Yesterday (Aug. 21) an article ran on the CNN.com website. It was about the 'crusade' against pornography among evangelical churches. If you haven't noticed the term 'evangelical' has now become the equivalent of what 'fundamentalist' meant 30-40 years ago. Now some people proudly wear the label fundamentalist, but the label of 'Evangelical' was intentionally adopted so as to avoid all the negative connotations associated with 'fundamentalist.' In my youth I was blessed by having had direct contact with some of the early founders of the 'Evangelical' movement. They were clear about what they wanted to do. They intended to help define a group of Christian believers who were faithful to reformation orthodoxy but who were willing to use their minds. They were specifically desiring to put distance between themselves and the sort of narrow minded thinking about science and religion that led to the infamous "Scopes Monkey Trial" of the 1920's.
What has happened is that the term evangelical has been co-opted by fundamentalists. Indeed, this has been so effective that in the understanding of most of the world, the two words mean exactly the same thing. This is why the article at CNN.com was so derisive in its tone. People assume that if Evangelicals adopt a position, it must be less than scientific, must somehow be simplistic, irrational and silly. Of course, the authors of the article were able to find people who fit the mold and who use the name within the so-called "crusade against pornography."
This means that once again, anything helpful that may be said about the subject from the Evangelical point of view is simply considered worthless. Now, as a church within the broad spectrum of Evangelical commitment, this affects us. We are, after all, a member congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Just how this affects us depends on several things and it results in a variety of responses. Perhaps the most obvious way this affects us is with reference to our name. Most Covenant churches I know really don't use the word "Evangelical" in their name anymore. Not that we have changed our doctrine. We haven't! Jesus and faith in him is still our core and always has been (this is what the word actually means: 'committed to the good news of Jesus Christ' ). So our character hasn't changed. Our awareness has. Many of us realize that using the word 'Evangelical' only raise people's hackles. Mention the word, get shut off instantly. Don't use the word, get a hearing. It really is that simple. Faith in Jesus is still what it is all about, but we need to be heard first.
Second, how we define ourselves will either get us a hearing or not. If someone asks me what kind of church we are and I use the special word, they will be 1) confused, or 2) having heard that that group of people is weird, I get shut down again. So maybe I choose to define what sort of church we are by using different words. We come from the Lutheran wing of the great Protestant Reformation. Equally confusing to most people, this doesn't automatically turn people off (unless they are ex-Lutherans!). Then we can define ourselves any way we wish. 'Really nice theological conservatives,' 'Center-focused believers' (Jesus is the center and that is our focus), 'Really Hip Pietists' (the inner life really matters and we address it in cool contemporary ways), 'Christ-followers/Jesus-followers' (After all, it is what we do!). There are others as well. The point: our church fathers chose a word for a name that carried the idea that we were thinking, caring, intelligent, Christ focused, Jesus loving, people loving people. Today the meaning of the word has changed so much that when you use it, it turns out to mean everything opposite of what our spiritual fathers intended. So why continue to hang on to a name that only makes it harder to do what we set out to do?
Coming Next: Can a sin be an addiction? Can an addiction be a sin? And why is it so hard to admit that we sin?
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Getting Things in the Right Order
The race for the White House has begun and the crowded field of Republican hopefuls has already begun to thin out. What will happen within the Democratic party is anyone's guess, as even Democrats seem not overly fond of President Obama. No, this is not going to be a political comment, at least not directly.
Recently, I was reading in Acts 22 about an event in St. Paul's life. He was on his last visit to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had repeatedly warned that if he went there, he would be arrested and held. And yet, he seems to have felt that this was less a warning to be heeded than a destiny to be embraced. Indeed, he was seen, a riot broke out, he was taken into custody by the Romans and was about to be flogged when he says simply: "I am a Roman."
Roman citizenship was a great blessing. Not everyone, even in Paul's day could get it. In fact, the Roman officer who was about to have Paul flogged had paid a high price to obtain his citizenship. But Paul had been born a citizen. It was a very great privilege and no one took it lightly. They immediately released Paul from his bonds, but held him for questioning before the Jewish leadership. All this eventually leads Paul to declare that, as a citizen, he will exercise his right to be tried by the Emperor himself. This is Paul's tactic, both to keep himself safe and to get the unheard of opportunity of declaring the gospel directly to the Emperor.
It is exactly at this point that I want us to notice something remarkable. Paul uses the privileges of his earthly citizenship to advance the cause of the Kingdom of God. As much as he prizes his earthly citizen status, it is only a means to a greater end for him--the advancement of the Kingdom of God. He strategically utilizes his status as a Roman citizen to position himself for the greatest impact he can make for the Kingdom of God. Now, let's compare what is happening here in our own country as the political season comes upon us.
