Separation Anxiety - Church and State in the Age of Trump

 Back in the early nineties Jesus People USA in Chicago was near its zenith. The commune in downtown Chicago was a vibrant community of service, they organized the annual Cornerstone Festival, Resurrection Band fronted by Glenn Kaiser toured the country, and Cornerstone Magazine published thought provoking articles on faith and the church. One such long form article had to do with the devastating consequences of the church getting in bed with government. Though I no longer have the article, it played a key role in my concerns about the comingling of politics and religion. Growing up in an America where businesses closed on Sunday and, in my small town, no school or sports activities were scheduled on Wednesdays, the idea of being a "Christian nation" was inculcated into my psyche. 

It wasn't until many years later, as the fundamental morality of Christianity began to clash with the prevailing culture and government started to be less deferential to Christian churches, that I realized what a trap had been set for the church. In part due to that Cornerstone article and in part due to my own observations, it became clear that since the time of the Great Depression government had slowly begun to assume responsibilities that did not belong to it. Namely, becoming the agent for social welfare and care for the needy. I've written articles here on this blog about church and state being in bed together. For the past fifty years or so, government has been slowly kicking church out of that bed. Today church is rarely seen as relevant or meaningful in the public square. New reports are coming out all the time about the "nones" and the "dones", those who have no affiliation with church (none) or left the church for various reasons (done). It seemed reasonable to assume a de facto divorce had occurred with the government keeping custody of the people.

Then along came Donald Trump's second term, Elon Musk, and D.O.G.E. Out of the gate USAID was first in line for scrutiny. What the spotlight revealed was a deep, tangled, confusing web of NGO's and partnerships receiving government funds to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Legitimate contracts with such "Christian" organizations as Catholic Charities and Lutheran World Relief were providing national and international aid to refugees, immigrants, starving children, and all sorts of poverty stricken human beings around the world. At least, that was what these NGO's were purportedly accomplishing. Having worked in places all over the globe, I'm not here to cast aspersions on the good and necessary work of Christians in addressing poverty, homelessness, starvation, displacement, and all forms of suffering. From the interior of the Amazon to the foothills of the Himalayas, I have personally seen and participated in bringing aid to widows, orphans, and those displaced by hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. I've sat in meetings with leaders from all over the world in Kathmandu, Nepal coordinating relief after the devastating 2015 earthquakes. I am neither heartless toward nor ignorant of the needs in this world. I say that because what I will say next may seem ill-informed, heartless, or naïve.

Shame on all those Christian NGO's that accepted government contracts and took government money to help those in need. It is reported that USAID was created by President John Kennedy to coordinate from the executive branch all the covert work of U.S. intelligence agencies. USAID was formed to sharpen and perfect statecraft. That is, it was meant to manipulate foreign governments, unseat leaders the U.S. didn't like (regardless whether they were legitimately elected), and otherwise advance U.S. political interests all over the world. One key strategic piece of the puzzle was funneling money through NGO's to people in need. This created a lever to be used by the government if ever it needed to pressure the government of another country. Experts in the field of intelligence have laid this scheme out in great detail and, since it's not my bailiwick, I'll let you research other sources. The point of this writing is to plead with the church to fully separate itself from government. Yes, the government has vast sums of wealth that make it so tempting to seek their help. But government's purpose, it's reason for being, is so completely different from the church that it is unwise for the church to cozy up to government. If we haven't learned that from the last few decades as government slowly then fairly quickly disregarded the church as having any significant role in society, then I'm not sure there's any hope.

Some of my dearest friends are raging against Elon and President Trump because their friends doing the work of poverty relief and aid are losing money, losing jobs, and at risk of losing their entire organizations. This is how dependent they had become on government funding. I'm as sad as I can be for this painful separation that is taking place. I'm shocked at the amount of money the government has funneled through NGO's creating a crippling dependency that is only now being exposed. A government that can give money to help the needy is a government that can direct how that money is spent and, ultimately, withdraw those funds if you don't play by its rules. Anyone and everyone who has ever dealt with government knows that its money comes with strings attached and government is the only one that can pull those strings. Now a new leader is in charge of the U.S. government. Some might argue a once in a generation leader who is approaching federal governance in a wholly unexpected and revolutionary way. A way that is exposing the true entanglement of church and state through USAID grants and other government agencies funding human care work through Christian and other religious NGO's. 

