Faith vs. Ideology? What is the difference?

Below is a paragraph that I wrote a couple of years ago when I was reading through some literature about ideology for my dissertation. How can we distinguish between godly faith and political ideology in the public square? 

"How can religious ideology be distinguished from religious faith? Ideology contains certainties; faith contains mysteries. Ideology promotes militancy; faith promotes humility. Ideology must be implemented with energetic human force; faith rests in the providence of God. Ideology produces antagonism between opposing parties; faith produces love for one’s enemy that bridges oppositions."

Holding a political philosophy or ideology is not necessarily wrong, in fact, it may be necessary in order to participate in the public square. But how do we keep our political ideology distinct from our faith? How do we make room for brothers and sisters to share our faith (one faith) but respect them if they choose to identify with the opposing political ideology?  

How do we advocate for our political ideology in the public square without confusing the public about our faith? 

David Fitch "Christian Nation"

Here is the chapter on the "Christian Nation" from Dave Fitch's book The End of Evangelicalism?

He is focusing on the problem of the merger of Evangelical faith with political ideology. The idea of a Christian Nation is one of the "master signifiers," in his view, that serves as a unifying symbol for the conservative Evangelical political ideology. (Fitch is theologically conservative). His overall point is that by tying Evangelical faith to a political ideology (and even a  political party) which is now in trouble in the public sphere, as the ideology falls on hard times, Evangelical faith falls with it. Especially among the emerging generation of young adults.

I hope this does not sound too harsh, but this particular issue reminds of Jesus' words in Matthew 23:

Frauds!

13 “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.

(emphasis mine)

Fitch Christian Nation Ch by Joseph Holbrook

If you would rather download the PDF file and read it, you can access it on my Scrbd account 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/189467095/Fitch-Christian-Nation-Ch

Sowing in a shattered society

Brian Emmett speaking on "sowing in a shattered society" in San Antonio, Texas in October of 2013. Brian discusses the Daniel paradigm of living in empire and discusses how to be "excentric" people (having a different focus). He also discusses the importance of being discerning about the spiritual influences of technology.

 

CATHOLIC STUDENT MOVEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Here is a summary/overview of my dissertation project

Cuba and Brazil,, 1920s to 1930s

This is the PowerPoint that goes with my 10 page overview describing my five year dissertation research project. Enjoy... I know I did!

Catholic Student Movements 1920s-1960s by Joseph Holbrook

Catholic Student Movements - Dissertation

This is the 10 page overview and summary for my dissertation defense next Thursday. 

"Catholic Student Movements in Latin America: Cuba and Brazil, 1920s TO 1960s"

CATHOLIC STUDENT MOVEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA CUBA AND BRAZIL, 1920s TO 1960s by Joseph Holbrook

Maggie Scarf on the Mind-Body Connection

Diane Rhems interviewed Maggie Scarf about her book on the mind-body connection on June 2, 2004. This is what got me moving to get help for Debbie's problem's with her wrists. This was life changing for us!

June 2, 2004 on the Diane Rhem's show..

Maggie Scarf: "Secrets, Lies, Betrayals"

Deitrich Bonhoeffer on "religionless" faith

You would be surprised, and perhaps even worried, by my theological thoughts and the conclusions that they lead to: and this is where I miss you most of all, because I don’t know anyone else with whom I could so well discuss them to have my thinking clarified. What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today.

The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience – and that means the time of religion in general. We are moving towards a completely religionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious any more. Even those who honestly describe themselves as ‘religious’ do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by ‘religious.’

~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (ed. Eberhard Bethge; New York: Touchstone, 1997).

The Journey of Ascent: stumbling and falling ...

The Journey of Ascent is not a straight, linear path. It is full of twists and turns, treacherous rocks and sometimes falling back.


For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again

Falling down and getting back up. THE MISSION
Just before this scene (below), Mendoza loses his footing and falls about 15 feet with a heavy weight of baggage tied to him. Below that, there is a montage of Petra with clips of Sam and Frodo, falling and getting back up,from LOTR.



