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.