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How Did We Get Here? One Word, Idolatry

How Did We Get Here? One Word, Idolatry

Frank

Following the Attorney General’s reference to Romans 13 as a defense for the Trump Administration’s current immigration policy, I was planning on writing a post regarding the poor interpretation of that passage and its historical misuse.  This was planned to have been an update to my previous post on the subject.  Others have covered that ground for me and you don’t have to look far, but I recommend these posts from Michael Gorman and Kurt Willems if you want to get deep.  Another good summary is provided by Get Religion that gives a survey of mainstream media coverage.

I felt like I had to quickly jump into the fray to defend scripture against those who would twist it for their own ends.  I felt like David facing down Goliath.  David didn’t care about the extensive crimes against humanity of the Philistines, rather he was motivated by the need to defend God’s honor against a foe who was mocking him.  Such an attitude, I realized after reading a post from a classmate of mine, gives the impression that I care more about the integrity of biblical interpretation than I do the injustice being perpetrated.  She wrote, “no one needs to know what Paul actually meant in order to see evil steadily at work.” I was convicted because she was exactly right.

“No one needs to know what Paul actually meant in order to see evil steadily at work.”

But I’m not here to debate policy, nor am I going to complain for the sake of complaining.  It has always been my goal with this space to apply scripture to current events to steer us towards a kingdom-attitude when it comes to politics, media, and life in the public square.  Another social media post noted (paraphrasing), “If you see what’s happening and your first reaction is, ‘but they broke the law!’ Then we don’t have a difference of opinion, we have a difference in morality.”  That nails it, and that’s what I want to address here.

A Difference in Morality

I am dismayed not only by the injustice being carried out by this Administration, but also the unashamedly-partisan support from many claiming to be Christian.  I’m not here to question their faith or their salvation, but I see support of this ongoing atrocity as merely a symptom of something more insidious: idolatry.  Idolatry is anything that we place in a position over and above God.  And that means anything: usually career, money, or fame is often invoked as examples, but anything that ‘gets our blood boiling’ to the degree that we think, speak, or act in an ungodly way is an idol.  We’re often not aware of when we do this, especially when we respond emotionally, but over time these things become more important to us than our relationship with God and the symptom is how it affects our relationships with other people.  That is why the Old Testament is full of warnings against idolatry in the backdrop of prosperity, religiosity, and nationalism.

Paul wrote that, “The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world.  Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)  Basically, these divine weapons tear down idols that prevent others from knowing God.  So what idols are driving the current debate?

The Idolatry of Ideology

This is the idolatry that brought President Trump to power in the first place. It is an idolatry that manifests itself as unwavering allegiance to partisanship.  As Christianity Today pointed out at the time, American Christians weren’t voting for Donald Trump as much as they were voting against Hillary Clinton.  Why?  Because of two decades worth of vilifying the other side- initially embodied by President Clinton and his wife Hillary.  This partisanship is an idol because by its very nature divides disciples of Jesus that should otherwise be united.

It’s not hard to see this all over on social media- when posts or comments refuse to consider things objectively, even when presented with contrary evidence.  I think it’s telling that with respect to the separation of children at the border, even Franklin Graham spoke out against it, as did many politicians and media representing the Right.  Yet I saw friends that refused to budge from their position with unequivocal support.  It’s not just on the Right either, when someone would remind us that President Obama was called “the Deporter-in-Chief” his defenders wouldn’t acknowledge his administration’s culpability in what is going on now.

Such strong allegiance leads us into ungodly debate (cf. 2 Timothy 2:23) and divides relationships.  This is where ideology steps over the line into idolatry.  It prevents civil discussion, refuses to agree to disagree, and gives the impression that one’s ideology is more important than anything else.

Is this idol a temptation for you? Ask yourself, based on your social media profile or in-person conversations, are people more likely to know about your political party or your Christian faith?

The Idolatry of Moral Absolutes

This idol seems counter-intuitive.  Christians hold to the Bible as their standard of morality, even though we may disagree on details or application.  So it would appear that moral absolutes are a good thing, right?  But the Bible offers very few absolutes relative to the real-life we experience every day.  That is why the author of Ecclesiastes expresses frustration that everything is “meaningless, meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11) and the Psalmist cries out, “how long, oh Lord, will the wicked prosper?” (Psalm 94:3)

For every reference to Leviticus in order to argue against homosexuality, there is the counter argument that we should therefore abstain from eating shellfish or wearing cotton-poly blended fabric.  For every sermon about biblical marriage, there’s a story about David and Bathsheba or about Abraham lying about his relationship with Sarah.

Holding to moral absolutes leads to self-righteousness.  We become convinced we are right and there is nothing that can change our view.  And if I am absolutely certain I am right, then any other perspective must be wrong.  Yet Jesus said that the entirety of the Law can be summarized by these two commands: love God and love others (Matthew 23:36-40).  If what I am convinced that is right cannot be expressed in love, then it is an idol.  If I cannot hold my convictions while at the same time loving my neighbor as myself, then that conviction is an idol.  This isn’t about policy, it is about the attitude when being right is more important than right-relationships (i.e. the definition of righteousness).

The Idolatry of White Privilege

Yes, I went there.  I could also call this the idol of circumstance.  It stems from a lack of empathy because we cannot conceive experiences different from our own.  The example I always think of when it comes to this is Phil Robertson from ‘Duck Dynasty’ recalling that before the Civil Rights movement when he picked cotton with African-Americans they were all happy as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

When it comes to the immigration debate, we forget that unless you are First Nation or descended from slaves, you are an immigrant that voluntarily left a place to come here in search of a better life.  It may be generations removed, but you’re non-native nonetheless.  So the theme throughout scripture to “be kind to the foreigner, because you too were foreigners in the land” (Leviticus 19:34) is apt because we are all foreigners in this land.  An inability to accept that puts your own point of view and your own experiences over all others and is, therefore, an idol.