THE HARDER WE FALL - FRODO/SAM

Ultimate Desire and the Journey of Ascent - Part 2

 Eventually, at age 29, I became involved in a project to start a church. This was not something I had ever considered doing, it came to me quite unsought. Nevertheless, it worked, and after six years we had a wonderful little spiritual family gathered. This was a community of people who wanted to love God and love one another and do their part to make the world a better place. My intense desire for the ultimate had found a specific focus: planting churches to advance Christ’s kingdom on earth.

In 1983, my father invited me to go with him on a mission trip to Mexico. I got sick (Montezuma’s revenge), lost ten pounds and worked my ass off in a construction program. But it bugged me that I could not understand Spanish or read the signs and I was intrigued with the culture. When we got back, I began to study Spanish. A few years later, a friend invited me to go with him to Colombia. While there, I fell in love with the country and the culture and began learning Spanish in earnest. My drive to learn Spanish was powerful and unstoppable: another aspect of my particular journey was clicking into place!

Eventually, my wife and I with our four children moved to Bogota, Colombia where I was an exchange student at Los Andes University. We all became fluent in Spanish over a two year period. I LOVED it … I loved the culture, the city, the language and the people. A church grew up around us, almost without trying, effortlessly. Another aspect of my journey had clicked into place; not only the call to plant communities of faith, but to do that cross-culturally and in Spanish.

As I said, I loved it there, and could have stayed in Colombia the rest of my life but my journey lay elsewhere. Colombia was just a turn in the path. Circumstances forced us to move back to the U.S.A. (finances, and Debbie’s dad’s poor health). Within six months we arrived in Miami.

At this point, I started extrapolating my journey, making assumptions based on my previous experiences. I assumed I was supposed to start a church because that is what we had done first in Ohio, and then in Colombia. I also assumed that it would be cross-cultural; for Spanish speakers. We met with some other missionaries and spoke with some people at Latin American Mission who were doing demographic studies of the greater Miami area. We found an area on the far west side of Dade County called West Kendall with 80,000 residents and no churches. So, we set up shop there.

I had just finished my bachelor’s degree (after twenty years of off and on studies!) at Ohio State University in Romance languages. My major was Spanish with a minor in French with a few classes in Portuguese.  While I was at Los Andes University in Bogota, I had also taken two years of classical Greek. I loved language study and I loved Latin America.  It was like a new world for this sheltered farm boy from Ohio.

As I was doing research on Miami-Dade County, I became aware of Florida International University. I was fascinated by the “International” in the name and went to the campus to walk around.  There was a center on the campus called the Latin American and Caribbean Center! That “drive” within me once again became activated and I found myself thinking about getting a master’s degree at the LACC program. I sought some advice from a respected friend who advised me not to try to start a church and get a master’s degree at the same time, advice that in retrospect I now disagree with.  Nevertheless, I reluctantly turned away from my ‘desire’ and the LACC center and wandered off into a ten-year ‘church planting’ detour that almost cost me my family and my sanity. 

To be continued …

The ultimate desire and the 'Journey of Ascent'

Psalm 37: 4, Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of yourheart.

So far I have been posting quotes about the mystical idea of the journey of ascent, especially in several Abrahamic religions. Let me get a little more personal.

Somewhere in my childhood, an intense desire was implanted in my soul. It is a desire that is hard to describe. I could call it a ‘desire for God’, or a ‘desire for Truth.’ It could also be described as a ‘desire to make the world a better place’, or possibly a ‘desire to help people.’

This desire was inchoate for most of my first thirty years. I restlessly tried this and then that, trying to understand what was the insatiable desire within me that would not allow me to rest.  In my late teens an early 20s, I helped start several communes and was involved in protests against the Vietnam War. I read a lot of utopian literature. I was attracted to the idea of forming a just and equitable society, where all men and women are treated with dignity and respect, where everyone had ample opportunity to fully realize their potential. For a while, I even became a Trotskyite socialist!

