Please read this post the entire way through before you dismiss it.
This post began in my head just a couple of days ago when I read this from my friend John Bryson on Twitter:
I got excited about this “tweet.” I sent it out to others and posted it on my Facebook page.
Now understand that this was on the day that Americans on both sides of the political spectrum were in a flutter about a speech that the President was scheduled to give to public school children. On this day, on both sides of the political spectrum, many were filled with passion of the political variety. Naturally, calling someone’s passion an idol is controversial.
Political passion is good, but JB called it “the idol of the day.” So, what makes an idol an idol?
A good definition of an idol comes in the language of “god-substitute” from Martyn Lloyd-Jones:
“A man’s god is that for which he lives, for which he is prepared to give his time, his energy, his money, that which stimulates him and rouses him, excites, and enthuses him.”
Passion is necessary for life. A passion even for politics is good. But your political ideology can easily become your god-substitute if it is what most easily rouses, excites, and enthuses you.
It’s often not the bad things that we have to guard our hearts from. Often it is the very best things – our children, our work, our politics – that are in danger of becoming god-substitutes for us.
And how will you know if political ideology – whether conservative or liberal – has become your idol? Measure it by the amount of self-righteousness in your rhetoric.
Here’s the deal: self-righteousness sells. Haughty, self-righteous indignation that sets up everyone who shares your viewpoint as the arbiter of what is good in the world and vilifies everyone who disagrees with you, draws a crowd. Partisan talk shows with lots of yelling will get loyal viewers. Fire off an angry missive or angsty blog post and you will get readers.
But back to my point. Political obsession & idolatry of any kind worries me, but political obsession & idolatry of the conservative variety worries me more, and not because I am a liberal (I’m not) or have a political agenda to promote (I don’t).
Political conservatism is dangerous to the gospel, because in these parts, political conservatism so easily masquerades itself as the gospel.
I know a lot of people on both sides of the political fence who have given in to the idolatry of political ideology. To generalize for a minute: a lot of those (and I would say most) that I know that are politically liberal don’t claim to be Christians. A lot of those (and I again would say most) that are politically conservative, however, do claim to be Christians, and many of these confuse their political conservatism for Christianity.
When political conservatism is confused for Christianity:
1. It creates false assurance: many who are not Christians wrongly assume that they are simply because of their conservative vote.
2. It makes enemies out of friends: Christians forget that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” and make enemies out of anyone who disagrees with their political ideology.
3. It becomes a barrier to mission: political liberals who are not Christians are given the idea that to embrace the gospel of Jesus means to become a conservative. Naturally they pass on this. But the wrong “gospel” has been presented to them – thus many haven’t even rejected the gospel at all, only a highly politicized version of it.
4. The wrong gospel is passed to the next generation: In training our children to be good conservatives instead of grace-filled believers, we help harden their hearts to the gospel. I grew up in a church that did a better job teaching me to be a political conservative than a lover of Jesus Christ. That was a church that was easy to leave.
Get involved in the political sphere. Have well thought-out opinions. But watch out – the best things in life can have the greatest sway on our hearts.
Has your political ideology become your god-substitute? Is it, as JB says, the thing that gives you meaning, purpose, and passion? Repent and believe the gospel. Turn to the only thing that can satisfy you and the only thing that has authentic power to change the world around us.
-
Update: See also Clarification on The Gospel & Political Conservatism
Really good article Jon. I think you have nailed the issue. We can easily turn our values into our idol.
I whole-heartedly agree with most, if not all, of what you are saying. However, I would recommend a revision in your title. Is Political Conservatism in and of itself dangerous to the Gospel? Or, are broken people making idols of their conservative views dangerous to the gospel? I believe a liberal making an idol of their political affiliation is equally as dangerous.
I think it is sad that conservative and Christian have become interchangeable synonyms and I think that this is something inherently wrong with the public representation of the conservative party- and I say this as a member. I think as a Christian conservative I have an opportunity to shatter this stigma with several non-Christian friend. I was fortunate to grow up in a rare situation of which I am very thankful- in a Christian home with a liberal Mom and a conservative Dad. I learned early on that it is not your political affiliation that defines your declaration of the Gospel. And that respectful and peaceful discourse should be encouraged.
However, I do think several of your points could be reversed towards the liberal party as well, and I know you offer this disclaimer.