This should've never happened. All the resources on earth are God's and he provides for all the work that needs to be done. When the church becomes an arm of the government, it loses its purpose and its place. There is more than enough money outside of government channels to resource all the work the church must be doing. Yes, it's harder to get but avoiding government entanglement makes the effort worth it. It keeps the church independent and free from at least one form of corruption. When government absorbs ever more money and power then turns and uses that money through human care ministries, it is putting itself in the driver's seat. It is focused on accomplishing its purpose and, make no mistake, it isn't interested in solving human suffering. Human suffering serves the purposes of government more often than not. There are not enough ways for me to say the church and the government have different reasons for existing in this world. Those reasons should put church and government at odds with one another more often than not. Why, then, would the church or any of her organizations willingly join the government pretending to have a common cause?

No, the current separation anxiety over the severing of funding from the U.S. government is a painful but necessary step in restoring a right relationship between church and state. As sad as it is that this correction will cost people jobs and might even cost some peoples' lives, it is an inevitable consequence of a horribly malformed relationship. While the founding fathers hoped to avoid the government dictating a specific religion to the populace, what is even more insidious and dangerous is a government that controls all religions through the power of the purse. Jesus warned us that you cannot serve God and money. This is especially true when that money falls from the hand of government. 

I don't like to see people suffer. As I have shared, much of my life has been in service to those in need. Wherever I have gone in the world, Christians were already there doing all they could to help. They are truly the hands and feet of Jesus. And, occasionally, a USAID vehicle would roll through the area. I always regarded them with suspicion because I don't trust the government to be concerned about people. Not in the same way the church is concerned about people. Some might say I'm heartless, but I am wholeheartedly in favor of the work President Trump and Elon Musk are doing. My biggest fear is that they won't go far enough. They are tender hearted men who, I'm certain, will restore funding for legitimate NGO's to carry on their humanitarian work. I would prefer they not do that. I would prefer the church and state fully and completely separate. I desire a season where the church truly finds herself and looks only to God and his people for her resource. If this were to happen, it would not be fully accomplished in my lifetime. Still, I pray it happens. Oh Church, return to your first love and rely only on Him. 

A Sweet Reduction and Moonlight Graham

In cooking, reduction is the process of thickening and intensifying the flavors in a liquid by simmering or boiling. You reduce excess moisture and the flavors that remain are more powerful and appealing. This seems an appropriate analogy for what the Church is experiencing in these protracted times of pandemic restriction.

Like turning a knob on the stove, the COVID-19 pandemic has moved the heat under the Church from a simmer to a boil. In the U.S. the Church has been undergoing what I've often called the New Reformation for nearly thirty years now. Perhaps, even longer. One could argue that this New Reformation started in the 1960's, another time of historic unrest in our country. So, for about fifty years now the Western church has been in a constant state of flux. Christian denominations have been splitting and merging and splitting again. The rise of non-denominational churches either wary of or outright opposed to denominational superstructures, have siphoned off people from "mainline" churches. Still, one measure of the church, weekly participation, has continued to steadily decline until today when just seventeen percent of the U.S. population attends church on any given Sunday.

This post isn't about denominational dissolution or the decline in church attendance. It's always my hope through this blog to admit where the Church has missed the point and highlight where opportunities lie for a better future. I believe we are standing at another historically meaningful inflection point. As a variety of state leaders dictate whether churches can gather and what they must do if allowed to gather, the favored status of the Christian Church in America hangs precariously in the balance. The entirely hypothetical questions we used to kick around thirty years ago, like, "Would you still be a Christian if it was outlawed in America?" are feeling less and less hypothetical. I don't think I'm the only one who can see a path, a very short path, to a day when genuinely oppressive government restrictions are levied on Christian churches. This is such an exciting time to be a Christian in the United States.