I eventually married and had my own mystical experience with divine agape love. This agape love came to

me in the form of my sweet Debbie and was revealed to me to be Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, a new aspect of my journey of ascent began … and became more focused on the Ikon of God, the divine Logos.

We became involved with a Christian “community”, initially not unlike the communes that I had started. A group of people, banding together to make themselves (and the world) a better place, only under the authority of Christ, and with the empowerment of his Spirit.

I gave myself to serving in mundane ways.  Setting up chairs, being an usher, taking charge of the sound equipment. I put myself under the discipline of a spiritual guide. I strove (jihad in Arabic) to allow God’s Spirit and his Word to form my flawed human character more closely according to the example of Christ.

Why did I do all of this? Because of that intense, undying desire within me that drove me onwards (and upwards) that I am calling the journey of ascent.

To be continued tomorrow! 

Medieval Jewish mysticism and the Journey of Ascent

(again, from Karen Armstrong's book, The History of God)

 “Just as Christians imitated Christ in an attempt to draw near to God, the Hasid imitated his Zaddik, who had made the ascent to God and practiced perfect devekuth. He was a living proof that this enlightenment was possible. Because the Zaddik was close to God, the Hasidim could approach the Master of the Universe through him. They would crowd around their Zaddik, hanging on his every word, as he told them a story about the Besht or expounded a verse of Torah. As in the enthusiastic Christian sects, Hasidism was not a solitary religion but intensely communal. The Hasidim would attempt to follow their Zaddik in his ascent to the (Kindle Locations 7179-7183) which focused upon the description of the heavenly chariot (Merkavab) seen by the Prophet Ezekiel and which took the form of an imaginary ascent through the halls (hekhaloth) of God’s palace to his heavenly throne. Tikkun (Hebrew) Restoration. The process of redemption described in the Kabbalism of Isaac Luria, whereby the divine sparks scattered during the Breaking of the Vessels (q.v.) are reintegrated with God. (Kindle Locations 8612-8615).
 Quoted in Rachel Elin, “HaBaD: the Contemplative Ascent to God,” in Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality II, p. 161. Armstrong, Karen (2011-08-10). History of God (Kindle Locations 9301-9302). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Muslim 'Journey of Ascent'

(From Karen Armstrong's book again)

"The love of God became the hallmark of Sufism. Sufis may well have been influenced by the Christian ascetics of the Near East, but Muhammad remained a crucial influence. They hoped to have an experience of God that was similar to that of Muhammad when he had received his revelations. Naturally, they were also inspired by his mystical ascent to heaven, which became the paradigm of their own experience of God."

~Armstrong, Karen (2011-08-10). History of God (Kindle Locations 4894-4895). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Journey of Ascent - Part II

This is an extended quote from Karen Armstrong's awesome book, The History of God about the journey of ascent in Jewish, Christian and Muslim mysticism ... and probably among Buddhists as well!

.....................
"Although it is clearly culturally conditioned, this kind of “ascent” seems an incontrovertible fact of life. However we choose to interpret it, people all over the world and in all phases of history have had this type of contemplative experience. Monotheists have called the climactic insight a “vision of God”; Plotinus had assumed that it was the experience of the One; Buddhists would call it an intimation of nirvana. The point is that this is something that human beings who have a certain spiritual talent have always wanted to do. The mystical experience of God has certain characteristics that are common to all faiths."


Armstrong, Karen (2011-08-10). History of God (Kindle Locations 4728-4733). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The "Journey of Ascent" - Part 1

I saw an entry in Debbie's journal from August 2006 today. She wrote ...

Book: "The Long Journey Home"

I don't know if she was thinking of naming her book with that title, or if it was something else. However it got me thinking about the "Journey of Ascent." 

Most of the Christian (and Jewish and Muslim) mystics talked about an experience that was common to them of taking an upward journey to God. They viewed it as a “Return home” to the source of where they had come from.

