorant to how things could be, handicapping our ability to think and challenge in-place structures and institutions that perpetuate inequalities. As followers of Christ, we should be seeking peace and pursing it. We have been sent to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” (Luke 4:18-19). God cares deeply about justice; so should we.

While there are many things that have led us to “sprinkling” our American culture, there has been a significant increase in our political leaders’ interest in God and the Christian faith. While it is my belief that God is knocking on the door to everyone’s heart and is constantly pursuing us and it is my desire to see each person respond to Him and find the love and peace of Jesus, I have become a little wary of the ways in which our political leaders have become our moral advisers, simply because we subscribe to the same faith. I think this is because a lot of these leaders have begun using their own personal beliefs to appeal to certain groups which normally leads to their use of religion to push political agendas. Whether launching massive campaigns to support abstinence programs and anti-abortion laws or promoting heterosexual marriages only, political leaders have become consumed with moral issues (that are very difficult to legislate) and have neglected to pay attention to other more pressing issues affecting America and humanity in general: war, human trafficking, hunger, to name a few. It seems that under this canopy of Christian values and good intentions, American political leaders are "majoring in the minors" and missing the point along the way.

Preachers and priests, also, have become accustomed to this relationship and support it, often celebrating their American identities, reciting the pledge of allegiance in church and preaching the prosperity gospel that allow various other themes to arise: God bless America; America is great, which is why we have God's special favor; America has God's special favor, which is why we are great; God is on our side etc. While there are appropriate places and times for patriotism and national pride (in moderation of course), I suggest that the church of the living God - who sent the Savior Jesus to all peoples from every nation and tongue and values humility and unity and reconciliation - is not one of those places.

Religious leaders use politics; political leaders use religion. What happens, in my opinion, combined with our own ignorance of situations and apathy towards things that are happening outside our doors, is a resulting marriage between American politics and religion. And I see a serious problem with this.

I've never liked the idea of taking sides. I don't like having favorites, either, perhaps because I grew up believing in a God who doesn't like having favorites. I don't appreciate in-group/out-group mentality or "us-them" language, probably because of my Christian upbringing that taught me that Jesus' love and peace and salvation is accessible to all people. There are things that separate people, obviously. We, as Christians, are supposed to be different than the rest of the world because of the transforming love of Jesus that reaches deep into our lives and calls us to change. Jesus did not come to save a certain group of people and neglect those who didn’t live in the “right” country. Jesus extends his grace to everyone and calls us to do the same. And his grace brings people together, unifies groups that are divided, brings peace to nations and individuals who are experiencing various forms of war, and paves the way for redemptive reconciliation to happen, all because of the single act of forgiveness he displayed on the cross. This, perhaps, is the main reason why I have such a hard time bringing the Savior of the world into the American political arena, where we force him to take sides - it is a dangerous allegation to say Jesus would be a Republican OR a Democrat.

This does not simply affect Christians who live in America. Globally, (and throughout history) political leaders have used similar methods to turn one nation against another, declaring that God is on “our” side. Brothers and sisters in Christ who live all over the world become enemies because of this mentality. I will be the first to boldly claim that there is no room for enemies in the Body of Christ. We have been called to seek peace and pursue it (1 Peter 3:11). We have also been called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:45). Jesus transcends differences of culture and national identity and borders and patriotism (and oil...), so that his salvation and peace can be received by everyone, despite earthly identities that seek to divde and separate us.

Lee C. Camp offers readers of Mere Discipleship an interesting perspective on what it means to be a follower of Christ, not just one who believes in all the right things. Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have done awful things "in the name of Jesus". Christians, for example, fight and kill their fellow brothers and sisters on opposing sides of a war. The Rwandan genocide took place in the alleged "most Christian" nation in the world. Constantine obliterated people groups in order to spread the gospel. Is it possible that we, as American Christians, in our time and context, are guilty of "using" God - especially when addressing topics of war and domestic and international issues of social justice? Scary thought.

I am definitely not saying that I think we should stay out of politics, as Christians, simply because of the ways in which Christians have manipulated the truth, using God to bless their sins--political and non-political--in the past. (I believe that we are all guilty of this, on one level or another...and myself especially). I guess the question (which will inevitably lead to more questions) lies in what our primary identity is and where our primary allegiance lies. Are you an American Christian or a Christian who happens to be from America? I'm coming to the point where I believe that knowing the answer to this question will dictate how we live our lives and whether our earthly identities--especially in the political field--will inform our religious beliefs or vice versa.

Perhaps John Roth explains these ideas best in his article “‘In God We Trust’--The Dilemmas of Christian Citizenship”. He concludes this chapter with a powerful challenge: “Allegiance to Christ does not demand that we be anti-American. But it does assume that the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ has genuine consequences for our lives; it assumes that our primary identity and loyalty are going to be focused first and foremost on Jesus Christ and his church; and it assumes that nothing--not Caesar or the American flag or the principles of democracy or the Western Tradition--transcends the call of Jesus to love our enemies. In walking in the path of Jesus, trusting fully in God, we bear witness to the power of resurrection, the power of love over death, and the ultimate triumph of the Lamb.”

Amen.