Yes! Exciting! Finally, after years of frustration over the banality of worship that was more infotainment than Biblical exploration and meaningful apologetics, the Christian Church is being boiled down to its essence. What do we believe? Why do we believe what we believe? What is the solid foundation of Biblical understanding upon which our beliefs are based? Those who are ill-prepared to answer these questions will, as the temperature rises, evaporate like extraneous liquid. This is not an indictment of those individuals who are unable to articulate their faith. It is not a condemnation of those who are Biblically illiterate. Responsibility for he evaporation of the Christian Church from American life and culture rests squarely on the shoulders of a church that has been too long complacent with its place in the culture. Even as most favored status was evaporating over the last three decades, the alarm was not sufficiently raised to reclaim Biblical teaching and broad general knowledge of the foundational truths of the faith amongst all who called themselves Christians. Replaced by feel good messages of hope and goodwill, bullet-pointed lists of how to succeed as a leader like Jesus did, six steps to a happy marriage, or twelve steps to lasting sobriety, to name some of countless examples of shallow, misguided teaching, the deep connection to the faithful of millennia past was lost. Our understanding of the eternal nature of God and the infinitesimal brevity of our own existence became skewed. In an attempt to be culturally relevant to a culture that's been around a fraction of the time the people of Israel spent in Egyptian captivity, churches gleefully tossed out thousands of years worth of Biblical interpretation.

So comes this time of reduction. Though smaller in size...a remnant, you might say...the essence of the Church will remain even as the Western church collapses in on itself like a dying star. God's Word will never pass away even as those who don't read, study, or grasp His Word, do. The body of believers may decrease here even as it increases in places all over the world. We who follow Jesus must fix our eyes forward, not looking back to "better days" but recognizing there is no going back. It seems more clear to me than ever before that in 2020 the Church has crossed a line and can't ever go back. It is only forward from here.

I'm reminded of a scene from the movie "Field of Dreams" where Burt Lancaster, in his final film role, played Moonlight Graham. He gets the chance to magically go back in time and play professional baseball with his heroes on a mysterious baseball field in Iowa. When a little girl is choking on a hot dog Moonlight, who spent most of his true professional career as a doctor, must decide to cross the field's foul line knowing that he'll never go back to baseball again. With little hesitation young Moonlight steps over the line and transforms into the aged "Doc" Graham and saves the little girl's life. 

Church can't be church like we've always done it. It's time to leave the games we've been playing behind and take on the more serious work of tending to those whose lives hang in the balance. Perhaps, once sufficiently reduced, the true power of the Church will make an impact like it hasn't made in a very long time. So, turn up the heat and let's get to the sweet reduction!

Words to a Young Pastor

My pastor, in his thirties, posted an appeal to Baby Boomers on Facebook. This post is in response to his request. You can read his post here before my response begins...

Baby Boomers, we need your voice right now.

Of course, my parents are Boomers, but growing up and working in church I also have a lot of Boomer friends. I love y’all and so thankful for you. And we really (really) need your voice right now. Many of us look up to you in a very literal sense, so whatever you’re saying (or not saying) right now...we look up to that. In that sense your voice is really powerful.

I was talking to a friend last night who’d just gotten back from a protest. He said, “it was weird because everyone there was our age and younger, like thousands of people...” I’ve noticed the same thing on my social media feeds but just assumed it was algorithm feedback loops.

I know that you grew up through much of the Civil Rights era and experienced racism from many angles, more explicitly than this generation. So you know that the black/brown kids you went to school with have kids that are my age. They grew up hearing awful stories of racism, being taught how to act in front of police out of fear, having to be taught about racism at a way earlier age b/c kids called them names at school, etc. I’m not making this up, these are just my friends stories.

If you think about it, my generation is just one generation down from the Civil Rights movement. So even if seems like we’ve moved on and things are way better than when you were a kid (in many ways they are), we still have a really long way to go.

I definitely don’t want to tell anyone what to do or suggest I know what’s best. I just want to encourage all my Boomer friends that it’s safe and important to speak out against racism, and you guys are still our leaders in many ways.

Love y’all 

Millennials, I can't speak for all Boomers any more than my friend Nick can speak for all Millennials. But, I know his heart and I hear his frustration in asking us to speak out against racism. As for me, I'm going to politely decline and speak out on a much more pervasive, much more destructive force that has been visiting death on people since the beginning of time.