This made me think of a few bible verses… and a few movie scenes, such as the one below from Lord of the Rings

We all find the metaphor of climbing up a mountain against gravity and great odds to be deeply stirring. Why? Is it a collective archetype? a human myth? more to come on the "Journey of Ascent"

I will close with a quote from C.S. Lewis:

LAST BATTLE

The Last Battle Quotes (showing 1-17 of 17)

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Pub Theology and emerging groups - Part 2

Here is part 2 of the extended quote from Phyllis Tickle about the life cycle of emerging churches and groups. One of three things, according to Tickle, will eventually happen to a spontaneously self-organizing organic group:

But at some point, it will do one of two or three things. It may grow in such a way as not only to exceed the barkeep’s tolerance but also— and more importantly— to exceed the psychology of a small group approach and, as a result, will need to become something nearer to a self-aware group. As such, it may— and probably will— go looking for space to rent where worship can be more candid and more liturgical and where others can more easily be included in the circle.

Or it may break apart. More accurately said, the original pub group will simply drift apart from one another in much the same way that a milkweed pod breaks open in the fall, sending dozens of its seed-laden parachutes out into the surrounding countryside. Where originally there had been one group in one pub, there now will be, as if by accident and certainly without announced intention, a clutch of three or four groups scattered around and about the area.

Or the group may just cease, period, end of story. It will have served its purpose, fed the Christian life of those who composed it, and will now become less than what they have grown to need. Friends will remain friends, and acquaintances, acquaintances, but it’s time to move   on. It may safely be said here that institutions cannot even begin to think that

~Tickle, Phyllis (2012-09-01). Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters (Kindle Locations 1210-1229). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

'PUB THEOLOGY' AND THE EMERGING CHURCH

I am reading Phyllis Tickle’s book, Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters, on my kindle. Here is a selection that caught my eye near the end of the book on the unpredictable and “organic” nature of emerging churches:

“Another considerable part of the reason for the disparity in thinking between inherited church and fresh expressions church is that measuring by numbers, visibility, and influence presupposes, to some greater or lesser extent, a tomorrow that is not only more significant than today but that is also obligatory. Permanence, long-range planning, and longevity are virtues for any institution. They are burdens for Emergence, burdens whose maintenance ultimately and inevitably will become taskmasters, not to mention threatening impediments to the mobility and immediacy that are required if the kingdom of God is to be served on this earth.

'Thus, a pub theology group may be deliberately started or, more likely, it may simply happen because the pub is, after all, a neighborhood pub and conducive to serious talk. As a group, this one may gather together a dozen people, or perhaps even three dozen people, all of whom are modestly curious about religion, or are royally annoyed with the Christianity they see around them and want a place to say so, or are looking for authentic Bible discussion with somebody else who truly cares as much. Or perhaps they simply are passionate about worship that is authentic. Or maybe they just seek the familiar company and sustained, personal prayer support of other devout Christians. Or maybe they are just somewhere in between all of those. Whatever they are, that group will become what the Spirit and the members make of it in prayer and participation.”

* ~Tickle, Phyllis (2012-09-01). Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters (Kindle Locations 1210-1229). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

~ Tomorrow I will post the section following this. Her description of pub theology group reminds me of our 'god party' group that started in Homestead in Stick & Stein's bar 6 years ago. I read this passage to our group last night and we discussed it and possible outcomes.

Left-Handed and Right-Handed Power

I was impacted a few years ago by reading David Hawkin’s Power vs Force. The basic idea is that

human effort, will power, soul power the power of the intellect, human charisma all result in the application of coercive force to accomplish goals. Watchman Nee called it the Latent power of the Human Soul. But this is not true power. It is not spiritual power.

True power is the power of surrender; the power of real agape love. It is the power of moral persuasion. The moral influence of a St. Francis of Assis, a Gandhi or a Mother Teresa. In International Relations vocabulary, it is called “Soft Power.

The Evangelical Church is chock full of force.  A large, LARGE percentage of what goes on as spirituality in Evangelical churches is not spiritual at all, it is human force—soul power. And that is why it accomplishes so little of lasting value.

