A Tale of Two Churches
Thanks to Kile for this article addressing the different roles of religion in Europe and the United States.
I question whether the dominant Christian effort now in the US forebodes the same secular marginalization that the church suffers in Europe. That is, do decades and centuries of efforts to dominate political society and policy by religion and religious identify result in failure and backlash?
Yes. History reveals it cyclically.
Yes, because policy and policy domination is not what Jesus ever had in mind. We can blame this sad corruption of faith on religious wars and oppression by religious-states. We could say, if the European church had dealt in charity and humility, reconciliation and teaching, if the European church had been more like Jesus, it would not be marginalized; it would be relevant and thriving, shaping culture from within, like, say, salt or yeast or light.
The back-sliding Europeans are not godless, and they are not immoral or heathen. They are the descendants of violent, corrupt religion and religious states. If that were the face of the church, what righteous, godly person would want to be associated with it? That church, the church of political gamesmanship, state corruption and inquest, the church of vast wealth and scant moral authority, the church that became a tool of kings as it played their games, even that repentant church is reaping the fruits of its history.
Europe isn't backslidden and blasphemous. Europe is a cautionary tale for the Kingdom.
I question whether the dominant Christian effort now in the US forebodes the same secular marginalization that the church suffers in Europe. That is, do decades and centuries of efforts to dominate political society and policy by religion and religious identify result in failure and backlash?
Yes. History reveals it cyclically.
Yes, because policy and policy domination is not what Jesus ever had in mind. We can blame this sad corruption of faith on religious wars and oppression by religious-states. We could say, if the European church had dealt in charity and humility, reconciliation and teaching, if the European church had been more like Jesus, it would not be marginalized; it would be relevant and thriving, shaping culture from within, like, say, salt or yeast or light.
The back-sliding Europeans are not godless, and they are not immoral or heathen. They are the descendants of violent, corrupt religion and religious states. If that were the face of the church, what righteous, godly person would want to be associated with it? That church, the church of political gamesmanship, state corruption and inquest, the church of vast wealth and scant moral authority, the church that became a tool of kings as it played their games, even that repentant church is reaping the fruits of its history.
Europe isn't backslidden and blasphemous. Europe is a cautionary tale for the Kingdom.
posted by JRB at 11:52 AM
2 Comments:
We agree. We, the Church, Christians, the Kingdom, should not divorce ourselves completely from politics and government. If we were, then the logical destination is some total divorce from secular society and all culture, a la the Esenes. Jesus did not tell the reborn tax-collectors, priests, Centurions or Roman officials to quit their jobs; he taught them to their jobs righteously, with glory to God and love for their neighbors.
The balance is difficult to hold and to maintain. As I've written in the archives here, if we are called to politics and government (as we are called to everything else), then we must manifest Jesus' teaching. That is, humility, surrender of privilege, submission, compassion, faith, hope and love. There's the rub, no? These ideas contradict all inherent in politics, especially democratic politics, of competition, zero-sum power struggles, spin and dominion.
That's the problem with the European experience and the American present. When the Church, or Christians acting for the Church, enter the fray with the intent of winning, dominating and beating down competitors, even for allegedly righteous ends, the essence of Christ's message is corrupted.
I'm not sure how to be a humble, submissive, loving and successful politician, but I'm quite sure how to vote like that.
Good post...
The irony for our fellowship is that it was only about two generations ago that we were divorced from political activism. Now here we are.
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