The Religious Right - Part I
When the Christian majority takes over this country, there will be no satanic churches, no more free distribution of pornography, no more talk of rights for homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not permit anybody the right to practice evil.
--Gary Potter, president of Catholics for Christian Political Action
An interesting way of putting things, to say the least. As an evangelical Christian, I find that often I am drawn into political discussions that are frequently heated and I am not sure as to why. Usually, looking back at those discussions, it seems that myself and the other people involved were talking straight past each other. I wonder why Christianity seems like such a political danger to many people and, quite frankly, I don't understand it.
After reading the quote, I think I begin to see why. There are other quotes to be found where I discovered this one: http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/mine/quotes.htm. So, taking this quote for what it is worth, let's begin our discussion.
There is a seduction in the Religious Right for Christians. The seduction being that of cultural comfort; namely that Christians will no longer have to put themselves out there, facing hurt and rejection, for proclaiming the triumphant and risen Christ and how He saves us from our sins. The Religious Right offers the easy way of no longer needing to be threatened or mocked, and to be able to pass by on the hard responsibility of evangelizing to the lost. It offers an end to cultural wars in a cultural monism and makes our lives "easier."
Except that it doesn't, or wouldn't.
You see, the Religious Right offers us the temptation into which Adam fell. When the serpent was tempting Eve, Adam was there the whole time, and he did absolutely nothing. He stood by and watched. He let things happen when he was threatened.
The Religious Right allows us to sidestep the hard challenge of evangelizing, allowing us to interpret it as a gift and not a discipline. It is, most significantly, the latter and not the former. Which means, for Christians, that we are all called to to it.
The Religious Right mistakes true religion and belief for culture. It advocates a forced veneer of "Christianity," and forgets the necessary requirements of the heart in exchange for a hammer of compulsion. God does not compel people to believe through nothing but fear. Yes, there are consequences to our actions, and God reminds us of them. In the days of the prophets God said that the problem was not the lack of proper theocracy, but the need in us for a new heart:
For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:24-28
God does not squash people into obeying, He rescues them from themselves through supernatural salvation and redemption, and leads them into a right relationship with Him.
The Religious Right offers me, and others who believe, the temptation that Satan used against Jesus. Namely that all the nations of the world would bow down to Christ, if Christ in turn would bow down to Satan.
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." - Luke 4:5-8
Here is the primary failing of the Religious Right: it takes Earth to be Heaven, Congress to be the assembled Church, and the White House to be His holy temple and heavenly throne. They have succumbed to the same sin as the Pharisees, who in a word, loved their own kingdom more than God's. They have forgotten Christ's exchange with Pilate:
"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
--Gary Potter, president of Catholics for Christian Political Action
An interesting way of putting things, to say the least. As an evangelical Christian, I find that often I am drawn into political discussions that are frequently heated and I am not sure as to why. Usually, looking back at those discussions, it seems that myself and the other people involved were talking straight past each other. I wonder why Christianity seems like such a political danger to many people and, quite frankly, I don't understand it.
After reading the quote, I think I begin to see why. There are other quotes to be found where I discovered this one: http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/mine/quotes.htm. So, taking this quote for what it is worth, let's begin our discussion.
There is a seduction in the Religious Right for Christians. The seduction being that of cultural comfort; namely that Christians will no longer have to put themselves out there, facing hurt and rejection, for proclaiming the triumphant and risen Christ and how He saves us from our sins. The Religious Right offers the easy way of no longer needing to be threatened or mocked, and to be able to pass by on the hard responsibility of evangelizing to the lost. It offers an end to cultural wars in a cultural monism and makes our lives "easier."
Except that it doesn't, or wouldn't.
You see, the Religious Right offers us the temptation into which Adam fell. When the serpent was tempting Eve, Adam was there the whole time, and he did absolutely nothing. He stood by and watched. He let things happen when he was threatened.
The Religious Right allows us to sidestep the hard challenge of evangelizing, allowing us to interpret it as a gift and not a discipline. It is, most significantly, the latter and not the former. Which means, for Christians, that we are all called to to it.
The Religious Right mistakes true religion and belief for culture. It advocates a forced veneer of "Christianity," and forgets the necessary requirements of the heart in exchange for a hammer of compulsion. God does not compel people to believe through nothing but fear. Yes, there are consequences to our actions, and God reminds us of them. In the days of the prophets God said that the problem was not the lack of proper theocracy, but the need in us for a new heart:
For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:24-28
God does not squash people into obeying, He rescues them from themselves through supernatural salvation and redemption, and leads them into a right relationship with Him.
The Religious Right offers me, and others who believe, the temptation that Satan used against Jesus. Namely that all the nations of the world would bow down to Christ, if Christ in turn would bow down to Satan.
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." - Luke 4:5-8
Here is the primary failing of the Religious Right: it takes Earth to be Heaven, Congress to be the assembled Church, and the White House to be His holy temple and heavenly throne. They have succumbed to the same sin as the Pharisees, who in a word, loved their own kingdom more than God's. They have forgotten Christ's exchange with Pilate:
"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."- John 18:35-37
posted by Brian at 10:57 AM
3 Comments:
Brian,
Thank you for posting this. I thought I might be the only evangelical Christian out there who isn't on the religious right!! For some time now I have been really struggling with the assumptions people have because I am an evangelical Christian. Those assumptions not only come from my non-believing family and friends, but interestingly the assumptions and judgments are MORE from my fellow believers. I know this shouldn't surprise me, but my non-believing friends and family are more apt to ask me my political convictions BEFORE jumping to a conclusion on where I stand, while my friends and family who are evangelical Christians conclude that I am on the right because we believe the same gospel. To be honest, I have not been that open about my political differences because I know it leads to heated discussions and worse. And frankly I feel rather unprepared to have some of those discussions. I whole-heartedly agree with your earlier post where you stated "Just because something is politically conservative does not mean it is Biblical. Jesus wouldn't necessarily vote republican." I also recently read in the book Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian and he quotes the following that has been helpful "Politics mostly follows culture rather than leading it....A temporary victory in the voting booth does not reverse a downward moral trend driven by cultural gatekeepers in news media, entertainment, art, and education. Politics is not a cure-all." Vern Poythress
".....politics are reflective, not directive." pg. 64-65
Thank you again for writing...I will be reading.
well said - all of it! and what a temptation for evangelicals to become involved in the religious right agenda. christians are in the odd position of living according to the biblical principles while watching as the world conducts business in a very different fashion. and the christians are influenced by laws, social norms, government policies. the temptation is to take the shortcut and participate in the same way, using legislation and political marches to advance the christian cause. but i think you point out that this can easily turn into sin.
The frustrating part for me is seeing Christians go to rallies and whatnot as if the cause of the Bible were just another cause, like gay rights or abortion. This is one of the consequences of the Religious Right and it feeds into a pluralistic understanding of religion which, in turn, teeters on the barest edge of reason.
The "weapons" of Christians should not be political marches. It should be prayer, adopting parentless children, and selfless service that does not look for a vote but seeks to glorify God.
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