Robert Farrar Capon unpacks this principle in his profound book, Parables of the Kingdom. He calls force “right-handed power” and for moral and spiritual power he uses Luther’s term “ left-handed power.”  In his book he gives example after example of Jesus eschewing right hand power and choosing to exercise left handed power. Of course, the extreme example is suffering and going to the cross rather than calling ten thousand angels!

Here is a quote from Kenny Payne, who blogs on a great web site, describing the difference between right-handed and left-handed power:

Left-Handed and Right-Handed Power

“Basically right-handed power is the use of sufficient force necessary to get the desired result. It is helpful in many situations in life, therefore everyone uses right-handed power. But right-handed power is particularly ineffective in one area - anytime you care more about the relationship than about specific results, right-handed power can be more harmful than helpful. That is the time you need to use left-handed power, which is the willingness to give others the freedom to get with your program - or not! This is the power which God most often uses, giving us freedom and asking us to make wise choices. But if we don't, he does not come down hard on us, but continues to give us freedom and space. Although Paul said, "the love of Christ compels us..." that compulsion is completely free. 

Capon cites the idea of right-handed and left-handed power as an idea he gleaned from Martin Luther. I have not done the research to verify that, but I am thankful that Capon turned me on to this idea, for I need to remember how God uses his power in my life, and then I need to make sure that I am willing to use left-handed power in my relationships - even when it leads to the cross. That is the highest example of using left-handed power - and living to tell about it! “

The Koranic vision of the unity of all rightly guided religion

The ulema were beginning to distinguish Islam sharply from other religions, seeing it as the one, true faith, but Sufis by and large remained true to the Koranic vision of the unity of all rightly guided religion. Jesus, for example, was revered by many Sufis as the prophet of the interior life. Some even amended the Shahadah, the profession of faith, to say: “There is no god but al-Lah and Jesus is his Messenger,” which was technically correct but intentionally provocative.

~Armstrong, Karen (2011-08-10). History of God (Kindle Locations 4878-4880). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

How to Change the World according to Coleman, Weber and Maritain

  Coleman, Weber and Maritain Changing the World

Sources of Truth

"We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth and to assimilate it from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself; it never cheapens or debases him who reaches for it but ennobles and honors him"

~  Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. ca. 870)

The First Wall of Evangelical Christianity - JUDGMENT

Seed Thoughts for the Good News Garden

“To judge, or not to judge, that is the question”

A friend and I used to work out at Bally’s gym on a regular basis. There were two rather masculine looking ladies who were always there at the same time working out. My friend and I assumed they were Lesbian partners. One day only one of them came to the gym and I politely asked, ‘where is your partner?” She replied “my mom is not feeling very well today.” Oops.

A few years ago, I started through a study of the “commands of Christ” with my son (at his suggestion). It was a life changing experience for me. As I read through the gospels, looking closely at Jesus’ actions and words, looking for imperatives, I realized that I had a lot of unwarranted assumptions that came from current church life or from Paul but were not founded in the actual teachings of Jesus. One particular imperative of Christ, expressed in the negative, caught my attention. Matt. 7:1 Jesus explicitly tells us in the imperative to not judge others.  There are many things that we think Christians should do that Jesus never mentioned; but one thing that he clearly forbade us to do, many if not most Christians engage in fully, frequently and fervently. We constantly make judgments of one another and we most especially judge the ‘outsiders’; those who are not part of the Christian community.

In the anecdote above, I had made quick judgments about these two ladies based on their outward appearance (not that it was any of my business anyway!). As scripture says, Man judges by the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. And very often, the heart of a person is quite different from our easy judgments based on their external appearance.

