The self-destructive American motto: Freedom > Responsibility. Christians should be ashamed at how they've embraced it.

Clara wearing a mask during our recent trip to Disney World

I typically read the letters to the editor in our local newspaper.  By now some of the regulars, for better and for worse, are known to me, I expect either a well reasoned or unhinged letter based upon the name at the bottom.  In today's case, it wasn't the name that caught my attention, but a quote that accurately sums up what many (most?) Americans feel about freedom: morality has little to no claim on their lives.

"A true Christian would never try to force those around them to do things that infringe on the freedoms, liberties and possibly their health, simply for their own self preservation." - 10/29/21 letter to the editor

The topic, as you may have guessed, is health mandates, in this case the requirement in PA that children wears masks at school.  The writer of the letter took umbrage with a previous writer's call to protect the "least of these" by asking children to follow the guidance of public health officials and organizations.  At the end of the letter the writer suggests reading the books of Daniel and Revelation, revealing that an apocalyptic mindset has also influenced that sentiment, but we have seen this attitude over and over on a whole range of issues where Freedom is claimed as the superior standard, outclassing morality and negating its obligations.  One might expect such an attitude from libertines, from those who do not believe that God exists and therefore do not concern themselves with being judged for their actions in this life, but far too often the staunchest defendants of the notion that they owe little to no obligation to their neighbors, certainly not if the government is the one telling them to do it, are those who also claim allegiance to Jesus Christ.  This is a paradox, and not a good one.

I saw similar responses revolving around instances of mass shootings, racism, and the plight of refugees.  In each instance, the person objecting to proposed responses did so from a stance of autonomy, without allowing that he or she might have an obligation toward neighbor, stranger, or even enemy.  In statement after statement of politically informed statements about freedoms, the question of discharging one's obligations as a Christian is glossed over.  And yet, the Word of God speaks in a very different voice on such matters.  In God's Word, Freedom is not the goal, it is simply the door to true service, once we have been set free from sin, our real self-sacrifice begins.

1 Peter 2:16  New International Version

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

Galatians 5:13  New International Version

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Matthew 10:8  New International Version

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Romans 1:14  New International Version

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.

Romans 13:8  New International Version

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

Here's the thing.  Nobody is obligated toward their fellow human being, nobody has a greater responsibility to die to self and serve others, than the disciple of Jesus Christ.  Instead of being on the forefront pushing cries of 'freedom!!' in the face of those who may have a claim upon us, we should already be serving them, helping them, sacrificing on their behalf, long before they had the chance to ask.  Christians should not be required by the government to curtail their freedom, they should volunteer.

The letter's author chose to use the word 'true' in front of Christian.  Ironically, that choice is important, for as Jesus made all too clear, it is not who we claim to be that counts to God, for many will claim to have followed him only to be tragically shown their folly on the Day of Judgment, but how we live that will validate our profession of faith.  Christians should talk about freedom less than others, not more, for to us obligation speaks with a much louder voice.  That American Christians often do the opposite is all you need to know about the health of the Church in our nation.  

More of my writing on these topics:

"You do you, I'll do me" - Quintessentially American, but incompatible with the Judeo-Christian worldview

Why are we free? Galatians 5:13-14 {This one contains a link to a short message I gave at Franklin's 4th of July celebration in 2018}

Josh McDowell's folly in addition to racism: Claiming that the Bible only talks about individuals

How should Christians act during a pandemic? - Wisdom from Martin Luther's experience with the Plague

"My body, my choice" is Individualism that spits in the face of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord - abortion and vaccine refusal

2020 has taken the measure of the Church, and found us wanting

Sermon Video: Jesus receives a 'beautiful thing' and a betrayal - Mark 14:1-11

In one episode, Mark puts together Mary's sacrifice of adoration, a 'beautiful thing' in Jesus' words and the inexplicable betrayal of Jesus. Two followers, both witnesses of Jesus' miracles and hearers of his teachings, yet two opposing responses, one of love the other of hate.

Which leads us to this question: What beautiful thing can I do for Jesus? What cost am I willing to pay to serve my savior and king?

Sermon Video: "Be on your guard! Be alert!" - Mark 13:20-37

In this second half of Jesus' teaching on the End Times is contained several important truths: (1) That the tribulation to come will be 'shortened' for the sake of God's chosen people, (2) that in those days God will gather his elect from the ends of the earth, (3) and that nobody but the Father, Jesus included, knows the day/hour of his return. With that in mind, Jesus reiterates his call to his people to take precautions, to live as faithful servants (i.e. righteous and holy lives) here and now, lest we be caught off guard. In the end, we are all mortal, none of us knows how many days, months, or years we have to live. We need to spend that time, as individuals and as a church, as wisely as possible, both making the most of today and planning for the future.