Especially #2- making enemies out of friends, can easily be applied to Christian Liberals. I’m in the minority of my friends as a conservative and I find just as much, if not more, zeal and fire out of Christian liberals against conservatives. Which I find to also be dangerous to the Gospel. If on both sides of the fence as Christians we are creating a divisive climate among one another we are weakening the strength of a Kingdom by putting too much weight on something outside of it.
I think both sides have a lot to be convicted on and I appreciate this honest response to the wickedness in the conservative party, but I think we have to bring to light that all humanity is full of wickedness and a desire to put anything, even our politics before God.
I believe all of these unsettled feelings Christians on both sides of the fence feel towards one another blatantly points to the fact that our hope can never be found in politics and that real change will never be accomplished on a ballot, but through Christians (liberal and conservative) willing to live and love radically on behalf of a Jesus who loves us radically.
Great stuff, Jon.
It’s amazing to me the tension this subject creates, revealing how deep this idol can go into our life and doctrine. I hope a right understanding of the Gospel will change the way we pursue politics.
Keep it up!
Wow. Where are your facts. On what research did you base your four tenants? Is this your anecdotal experience or do you have facts to base this upon?
I get what you’re saying but I fear you paint a rather bleak and certainly one-dimensional view of conservatives.
I suggest you read a post in the Wall Street Journal today entitled “Why Are Jews Liberals” by Norman Podhoretz for a truly thoughtful exploration of the subject of conservatism and liberalism as it relates to Judaism. If you don’t have access to the WSJ, I will send you the link.
I too share your angst at “conservatives” who go ballistic at Obama talking to school children. I think it started with the ill fated lesson plan that the Dept of Education had crafted and surely someone in the Obama administration approved. That was over the line, but for such a successful, charismatic and well educated President, it would be a shame if he didn’t address school children of all ages on a regular basis.
Don’t let the fringe conservatives be viewed as the mainstream conservative. And just because conservatives choose to listen to something other than NPR doesn’t turn us into auto bots while we’re driving form point a to b. No one ever attacks the extreme bias of NPR. I listen to it and like it. But it is as biased and evil as the a.m. stuff.
Further, I can’t imagine any Christian being fully liberal or conservative. But that’s another essay.
I do not live in “these parts”, but while I think you have some good points in this article, let’s not forget that our political views ought to line up with our Biblical worldview. I see a bigger problem with the worship of the idol of “community” right now. People, Christians and non-Christians alike are worhsiping “community” and ignoring the bigger picture that the reason that our society is having so many problems is because of sin. The only thing that can fix sin is the return to a fear of God with the reminder of what will happen for those that refuse to repent and in faith come to Christ. I know that it sounds harsh, even to my own ears. But it is a reality. If we love them, we will tell them the Truth in love.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 “..but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
I hope that for Christians, rather than a political ideology becoming a god-substitute, that where they stand politically lines up with a true biblical worldview and that they stand on their conviction of faith in Christ and all that He stands for. Without that, people will and are falling for anything.
Thanks for ‘daring’ to step on some toes. I like to think of myself as a conservative. For a long time I debated and argued with people till I was blue in the face and I always thought I was right (correct). Here are a few of my problems. They are in no particular order.
1.) I am a Christian first, an American second. Any other order is wrong. There is nothing wrong with patriotism, but I’m a Christ follower first.
2.) Does any political ideaology capture the entirety of the gospel? In my estimation – NO! So, Christians need to stop equating faith and conservatism, and liberals should stop trying to say Jesus was a socialist. I hear both from sincere Bible believing people.
3.) We should be involved and diligently follow the issues and vote accordingly, but not go nuts. If some people were as vocal about what Jesus did for them at Calvary as they are about criticizing politicians, there would more evangelism happening. On the other side of the coin, too many Christians use this as an excuse to be lazy and not be involved at all politically which is also wrong.
4.) When we are too involved in politics, we can allow government to become our sense of security. Last September as the economy was shaking at its core I faced some very stark realities. First, I had (unbeknownst to me) place a great deal of trust in our government. My future security, both physical and financial, were based not on my faith in God, but on my faith in history and the might of the USA. Second, I realized that as a Christian in Western society I was unacquainted with hardship. I’m talking real hardship, persecution type stuff. I don’t long for it, but there is a refining quality that it brings to the Church. Why should America be excluded from such persecution and/or hardship?
