Christians, Wake Up!

First, I know this post doesn’t apply to every Christian in America. I know many Christians who live out their lives differently. I also know many Christians who believe differently but choose not to speak out against their brothers and sisters who are in the wrong, choosing to offer grace, instead. I believe we are called to hold those who claim Christ in word accountable to their actions that do not reflect that allegiance. I’m not going to pull punches anymore, and I apologize in advance for hurting your sensibilities about your (presumed) right to a private life.

I believe that the American church has truly lost its way. It has chosen to absorb and incorporate political stances and views into its morality, rather than the opposite, effectively pushing Jesus out of the picture, except as a cute, cuddly little baby who is gushed over once a year and who makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. It no longer stands for anything radical, and too often it wraps itself in the American flag because church members “fought and died for our freedom.” We Christians have warped the concept of separation of church and state, I believe, into something never intended and in order to keep our spiritual and earthly lives separate. It is time for Christians in America to wake up and stand up for God’s Kingdom first and remember where our true allegiance lies, or otherwise to walk away heavy-hearted, like the rich, young ruler, because we are asked too much.

The American church has fallen into a huge trap, a massive deception. It has come to believe that separation of church and state applies bidirectionally. It does not. Yet, we in the church have come to use it as a shield,  as a way to support distinctly un-Christian people and policies in the guise of “keeping the government out of our business.” I should know, because I was great at this. Being of a Libertarian (or Jeffersonian) mindset, I believe ultimately that fewer government restrictions on my life would allow me to live into my Christian identity more completely. And to an extent and in theory, that’s true. The reality of how that plays out is all too often different, though. Christians have come to support truly bs policies (such as the ban on refugees, for instance) because we have to “protect America first.” I believe that somewhere deep inside, American Christians have convinced themselves that if we protect America and make it strong economically, we will have more personal resources to direct towards helping the poor, needy, etc. While giving may go up in supposedly better economic times, that doesn't necessarily correlate with an improvement in health/life/care quality of the needy. At least, I’ve never seen it play out that way in my personal life. And because of this, I've had to change the way I think about my relationship to Christ and how that influences my stance on American policies/ideals. Beyond that, it's fairly irrelevant whether that holds true. It doesn't make it okay for me to support policies that actively hurt the poor and needy in hopes that it might end up helping somewhere down the road.

As a Christian, my desire to follow Christ should direct my policy decisions. Jesus never advocated for separation of church and state (that’s not what Matthew 22:21 is about). He showed us the way we should live and how our beliefs should be exemplified in every action we do and every choice we make. To me, that means I cannot stand up for a policy that excludes or rejects a person or a people for any reason (fear being the worst reason of all). This is concretely against what Jesus (and the Bible in general) teaches. There is NO valid argument a Christian can make to support a policy like this.

And to those who would hold up the mandate to be subject to our leaders because they’re God-appointed (Romans 13:1), that never meant to turn a blind eye to injustices done by our government just because they’re our government. Jesus’ life was full of examples of “breaking” human-instituted laws to follow God’s law. Furthermore, there are many examples in the Old Testament of God directing and allowing pagan rulers to destroy and capture Israel. This was always done so that God could restore and reconcile Israel to Himself again, and that is the sense in which I believe Paul’s statement should be understood. God may indeed allow (or appoint) people to power in order to cause (force, require) God’s people to rise up and take a stand and truly separate themselves from the powers and principalities of this world.

I also believe this means that we should support any policy to bring a higher level of care to all people in our country. Do I think Christians and individuals could more efficiently care for people than the government? Absolutely, but I haven’t seen that in action, ever. I do believe that it is our responsibility to take care of the poor and needy at whatever cost to ourselves, and that means supporting socialized healthcare, if it comes to it. After all, we have no right or claim to anything on this earth for ourselves. All of it belongs to God, and God has told us to treat others as ourselves, to give away all we have for the good of others. If we think we could care for people better than the government, then let’s reject government-provided healthcare with our own plan. But simply keeping things the way they are is not Christian.

Finally, I think it’s time we starting asking people we are friends, co-workers, or acquaintances with, “Are you a Christian?”, and we should expect and require an answer. Anyone who answers in the positive should be put to these hard questions and called to accountability. This above all else will offend our sensibilities. We have created a culture where “my Christian identity is between me and God.” But that’s complete bs. Our identity as followers of Christ is shown by our actions, by the fruit we bear. We should be excited to identify ourselves as Christians, and we should feel shame, not indignation, when someone calls us out for not acting out of our Christian identity. I’m ready to say to those who respond yes but whose words and actions reflect otherwise, “You may have salvation, but you don’t know Jesus. You’re not his follower as exemplified by your life.” I’m ready to cause strife amongst my supposed brothers and sisters, and to pit father against son, mother against daughter, etc. We need the true Church to rise up and speak out. Christians, wake up! Support policy and policy-makers whose choices actually reflect Christ’s values, not America’s. Separate yourselves from this American-Christian religion (which is idolatry and false), and come into Christ’s fold. There lies real freedom.