Vlady Fresh

On August 24th I watched the third part of a CNN special entitled “God’s Warriors.” That evening focused on God’s Christian warriors, who, almost without exception, identified themselves as Evangelicals. What I saw sickened me and made me want to dissociate from the Evangelical movement. Yes we are all Christians of a similar flavor but please don’t assume any commonalities beyond that.

While speaking about this issue with Anita over dinner, she asked me to specify what in particular I found so offensive. I told her that there was nothing new but having to face so many Evangelical dysfunctions within a 2 hour time block was overwhelming. Here is the list in order of greatest point of enragement to the least …

Uncritical Christian Zionism
CNN highlighted the ministry of Zionist Pastor John Hagee, who leads a church of nearly 20,000. He has led his church, and I imagine many others, down the erroneous path of confusing historical Israel with the modern nation state of Israel and therefore giving unrestrained support to modern Israel based on Genesis 12:3. This leads directly to my first and greatest concern, that Hagee’s uncritical backing Israel makes him and his followers seemingly incapable of empathizing with the numerous injustices endured by the Palestinians.

I wouldn’t be so concerned about Pastor Hagee and the millions of other Christian Zionists if they were merely praying for Israel. After all, I’m convinced God is in his wisdom does not answer misguided prayers. What troubles me is their effectiveness in lobbying the US government to execute foreign policy in line with their Scriptural misunderstandings. Any thinking person can see the disastrous effects this US foreign policy has had in the region and in the world.

Having said this, I do respect the right of anyone, including Christians, to be Zionists. A Christian may, with integrity, take a Zionist position based on social, political, and historical realities. I simply don’t respect the abuse and misuse of Scriptures to support political views on which the Scriptures are silent. The fact that much of Evangelicalism has fallen in line behind Pastor Hagee flawed exegesis is a source of deep disappointment and shame for me.

Obsessions with homosexuality
My patience is running out with the ‘sanctified’ homophobia tolerated, if not espoused by Evangelicalism. Who do we think we are to selectively condemn this sub-culture? Where are the Evangelicals picketing against the majority of US culture (including Evangelicals) engaging in premarital sex? What about common-law marriage? Why is no one picketing and protesting that? How is it that Evangelicalism has selected this sin (yes, I do believe it is a sin) to be that of greatest importance? What about greed and lack of concern for the poor, which judging by the amount of teaching devoted by Jesus, are more significant and widespread problems?

As someone who has “lost” two brothers in the faith to homosexual relationships, I know first hand how unhelpful Evangelical attitudes can be for those struggling with this sin. The church is not a safe place for those struggling with homosexuality so, rather than struggle alone, many choose to not struggle at all. This is our corporate sin against this community which is loved by God and we need to repent. The verse that comes to mind when I think about this situation is Matthew 23:13, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Unholy Alliances
There are two issues here. The first is the whole concept of American Civil Religion. My historical knowledge of how this came about is vague at best (something about a differentiation from godless communism during the Cold War). Regardless of the origin, the blending of patriotism and evangelicalism terrifies me. In The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne shares these same concerns when a flagship church like Willow Creek prominently displays the American flag but not the cross. It’s no surprise that so many Evangelicals believe that God is on “our side” in US foreign policy and military conflict.

The second issue is that of the Evangelical tie to the Republican Party. That the Evangelical movement should be associated with any party is deplorable. I would have equal concerns if Evangelicals were unthinking in their support of the Democrats or another party. As with the Christian Zionism issue, I respect the right of Christians to affiliate with a political party, as long as it is an informed decision made prayerfully in the light of scriptural revelation.

In my experience, what seems to be more common are the demonization of the Democratic Party and the sanctification of the Republican Party. These gross characterizations are not helpful in either developing our discipleship or for developing a healthy political process. What I desire here is for Evangelicals, as individuals and in their communities, to seriously evaluate the candidates and the issues in light of the full revelation of scripture, not some narrow “moral” agenda set by self-annointed Evangelical leaders with close relations to the Republican Party.

