
As the billionaires descend on Washington to exercise their power and intelligence in making America what the founders apparently missed, white Evangelicals are once again prominently on display. Truth be known, however, most evangelical pundits coming out of the woodwork are displaying a grossly immature giddiness to winning the election rather than opening a serious dialogue on the responsibilities and merits of the Christian life.
One pastor has gone viral with a sermon condemning young women for wearing pants. Another has been producing videos promoting the idea that God intends for us to become rich so we can do a better job of reaching the “unsaved” for Christ. In the middle of all this, Pres. Carter, who dedicated his post-presidential life truly to following Christ, was laid to rest. Is this political powerplay a new thing for Evangelicals, or have we missed the runup?
The Reigning Power of Wealth and Popularity:
As someone who has been in evangelical circles for 80 or so years, I have to admit that greed and popularity in the Confessing Church have been here all along and that we Christians have played a major role in its evolution. It plays out something like this:
God is waiting for us to build His Kingdom here on earth.
If more “seekers” could be lured into the church, God would be happy.
If Evangelicals had more money, America could become “Christian” again.
With enough political power, we will bring righteousness to America.
Core Christian doctrines such as the Sovereignty of God, the Finished Work of Christ, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and dying to self as the path to obedience and abundant life seem to have lost their edge. Yet, out of the mainline Church, summarily dismissed by evangelicals as “liberal” and thereby demonic, comes a plea for mercy by an Episcopal bishop. Bishop Mariann Budde directs our nation’s attention to the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount on behalf of marginalized people whom she describes as “scared.” She calls for mercy from our President by identifying the “scared” among us as groups specifically targeted in his campaign!
Drop the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and There Will Be No Capacity for Love Anywhere:
The outcry from the evangelical community has been loud but defensive at best. The problem is, the Gospel has never been about who is or is not obeying the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount. The lesson from Judeo/Christian history is that minus God’s transforming grace, religion is insufficient to empower any one of us to love God or neighbor.
Most Christian institutions, both left and right, have jettisoned the inconvenient but bedrock doctrine of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. White Evangelical males, in our stampede toward the immediate and definable rewards of the American Dream of prosperity and success, have turned away from the present, dynamic Rule of God toward the more immediate and viable “City on a Hill”, America.
Logically, if human capacity were sufficient truly to love God and one’s neighbor, there would have been no need for Jesus. In John 3, Jesus confronts the pharisee, Nicodemus, with the impossibility of either seeing or entering the Kingdom: “Truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God; unless one in born of water and the spirit, he cannot ENTER the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). Sacrificial love demands spiritual renewal.
Where Do We Go from Here?
If human empathy, rather than divine grace, is the sole motivating factor across both politics and organized Christianity, it seems almost impossible to slide a sheet of paper between Franklin Graham and Bishop Budde. Yes; a case certainly can be made for the courage it demands to speak truth to power. Truth fails to bear fruit as freedom, however, when professing Christians are intent on pointing out OPS – Other People’s Sins, rather than our own.
What is the alternative? I would suggest that a couple more edits at the end of Bishop Budde’s sermonette might have been in order:
Closing Prayer: I make one final plea, Lord. Millions of us Americans on both sides of the political aisle have put our trust in You. Yet, we face mounting resistance to loving You and neighbor. As our President told the nation yesterday, he senses the providential hand of a loving God. I ask that you would teach us how to show that loving hand to the marginalized people in our nation who live daily in fear and in need.
Help us confused Americans, in this time of picking apart each other’s sins, to learn more effectively how to show compassion for our neighbors – the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and who work the night shift in hospitals. The vast majority pay taxes. Most are good neighbors and many are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, O Lord, on our weak and tepid love for others. In the spirit of Micah 6:8, fill us with the drive to “…do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly…” with You, our God. In the servant spirit of Jesus, teach us to live our lives as aliens and strangers in this world but as adopted sons and daughters in Your Kingdom under Your power and grace.
May Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven – solely under Your divine Plan and through our obedience to Your will. Hallowed, indeed, be Your name!
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