Sin.

Sin is the stain visited on humanity through the willful disobedience of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden according to the Biblical account in Genesis...if you believe the Bible, and I do. As I said in my most recent post, sin is selfishness. The lie Satan told is that we can be like God deciding right and wrong. Once we assumed the driver's seat and kicked God to the curb, we made ourselves the arbiters of truth and the whole world went to hell. It wasn't long before Cain determined Abel was a threat to his position, favor, or something and decided death was the punishment. Since then human beings have been deciding the value of other human beings and meting out judgement based on all sorts of things. Like, gender, race, religion, skin color, hair color, height, deformity, income level, and...well, let's face it, anything that might distinguish one human being from another.

While it is an indication of our incredibly short lifespan as humans that we see the current dust-up over race as significant, it is just one of a million ways sin has inflicted pain on humanity through the millennia. With sin came death. Some die of old age, some die because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, some die of disease, some die at the hands of others. Those that die at the hands of others, die because they are black, or Jewish, or Christian, or female, or educated, or disabled, or unborn, or wealthy, or... The list of why people kill people is endless. Sometimes it's accidental or, at least, unintended. Sometimes it's systemic and government sanctioned and culturally accepted.

As the Body of Christ, the Church has been established by God to be his loving presence in a broken world. In the moment the Church was formed the spiritual battle was joined. Paul wrote in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." 

Protesting against racism is like protesting against a cancer victim's hair loss. It's not the hair loss that's killing them, it's the cancer. It's not the racism that's the problem, it's sin in the world. It's human beings who believe the lie that they get to decide right and wrong, good and evil, who lives, and who dies. Or, simply have reckless disregard for others because they always put themselves first.

As long as the church is persuaded to rail against the effects of sin and not address sin, itself, it is expending a lot of energy with little hope of making a difference. And, if we've learned anything over time, addressing sin by gathering masses of people to carry signs and shout slogans has absolutely no impact whatsoever. Sin is the broken condition of every human soul and every human being needs to meet Jesus in a close and personal way. That happens through close, human contact with a follower of Jesus. 

I have seen firsthand how faith in Jesus eliminates tribal, racial, ethnic and class divides. I've spoken to a roomful of African students representing twelve different countries and a variety of tribal groups with a history of killing one another. Jesus united them. I've seen "untouchables" in Nepal sitting side by side with members of the highest caste worshiping Jesus. I've watched mostly white suburban Christian kids spend weeks in impoverished black and Native American communities being the love of Jesus and being loved in return. Being present in the lives of those in need is less dramatic but more effective than marching in the streets with a clever slogan on a piece of cardboard, in my opinion.

I think it's telling that Jesus never organized a rally to change the rules of the Roman government or the Jewish leadership with whom he had obvious disagreements. He never insisted they stop ostracizing lepers or treating Samaritans with prejudicial disdain. No, he healed lepers and spoke with Samaritans. He did point out, through parables and in other ways, the foolishness of the "righteous" in the face of true righteousness. In the same way, I would argue that it wasn't the peaceful protest marches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights champions that ultimately turned the federal government in their direction. Yes, their voices were influential in shaping policy, but the cultural shift came when Americans saw peaceful protesters attacked by dogs, knocked to the ground by water cannons, and beaten by police officers. Seeing evil done to others has an impact and stirs hearts to action. Clever marketers know this. It's why they put images of starving children in front of people to solicit donations. We know people are starving, but when we see them it's harder to not help. People knew blacks were discriminated against back then. But when they saw the brutality of it all on the nightly news, there was no other option but to act. And over time racist laws were eliminated. 

George Floyd was mistreated by a police officer but not because that was police policy, as it was in the south in the '50's and '60's. That's obvious when you see how swiftly the officer was fired then arrested then charged with homicide. In the 1960's not a single police officer was even reprimanded for their treatment of protesters because it was sanctioned police activity. The difference between the protests back then and the ones today is that there are no governmental policies condoning or promoting racism. What the protesters are now asking for is that the government or some outside force be applied to change individual attitudes toward race. In essence, dictate a solution to individual sinful behavior as defined by other people. By that I mean those who get the ear of government, determine what's right or wrong then leverage the government to dictate specific, personal behavior based on their perception of the issues seems dangerous at best.