A Narrow Gospel
For a faith community that prides itself of taking the Word of God seriously, I’m shocked at the narrow understanding of the Gospel that is common in our churches. This incomplete understanding is then effectively transmitted to the next generation of believers through the “Four Spiritual Laws”, with many people not realizing that they are to be the beginning of faith journey which is often difficult and always costly. Where do the scriptures say that all we need to do is, “Ask Jesus to come into our hearts?” Where is the hope of the new creation and the promise of the unstoppable expansion of the Kingdom of God?

Thankfully a close friend of mine, James Choung, is publishing a book where the Gospel is presented as being “more than heaven.” I pray that God will use him, and others like him, to steer the church toward a more biblically holistic Gospel.

Pro-Life (sorta, kinda)
I highly respect and admire the Pro-Life movement and think they are on a just crusade in trying to convince individuals and the government that abortion is another term for killing a baby. What I would wish for though is a higher sense of commitment to the cause. Not just passing legislation but striving to provide viable alternatives for women who are considering having an abortion. Namely, will Christians invest their lives to help single mothers raise their children? Will Christians step up to the plate regarding adoption, even adopting across ethnic and racial lines? Our protests, picketing and lobbying ring remarkably hollow when we are not actively supporting women who choose not to abort.

Hypocrisy
I genuinely don’t understand the Evangelical obsession with public prayers and displaying the Ten Commandments on government property. In my mind, prohibitions against these are actually beneficial for the church since they hack away at the lifeline of American Civil Religion. What’s more of a concern though is what I suspect to be the deep hypocrisy of these protesters. How many of them know the Ten Commandments by heart, or at least know where they are in the Scriptures? How many have the Ten Commandments posted prominently in their homes and churches and have family prayer every day? My guess is that very, very few do. (I admit I’m being judgmental here and don’t really know what goes in people’s homes but, projecting from the experience of friends who grew up in Evangelical families, I think I’m probably right.)

Here too I respect the right of people to defend “their way of life” and their culture. If a community in the Bible Belt wants to keep the Ten Commands in city hall and my friend, the liberal Bostonian, takes them to court about it, then may God bless them in court! This reminds me of my cousin complaining how the massive Muslim immigration into Italy has impacted society. One specific example that he gave was the removal of crucifixes from public schools. His plea for keeping the crucifixes wasn’t based on religion (he’s nominally Catholic at best) but was explicitly cultural. He said, “Why is it that in accommodating the culture of the newer immigrants we have to destroy ours? What, don’t we have a culture too?” Like my cousin, let’s be clear that these battles are often cultural and not spiritual in nature.

Revisionist History
My final gripe against Evangelicalism is its revisionist, or perhaps I should say, selective American history. To hear American history explained by many Evangelicals (including dear friends of mine and even teammates), you’d think that the Revolution was birthed out of a prayer meeting and that the founding fathers were second tier apostles. These perspectives are so out of line with what I’ve read in secular texts that someone, on one side or the other, must be blatantly lying. Sadly, when it comes to science and history, I tend trust secular academics more than big hearted but under-educated Christians.

The Way
Anita just pointed out that I did the typical Evangelical thing and protested against all of the above without actually doing or stating anything positive. In other words, I’m contributing to Evangelicals being known for what they are against rather than what they are for. I admit it, I’m busted.

So, in an effort to end on a positive and proactive note, let me address what I am for. What am I about? For years now I’ve been trying to distill my faith down into a simple statement that I can share easily with others and meditate on (like the Jesus prayer). I’ve gone through many formulations but one has stuck with for quite a while now. It is, “I belong to the Way of submission in love.” Whatever my political, social, or religious affiliations, it’s my desire that I be known first and foremost as a follower of the Way of Jesus who modeled submission in love. I would hope that other Evangelicals would desire the same.