We are also short-sighted when we prop our privilege up as an idol.  We weren’t there, so we don’t know just how much our ancestors were mistreated when they came to this country.  Look no further than how this country historically treated the Irish, Italian, and German.  You can even go back to the colonies with Ben Franklin who said of German immigrants, “are generally of the most Stupid Sort of their own Nation.”  Remember to treat the foreigner kindly, because you were mistreated as a foreigner in this land.

The Idolatry of American Exceptionalism

I’ve written about this before, but I’ll repeat it here- God owes the United States no particular favor.  We, as a nation, are not in a covenant relationship with God.  We are subconsciously biased towards territorialism- our news regularly reports the atrocities of others: Chinese currency manipulation and industrial espionage, Russian hacking and social media bots, and so on, as if we are completely innocent from participating in the same.

Sure, be ‘proud to be an American’, sing ‘God Bless America’, and stand for the National Anthem.  But when we react with venom and hatred if someone kneels at a football game or disrespects the President, are we responding in a Christ-like manner?  America is not perfect.  It is not Zion.  It is not the Promised Land.  And our government consists of fallen human beings representing the interests of fallen human beings.  There will be corruption, there will be deceit, double-standards, and backroom dealing.  There will be laws we don’t agree with and there will be miscarriages of justice.  For no other reason than because it’s human nature.

Going back to those most important commandments above, if your love of country prevents you from loving your neighbor, your patriotism is an idol.

The Idolatry of Government

This one is easy to slip into and I’m guilty of it myself.  Because of the nature of our representative democracy and a relative prosperity for most of our lives (that is, if you’re not a minority), we can idealize the government as being able to fix all our problems.  This is an issue for the Right and the Left.  On the Right, the government should legislate morality.  On the Left, the government should spend money to fix social issues.  Neither approach is inherently wrong in and of themselves.  But when we expect our government to be our savior (saving from whatever social ill of the moment), government replaces God.

In God We Trust is our national motto for a reason- it should be a constant reminder that God is bigger than government.  That was the heart behind the American Revolution and the fight for our inalienable rights bestowed upon us by an authority higher than a monarchy.

The Idolatry of Safety

This is the idol I see more and more in our political dialogue.  We instinctively look out for our own self-interest, even if it’s at the expense of others.  So politicians use this to their advantage to stoke fear to motivate us politically.  Communists, terrorists, immigrants… there’s always a boogieman.  This politician wants to take away your fill-in-the-blank (gun, social security, retirement, bible).  That politician is the anti-Christ.  So we vote in such a way to protect what is ours.

I can say I love my neighbor… so long as my neighbor is not a threat.  What is remarkable about the Good Samaritan wasn’t that the Samaritan stopped to help a stranger, but that the Samaritan was the social enemy of the stranger and still helped.  We become numb to that distinction when the news highlights a “good Samaritan” any time someone stops to help a stranger.  The Samaritan risked his personal safety, his social reputation, and denied his own feelings to do the right thing.  Even for an enemy.

If we are against doing the right thing because doing so risks comfort, peace, or security, then our personal security has become an idol.

****

I need to call this out- with respect to the immigration debate, it doesn’t matter who’s to blame, who passed what law, or who did what first.  I would hope that as Christians we can all agree that separating immigrant children from their parents, in the way it was being done (the literal devil is in the details because there are humane ways of handling this), was wrong.  Period.  Full stop.

But that’s not what is argued.  Instead people complain about immigrants being a drain on the system, while the Administration hyperbolically accuses everyone of being an MS-13 gang member, and strict legalism towards the law and order becomes the only thing that matters.  As a Christian seeing people suffer, for whatever reason and in whatever circumstance, what difference does any of that make?

As I said at the top, we could debate policy, but I’ve found that most people don’t sincerely want to.  You can oppose immigration of any kind.  You could favor amnesty and open borders.  I honestly don’t care.  When you hold to a position so strongly as to divide or when you vilify others, you are not representing Christ.  To be clear, both sides are guilty of this- I try very hard not to bad-mouth the President or make statements that are personal.  I’m not always successful.  Yet while I am interested in policy (I admit I’m a politics junkie), my larger concern is how we treat others and how we represent Jesus to the world around us.

Can we disagree?  Absolutely!  But we need to be very mindful of why we disagree.  Examine your heart.  Honestly search for those idols.  Because they stand in the way of God’s in-breaking kingdom.  A kingdom of justice and compassion.  Where we don’t need laws because God’s law will be written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10).

Amen

It’s Not About Politics

Frank

Here is a rundown of denominations and major Christian organizations who have released statements in opposition to the Trump Administration’s policy of separating families while going through deportation/asylum hearings.  Note that some of these are traditionally right-leaning.  Check out this running list from Jack Jenkins on Twitter for a more complete list including statements representing other faiths.  I will try and keep this updated.

  • The Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church released a statement through the Religion News Service
  • The American Baptist Churches USA responded directly to AG Sessions
  • The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (statement from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo)
  • The Christian Reformed Church of North America issued a bilingual statement (nice touch)
  • The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America added a statement
  • The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution (resolution #5) at their annual meeting last week
  • The Seventh Day Adventist Church also released a statement
  • The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church (Jeff Session’s denomination) also released a statement

#KeepFamiliesTogether is a joint statement from 20 religious leaders including:

  • General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ -UCC
  • Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States)
  • Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America -ELCA
  • Executive Director of the Mennonite Church USA
  • General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
  • Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)- PCUSA
  • Executive Director of the International Council of Community Churches

The Evangelical Immigration Table includes signatures from the:

  • President of the National Association of Evangelicals
  • President of World Relief
  • Ambassador, General Superintendent Emerita of the Wesleyan Church,
  • Board of General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene
  • President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention,
  • President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
  • President of World Vision

Cakes Sacrificed to Idols

Frank

Last week the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake supporting a same-sex wedding (for the record, he didn’t refuse to bake them a cake, he simply declined decorating a cake specific for their wedding).  While on the surface, that announcement looks like a solid win in the over-hyped culture wars, the decision itself was intentionally narrow, focusing not on the action of the baker but on the state civil rights commission.  Reading between the lines, it could be taken as a win for both sides.  I recommend reading this take from Skye Jethani that sheds some light onto this issue that might be missed in the usual media reporting.