Incarnational Witness sabotaged

This becomes a huge obstacle for the church’s incarnational witness to the world. We often judge others and make assumptions about the spiritual condition of their hearts based on outward appearance or behavior. Theoretically, the church teaches that the grace of God is for anyone and everyone regardless of their outward behavior, but our actions and attitudes are not consistent. Jesus said that the one who is “forgiven much, also loves much.” When we judge others to be worse sinners than ourselves, we often miss the hidden qualities of humility, contrition and faith, working deep in their hearts, or as Henri Nouwen would say, the “twilight zones” of the heart. And we also overlook the subtle attitudes or pride, self-righteousness and entitlement in the twilight zones of our own hearts. If we are not careful, we wind up in the position of the “righteous” Pharisee whothanked God he was not like the desperate sinner who was praying next to him and went home unjustified. Two men went up to pray, an Evangelical Christian husband who was homeschooling his children, and the desperate porn addict who was crying out for mercy. Which one went home justified?

Solo αγάπη

A friend of mine believes that just like the first Reformation revolved around the concept of Sola Scritura (only faith through the authority of scripture), the pending twenty-first century Reformation must revolve around Sola Agape, (only faith working through love). In order for the church to fully grasp the revelation that God is Agape, we MUST let go of our judgments. 

Part of the confusion about when it is appropriate to judge, and when it is not, comes from the fact that there are at least three different Greek words that can be translated as “judgment” in the New Testament.

Do not κρίνω

The first is Krino, this is the word that Jesus used to command us NOT to judge (Krino). Picture a judge in black robes with a gavel who is about to pronounce guilt and execute a sentence of punishment. THAT is the judgment that we are NOT to do. It is not our right to pronounce guilt or to decide upon punishment for alleged sinners. That is ONLY God’s right (see the story of the womancaught in adultery!).

Analysis and discernment

The other two words are anakrino (analysis) and diakrino (discernment). Picture a doctor in a white medical coat with a stethoscope, attempting discern the cause of an illness I order to offer a lifesaving diagnosis. This is the only spirit with which we are allowed to exercise judgment, in the same spirit as the Great Physician seeking to save that which is lost, seeking to heal those who need a physician.

We are to judge ourselves before the table ofthe Lord (αναμνησιν). Prophets are to submit their prophesies for the judgment of other prophets (διακρινετωσαν). The only time we are told to judge with Krino is in the the future kingdom, we will one day judge angels. Paul specifically forbids us to judge outsiders, and says that we are only to exercise judgment within the spiritual community, among those who call themselves “brothers.” He also encourages us not to disassociate ourselves with those who are outside the community of faith. We normally do the opposite, we specifically disassociate with outsiders who we think are obvious sinners, and spend our time with fellow Christians with very little personal or truthful accountability for the secrets places of our lives.

So to sum up, Jesus tells us never to judge (Krino) under any circumstance. Paul, however, offers some nuanced qualifications about exercising compassionate and redemptive analysis and discernment under specific conditions. We have completely ignored the imperative of Jesus and we have stretched and strained Paul's careful guidelines. 

Would you be willing to say a prayer with me? “Dear God, I repent for judging those around me instead of incarnating your agape love for them. Please forgive me and reveal to me the many ways that I judge others falsely, and help me to learn to release my judgments and to choose to love and bring healing instead. Amen.”

Let’s stop judging and start loving! This is the way we can change the world.

…………………………………

By-the-way, I am continuing to post selections from Debbie’s journal online at http://gracerhythmsunforced.blogspot.com/ -- I feel like I am getting to know her in new ways, and her voice is still speaking to me.

Thank you!

The 4 Walls of Evangelicalism

Giving my last talk in Columbia, Maryland momentarily ....

Faith or Ideology by josenmiami

FAITH or IDEOLOGY?

Seed Thoughts for the Good News Garden

Today I want to address a major barrier to effective Christian witness in the current social climate. This one may get me in trouble with some people. Please bear with me.

When faith morphs into a political ideology, we inherently alienate from the faith those who do not share our political convictions and thus turn them into “enemies.” Let me explain.

