As an American I can say, "Happy Independence Day" today. It is July 4th. Time for picnics and fireworks and the old red, white and blue. I get it - - I really do. And I'm OK with this, at least to a certain degree. But there is a point where I draw the line. And that line is drawn, for me, when it comes to worship.
Yesterday was Sunday, July 3, and many Americans who call themselves Christians were attending worship services throughout our land. I wonder how many of those churches displayed an American flag. I wonder how many sang some kind of patriotic hymn, such as "God Bless America", "My Country 'Tis of Thee", O Beautiful For Spacious Skies", or some other such song. Worse yet, how many churches played "The Star Spangled Banner" at some point during the worship service? How many prayers were offered in praise of our nation, our troops, and our bounty? How many sermons were presented to remind the people of the "Christian foundations" upon which this country was supposedly built and calling us to task as "American Christians" to do our part in reclaiming our nation for God.
God help us!
I'm not even going to address the issue of the American flag in a Christian sanctuary at this time. I already spoke to that one and you may check it out at this site, if you wish. (See my post "Of Flags And Faith", dated February 27, 2011"). Suffice it to say for now that I firmly believe the presence of the American (or any national/state) flag in a Christian house of worship is a huge distraction to, and compromise of, our faith. Equally offensive, however, is the preaching that takes place in far too many pulpits in this country that calls for a hybrid of patriotism and spirituality.
I have heard all the arguments. I have studied the issue thoroughly. I know Romans 13:1 -6 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2 as well as other passages that deal with Church-State issues. And I am convinced that an honest, unbiased, exegetical study of the New Testament will consistently reveal that as a believer in Christ Jesus the only patriotism we should concern ourselves with is loyalty to the Kingdom of God.! Sadly, the boundaries between the Kingdom of God and the United States have become blurred for most Christians.
Now please do not get me wrong. This Is not to say that the Christian should not become actively aware of and involved in the political process. But please, please let us always remember that we should speak to the State in prophetic candor and not for the State as a co-partner or a servant.
In her 2,000 some years of existence the Christian Church has progressed from a small, radical, focused group of self-sustaining believers who knew they were bought with the Blood of Jesus and now were wholly owned and single-mindedly devoted to the Son of God, to a huge conglomeration of widely diverse entities spanning the globe. Many of these entities hold very little in common other than the Name of Jesus Christ. Whereas the Christian Church was once so small in number that the Roman Empire paid them no attention, today approximately one-third of all people consider themselves to be Christian. Yet pressed to define what that means I have to wonder what kind of answers one would hear. Better still, if I were to ignore the words and the catch-phrases and instead spend a month observing each person's life, choices, and behavior, I suspect I would be hard pressed to see much resemblance to our Lord and Savior whom we claim to have pledge our loyalty to.
You see, I am convinced that most people who call themselves Christian have been led into a deeply compromised and watered down spirituality. Not only is this true for individuals but the same can be said for most Church organizations. Both denominations and independent congregations have sold out to a secularized version of the faith. It is a model of Christianity that fuses together an odd assortment of spirituality, secularism, capitalism, democracy and nationalism. Its roots run deep and its influence, while subtle, is enormous. Consider just a few of the characteristics of the 21st Century Church of Jesus, the Son of God especially as it is manifest in this country.
· The presence of the secular symbol of national authority, the American flag, on Church properties and in the worship centers.
· The adaptation of cultural norms within church liturgy and practice, such as offering refreshments before or after services, high tech sound and light systems, capital fund-raising campaigns, use of web sites and computerized display signs, theater-style auditoriums, and modern, expansive facilities costing millions of dollars.
· A corporate model of organization including a large professional staff for specialized ministries. This is particularly true for large local congregations as well as for denominational offices.
· Advertising methods that rival Madison Avenue and create a competitive atmosphere even among differing congregations.
· A huge and demanding budget often requiring millions of dollars of income to sustain it.
· Multi-media efforts of self-promotion.
· A growing conviction that the laity (i.e. the people in the pews) has every right to believe what they want and to demand that their whims are met. If these conditions are not met I'll just go to the next church down the street.
I am sure I could add more items to this list but I think you get the picture. The question is: how did we ever get to this point?