I want to approach this from a different angle however.  This past semester I took a course titled Paul and the Gentile Mission.  The class focused on Paul’s missionary journeys, his letters, and the specific cultural issues the early church faced in an otherwise pagan culture.  Early in the year the professor gave us the example of Pergamum, one of the Seven Churches in Asia addressed in Revelation.  Its architecture and city layout that was typical of the Greco-Roman cities Paul would have visited.  What was noteworthy was just how pervasive pagan religion would have been.  If you wanted to purchase food in the market, you would have done so in the shadow of an enormous statue to Zeus.  To come and go from the public square would require passing by temples, shrines, and altars dedicated to several different gods.  Education would have been in a lecture hall either devoted to a particular deity or philosophical/rhetorical school.  Receiving medical care would have been done in the name of Asclepius.  And that doesn’t even mention the public baths, theaters, or gymnasiums.

All that to say, identifying as a Christian in such a multicultural and multi-theistic environment would not have been easy.  Every public act would force an either/or decision that could potentially compromise one’s conviction.  That’s why Paul spent so much time talking about syncretism (cultural conformity) in his letters, especially to the church in Corinth.  And that includes eating meat sacrificed to idols.

It’s not an obvious link, but I think Paul’s message regarding what we eat is relevant today to the debate over homosexuality and gay-marriage.  A quick summary of Paul’s argument from 1 Corinthians 8: food sacrificed to idols aren’t any more ‘holy’ than food that is not because mature Christians know the idol is meaningless.  But not all Christians are mature in this sense, so we must be careful with the choices we make to not make weaker Christians struggle.

Applying that to this debate, my logic goes like this- if a devout Christian is so opposed to gay-marriage that he or she cannot be a vendor of services to the ceremony, then it follows that this person believes the marriage isn’t recognized in the eyes of God.  If that’s the case then the “sacrament” of marriage would be invalid, in other words it wouldn’t count.  So it’s just like meat sacrificed to a god we know isn’t real- if it doesn’t count, why should I be offended by it?  If, on the other hand, the Christian believes the marriage is still sacramental, just sinful, then they need to apply the same standard by not supporting any second (or third, or fourth…) marriages, weddings between believers of different denominations (for example, imagine an Evangelical wedding planner working with a Catholic and Mormon who are getting married, oy vey!), and all weddings involving non-believers or all non-religious ceremonies.  (Do you still get a cake if you’re married in a drive-through by Elvis in Las Vegas? Asking for a friend.) If that vendor cannot apply their objection so broadly, then maybe they shouldn’t be in the business in the first place.

The counter argument, going back to Paul, is that supporting something he doesn’t believe in, in this case a homosexual marriage, would cause weak Christians to struggle because it implies endorsement.  But in every one of these cases that I’ve read about (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer), it seems to me that the conscious being violated is their own – the baker, the photographer, the florist – not the “weak Christian” whom they should be concerned about.  I don’t mean this lightly or pejoratively, but to me that makes them the weak Christian.  In this sense, the Supreme Court got it right, the government can’t compel the weak Christian to violate his or her conscience.  One solution obviously would be for the oppositional Christian to become “mature”, but I think that’s asking too much and the government cannot assume this will ever happen.  The alternative then, is to expect this Christian to continue to be “weak”, so he or she really needs to consider if they’re in the right line of work.

Participating in commerce is a choice.  In the 1st Century, it was a choice that put Christians right in the middle of idol worship, emperor cults, mystery religions, and philosophical schools.  Selling cakes would have placed one right in the marketplace under the shadow of Zeus.  Participating publicly in a trade would imply membership in trade guilds or voluntary associations that had their own religious ceremonies and rituals (think Kiwanis, or the Elks Lodge but where membership was expected depending on your trade; e.g. the silversmiths in Ephesus (Acts 19:24-29), or the group of tent-makers where Paul met Pricilla and Aquila(Acts 18:2-3)). 

I am a frequent critic of the modern evangelical persecution complex primarily because it so ignorant of history.  The same is true here.  Christians didn’t stop participating in the culture where they lived.  Rather they were given warnings to guard against allowing that culture to influence their own actions and values that are demonstrated within the church.  Much of what Paul wrote was about how believers were to behave when in fellowship with one another, not how to navigate the culture wars of their time.  Paul wasn’t concerned about a Christian’s participation in commerce out in the world, rather he was concerned about how that participation affected the Christian’s relationships within the church and their ability to practice hospitality.  As he wrote in Romans, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

I heard a quote on the radio from the baker in this case, Jack Phillips, basically asserting that if the state can force him to bake a cake it is forcing him to forsake his relationship with God.  I say baloney, and so would Paul.  God isn’t that petty, and the baker isn’t forsaking anything.  The history of the church demonstrates that the culture-warriors today are making an argument that just didn’t matter to the earliest Christians.  And it shouldn’t matter to us.  I don’t wish Jack Phillips ill.  I don’t even wish he’d get out of the baking business.  What I do pray is that he, and others like him, can become mature in Christ and recognize that a commercial enterprise is not a religious endorsement (ahem, Hobby Lobby) understanding that the kingdom of God isn’t about what you’re selling, but about your personal righteousness, your peace in Christ to navigate a culture contrary to your ideals, and taking joy that the Holy Spirit has matured your heart so that these disputes no longer matter (liberally paraphrasing Romans 14).

#NotAllEvangelicals

#NotAllEvangelicals

Frank

The jokes write themselves at this point, but I don’t like the punchline.  By now you’ve probably heard (for some media over, and over, and over) that 81% of white Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in the last election.  You might have also heard that President Trump’s approval rating among the same demographic actually increased following news of the payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.