Racism as policy has been effectively dealt with in our country. Protections are afforded people of all races. That doesn't mean black people aren't disproportionately targeted by law enforcement. Statistically and anecdotally, they are. Much the way women are disproportionately victims of sexual harassment and assault. Legal protections don't change hearts. Protests don't change hearts. Darkness in the hearts of people is a sin issue. Jesus is the only solution to sin issues. Sinful people have been victimizing other people, as I said, since time began. There is nothing we can do to take away the sin of the world. But the sin of the world has been taken away by Jesus. So, there are things we can do that don't require protesting.

Bring the healing love and presence of Jesus to the world by bringing it to each person in need God puts in your path. Do so without regard for race, gender, color or creed. Make a difference for one person in the way you talk to them, trust them, love them. Do it because you are the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken and dying world. Marching in a big crowd is dramatic and makes for good television, but change comes one person at a time, one day at a time, one heart at a time, as Jesus followers show up and go where God sends them. When this current upset passes, and it most certainly will, the quiet work of faithful followers of Jesus will continue to revolutionize the world. It has done so ever since Jesus first told his disciples to, "Go, therefore, and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Whether your presence blesses a black life or softens the heart of an angry police officer so he no longer abuses others from his position of authority, bringing Jesus' love to people is the only way to make a true and lasting difference.

Call out sin and all the effects of sin on humanity. Be the loving presence of Jesus to the hurting, helpless and hopeless. Go after the root of sin and the branch of racism will wither and fall. Trim the branch and another will grow in its place. It seems to me the church has slowly retreated from attacking the root of sin and engaging in the deeper spiritual warfare to which we are called. Instead we are content to prune a few branches now and again assuring that racism and all the branches of the poison tree remain strong and healthy.

So, I won't be out protesting racism. I'll be working to uproot the sin in my life and encouraging others to do the same. Whatever form it takes.

My City is Burning

  

copyright IndyStar.com

 I live in Indianapolis, Indiana these days. Over the past weekend peaceful protests here, as across the United States, were co-opted by those bent on violence and destruction. Stores were looted, cars burned, and, here in Indy, two people shot and killed. This is terrible news that has many Christian leaders wringing their hands about race relations and how we overcome white privilege and join our black brothers and sisters in the struggle. This seems an overwrought response to a very familiar condition. And I'm not talking about racism.

    My wife and I live in a black neighborhood about 40 blocks north of the center of Indianapolis. I suppose that could be seen as the equivalent of saying, "I have black friends", but I share that to say our neighborhood is not riled up. So far as I know, none of our neighbors have joined in the protest. Yesterday my next door neighbor referred to the "crazy people" who caused the 8 p.m. citywide curfew. Yes, there are some...many, perhaps...in the black community who are very upset about the treatment of blacks by police. Rightly so. I haven't heard any commentators, any pastors, any reasonable human beings saying what happened to George Floyd was right. The actions by those police officers have been universally condemned. However, the incident keeps the conversation about how people of color are treated in our culture top of mind, where it should be. I'm a huge fan of people talking about how to be better to one another, regardless of race, and then doing something about it.

I'm a follower of Jesus. That's what we do. 

    Pray, encourage, strive, advocate, and engage in being better personally and corporately. I believe it can be counterproductive at times like this to beat ourselves up over not being good enough. There will always be opportunities to improve. In Christian speak that's called sanctification. It is daily walking out the process of getting closer to being the person God created you to be. It's something every Christian who takes their relationship with Jesus seriously is eager to be doing. Well, eager may be an overstatement as sanctification is very tough work. But, let's face it, sin is a huge impediment to overcome. Sin is, at it's core, selfishness and selfishness is, in its very nature, a reckless disregard for others. I wholeheartedly embrace calls for better care and concern for others. Linking arms, praying together, speaking with one voice for justice, peace, fairness, equal treatment under the law, and all the things that make the lives of others better, these are all good things. Necessary things. 