I know that this is not well organized, or even substantiated. But it is the thoughts that have been running through my mind this past year. I have wrestled with much of this and I always come to one conclusion. Jesus is the only comfort and answer. I know this thinking can become fatilist but I don’t take it that way. Let everything fall, let it be burned to ashes. I will always have Jesus. I fear for a Church that has embraced comfort.
I love it when the comments arguing against the article ends up reinforcing it.
The defense of conservatives in the comment in old testament times might have read something like “I fear you paint a rather bleak and certainly one-dimensional view of Baal worshipers. Don’t let those child sacrificing fringe Baal worshipers be viewed as a mainstream Baal worshipper.” (Before flame wars begin, please do not confuse analogy with equivalence)
The point is that to take your identity enough from anything but God to feel the need to defend and clarify that the label (idol) doesn’t really mean what we think it does precisely calls it out as an idol.
I think we have to be very careful with our identification with any political school, movement, or party as Christians. As Jeff alluded to, so well, we can never fully be anything that comes from this world as we are but resident aliens and citizens of a different world in Christ.
Jon,
your argument seems to be that because the Christians you know are conservative, it’s easier to conflate conservatism with Christianity. Don’t the four cautions you articulate apply just as much to liberalism? What about conservatism makes it especially susceptible to idolatry? You claimed it, but failed to offer any reasons to think it.
Sorry, I feel the need to clarify that I made the Baal comment for humorous intent to show that our idolatries come in many flavors, but remain idolatry.
I in no way intended to denigrate Jeff’s sincere convictions. I apologize if I offended and repent of my post-modern snarkiness.
Is there no middle “observational, experiential” ground between anecdotal and factual? Thoughts are too quickly labeled as generalizations when in reality, all statements or positions come from congnitive processing based upon observations, may they be anecdotal or factual, in the end they are “thought conclusions” that may or may not be changing and morphing. As for the one-dimensional view in this subject, let us not forget that Norman Podhoretz comes from a Jewish family, meaning his insights into “why Jews are liberal” are primarily based upon his “one-dimensional”,experience from growing and learning (observing) in a Jewish environment. Regardless of his research on the issue, it comes from that foundation. Point being, factual research is not essential in observing trends.
Judson,
If empirical equals anecdotal in this world, then words don’t mean anything. It’s like the old chestnut that in one culture having you over for dinner is a social event and in another, you are dinner; which do you prefer?
“We are Nihilists, Lobowski; we believe in nothing!”
As a centerpiece of Christianity words have absolute values or, if not, we are all Nihilists, Lobowski.
Judson,
Did you read the article from Podhoretz? If so I am astonished at your distillation of it.
Jon, great blog again! I love the fact that Christians as a whole are moving in a positive direction in regards to challenging what strict adherence to conservative mind sets have on mission! To this thing in particular I feel a calling to within my community (just a little poke at you Catherine).
I grew up “in these parts” as well. As a boy my father went to Crichton Bible College in Memphis and then Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in…well, Dallas. Growing up in that environment taught me one thing. The love and acceptance that Christ displayed in his life was only meant to be read about and not lived out…unless it was those less fortunate’s in OTHER countries and only then would you give to some missionary. Never mind all the lost souls here in this country. Never mind the homosexuals, those of different faiths, the artists, etc. ….they are all liberals and God has a special wrath for them! We have, collectively, shrugged off our responsibility to those people because of views based in other ideals than Christ’s. The conservative Christian social environment that I grew up in was wrong about how to deal with people.
I, as a Christian, have a responsibility, as Bill said above (despite us being, most likely, on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum), to first and foremost be careful of the face that we put on Christianity. Be involved with shaping this world because it is a gift from God and I am grateful for it.
The article starts by saying that Political Conservatism is dangerous, then goes on to explain why being judgmental of non-conservatives is dangerous. They aren’t the same thing. I don’t believe the title accurately reflects what the article is talking about.
Doc Sewell
I’m glad you mentioned at the top to take a second and read through what you were saying. My first reaction was to dismiss the tweet as another example of Christians trying to make anything into an idol. Though I agree that politics can become a religion/idol, I don’t believe that is the case for most people. I further agree that there is mass confusion that liberal means nonchristian and conservative means Christian. Thank you for this post, even if the title is a bit misleading, imo.