We (royal we) rationalize such stats by saying that we didn’t vote for a “pastor in chief” and that moral failings are less important than political stances.  (Interestingly, a quick Google search to try and find the origin of that quote led me to Andy Stanley saying that to describe… wait for it… President Obama.)  Jerry Falwell Jr. describes Mr. Trump as Evangelical’s “dream president”.  The administration’s accomplishments so far have been the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice, numerous other federal judges, and moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.  In addition there has been a constant verbal assault against Planned Parenthood, vows to overturn the Johnson Amendment, and rallying cries for religious liberty.

You can’t have it both ways

Despite these victories in “bringing God back into the White House” there have been an alarming uptick in school shootings that the cultural right blame on the Godlessness of our culture.  Meanwhile the government has taken a hostile stance towards minorities, those relying on government subsistence, immigrants, and refugees.  When called out on this seeming hypocrisy, the same Christian leaders who most vocally support the president respond by saying that the law is the law and that it isn’t the government’s responsibility to be compassionate.  This attitude elevates the “rule of law” to the level of idolatry, using Romans 13 as justification.

The inconsistency of course is due to the emphasis the Religious Right has made since the 1980’s that the government should be the vehicle through which morality is reinforced in culture.  Abortion is a legal, Christian issue while immigration is not.  There is a systemic “agenda” against traditional family values but systemic racism is ignored.  It was argued one President should have been disqualified because of his immorality, the faith (and citizenship) of another was questioned because of his foreign policy, yet the current President is widely embraced despite his questionable ethics and morality.  Just because he tells right-leaning Evangelicals what they want to hear.

The punchline

So none of this comes as any surprise, but it grieves my heart nonetheless.  The latest headline read: “White Evangelicals are the Group Least Likely to Think the U.S. Should Help Refugees” citing the results of a recent study by Pew Research.  Policy arguments can be made about how to manage refugees in the face of global conflict.  But there is only one religious argument that can be made as the word of God makes clear in several passages.  “You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way.  Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)  So when the news brings on a Christian leader to discuss policy, it needs to be recognized that they leave doctrine at the door.  When Franklin Graham said a year ago that our country’s policy towards immigrants and refugees is “not a Bible issue”, we must recognize he isn’t speaking from a position of religious leader, but from that of a politician. 

The sad stat cited above has been overshadowed by the abhorrent news of children as young as one year old being ripped from their families as they cross the border.  This was threatened months ago and reinforced by the Attorney General in a recent speech.  But be reassured, the President’s Chief of Staff tells us they’ll be placed in “foster care or whatever” and hope that they aren’t among the 1500 that have been “lost” in the system.  Thankfully, this news hasn’t yet been overcome by the ‘palace intrigue’ that typically consumes this White House.  These things need to be talked about; the disgusting policies need to be brought into the light.

PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST / SAMUEL SMITH

#NotAllEvangelicals

Thankfully there is light shining in the darkness.  Last weekend while many were captivated by the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Episcopalian Bishop Michael Curry delivered a sermon that went viral, expressing an attitude of hope centering on Jesus and emphasizing a message of love.  Less that a week later he was leading a revival called “Reclaiming Jesus” that was kicked off by messages from the likes of Richard Rohr, Tony Campolo, and Walter Brueggemann (who received a long standing ovation) before marching in a silent vigil to the White House.

I have personally kept the ‘Religious Left’ at arm’s distance because I’ve felt pushing back against the commingling of religion and politics with just different politics only replaces one idol with another.  Maybe because of this, the Religious Left has struggled to gain the same foothold in our culture that we see in the Religious Right.  But I sense something different this time around.

For me it began with the launch of Public Faith right before the last presidential election.  Led by several Evangelicals I respect, the goal was to raise the dialogue of politics above the partisan divisions for a unified faith-based politic.  But more recently the movement Reclaiming Jesus has taken the same ideals and put them into motion.  In addition to the vigil (the organizers emphasize it wasn’t a march), they have a manifesto that speaks truth to power and shines light in the darkness.  Bullet-points include a rejection of white nationalism and racism because all are created in God’s image, a repudiation of American exceptionalism because of God’s promise to redeem every nation, and a call to servant leadership in the model of Jesus.

Will this make any difference, will it fizzle out over time as others have before, or will it become embroiled in the same partisan fights it is speaking out against?  Time will tell.  My hope is in Jesus, not any political party, nation, law, or movement.  At the very least such a movement makes clear that the loudest voices speaking on behalf of a diverse faith aren’t representative of all believers.  The political mouthpieces are just that, regardless of what their title may be in the religious world.  It’s time for more Christians to speak up and demonstrate that these leaders don’t represent all of Christianity.

Thoughts and Prayers

Thoughts and Prayers

Frank

It’s easy to be cynical when it doesn’t affect you, when you are separated emotionally by distance. But when it hits close to home perspectives change.

Another day, another school shooting 

Last Friday I was settling in at my desk at work when a cryptic message showed up in my inbox: “All personnel affected by the school shooting in Palmdale are authorized early leave.” Wait! What school shooting? My kids are at school in Palmdale! My wife is teaching in neighboring Lancaster! What’s going on???

I immediately went online to find out what was going on and jump on the phone to call my wife. The shooting was at a local high school, all schools in the area were locked down. Phew, my kids were at nearby elementary and middle schools. My son just made it in the gate as the school locked down. My daughter was met right away at her school’s entrance and corralled to their cafeteria. My wife was busy managing all of her kids as well and couldn’t talk long. The news was slowly trickling out to tell me only one person was shot and the shooter fled. Another relief; maybe it was a personal beef or gang-related. But then another report comes out that someone heard shots at an elementary school a few miles away. The chaos was spreading.