    I can't endure, champion, or celebrate sin...in any form. Whether that's a police officer kneeling on a man's neck for eight minutes or looters stacking televisions on a cart and hauling them away before burning a Target to the ground. Deliberately harming others from a place of power or under cover of mob violence are both equally sinful. That is, coming from a place of our human brokenness. As a wise Christian man once taught me, "Hurting people hurt people". The brokenness of sin is a deep, elemental hurt inflicted on the souls of every human being on the planet. Out of this brokenness comes all manner of evil and wickedness. Slander, murder, abuse, slavery, cheating, lying, theft, vulgarity, and the list is seemingly endless.

    It seems disingenuous to me when Christian leaders beat their breasts and cry out in shock at the way people are treated in this world. We, of all people, understand the root cause of all pain in this world. Sin. Sin is the brokenness of humanity present from conception. Sin is selfishness and selfishness always, always wreaks havoc on the world. Power in the hands of selfish people is domination. Money in the hands of selfish people is wantonness. Position in the hands of selfish people is tyranny. The selfish expression of victimhood is looting, burning and destroying. Whether powerful or put upon, when selfishness is your foundation, destruction is the ultimate end. The destruction of others and yourself. Because this is my understanding, I am never shocked or distraught by the brutality that human beings visit on other human beings. This is the condition of the world in which we live. 

    We cannot become numb to man's inhumanity to man and we dare not be overcome by it. No, instead we stand ever more firmly convinced of the truth that sin is real, its effects are malignant, its influence is pervasive, and only through the work of Jesus Christ are we able to escape its grasp. Apart from him we can do nothing but succumb to the siren song of selfishness dragging us down into utter destruction. 

    My city is burning. This is a temporary situation highlighting the permanent condition of a sinful world. Followers of Jesus will rally, joining others in cleaning up and rebuilding. Conversations about justice, fairness, equality, peace, and brotherhood will continue apace. Sin will daily raise its ugly head in places all over the world. People will suffer. People will die. The long, slow march to becoming better will have its victories and its setbacks. And so it goes. This is not apathy on my part, it is what I consider a realistic worldview informed by my Christian faith. As the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, 

"What has been will be again,

    what has been done will be done again;

    there is nothing new under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9

    Let's not be surprised by what has happened. As it has happened before, so it will happen again. Instead, let us live out our God given purpose to be his hands and feet, his voice, his expression of selfless love in a world wounded by selfishness. 

The Once and Future Conflict

It should come as no surprise that since humanity's fall into sin we have been in conflict. It is the nature of our existence. More often than not that conflict has coalesced around those of differing belief systems. For simplicity sake the conflicts are colloquially known as "religious wars".

From the conflicts between the Hyksos interlopers against the indigenous Egyptians to the great Exodus battle between Pharaoh and Moses to the epic struggles between followers of Baal and followers of Yaweh to the Christian Crusades against the Muslim Caliphates there is little of history free from religiously driven conflict. That goes for today's conflicts driven by followers of Islam bent on seeing their religious beliefs hold sway over greater and greater numbers of people.

Living in the relative cocoon of technology and comfort here in the U.S. we have been anesthetized to the faith driven nature of conflict. I hear leaders talk about lesser causes like poverty, hunger, and income inequality. All of which pale by comparison to the true driver of conflict, the desire to have one's religious system become dominant.

I'm a verbal processor which means I develop my thoughts by either talking them out or writing them out. It's my intention to write out the thoughts I've been developing regarding the growing trend in our country among some Christian leaders to embrace Muslims in a show of loving acceptance. Let me be clear up front that I truly believe Jesus' call to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. However, I'm seeing a trend toward accepting those active in the Muslim faith and standing in solidarity with them as Christians. This is, in my opinion, the height of foolishness and ignorance. The Christian worldview is diametrically opposed to the Muslim worldview as easily discerned by reading the foundational texts of the two religions, the Bible and the Q'uran.

We are well into the early days of a coming conflict that will be awful and heartbreaking for many in this country. I am quite troubled by Christian pastors, authors and leaders rushing to support their Muslim counterparts in, what I can only imagine is, an expression of Godly love for them. I'm not sure Jesus' call to love your enemy means laying down and inviting your enemy to take control over your community, government and/or country. But we'll see where my verbal processing leads over the next few posts.