Jeff-Im confused how biblical authority came into this? I firmly believe in the inherancy and infallibility of Scripture. With that said, is there no room for interpretation? That seems to be a better way to look at this. The Word is the Word, but our word is our best possible interpretation of that Word, combined with experiences and observations of how that Word is working itself out, as in “how or why conservatism may be detrimental to the Gospel”. The initial response you gave seemed to suggest that in order to observe and conclude, there must be factual evidence. Simply not true.
Thanks for the feedback here.
Obviously I can’t respond to everyone’s question or push back, but let me hit a few.
This essay is for what I called above, “these parts,” namely, The Bible Belt.
Go back and look at the Wikipedia article I linked to re: The Bible Belt. Look at the first map; find the epi-center of that red swath; turn right; that’s where I live.
Look at the second map. See the darkest reddest state? That’s where I live.
The four cautions do apply to liberalism as well, as Matt said, – but that’s not what we have in these parts. Here, we have a false religion called political conservatism. Notice I said that we often make idols out of the best things – with the inference that proper conservatism is a good thing. When it is conflated with the gospel, giving entire groups of people false assurance & false hope, then it becomes a dangerous thing.
If you do not live in the deep South (and Florida – save the panhandle – doesn’t count), then you may not see it – that’s okay. I’ve been freshly reminded of it in my recent move home and it pangs me to see it.
As a pastor, it is my job to discern the idols of the people I am called to reach. If I failed to do this, if I failed to speak up, I would be a bad pastor.
I stand by the title. Doc, I have to ask, did you read past “but, back to my point.”
Let me say again – specifically in the South, political conservatism is [in my opinion - and that's what I get paid for... my opinion
] is the dominant idol of the day (there are of course others) and it is so dangerous because it is easily confused and conflated with the gospel.
You would not believe the numbers upon numbers of people with false assurance that are self-deceived simply because they are conservatives.
Pray for us.
With respect, Judson, when you use the word “conclude” I presume you mean “reach a decision”. Then you say to conclude one doesn’t need factual evidence.
It is my hope that before we make conclusions we seek factual evidence. Otherwise we get stuck in the quagmire of relativity: you have your truth and I’ll have mine. We’re back to the cannibalism metaphor I purloined from Ravi Zacharias.
You end your argument with “simply not true”. Are you speaking of your version of the truth or truth?
Truth is based on fact. That is my original point of criticism. The 4 tenants the author laid out implied a very shallow view of some very fine, empirically verifiable attributes of conservatives. There are controlled studies that show conservatives are far bigger givers to the church than liberals. The same study showed them far more “happy” with their lives and optimistic than liberals.
Had the post been addled with “in my opinion” this or that, well, that’s just someone talking. But it crossed the line, in my opinion, in making authoratative proclamations and I simply asked where he got his information.
So far as the gentleman taking issue with my comment of extremist conservatives, likening them to people who sacrificed children, I would ask, could the work of Jeremiah Wright put JMac in his lot?
Jon…perhaps hone the title to something that fits your context explanation. “Why Political Conservatism is Dangerous to the Gospel in my town, USA” or something to that effect. That would seem to be what you’re going for, anyway.
Otherwise…to be fair, the title paints with too broad a brush and could easily be interpreted as merely provocative or even sensational to someone that doesn’t connect your stated context with the title.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rob Davis, Luke Simmons, Kester Smith, Robbyn Abedi and others. Rob Davis said: RT @JonMcIntosh: Why political conservatism is dangerous to the gospel: http://bit.ly/164rDg [...]
“In the last days, men will cling to a form of godliness, having denied its true power.” Sorry I don’t know the chapter & verse.
hey jonathan,
i like how you’re thinking- great example of applying the gospel… thanks!
JMAC
Maybe you and I will end up as O’Riley’s pinheads of the day!
Great word
JB
I’m curious about some of Jeff Smith’s comments. He states that controlled studies have shown that conservatives are “far bigger givers” to the church than liberals and that the same study showed that they are far “happier” with their lives and optimistic than liberals. Is there a specific reason why you cite these findings in particular or is it just to say that there is “objective” data that can be used to make claims about conservatives and you would rather “objective” data be used than someone’s anecdotal evidence?