We ignore "repay evil with blessing" at our peril: the Culture War, politics, and 9/11

In a recent interview on the Holy Post podcast (with Phil Vischer), Wheaton College New Testament professor Esau McCaulley makes the case that the United States (and the Church within it) missed a golden opportunity after 9/11 to "repay evil with blessing" rather than with greater destruction.  Admittedly, there was zero political will in the country, and very little opposition of any kind, to the idea of crushing the Taliban to get to Al Qaeda as justice/revenge for the lives lost on that horrific day.  I live through 9/11 as a young man, an educated Christian man, and my own thoughts were primarily of our military response.  Like so many other times in history, the way of peace, the forgiving of enemies, was not tried.  In the interview McCaulley also makes the point that what the Church needs is more Christian politicians willing to lose spectacularly.  In other words, willing to advocate for principles that while unpopular with the American people, are consistent with a Christian worldview.  What we need to do is prize morality above power, obedience to God above 'winning' in the here and now.  The Church would be far healthier, he believes, if those claiming to be Christian politicians lost more elections.  I found McCaulley's honesty to be very refreshing as it echoes much of my recent seminar: The Church and Politics , which was itself largely derived from the writings of Pastor Gregory Boyd in The Myth of a Christian Nation {The Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd: summary and response}, the practical experiences of Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson working for the Moral Majority, as outlined in Blinded by Might, and the worldview underpinnings of Harry Blamires in The Christian Mind, all of which can trace foundational theological heritage back to the Apostle Peter's words in 1 Peter 3:8-17 (among other biblical passages on the topic including: Romans 12:14-21, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, and of course the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:38-48).  The point is, there is a tremendously powerful and convincing theological case to be made in favor of choosing forgiveness over wrath, mercy over justice, especially if we are truly going to model our behavior after the life of Jesus himself.  But, and this is the important conjunction, most Christian throughout history have preferred Realpolitik to living by the teachings of Jesus in these matters.  And that has consequences.

1 Peter 3:8-17     New International Version

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,

“Whoever would love life

    and see good days

must keep their tongue from evil

    and their lips from deceitful speech.

11 They must turn from evil and do good;

    they must seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

The interview with Esau McCaulley from the 26-54 minute marks is highly recommended

Can we 'take America back for God'?  Gregory Boyd's book explains why such a goal is impossible, because no such thing as a 'Christian nation' was ever intended by God, Thomas and Dobson illustrate in their book that a concerted effort sustained over a decade by the Moral Majority failed to move the country any closer to that supposed goal, and Blamires made the case back in 1963 that modern Christians were largely incapable of such an effort (even if it were possible) because they don't THINK like Christians.  Now Esau McCaulley is adding a modern example, the American response to 9/11, to further illustrate the point.  That his suggestion, sending aid to Afghanistan after 9/11 rather than planes loaded with bombs, would have been widely mocked, and someone suggesting such a course of action would have been accused of being 'soft on terrorism' or even a traitor, just illustrates how far from the mirage like goal of being a 'Christian nation' America truly is.  The Right does not offer a Christian worldview, and neither does the Left.

So, what will the consequences be when a nation that is majority Christian (by every poll and form of self-reporting) acts with little difference than a nation that is majority Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc?  At the very least, evangelism will be negatively affected.  Throughout the world what America does is conflated (fairly or unfairly) with Christianity.  The Pope or other ecclesiastical authorities may speak in opposition to American choices acting upon the world stage all they want, to the billions of people around the world, American foreign policy and culture speaks much louder.

For the Church in America, when those inhabiting it reject Christian morality in favor of American priorities, our own discipleship and transformation toward Christ-likeness is delayed, even derailed.  In this we are no different than the British Imperialists of generations past, or of the Pope's more interested in the wars of the Papal States than the spiritual health of the Western Church.  We cannot compartmentalize our lives, behaving as Americans on the one hand and Christians on the other.  As far as our national values are misaligned with our spiritual ones, those values are to us immorality, and as much as individual Christians (self-proclaimed or genuine) reject the calling to imitate Jesus, preferring Might to Right, we will be tolerating a cancer within the Church.

Is the battle lost?  I wouldn't be typing this if I thought so.  We know that the Church itself, global not national, will triumph at the end of history.  We don't have any idea how many years or even millennia before that day comes, but we know it will because God proclaimed it.  We know that voices like McCaulley, Vischer, Boyd, and smaller ones like my own, continue to proclaim the need for the Church to let go of the chimera of worldly victory through power and embrace the promise of spiritual victory through servanthood. At this point, these voices sound more like John the Baptist, people look at them like a crazy person wearing a camel hair shirt, eating locusts and wild honey.  But then again, God vindicated John (although he lost his head in this life standing up for morality against a corrupt system).

Some of my previous thoughts on this topic:

Deals with the Devil don't get any better

Why would we celebrate the death of the wicked?

How a Christian must respond to adversaries

The 'lesser of two evils' an anti-Biblical viewpoint

Satan loses in the end, why are we so scared?

A related topic that illustrates the lack of Christian thinking in other areas:

"My body, my choice" is Individualism that spits in the face of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord - abortion and vaccine refusal

And this: 2020 has taken the measure of the Church, and found us wanting

Sermon Video: "the end is still to come" - Mark 13:1-19

Days before his own Passion, Jesus drops a bomb on his disciples that the Temple in Jerusalem is going to be completely destroyed. The disciples follow up with the most pressing question, when? Rather than offer up a timeline, Jesus begins to develop a theme of preparedness and faithfulness through the coming trials and tribulations.

Sermon Video: Religion at its best, and worst - Mark 12:38-44

Utilizing two topics, Jesus illustrates the Judaism (and hence Christianity) and its best and worst.  The worst is the vanity of the Teachers of the Law, along with their greed, an example of those who use their supposed service to God for self-aggrandizement.  Rather than learning selflessness, they use God as a prop for their own pride/lust/greed.  The 2nd example of a widow willing to give to God the small amount of money she had to live on is an example of radical faith, selflessness in the extreme.  Even if God doesn't place us in a position of total dependence, we all still need to live by faith.

The reality is, being a part of the Church, claiming to be a Christian, isn't a guarantee of morality, the Church will always contain both saints and sinners, charlatans and true believers.  Our task?  Protect against the abusers, support and encourage those truly seeking to honor and serve God.