I’ve learned from other similar events that social media is a good way to find out information in real-time. Often students will post updates or other witnesses will report what they’re hearing. Of course you have to be wise and filter the information. One person (with “Antifa” in their name- stirring things up much?) mentioned that his mom worked in the cafeteria and was in critical condition. Others posted that they were students and the media was wrong, 30-40 people were actually shot. People got the community name mixed up with the high school, rumors spread about the other elementary school. And of course, things soon turned political.

Besides the emotional panic I felt over the event itself, my heart was grieved by what I was reading online. “Thoughts and prayers” were followed by posts blasting so-called Christians for not doing anything (I identify myself as Christian, what exactly was I expected to do?). People posted the usual, “it’s too soon to politicize this event” while others were railing both for and against gun-control. The bitterness and vitriol on display was nauseating.

Thoughts and prayers

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12)

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.” (2 Cor 10:3-4a)

What I realized reading these posts was that regardless of political ideology or self-identified belief system, in this age of social media and regularly occurring mass shootings, our default position is to demonize opposing viewpoints and to fight with the “weapons of the world”, aka politics. While we wonder what is wrong and what can be done, we turn to media, to politics, to the talking-points that have become ingrained in our cultural consciousness.

“We need more laws!”          “We need more people armed!”
“Bad guy with a gun!”          “Good guy with a gun!”
“You’re wrong!”                    “No, you’re wrong!”
ad nauseam.

It’s easy to offer “thoughts and prayers” in times such as these. It’s dispassionate and somewhat of a lifeline of hope when we otherwise feel helpless. But what are we praying for? I read posts praying for the victims and their families. I read prayers for mercy in the midst of all the violence and hatred in the world today. And I usually look at such sentiments with cynicism, but not that day. I realized that thoughts and prayers are exactly what we need. But not prayers for victims or families. Not prayers for political outcomes favorable to our viewpoints. Not even the liturgical prayer, “Lord, have mercy; kyrie eleison”. A more appropriate prayer is “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Our world is ruled by hatred and division. Satan delights with glee when tragedy divides us further. Meanwhile the kingdom of God is breaking-in to our world through “Christ’s ambassadors”, the Church. The only solution, the only solution, to these tragedies is the kingdom of God. As gun-control opponents like to point out, people with hatred in their hearts will find a means to cause harm. So do we just accept that, or do we pray for the reign of Jesus to address the hatred that drives these events in the first place? Australia is often used as the prime example of effective gun-control, yet the same day as this shooting there was a mass shooting in that country. (Only the second in twenty years, but still.) Meanwhile, one person was killed and several others injured in a knife attack in France. Hatred and division still rule in our hearts, laws or no laws.

Thankfully only one person was shot and the suspect quickly apprehended. After an hour of being glued to media online, I was able to take a deep breath and get back to work.  This shooting was no longer “breaking news” and was quickly forgotten. Even locally the shooting was overshadowed by a double homicide the night before and a neighborhood lockdown the following day. This shooting appeared to be over a personal dispute, so didn’t fit the narrative of either side. Just another day with another shooting, and our lives go on.

Yet as I write this, I’m following reports of the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. At this time, it is reported between 8 and 10 people have been killed. This follows another shooting in Illinois just two days ago where the shooter was engaged with law enforcement, thankfully preventing further harm. Is the day called “today”? Then there’s probably a shooting at a school somewhere.

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb 3:12-13)

Thoughts and prayers
Lord, have mercy; Lord, come quickly
Kyrie eleison, maranatha
Not our will, but yours be done
May your kingdom come
Thoughts and prayers

Scandal! What Scandal?

Frank

When I started this blog, my intention was to offer an alternative perspective to the usual religion/politics media-driven dichotomy that I think we get too wrapped up in.  I’m a political junkie in my heart- following political news closer than any other category -but as my faith has evolved over time I’ve come to look at my personal politics differently.

A great example of this is my support to the American Center for Law and Justice.  When I first started blogging I included a link to the ACLJ in my sidebar.  I’d listen to their program on my commute from work.  And I was so intrigued by religious liberty debates that I actually picked up and read David Limbaugh’s book, Persecution.

But like I said, as my faith matured my politics evolved.  I have to confess that I didn’t vote for Barak Obama but I didn’t think he was the antichrist either.  He was the President and it was what it was.  But I noticed the tone on the ACLJ radio program began to turn hostile.  They covered religious liberty issues less, and political policy more.  The straw that broke my back was during the early debates over the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.  The ACLJ was vehemently opposed to it, but on what Christian grounds I could not fathom.  They made the case opposed to abortion funding, but federal law already prohibits it.  They made the case that it was socialist, but we read in Acts that “all the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold their property and possessions and gave to everyone as they had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)  And they used fear-mongering to manipulate people into giving.  The scales fell from my eyes; the ACLJ wasn’t a Christian organization, it was unapologetically right-wing.

I’d check in on the radio every now and then, especially to get updates when Paster Saeed Abedini was imprisoned in Iran.  But it was clear religious liberty issues took a back-seat to political activism.

Shortly after President Trump’s travel ban was blocked by the courts, Jordan Sekulow, son of ACLJ founder Jay, was on KNX news radio in Los Angeles to discuss the legal arguments for the ban.  He bluntly stated that we need better vetting (“extreme vetting” in the President’s words) using refugees as an example of those who weren’t vetted.  The radio host pointed out the painstakingly long process, including vetting through the United Nations, Interpol, was well as the FBI and Homeland Security, before refugees are settled in the United States.  Jordan didn’t flinch and stood by his argument.  When called out explicitly that he lied, he still didn’t yield.  The host concluded the interview by pointing out that the ACLJ is a Christian organization.  Thank you for the black eye, Jordan.

Then a week ago, it was announced Jay Sekulow was hired on to the President’s legal team.  My eyebrow raised.  It didn’t surprise me that he went around the news just regurgitating the administration’s talking points.  And it didn’t surprise me that many Christians bought his story hook, line, and sinker.

But my blood boiled when I read the news that Jay had funneled millions of charitable donations towards he and his family’s salaries and perks.  And of course, investigations follow, but I’m sure ‘faithful Christians’ will declare this a witch hunt.