If it’s the case that you are just making a simple point that studies take place and they measure things and that’s better than subjective experience, then I guess that’s fine. But I can’t help but think you are trying to not so subtly toot the horn of conservatives. I hear, “Don’t knock conservatives, they give more than liberals, ya know.” Oh, and they are happier.” Perhaps you can help me understand what these studies have to do with the Gospel if you think they are meaningful or related. My take on the Gospels is that the guys who said these kinds of things (Pharisees) were pretty much lambasted by Jesus on a daily basis. I don’t remember passages where He smiles upon people who make sure to tell Him and others how content and generous they are. Is that not obvious from even a cursory reading?
Jonathan, since people are giving their 2 cents about a new title, here is my suggestion. Here goes. “My perception of some (not all) conservative people in Mississippi (specifically the town I live) over the last couple of weeks since I have moved back and how what I have subjectively observed and report here relates to the Gospel”. That might be a little long and less catchy, but hey, at least you won’t offend anyone.
As I read these posts, I find myself agreeing with many of you even though you differ. My viewpoints can change from one political side to another depending on the issue. However, as a follower of Christ, I should never sway. My identity is in Him. How I understood Jonathan’s point is that too many Christians might focus/trust in the issues of the conservative party rather the purity and life changing power of the gospel. I believe this happens because there are several issues that both the conservative party believes as well as Christians i.e. pro-life, marriage between one man and one woman, etc. As a result, we start making conservative synonymous with Christian which can be dangerous. (Hope I didn’t put words in your mouth Jonathan). I think that we should remember God is in control of everything even our political climate.
Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:20-21
John,
Can you please define a liberal christian? Or politically liberal christian?
Catherine, thanks for your post. You get the point of this discussion.
[...] Why Political Conservatism is Dangerous to the Gospel | Rethink Mission Worth thinking over – some good points made toward the bottom of the piece. (tags: religion politics conservatism) [...]
Is God worried MORE about “political obsession & idolatry of the conservative variety” than just plain old “idolatry”? If so, then you have a point.
Is worry a form of idolatry?
Thanks so much for this thoughtful post.
The idolatry of Christian political conservatism has led Christians to slander our president, setting themselves directly against the Bible. It’s led a gay family member to ask me why Christians are more interested in keeping him from marrying his partner than inviting him to church. It’s led to a country in which Christians are more permissive of torture than non-Christians. It’s led to a fellow Christian questioning my salvation because I voted for Obama.
Certainly these arguments can be applied to political liberals as well. Ultimately, we simply can’t identify ourselves primarily as Democrats or Republicans, liberal or conservatives. Neither, as Bill said, captures the entirety of the Gospel. Nor can we say that God cares “more” about abortion or education or health care than anything else, a common argument during the election to justify voting for candidates in all parties.
JMac, I think you make a great point about self-righteousness, and what a humbling test to seek out the idolatry in our hearts. When we rush to defend something so quickly, we must ask ourselves if we are basing our identity on that thing — will we be personally threatened if we are wrong?
As Christians, we are all on the exact same standing with Christ and we are all called to the same things: to pray for Obama and our country’s leadership; to pray for the unity of the body of believers around the world; to strengthen our commitment to Christ and exhort others to do the same; to work to bring about God’s kingdom, striving for justice, feeding the poor, giving to the needy, helping young pregnant women make a decision for life; and to share God’s gospel to a broken and hurting world that will not be fixed by any government at any time anywhere.
“I got excited about this “tweet.” I sent it out to others and posted it on my Facebook page.” Seems to me like you are holding twitter and Facebook up at an idol status. Come on man, you are going off on something that is not in itself inherently evil. You might as well say food is evil because you might become a gluten if you eat too much. I get what you’re TRYING to say but my gosh was this poorly written. And the title is just ridiculous.
By the way, do a little research on the Founding Fathers. Nearly all were Christian (even Jefferson would look like a saint compared to most Christians today, read his journal) some were even pastors and they were all Classical Liberals (read Conservative).
And to those upset because Christians get mad at you for voting for Obama…the dude has allowed for the murder of babies that were actually born. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=45553 And that’s just one thing that he does that’s not exactly moral.
Simply put: anything can become an idol, an excess, etc. The Founding Fathers gave the people input: we can consent or dissent; it’s our responsibility. Historically, everyone knows it’s been Republican that has the highest percentage consents from Christians…if it were a Democrat, we wd hv voted Democrat.