I Blame Constantine

What an amazing time to be a Christian in the United States. Just today a cousin of mine whom I love dearly posted on Facebook her fear that the constitution was being destroyed by fundamentalist Christians. Imagine that, in just two hundred and forty-one short years we've come round to a place where U.S. citizens think Christians are a threat to a country founded by Christians. How does such a thing happen.

I blame Constantine.

Up until 324 A.D. Christianity truly was a counter-cultural revolution that was not of this world. The earliest followers of Jesus had no political aspirations for they knew their kingdom was not of this world. They met secretly and grew quickly with a message of community, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and salvation that would last for all eternity. Christians weren't interested in earthly power because Jesus had already imparted to them the power of the Holy Spirit. They had the power to heal the sick and raise the dead. No politician in their wildest imaginings had this kind of power.

Then Constantine became a follower of Christ and, as a political ruler, gave state sanction to Christianity along with all other religions. He returned confiscated property back to the Christian owners. He exempted Christian leaders from certain taxes (maybe you thought that was uniquely American). He assembled the first Council of Nicaea from whence came the Nicene Creed, one of the ancient statements of Christian faith. And he began the long history of the unholy union of church and state.

So I can't really blame all the protesters shutting down airports and senators weeping behind microphones over a government that's not acting with Christian charity toward the disadvantaged, oppressed, and outcast people of the world. It's been 1,693 years of church and state in bed together and, let's face it, the church has done some dastardly things to stay in the good graces of their political handlers. There have even been whole centuries when you couldn't tell the two apart.

You see governments are temporal and territorial by nature. Each country draws its borders then proceeds to protect those borders for the sake of the people within and to the exclusion of the people without. Sometimes a land is conquered adding to the territory and sometimes revolt happens throwing off the control of one government and establishing another. Some countries can trace their borders back thousands of years while there are others like South Sudan which only goes back less than six years.

The church, on the other hand, is eternal and universal. Jesus' love is for everyone. The church is without borders and is called to seek out the lost, least, and left behind. Followers of Christ show up all over the world, often at great physical risk to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them...or anyone. Pope John Paul II famously forgave the man who shot him. An act many admired but many also didn't understand.

The church is called to address injustice wherever it occurs. Christians are charged with being the representation of God to everyone demonstrating love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and justice. The church at its very best cares for widows and orphans, clothes the naked, visits the imprisoned, houses the homeless, feeds the hungry, and tends to the sick. All this without judging anyone's eternal disposition but trusting God to ultimately be in control.

So I don't blame Christians for speaking up and speaking out for refugees, the displaced, and the dispossessed. In fact I expect that from them. Not only do I expect them to speak up, I expect them to act on their convictions and it's been my experience that they do. I've spent my whole life with Christians in countries all over the world including in the U.S. who were tending to the neediest people. People who were being treated at best with disregard and at worst with hostility by their governments.

At the same time I expect the government and those who lead it to take every necessary measure to protect the boundaries of our country. That includes putting a stop to the influx of refugees until such time as those in leadership can be certain those with ill intent toward our citizens are not sneaking in through that door. That includes strong border protection and finding a way to control immigration into this country so that both those immigrating and our country are strengthened in the process. I want a government that has as it's first and most pressing concern the welfare of the citizens it governs. That includes all citizens and those who desire to legally become citizens. And I expect the government keeps this primary concern top of mind when dealing with all other governments of the world.

I expect that of the government of France, the government of Great Britain, the government of Canada, the government of Mexico, the government of China, and India, and Russia, and every other government of every other country on earth. And I expect nothing less from the government of the United States of America. This is my temporal and political expectation which I'm able to separate from my Christian expectation which is eternal and universal.

I blame Constantine for the confusion amongst Christians and those who are haranguing Christians about the government not being compassionate or caring. We have 1600 years of confusion regarding the role of the state and the role of the church to unravel. St. Paul instructed Christians to submit to the authority of the government placed over them. He did not, however, confuse the government with the church. And neither should we. Let's stop insisting our government act like the church and start doing some positive things with our moral outrage.