I’m not trying to look down on those who still support the ACLJ or rub it in.  I share all this because I believe people can change, politics can change.  Mine did.  But I wonder what level of scandal will cause others to look at their religion and politics more critically?  The scandals of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart didn’t lead to the end of the Religious Right in the 80’s.  Pat Robertson is still on the air despite the ridiculous things he says.  Jerry Falwell Jr has taken up his father’s mantle and then some.  James Dobson resigned from Focus on the Family but is still influential.  So I wonder if the latest controversy surrounding Jay Sekulow will make any difference, or if Christians will see this as just another example of the devil opposing God’s chosen president.

To Sell Your Soul

To Sell Your Soul

Frank

What does it look like to sell your soul?  Maybe you can picture it from movies or cartoons.  Maybe you imagine the musical Damn Yankees, or recall the story of bluesman Robert Johnson at the Crossroads, or when the devil annulled Spider-Man’s marriage to MJ.  But what would it look like today, in real life?  What would it take for a stranger, or a friend, or a cause to convince you to give up everything you believe?

Last month, on the eve of the National Day of Prayer, President Donald Trump hosted his evangelical advisors for a dinner to celebrate his election victory and to discuss the religious freedom Executive Order he would issue the following day.  A blogger I follow posted a picture from that dinner and speculated that was what selling your soul looked like.  I replied that I found it ironic their dinner was lobster (eating shellfish being an “abomination” according to Leviticus 11, just a few pages before the popularly quoted Leviticus 18).  But in the picture I didn’t see money changing hands, or souls being wisped away.

During my Sunday school class this week, I reminded everyone that the “antichrist” according to John wasn’t a specific person, rather anyone who denied that Jesus was the Christ.  More specifically it was directed towards the Gnostics, who believed that since the flesh was inherently sinful Jesus could not be both human and divine.  Yet we like to throw that word around to describe anyone we think opposes our particular worldview (Christian, or not).  George W Bush, Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump… you get the idea.

We do this because we are convinced the antichrist is a specific character in the end-times.  He or she is the ruler of the “one world government” that comes before the rapture, Jesus’ return, or whatever other eschatological interpretation you may have.  But Revelation never mentions the antichrist.  Rather there are two beasts in Revelation 13- one, a political leader and the second, a religious leader -who work together in service of the dragon.

Nearly everyone agrees the dragon is Satan.  But there is more debate about identifying the beasts.  The first is often described by terms like “new world order” and can be interpreted as the United Nations, NATO, the global economy, the G8, et cetera.  The second is popularly the Catholic Church or the Pope.  It is sometimes interpreted to be Constantine giving rise to Christendom.

Regardless, the narrative of Revelation describes the beasts as religious authority ceding to political favor.  In other words, selling your soul for the sake of politics.

Later on Sunday, President Trump’s new lawyer, Jay Sekulow, made the rounds on cable news to defend that the president was not under any investigation.  Jay Sekulow, in case you didn’t know, used to be lead counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a counter-organization to the ACLU specializing in religious freedom cases.  But over the years the ACLJ has become more and more political.  And now Sekulow finds himself on the president’s retainer.

In one of the many articles describing his news-tour, someone commented that it was clear President Trump had God’s favor because Sekulow was representing him and therefore no powers of evil can defeat him.

That, right there, is what selling your soul looks like.

It’s not the dinner evangelical leaders have with presidents.  It’s not paychecks received to appear on the news and advance a political narrative.  It’s not even the political maneuvering that is done by religious leaders every time there is an election.

No, it is the common person, the sincere believer, who is deceived because someone they considered a spiritual authority takes a political stance signifying such politics as godly.

After the beasts are introduced in Revelation 13, their followers are then described.  These deceived can be recognized by a physical sign- the mark of the beast.  It’s not the politician or the religious leader we have to worry about selling their soul, rather it is you and me being deceived, being marked.

And He Loved Them Too

Frank

“I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”  What a ridiculous statement from Jonah (Jonah 4:9) after not getting his way while God got his.  The temper tantrum of a toddler because God did what Jonah knew he was going to do.

As ridiculous as it sounds, this is my favorite part of Jonah’s story.  Maybe because I relate so well.  You see, I have a self-righteousness problem.  I think I know it all.  I think my interpretation of the Bible, my doctrine, my church is better than yours.  So I always have to check myself when I’m tempted to be critical.

Jonah thought his interpretation of God’s will was better than the the God who gave it, that his faith was better than the Ninevites.  So he ignored God’s instructions.  Actually, he did more than ignore it, he ran as far away from it as he could.

But God’s will couldn’t be ignored for long; a great fish had other ideas.

The stories seemed to come on top of each other- the trial of a church trying to beat the homosexuality out of a man and a congressman declaring holy war on Muslims.  My instinct was to ask, “do these people actually read their Bibles?”  Even today I saw an article at Christianity Today on how we can pray for Muslims during Ramadan.  Yes, the headline was click-bait, but the comments are appalling.  So when I heard the news about a man arrested on his way to shoot doctors, my first thought was “abortion”.

Turns out that wasn’t the case.  But what does it say when that’s what we expect?

You’ve probably heard the saying, Christians are known more for what they are against than what they are for.  While that usually invokes images of protesters in front of abortion clinics or at a funeral holding signs saying, “God hates fags”, we usually don’t think of such exercises of ‘free speech’ as violent.

Until an abortion clinic is bombed.

Or until the son of a famous evangelist and president of a prominent Christian college encourages Christians to carry guns so that they can “end” Muslims.

Or until a gay youth is driven to suicide by family, friends, and a church who reject her.

These types of Christians are so angry they wish others were dead.

And darn right I’m critical.

You see, what made Jonah so angry (besides the heat, because c’mon who isn’t short-tempered in scorching heat) was that God had the nerve to forgive.  It wasn’t up to Jonah to decide who was worthy.  Jonah admitted, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” (4:2)  And that graciousness, that compassion, that love extended even to Jonah’s enemies.