When we keep it simple, it doesn’t rise to idol status.
Great post Jonathan. Couldn’t agree with it more. I really think this is one reason why racial reconciliation inside the church is moving so slowly.
We had a situation where a group of church members were talking politics and everyone assuming everyone else was a republican, they were talking real knowingly that they were right and liberals were wrong. A guy in the group that works for the auto union got up and walked out. He was a union democrat and a brand new christian. He figured he wasn’t accepted and upset at the arrogance of everyone. Although we tried to restore the relationships and work to health he eventually left the church.
Thats one example of how this is dangerous. It absolutely happens from the other side too. But that isn’t the perspective we are talking about here.
Spot on post!
[...] talk about controversial. Check out this post titled: Why Political Conservatism is Dangerous to the Gospel (And to clarify, I link to things I agree with and disagree with. I fully want to encourage us to [...]
Thanks again for the feedback. I’m going to clarify a few points and answer some of your questions (and maybe even suggest a new title) in my post Monday.
And Mike: you are right, brother! Social media can easily become an idol or a distraction for me. Thanks for pointing this out.
-Jmac
Orion,
Can you please clarify what you think “racial reconciliation” looks like in the church?
As far as the union guy that was a new christian, reveals the really sad state of affairs in the church. The lack of understanding of the Bible and a biblical worldview and the inability or understanding of how discipleship works. It sounds like the church is abosultely failing and has regretfully allowed the prevailing secular humanist worldview to prevail in the church without even knowing it. We dont have an understanding of even what a world view is let alone the elements involved with defining them and the competing ones in our culture and in the world. If we did, and we communicated it correctly then we would not be upset if the union guy walks out because his feelings are hurt. When we have spoken the Truth in terms of worldview, it may be a little less likely he walks out. Ultimately, this whole discussion has nothing to do with blaming so-called conservative christians for new christians walking out. The problem is about worldview issues that christians simply do not understand including most of those on these postings.
Dennis,
Actually this discussion is about what happens when a political conservative ideology is conflated with the gospel.
Twice now, you’ve tried to re-frame the discussion and say what was or what was not the point of the discussion.
And actually, whether you meant to or not, in your last sentence you insulted almost everyone who has replied on this thread.
You can insult me, that’s fine – but if you continue to insult others that are trying to offer their opinion, I’ll have to ban you from this and further conversations of this nature.
[...] Thursday I wrote a post called Why Political Conservatism is Dangerous to the Gospel. Without being disingenuous, I was somewhat surprised by the controversy surrounding this post. [...]
Jonathan…
Terrific post, brother!
Bible Belt or not…Civil Religion has FROM THE START of this country…been an idol for many who yet stake a claim in Christ’s court.
The Natural Man and his *god-ernment* always has a corrupting effect, wherever there is a mingling the two kingdoms.
The Gospel alone is Good News…not the promise-making rhetoric of the Right or Left.
Thanks again for posting this!
Matthew
Jonathan,
I believe it impossible to separate some kind of moral/religious worldview from our political opinions and actions. Therefore, is it right, or even possible, to take a ‘biblical’ stand on political issues? Is there such a thing? Are there moral issues within politics that are worth fighting for?
I mean, heck, if politics where all about facts, we’d all be conservative : )
Interesting post. I found myself agreeing with your generic observations as to how Christians use political conservatism as an idol and false gospel.
The philosopher in me will point out that there is nothing “inherent” within political conservatism that necessarily makes it dangerous to the gospel. But your article seeks to impute the quality of “danger” to PC in terms of our current ecclesiological/theological context in America.
One observation I have made is that younger, emerging Christians are equating the gospel with certain forms of social justice and political liberalism. This may pose itself as new type of religious right, but from the other side. Both liberal and conservative Christians need to learn from the past so as to not repeat such mistakes in the future.
Again, thought-provoking post.