In our situation, the host of would-be Presidents are acting in a manner that is exactly opposite to Paul. They are not using their citizen privileges/status to extend the Kingdom of God. Rather, they are using their Kingdom status (assuming that they are, in fact, real Kingdom citizens) to gain earthly power. They are engaging in a behavior that is exactly the reverse of what Paul did. The fact is that we talk all the time about this or that politician courting the 'evangelical vote' or the 'religious vote.' And we seem to be just fine with such talk. I don't think we should be. It is language that is designed to smooth over something that has no business being allowed by Kingdom citizens. We are allowing people to play on our Kingdom sympathies for an end that should make little difference to us--they wish to use us so they can gain earthly political power, which is their real desire.
I say this about all politicians. For while the Republican party has, for many years, worked the traditional 'evangelical vote', the Democratic party is discovering the new, younger, more socially liberal 'emergent/neo-evangelical' voter block and will be coming after them in short order as well. But it is all for the same purpose! The purpose: to use our faith convictions, not to establish Kingdom living, but to garner political power which will allow them to pursue their own independent agendas.
This does not mean that we have to question the religious faith of any politician. I am not called, as a Christian, to judge the validity of the faith of Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman or Barack Obama. They say they are believers. Judging them is not my job. It is God's--alone! But what I am allowed to do, encouraged to do, is to be discerning. And no matter how well-intentioned any of the candidates are, they all seem to have bought into the notion that it is perfectly OK to use their Christ-faith as a means to a political end. And that is a world away from what Paul is doing in Acts 22. Paul used his earthly citizenship as a means to a Kingdom end. He did not use his Kingdom standing to achieve a merely earthly political end. And we, as Kingdom people, should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by this political tactic. Let's make our choices, come up with our solutions, choose our leaders. But to pretend that any of them will have better served the Kingdom for having smeared each other to win an earthly political office is not a Kingdom value.
Recently, I was reading in Acts 22 about an event in St. Paul's life. He was on his last visit to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had repeatedly warned that if he went there, he would be arrested and held. And yet, he seems to have felt that this was less a warning to be heeded than a destiny to be embraced. Indeed, he was seen, a riot broke out, he was taken into custody by the Romans and was about to be flogged when he says simply: "I am a Roman."
Roman citizenship was a great blessing. Not everyone, even in Paul's day could get it. In fact, the Roman officer who was about to have Paul flogged had paid a high price to obtain his citizenship. But Paul had been born a citizen. It was a very great privilege and no one took it lightly. They immediately released Paul from his bonds, but held him for questioning before the Jewish leadership. All this eventually leads Paul to declare that, as a citizen, he will exercise his right to be tried by the Emperor himself. This is Paul's tactic, both to keep himself safe and to get the unheard of opportunity of declaring the gospel directly to the Emperor.
It is exactly at this point that I want us to notice something remarkable. Paul uses the privileges of his earthly citizenship to advance the cause of the Kingdom of God. As much as he prizes his earthly citizen status, it is only a means to a greater end for him--the advancement of the Kingdom of God. He strategically utilizes his status as a Roman citizen to position himself for the greatest impact he can make for the Kingdom of God. Now, let's compare what is happening here in our own country as the political season comes upon us.
In our situation, the host of would-be Presidents are acting in a manner that is exactly opposite to Paul. They are not using their citizen privileges/status to extend the Kingdom of God. Rather, they are using their Kingdom status (assuming that they are, in fact, real Kingdom citizens) to gain earthly power. They are engaging in a behavior that is exactly the reverse of what Paul did. The fact is that we talk all the time about this or that politician courting the 'evangelical vote' or the 'religious vote.' And we seem to be just fine with such talk. I don't think we should be. It is language that is designed to smooth over something that has no business being allowed by Kingdom citizens. We are allowing people to play on our Kingdom sympathies for an end that should make little difference to us--they wish to use us so they can gain earthly political power, which is their real desire.
I say this about all politicians. For while the Republican party has, for many years, worked the traditional 'evangelical vote', the Democratic party is discovering the new, younger, more socially liberal 'emergent/neo-evangelical' voter block and will be coming after them in short order as well. But it is all for the same purpose! The purpose: to use our faith convictions, not to establish Kingdom living, but to garner political power which will allow them to pursue their own independent agendas.
This does not mean that we have to question the religious faith of any politician. I am not called, as a Christian, to judge the validity of the faith of Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman or Barack Obama. They say they are believers. Judging them is not my job. It is God's--alone! But what I am allowed to do, encouraged to do, is to be discerning. And no matter how well-intentioned any of the candidates are, they all seem to have bought into the notion that it is perfectly OK to use their Christ-faith as a means to a political end. And that is a world away from what Paul is doing in Acts 22. Paul used his earthly citizenship as a means to a Kingdom end. He did not use his Kingdom standing to achieve a merely earthly political end. And we, as Kingdom people, should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by this political tactic. Let's make our choices, come up with our solutions, choose our leaders. But to pretend that any of them will have better served the Kingdom for having smeared each other to win an earthly political office is not a Kingdom value.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)