I wonder if the folks at Word of Life Church, or Congressman Higgins, or Jerry Falwell Jr have ever read this story and asked,who the Ninevites are in their lives, because God loves them too.  The homosexual.  The Muslim.  The liberal.  The woman.  The sinner.  God loves them too.

So these headlines make me angry.  Angry because the hatred and the violence is what some people think Christianity is all about.  It makes me so angry at times I was I was dead and didn’t have to deal with it.

Because God loves them too.

The Christians who don’t look like Jesus.  The pastor who confuses nationalism with faith.  The angry crusader.  The homophobe.  The self-righteous.  The face in the mirror.

God loves them too.

Proportional Response

Frank

I was about the same age as my kids when President Reagan ordered air strikes against Libya.  I remember his national address interrupting whatever I was watching on TV and I was transfixed by the images of F-16s and explosions.  All I knew of war at the time was GI Joe (and how the blue and red lasers never actually killed anyone), but this event defined a ‘real’ enemy I could now include in my imaginary play.  I remember that as the news continued I would build a fort out of the cushions of a sofa where my American GI Joe soldiers gathered to plan their attack on the La-Z-Boy across the room.  Oh, to be an innocent child again.

Early in the first season of The West Wing, there is an episode called ‘Proportional Response’ where President Bartlet has to decide on what is an appropriate response to, ironically enough, Syria shooting down an American plane with a friend on board.  While military advisors recommend a nighttime strike against a military target to minimize casualties, the president wants to deliver a stronger message.  His emotions, in fact, drive him to want to “bomb the hell” out of Syria. (I recall a recent presidential candidate who speculated whether bombing that part of the world would make its sand glow in the dark, implying a nuclear response)  It was difficult to rationalize a response that didn’t ultimately make any difference, but it was the right thing to do.

I had both experiences in my mind on Thursday when I got a message from work that we had taken military action against Syria.  My wife and I had already talked about how horrifying were the images of the chemical weapon attacks earlier in the week, wondering what could be done.

I’m not sure our proportional response will make any difference.  The politics in that region are complicated and allegiances are so intertwined that it is difficult to do anything without unintentionally angering an ally or provoking an adversary.  I can’t say what we did was right or wrong but it makes sense.

From a certain point of view.

A couple of years ago, I was taking a class on Christ and Culture.  As we were talking about other global movements of Christianity, we turned to the subject of war.  In my head and in my speech I declare allegiance to a heavenly kingdom over an above any earthly rule.  But in practice…?  Once a year when we take up a special collection for world missions, I can conceptualize that foreigners and strangers are brothers and sisters in Christ.  But in my heart…?  When I realized that our national enemies may be brothers or sisters in Christ, that from an eternal perspective I have more in common with the casualties of war than the physical neighbor whose politics align with my own, my worldview was rocked to its core.  My perspective of war, geopolitics, and patriotism are forever changed.

Which makes Syria a conundrum.  Yes, the chemical attacks are gruesome and inexcusable.  And I fundamentally oppose authoritarianism because it always creates an oppressed class.  But like I said, the politics of that region is complicated, and Russia’s involvement only muddies those waters.

Why does Russia care?  The obvious answer is oil, so there is an existing economic link.  Russia also has military bases there so there is a military link.  From our western perspective, we might say it’s just an example of one bad guy teaming up with another so there may be a common-cause link.  But they’re only bad guys from our point of view.  Like I said, it’s complicated.  What has been under-reported since the Syrian civil war began is role of the Syrian Orthodox Church in all of this.  You see, the Syrian church has close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.  So there is actually a religious link too.

What does that have to do with Bashar Al Assad, chemical weapons, and the US?  Believe it or not, the Syrian church actually enjoyed some relative freedom and protection under President Assad, which obviously would not be the case under ISIS and would be unlikely under the rule of any of the Syrian rebel groups.  So if you were a Christian in Syria, you would be grateful for Russia’s involvement and would be praying that the US keeps their nose out of your business.  You would long for a return to the status quo.

So then, what do we do?  Even if we have different denominational stripes, we have to be sympathetic to the Christians suffering in the Middle East but at the same time we have to humbly recognize that we don’t have all the answers.  Our proportional response must be to pray with the fervor of explosive weapons.  Pray for peace.  Pray for those suffering, Christian or not.  Pray for unification against the radicalization that ISIS represents.  Pray agains the patriotic jingoism that we are tempted to fall into.  That is the only possible proportional response.

Romans 14 in the Age of Fake News

Frank

It happened again yesterday. While scrolling through my Facebook feed I came across an article that I knew right away was “fake”. It was posted by a well-meaning friend as well as being liked and shared by several others. The headline was compelling enough that I had to click the link to read what all the fuss was about. Everything written seemed plausible, despite the obvious typo in the headline, but then I reached the end of the article where it read, “source: ufomania.org”.

Graphic from CNN.com

Thankfully this happens less now that the heat of the campaign season is behind us. But people are still biting on the bait and getting hooked even if it is with less frequency. Later in the day another friend shared a meme (so it was without any source) making a dubious claim that put down another only to score a political point.

Why do we continue to get sucked in like this? There were numerous articles following the presidential election regarding fake news and how social media has become an echo chamber that only serves to reinforce our opinions. Here are just a couple articles that go behind the scenes. I’m going to summarize what many see as driving this phenomenon.

We desire a validation of our worldview. This isn’t limited to politics. It extends to religion, sports, and entertainment. I’m guilty of this- if I watch a move that really gets my wheels turning, one of the first things I do is check reviews to see if anyone else picked up on the same things I did.