I believe it was Francis Schaeffer who once said that “conservative humanism is no better than liberal humanism.” Both conservative and liberal political philosophies are religions. Niether at their core are Biblical world views. The problems with liberalism (gay marriage, abortion) are obvious. The problems with conservatism are arguably more dangerous to Christianity because they are more subtle. I will take one issue as an example, although I could think of many. Is the practice of economic capitalism Biblical? The answer is that it depends on who is practicing the capitalism and what their motive is. A Christian businessman who produces useful and marketable products and uses and invests his or her wealth to the glory of God is to be commended. On the other hand, I spend time in inner city ministries. The liquor stores that I see and the cigarette ads everywhere are a response to what we would call the “free market” but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t an abomination. People who hoard money and use sex as the number one advertising tool to market their products are engaging in capitalism too, but what they are doing is not Biblical. Am I advocating state enforced socialism? No, but Christians should be aware of the downfalls of any worldly system including secular capitalism
Jefferson had his own version of the Bible re-written to exclude miracles from it. When people like the Jehovah’s Witnesses rewrite scripture rewrite to fit their notions about what they would like for it to say, we call them hertics. Jefferson’s status as a founding father of America does not exempt him from this type of scrutiny. God calls on us to be disciples of Jesus Christ, and this call takes precedence over being a pro-American patriot. I will go as far as suggesting that patriotism, if it is taken to extremes, becomes a form of idolatry.
One more thing Mike. At a recent church discussion that I attended on the history of the American church, I asked the associate pastor in charge if it was okay to suggest that the American Revolution may have actually been a violation of Romans 13. His response was that while he was not ready to commit to that belief himself, it was nonetheless, a defensible position. Paul called for obedience to a Roman authority that was actually an enemy of Christianity. The British on the other hand, were not throwing Christians in the colonies to the lions. It is also irrefutible that the British were not completely unreasonable in their demands on the colonies. They had pushed their parliament to the verge of bankruptcy massively subsidizing the colonial war effort during the French and Indian War. By imposing taxes, they were asking American colonists to pay up for their portion of the debt…nothing unreasonable about that. The “Intolerable Acts” may have been somewhat extreme, but they were a response to an act of vandalism that we romanticize in our historical folklore as the Boston Tea Party.
Jeff Smith says “Don’t let the fringe conservatives be viewed as the mainstream conservatives”
Is this group to be considered the “fringe” conservatives: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Colter, Shaun Hannity, Sarah Palin,Glen Beck, James Dobson, Gary Bauer..These are ones that get the air time and coverage. They “are” mainstream conservatism and all professing “Christians”. Its past time for the true followers of Christ to let the Gospel define everything rather that this group of neocons trying to wear two identities and trying to serve the interest of two different kingdoms.
The only thing worse than political conservatism for the Gospel is political liberalism.
I think it only fair to warn about that as well.
I think you are very much onto the truth there.
It has particularly been bothering me lately in light of several Christian lead boycott campaigns over very petty social conservative issues. It is sad that most non-christians would rarely if ever see the gospel properly demonstrated in word and deed but from all our ranting would be able to articulate almost everything, down to the most petty, that Christians despise.
I agree completely. This is why I won’t go to some churches. I’d be more conservative, but a lot of conservatives hate and stereotype other people. I’d be more liberal, but a lot of liberals hate me and stereotype me.
The real danger, like you said, is when people let their politics get in the way. Liberal Christians do this as much as conservative Christians. Most denominations have official views on politics that agree with Republicans or Democrats. Look it up. The “mainline” churches agree with the Democrats and the “evangelical” churches agree with the Republicans. Thankfully, this has no force. Catholic guidelines on politics are more interesting and don’t fit any party in the US.
I wish that born again believers would get as worked up over thousands of children starving to death each day (worldwide) as they do over a Ten Commandments display being taken off of a public wall or whether God’s name is evoked on a piece of currency. Have you ever heard of anyone coming to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior because they read “In God We Trust” on a dollar bill? These types of religious displays amount to nothing more than civil religion, and the actually cheapen the Gospel message.
Personally, I think a lot of liberals have made idols out of Obama. All you have to do is look at the Change and Hope bumper stickers and banners throughout the 2008 election and beyond in Leninist colors. There was this naive notion that Obama could come in messiah faction and simply fix all the country’s problems without him ever giving any details on how this would work. As we can see now, the office of presidency is complicated and an idol was made out of Obama in which he could not live up to in office. Fact is, political idolism is on the left and the right. It might be hip to hit on conservative, “legalistic” Christians. But there are “moral relativist,” liberal Christians like Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson and Barack Obama that are just as problematic.
Heads up for the table-turn: when you come to Midtown Memphis, “these parts” will be very liberal.