Jesus had the ability to relate to both extremes of the political ideologies of his day. Simon the Zealot, and Matthew the Roman collaborator were both apparently able to bury their very real and very intense political differences to follow Jesus. Jesus was not particularly interested in which political party came out on top within the Sanhedrin or which Caesar rose to power in Rome, His kingdom was not of this world  although it IS within us and AMONG us.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am NOT saying that a Christian cannot take a reasoned political position with core political principles, either conservative or liberal. What I AM saying is that we must not confuse our political philosophy with our faith.  We are not citizens of this world … even though we must live, vote and practice citizenship in this world.  We are NOT primarily called to make converts to our political philosophy or party of choice; we are called to make disciples of Jesus.

There is abundant evidence that the aggressive politicization of Evangelical faith and its transformation into an ideology has greatly hurt the cause of Christian witness.  In a 2007 book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters David Kinnaman uses research data supplied by Barna to show that a huge number of young adults are leaving churches because of their disgust with the culture wars and overtly political attitudes in the pulpit.

I also just finished reading  Dave Fitch’s insightful book The End of Evangelicalism? (2011). In it Fitch shows how Evangelicalism developed a political ideology as a response to a historical trauma rooted in the conflict between fundamentalists and liberal modernists in the early part of the 20th century. 

The problem with an ideology is that it focuses people’s faith on abstract symbols and concepts that serve as “master-signifiers” (for a definition, see Slavoj Žižek) rather than on the person of Christ. Another problem with ideology is that it requires an enemy ... an outsider who is viewed as a threat or a problem. This creates a huge problem for witness. We cannot incarnate a witness for adversaries!  The ministry of reconciliation requires that we love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us. Such a stance of love is possible with faith, but impossible if one is fighting to win a political-ideological struggle with enemies.

How can religious ideology be distinguished from religious faith? Ideology contains certainties; faith contains mysteries. Ideology promotes militancy; faith promotes humility. Ideology must be implemented with energetic human force; faith rests in the providence of God. Ideology produces antagonism between opposing parties; faith produces love for one’s enemy that bridges ideological divisions.

A sure sign that faith has morphed into political ideology is when one finds Christians trashing or mocking political figures (or their families) on a personal basis, or based on their appearance with a thread of sarcasm. There is nothing wrong with reasoned discourse and disagreement over principle. In fact, democracy requires it. However when civil discourse degenerates into demonization of the opposition, you can bet that reasoned discourse has given way ideological struggle.

I don’t know if I am effectively communicating how huge a barrier this is to effective Christian witness or how urgent it is that we address it honestly. I hope you will consider what I am saying. If you disagree, it’s ok, but please get the two books and read them. Unless Evangelical Christianity can let go of its aggressive political ideology and stop trying to rise to a position of social and cultural dominance, and accept its role as a “suffering servant” to incarnate the love of Christ to a sinful society, we will never disciple our nation. And what a tragedy that would be.

I asked a young friend of mine, Steve Tamayo, the South Florida director for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, to read this newsletter and give me feedback before I sent it. He gave me permission to include his own story.  

…………………………………

Hi Joe,

As far as the idea goes, I totally agree with you. Millennial young people struggle to have the patience to form political alliances. We tend to link up with different sides on different issues and to get frustrated with the whole political power game.

A few years ago, Amy and I were leading a Small Group of 20somethings at a church in Virginia. A guest speaker came in and gave a talk about how the constitution was inspired by God and public schools were demonic and we had to be on guard against the gay agenda or we will end up cursed like Haiti. He ranted and sweated. One by one, our whole Small Group trickled out of the service. Every single one of those young people left the church. Not just that church. But church all together. Some, like Amy and me, went back. Some are following Jesus without the church. Some walked away all together.

This is important stuff you're talking about here.

…………………………………

By-the-way, I am continuing to post selections from Debbie’s journal online at http://gracerhythmsunforced.blogspot.com/ -- I feel like I am getting to know her in new ways, and her voice is still speaking to me.  

Also, my friend Steve Tamayo who shared the story above, writes about issue related to mission to millennial at his blog http://yosteve.blogspot.com.

Thank you!