We want validation and acceptance. That’s why we congregate around like-minded people. That’s why it is more joyful to watch sports in a crowd versus alone on your TV (and why tweeting during live events has become so popular- so much so that some sports websites even include a social media frame along with live streaming). This is human nature and why headlines that reinforce our points of view are compelling. We tolerate our own cognitive dissonance because being validated is more important than being right. At the same time seeing news, articles, or memes that fit our preconceptions subliminally convinces us that our opinions are right (thereby making other opinions wrong, which is technically impossible).

We want to believe. Sometimes we think we know something but maybe we lack confidence in its truth. So we cling to anything that builds up our personal lack of faith. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see” (going with the NIV translation- you can switch out confidence and assurance with “substance” and “evidence” if you’d rather rely on the King James). So faith is inherently confident and is self-reinforcing with its own evidence. This definition of faith then assumes some level of trust.

But we don’t apply faith that way. We have faith in things we hope for, but hope is only that. We hope something is true, but we lack confidence or assurance so we seek out evidence. This type of faith is the type that implicitly exclaims, “I told you so!” when we find what we think is proof. So we share articles about NASA scientists that proved the calendar is missing a day because of Joshua making the sun stand still thousands of years ago.

We get sucked in by sensationalist headlines. Did you know that in the mainstream media journalists don’t write their own headlines? Did you know that in publishing authors usually don’t come up with their own titles? There are professionals whose job is to write the headline that will get the most attention or book titles that will sell the most copies. There is research in the social sciences that takes this as far as identifying the best fonts, verbs, and even the maximum number of words to use. Online we try to maximize our Search Engine Optimization.

Over the weekend I was watching one news program where a journalist was getting grilled about a sensationalist headline that the host then claimed qualified the news as “fake”. The journalist tried, with little success, to defend his work by noting that he didn’t write the headline. He tried to steer the discussion to make the point that what some are calling “fake news” are simply examples of sensationalism or bias (both of which drive ratings, clicks, and shares).

Yet we’re guilty of promoting the sensationalism we’re being fed. In the example I opened with, which wasn’t a political story at all, the headline was catchy enough to share without even reading the contents of the article. Had the person done so, I suspect she would’ve noticed the suspicious source being “UFO Mania”. But that’s not the only example. During the election a friend shared an article about Planned Parenthood based on a headline that seemed to reinforce her worldview. She apparently didn’t read the article, because the article made the opposite point she was trying to advance. And this leads me to my last reason…

We have a problem with a lack of discernment. Much was made of the “intelligence gap” or “education gap” identified in polls during the election. But this isn’t necessarily a matter of intelligence or education. Discernment is different. A lack of discernment takes things at face value without critical thinking. Discernment is the ability to take information and question its validity, independent of knowledge, information, or opinions you already have. You can be uneducated and have discernment. This is often described as being “street smart”. At the same time, you can be highly educated and lack discernment. We see the same thing in church where someone might be described as “so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good”.

I hate to say it, but the church is guilty of promoting this lack of discernment. We listen to sermons built around verses that are proof-texts for the point that is trying to be made even if taken completely out of context. We do not follow the example of the Bereans who were of “more noble character” for checking whether what Paul was preaching was true (Acts 17:11). Meanwhile we reinforce a leadership structure that assumes a hierarchy of knowledge, holding those with a  DMin or MDiv with special esteem. Even though we have access to more information than ever before, tools that can help us study the Bible with unprecedented depth, we’re really not that much different than the peasants who were kept in line by the church by their illiteracy.

If we don’t dig deeper on matters of eternal importance, why would we expect to be any different when it comes to the media we consume? We blindly trust what a particular news source has to say the same way we nod our heads and proclaim “amen!” during a sermon that makes a point nowhere to be found in scripture.

Which brings me to Romans 14.

Romans 14 would seem like a non sequitur after the discussion of politics in Romans 13 but then we remember that this also follows the Romans 12 admonishments to “not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (12:3) and “as much as it depends on you, live at peace with one another” (12:18). Taken in that context, you could consider Romans 13 and 14 as applications of 12.

Interestingly, Paul immediately follows his discussion of politics with a warning to not quarrel over disputable matters, as if anticipating the obvious divisions to come. At the same time, he tells us to “accept the one whose faith is weak” and uses dietary laws and religious feasts as examples. What we sometimes miss when reading this is that these religious duties aren’t analogous to whether or not it’s ok to watch R-rated movies, rather they are demonstrations of one’s own religious identity.

Follow the train of thought Paul is providing us: live at peace with one another, submit to authority because everything is under the authority of God, don’t get wrapped up in disputable matters, and don’t allow those things to become central to your religious identity. In other words, don’t let politics define your religion. Because if you do, it will prevent you from being at peace with others, make you unable to submit to governments whose policies you disagree with, and lead you into useless arguments over matters of opinion (a literal translation of “disputable matters”).

Sounds a lot like the state of the church today.

Running through this train of thought is the notion that some will be able to do this easily and others will not. Some will have faith that is “strong”, while others will struggle because of their “weak” faith.

It may sound mean to say that those who revel in “fake news” are weak in their faith, but taken in this context it is the truth- they merely lack discernment. That doesn’t mean I get to look down on them or mock them (which I am seeing far too often from Christians on the progressive end of the political spectrum). Rather Paul tells me that I need to be patient with them and put aside my own convictions for the sake of their faith.

So what do we do to confront the fake news we see nearly every day? We need to remember that the Kingdom is not a matter of Republican or Democrat (to paraphrase 14:17) and that “anything not done in faith is sin” (14:23). We need to ground our politics in faith- faith has to come first- and practice our convictions with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (the rest of verse 17). We have to be humble enough to set aside our political points of view for the sake of others. Really, if our political discourse is causing someone else to struggle- whatever the reason, whether it is based on fake news, or is argumentative, or devalues the unnamed ‘other’- we need to knock it off.

And prayerfully by applying the word we can learn discernment, by having confidence in God’s love we can overcome our need for validation, by growing in faith we can increase our confidence in those things that are unseen, and with our eyes fixed on Jesus may we not become distracted by sensationalism because in him alone is Truth. In Christ there is nothing fake.