It has been a while since I last posted. Amidst all the turmoil in our divided nation, the increased risks posed by a mutating virus that is literally culling our population, and all the associated economic uncertainties, I have a sense of peace and my fears have subsided.
I am saddened by the reality that large segments of what has been called the evangelical Christian church in my country have strayed so far from the life transforming teachings of Jesus Christ. But heartened by the reality that God is still in control of everything, and has never been taken by surprise. I have no clue when my wife and I will be able to get COVID vaccinations, but am at peace. It will happen at some point. In the meantime, I will pray for those who are working overtime to get the vaccines distributed to those who will administer them. And always have a clean mask handy!
Shortly after the inauguration of President Biden, a leading evangelical figure pondered aloud: “What are we to do now that we have a President who doesn’t share our values.” I found myself asking myself: “What values are you talking about?” At the same time, I was pretty sure I knew. It was primarily about the issue of abortion, and secondarily about the erosion of “traditional” family values, gender roles and the notion of our country and its history of white supremacy somehow on a glide path towards undesirable change or even destruction.
Not to unduly repeat previous posts, but when I watched Marjorie Taylor Greene’s floor remarks in the House of Representatives, I was struck by how she identified herself. First, she wanted everyone to know how much she hated abortion. Then she talked about being a sinner saved by grace and the blood of Jesus, and admitting to saying and writing things she should have known or actually knew were false. But her spirit was one of defiance, justification and victim hood, not repentance. In a very real sense, she represents an extreme version of the posture of millions of Americans who self-identify as evangelical Christians. That is a great tragedy, with profound implications for the church and our country.
So exactly what values did Jesus exemplify and teach? Love is number one. Without love, it doesn’t matter how well we follow the rules, how much power we have, or even how much we communicate Biblical truths. Akin to love are empathy for those who are hurting, compassion, humility, sacrifice for others, speaking the truth, integrity, hard work, helping those who cannot help themselves, having a peaceable spirit, contentment, joy, thanksgiving, and submission to lawful authorities.
The history of Christianity shows that all of us tend to paint God in our own image, over emphasize our own compliance with the law as somehow earning God’s favor, and generously add multiple layers of our own cultural “icing” to the core elements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen this all over the world, but for today I want to focus on my own country. Our democratic traditions have, at least in the evangelical Protestant community, led to autonomous local churches led by the lay members, when the only Biblical model we have is a universal church led by elders under the lordship of Christ. Of course, groups of Christ followers gathered and worshipped and shared life in individual churches, but there was nothing democratic about their governance, they were led by elders, and local bodies readily and primarily identified as part of the church universal.
How did the American church become so enamored with gaining and using political power to impact the culture? How did so many embrace the non Biblical notion that our country is somehow specially favored by God, so as to ignore major swaths of our history and give birth to virulent Christian nationalism? And in the face of clear Biblical teaching that in Christ all races and cultures are equally loved and favored, why has the church ignored or minimized systemic racism, and led the battle to maintain white segregation and superiority when God has graciously brought people from every ethnic group on the face of the earth to our shores? Why are Christians leading the fight for unrestricted access to weapons that kill, including military assault rifles? Finally, why in the richest nation in the world do we have such massive levels of poverty, such unspeakably evil levels of greed, such demonization of immigrants, such unequal access to health care, such hatred of those who threaten our personal idols of self sufficiency and pride (as in “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”), and perversion of the Christian Gospel as if it were a promise of economic prosperity and national blessing?
The simple answer to all these questions is that we all are by nature highly resistant to surrendering control of our own lives and personal wills to the God who created us and purposed us to live in dependence upon His provision. Balkanization of the church is the natural result of human pride and a desire to use the church to attain or retain power over others. Syncretization of the church is the natural result of culture blending with and sometimes obscuring Biblical truths. That is how people who profess to be Christians are so easily snared by political forces and culture wars. My brain will forever retain the images of flag waving, cross bearing, weapon toting Americans chanting “USA, USA” and forcibly breaching our Capitol to prevent the certification of an election they believed was somehow “stolen.”
With the sole exception of drunkenness, our immediate past President manifested in his everyday life all of what the Bible teaches are acts of the flesh, in full opposition to the spirit of God. Of special note are selfish ambition, envy, jealousy, rage, discord, hatred and sexual immorality. And he manifested none of the Biblical fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. And yet, he evidently embraced the “values” of many evangelical leaders. What does that say about the American church?
When our Lord was alive and engaged in ministry upon this earth, the leaders of the religious establishment refused to recognize him as the fulfillment of centuries of prophesy. They spent their time worrying about losing their power and control over the people, they dressed pridefully and meticulously, focused mainly on keeping the rules of their religious community, and never really knew or understood the God they purported to serve. They were the Pharisees, the one group to whom Jesus addressed His most strenuous objections and curses. Now, almost two thousand years later, we have a new breed of Pharisees. All who follow them are living a lie, on the path to certain destruction, unless they make an abrupt U-Turn and repent.
I will never hold up any political leader or any religious leader as a model for all aspects of the Christian life. But in Joe Biden, my heart is warmed by his compassion, empathy, familiarity with grief, humanity and apparent desire to heal our divisions. This to me is a gentle reminder that God is still in control. For that I am so very grateful. Not proud, but extremely grateful.
And what about abortion? I know that God loves all women who become pregnant, regardless of how that happened. Those for whom pregnancy induces terror, such as a victim of rape or incest, or those who have life threatening medical emergencies, or who are teenagers nowhere near ready to be a mother, ALL followers of Jesus need to have the same compassion for them as He does. Search out local pregnancy resource centers and find ways to help them. If able, come along side the expectant mother and offer to help with expenses of child birth. Share Christ’s love with them. Pray with and for them. But don’t force their decisions, don’t picket medical facilities that perform lawful abortions, and don’t threaten anyone with violence. Most Americans oppose using abortion as a form of birth control or abortions for convenience after the first trimester. There will always be those on the political fringes who will demand unlimited rights to abortion, but that is far from mainstream, either in the culture or the church. Remember that LOVE is the main thing.
I pray for our polarized nation and church, that God will use people of good will on both sides of the political divide to gently restore a level of mutual trust and common hope among our citizens that we can come together and responsibly secure that level of unity that is essential for the continued viability of our Union. I pray that leaders of all faith traditions in our pluralistic society will work together to put the Golden Rule into practice on a massive scale. And finally, that all who identify as followers of Jesus who have embraced a failed political leader as a means to accomplish specific aspirations of their faith will repent, receive God’s forgiveness and disavow use of armed force or violence to destroy our democratic republic. May Christians cease to be part of the conspiracy theorists or armed protesters who traffic in lies and pursue hateful tactics against their fellow men and women, all image bearers of God our Creator. Amen.
Have a blessed day!
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