The church, the Christian church, all those who follow Jesus should absolutely care about the refugee crisis in this world. Every one of us should be housing homeless people, feeding hungry people, clothing naked people, visiting sick and imprisoned people. And if our government for a time keeps any of those people from getting to us we should not let that deter us from going to them. If, for a time, the obligations put upon our government for providing safety inside our territorial borders should cause them to keep needy people away from us then we should gather up our passports and go to where the refugees are. Now there's a genuinely good reason to go to an airport. Because the church is universal. There are no boundaries for us. Wherever we go God is there with us.

And should we die in our pursuit of God's call on our lives we know that simply means we have transitioned into eternity with him. Into a place where there is no more fear, no more tears, no more death, and no more refugees. Truth be told all who follow Jesus know we are strangers in a strange land waiting to be called home to heaven. As refugees ourselves we long to cross the border into eternity. For now, though, we are sojourners not yet permitted to cross that border.

I hope, perhaps in vain, that we will all stop confusing the role of church with the role of government and vice versa. But 1600 years of confusion is a very daunting challenge to overcome, so I won't be overly upset if it doesn't happen in my lifetime.

I'll just blame Constantine!

A Shameful Waste

I had an interesting experience today. A Facebook "friend", as opposed to a real friend, who happens to be a pastor posted this article about church sanctuaries that have been upgraded and beautified. If you clicked on the link you'll see pictures of ornate sanctuary spaces that are quite beautiful.

My response was to point out what a waste of money it is to enhance worship spaces where fewer and fewer people are gathering and that such expense does absolutely nothing to advance the Gospel. I hoped for a little conversation about how we Christians choose to spend God's resources. Instead the pastor deleted my comment and unfriended me. It seems apparent glorified sanctuary spaces are very important to him and dissenting opinions are not welcome.

Rather than mourn the loss of an online "friendship" I decided this was an opportunity to expand on my comment here and explain why, in my opinion, dedicated sanctuary spaces are an abomination rejected by God and harmful to the commission Christ gave his followers. Scripture is quite clear that at Pentecost the outpouring of the Holy Spirit meant God is bodily present in every follower of Christ. Further our bodies are the temple of God meant to be active and effective for our Lord Jesus Christ wherever we find ourselves. Further still this presence of God is to be daily making an impact amongst those in need in the world. Whether that's need for comfort, clothing, housing, food, or any of the countless other needs present in this broken world.

That over time the church has retreated inside buildings and invested literally trillions of dollars over the past two thousand years to deck out these spaces with gold, silver, ornate rare woods, carvings, artwork and more is a travesty. A careful reading of the account of David's plan to build a temple reveals God's rejection of such a plan. The temple in Jerusalem was rejected by God. The fact Solomon went ahead with it anyway...with the help of Satan and his minions (let him who has ears hear the truth) simply confirms what an abomination temples truly are.

God did not and does not want buildings built and assigned as his residence. A residence for God is a place we visit giving rise to our misbegotten notion God can be visited and, more erroneously, contained. Dressing up such spaces and calling them sacred make them no less abominable. Look at the whole story. Temple rituals and prayers were rejected by God as noise and a stench in his nostrils. We have simply recreated mini temples a million times over all over the world.

I'm not saying the church doesn't need gathering places. I am saying the places we gather are of no consequence to the advancement of the Gospel. God comes and goes with us, those who are filled with his Holy Spirit. If the gathering places are of no consequence then investing ridiculous amounts of money to decorate these spaces is an absolute waste of God's resources imparted to his Church for the sake of spreading the Gospel. The creation of God is far more majestic and awesome than any creation of man. I am pleading with the church to stop building ornate boxes for God and calling these spaces sacred. They are an abomination to God, a waste of God's resource and a distraction from the vital work the Church has been called into.

One final note. Where your treasure is there your heart is also. Pouring treasure into a worship space entices us to sit in that space waiting and hoping others will show up. They won't. Fewer and fewer people are coming into our worship spaces. The most ornate cathedrals of Europe are quaint tourist attractions but nearly devoid of worshipers and worthless to the advancement of the Gospel. Get out of your space and take God with you. Out in the world is where he really wants to be.