It all began almost 1,700 years ago. The year was 312. It was the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge and control of the Western portion of the Roman Empire was at stake. Two Generals, Maxentius and Constantine were about to clash agiant each other. That night as he was attempting to sleep Constantine had a vision in which he saw the shape of a cross in the sky and heard a voice that said "By this sign, conquer". Constantine understood this to mean that if his army became Christians he would win the battle. Thus he had all his soldiers baptized in a nearby river first thing in the morning; he used the Greek letters chi and rho (the first two letters in the name of Christ) as symbols on his banners; and he told his dumbfounded troops that they were now Christians. The battle ensued; Constantine won and became Emperor over the Western Empire. The following year he issued the Edict of Milan granting Christians equal rights with all other persons in the Empire.
Until this time virtually all Christians were staunch pacifists who followed the life and example of Jesus by renouncing all use of violence. Now, in the flash of one night, the entire Roman army was Christian in name. Still it wasn't until the reign of Emperor Theodosius (379-395) that Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. There was no turning back from this point on. The Christian identity became blurred with whatever culture it found itself in. Membership in the Church no longer meant anything special, other than the fact that it was required and expected. Universal acceptance meant the uniqueness of being a disciple of Jesus was gone. It also meant that all the values and beliefs that one held before becoming a Christian remained an influential part of their life. In many cases these non-Christian values were more dominant than the teachings of Jesus.
In the years that followed there have been periods of reformation and revival that have had a positive and corrective effect on certain aspects of the Christian life. At the same time Christianity has been adversely effected by the chameleon syndrome, as I like to call it. What I mean is that in our world today the Christian, and the Christian Church, has a striking tendency to take on the characteristics of its surroundings. Like the chameleon, the Church begins to look like the culture in which it lives until it is barely recognizable as a distinct and separate entity.
In his book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream, a young pastor by the name of David Platt builds a strong and convincing argument that the Church in the United States has become obsessed with living out the American Dream. He tells how we Americans have reshaped Jesus into a nice, respectable, middle-class Jesus who offends no one, affirms materialism, and "who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American Dream. (Radical, page 13)".
As I read through Platt's book I found myself surprised and refreshed by his evaluation. Indeed, we in this country have embraced an image of Jesus who looks an awful lot like us. We have somehow convinced ourselves that we live in a Christian nation, with Christian values and principles, and a Star-Spangled Savior whose favor is proven by our prosperity. This, says Platt, is a tragic deception that is far from what God is actually calling us to. We need to renounce all these things and return to the biblical Jesus who calls us to leave everything behind in order to follow him.
To this I say "AMEN!"
The only thing that bothers me is that David Platt remains the pastor of a 4,000 member congregation that seemingly is not listening to a word he writes. I checked the website of his Church at Brook Hills. It must take a tremendous amount of money to keep a ministry like that going. Everything I saw there represents upper-middle class Americans deeply absorbed in themselves and their money.
So what is our responsibility? How are we to be faithful and true to the genuine Jesus of the New Testament? Are we Americans who happen to be Christians, or are we Christians we happen to be Americans?
It is absolutely imperative that we do not make the same mistake that the Christians made in the fourth century and following. You see, Constantine did not make Rome become Christian. Rather, he made the Christian Church become Roman. He succeeded in redefining the term "Christian" by merging a secular Roman way of life with the symbols and language of the institutional Church. The same thing is duplicated today in the United States. We personally face no threats or challenges simply because of our religion. Over 70% of the people living in this country consider themselves to be Christian. I wonder: What Would Jesus Say? Does his count confirm those figures? Is he pleased with the lifestyle and the values we have embraced? What exactly did Jesus mean when he said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will say to them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)".
Take a fresh, new look at the Gospels in the New Testament. Reacquaint yourself with the True, Uncompromised version of Jesus. Empty your mind of all preconceived notions and ideas, and let the scriptures speak to you. Read like you are reading it for the very first time. Then, after you complete that assignment, move to the last book in the Bible, The Revelation. Read chapters 2 and 3 where Jesus dictates seven letters to seven congregations. Put yourself into the letters by allowing his words to speak to you personally. Listen to the rebukes. Take his advice to heart. Understand what it means to be a genuine follower of Jesus the Christ.
As you do this I am sure you will gain a whole new clarity to the concept of "freedom". You will come to realize that freedom is not a political or social condition. It is a spiritual matter entirely. And rather than defending it we need only to accept it and embrace it in every walk of life.
July 4, 2011
G. D. Gehr
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