Most articles I read in Evangelical Christian
magazines and websites since the recent presidential election are attempts at
being irenic. There are pleas for unity
and sometimes gentle rebukes to those who are upset. Politics we are told, should not divide the
church. Those who voted for the losing
side are warned that they may have put their hope in a particular candidate
rather than the Lord. This is a time for
Christian unity. (I must confess that
often I begin reading these articles, but don't finish.) Then there are the Facebook posts reprimanding
those who protest, often accompanied with a few Scripture verses on submission
to human government.
Unity and submission; that sums it all
up. Your side lost; get over it! Quit being a crybaby!
However, as I think back on the history of
the church, and as I ponder the Christian heroes of the last two millennia, I am
often struck by the fact that these heroes were not submissive and they
didn't strive for unity at all costs. In
fact, they often were the focal points of great division. They were men and women who dared to speak
truths that were contrary to contemporary church thinking.
There was John Huss (or Jan Hus) who dared to
speak out against the medieval church in Bohemia and who was executed for his
words and actions. John Wycliffe who
dared to translate the Bible into the English language, followed by William
Tyndale who did the same, called by some God's Outlaw, who was also executed
for his "crime." And, of
course, there was Martin Luther who
split the German church by his insistence on preaching righteousness by
faith. We who call ourselves Protestants celebrate these men
as our heroes.
And, of course, there were many more - Anne
Hutchinson and Roger Williams, both banished by the Puritan Church of New
England for preaching and teaching a Christianity that was not tied to the
colonial government.
Dietrich Bonhoffer, who stood against the
evils of Naziism and was put to death for his efforts. Martin Niemoller who did the same, was
imprisoned for his stand and somehow survived.
We tend to forget that among other things,
the Civil Rights' movement was essentially a religious movement, primarily led
by Christians - even preachers, especially Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., another
martyr. Many (most?) of his opponents
were members of southern white churches.
In all of these cases, those we
consider heroes were bucking an established church, one that had a too cozy
relationship with the government. And
they were condemned for, among other things, their divisiveness and refusals to
submit.
We need not stop there; we could go back to
the prophets of ancient Israel, who spoke against the apostasy of their nation,
the only nation that could lay claim to be a nation chosen by God. Just looking into one book of the Bible - 1
Kings - we find Elijah, whom King Ahab called "the troubler of
Israel" (18:17) and Micaiah of whom the same king said, "I hate him
because he doesn't prophesy good concerning me, but evil" (22:8). And there were many, many more, some who died
for their stand.
And dare we forget the One who is at the
center of our faith - Jesus? He did not
come to bring unity within the "church" of His day - the Jewish
leaders who were only too cozy with their Roman conquerors. He even made the following troubling
claim: "Do not think that I have
come to bring peace to the earth. I have
not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against
her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his
own household" (Matthew 10:34-36).
Not much unity and submission here!
I believe that a great segment of the Church
of Jesus Christ has lost its witness through its allegiance to one political
party, to the point that the candidates and the pronouncements of that party
have taken precedence over the principles of Christianity.
America has elected as their president one
who has preached an America that is in contradiction to the morals and
teachings of Jesus. I will not elaborate
on his pronouncements here (see previous post); anyone who has seen and heard
him on television news should know what he stands for. Of course, there are some who will tell us
(as I have been told), "America is not the church!" And they are correct; we live in a secular
nation that has to quite an extent, abandoned its Christian background.
But this man was endorsed by many prominent
(mostly white) Christians who are considered spokespersons for the Christian
community. And the statistics tell us
that 4 out of 5 evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump. It looks to me as though the church has once
again crawled in bed with the enemy.
As I have said before, I fear for my nation,
but I fear more for my church. And I
make no apologies for the position I have taken.
It may be that the time will come when we
will have to say with Martin Luther, "I cannot do otherwise, here I stand,
may God help me, Amen!"
2 comments:
Thanks for the reminders from history that we are to stand against oppression and oppressors.
I'll gladly stand with them.
It is best to remember that the evangelical movement is one of the products of the anti-rational late eighteenth century. The secular version is Romanticism, aka populism, which dominates much of American politics on both the right and left today. Neither of these movements is capable of giving a reason for disagreement that understands it as either a natural or positive force. Beyond that, the evangelical movement tends to find its moral code among the Puritans, who opposed freedom of religion -- often violently.
A big problem today is the failure of historic Christian churches to get involved in the public dialogue. I haven't seen a tally yet, but I suspect that a majority of Christians voted against Trump. He just looks like a fool when one day he incites internecine strife and the next he calls for unity!
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