Evangelical Times

The aim of this blog is to encourage evangelical times here on earth- evangelical blessing, evangelical teaching, evangelical worship, evangelical thinking, and the spread of the evangelical message. My opening post asks if evangelical times are possible in America.

At first sight, it seems not. America is not a Christian country. Obama got that right! [1] To your neighbor, “Christ” is a cuss word, and to “thank God” is nothing more than an expression of relief. Some of my fellow Americans are holding on to the delusion that we are Christian people in America. After all, the founding fathers were Christian, it is exclaimed. Well, look here, brother and sister, history is not taught in our schools. And when you do get a slither of history, Pocahontas is depicted with her woven basket of food as representing the spirit of Thanksgiving- thanksgiving to ourselves, of course, for being modern Americans. Nobody gives a rat’s behind about the real meaning of Thanksgiving! The avowedly secular, anti-God school system has purged Christian religion, God, and the Bible from its bowels. And how many kids attend these schools? You still want to say America is “Christian”? President Eisenhower saw the drift away from God and added “under God” to the Pledge. But who’s Eisenhower again??

In this new “cosmopolitan” America, variety is good. It’s a bit like going to your local Chinese buffet: you can pick and choose, mix, and eat all you want. Christianity, Buddhism, self-help, Oprah, all on the same plate. Lovely! At least, the universities and schools teach religion this way, as does the media.

Some Christians are living as though this state of affairs will go on forever, wherein we can keep our own Christian "dish" or "flavor." This is life in modern America, we are told. It is a veritable smorgasbord, but we evangelicals can keep our unique and exclusivistic identity- so we are informed. For example, Christian colleges and universities offer religion courses with the specific Christian “brand” (evangelical, Wesleyan, Roman Catholic, for example) being just one religious perspective among the many of the world. Yet, these institutions usually do allot a higher percentage of religion-credits to their particular brand. Thus, their “Christian” identity is retained. Others are a little less naïve- read, they don’t live in a bubble, and actually see what’s happening to Christians all around them. Christians are harassed. If you are a baker and refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex “marriage”, then you’ll be creamed by the media. 

How should we react as Christians? We are told by some that we should not pessimistically think that it’s all going to get worse. We should engage in dialogue with the secular “public square” and the religious world. [2] Even so, we have moved on, we are told, from the assumption that we all have things in common with everyone else- try selling to the gay community that we are all made in God's image! Instead, dialogue, secular or religious, must allow for divergence of opinion and also for diversity of practice. Paul Helm and Os Guiness talk about a “tough civility”, by which all groups in society should tolerate one another- not agree with one another. A deep thinker like Helm is not blind: he sees what is really happening. Western society and its pluralism are eating away at Christian freedom. [3] Yet, the solution, according to Helm, is to get everyone on board with “tough civility.”

Yet, for "tough civility" really read "tough luck." I agree with Helm that in the United States and Britain that it would be best if “tough civility” were the order of the day. But “it ain’t gonna happen”! Helm himself, to all intents and purposes, concedes this, when he tells us that society is operating against Christianity. Has there ever been a non-Christian society that has welcomed Christian exclusivism? Either you bow to Caesar and the gods of Rome, or you feel the wrath of the state. In the midst of such hatred did Yahweh sustain Daniel, and the Father in heaven communed with Jesus Christ. The idea that Christianity will be welcomed within a “free market economy” of religions and competing world views is at best wishful thinking, a dream.

“But aren’t we all made in God’s image? Can’t we reason on that basis?” Sure, we can reason on that basis. But we won’t get far! There’s a big difference between communicating with fellow workers, for example, about proper ethics in the workplace, and expecting these same workers to swallow my Christian perspective on anything. Don’t forget, the image of God in man is a broken image! We are never going to get pseudo-neutrality when it comes to Christian exclusivism.

What’s the solution then? Engagement in politics? Many Christians see this as necessary, even essential, to getting ahead. As citizens of America, Christians have a right to speak up on the political level. I see no harm in this. Indeed, as American citizens, there is a dire need for it. That being said, the Christian is first and foremost a citizen of heaven. His weapons of warfare are spiritual, and do not belong to this world. We pray to the Almighty to turn events- not vote or petition the state senator. We wield the sword of the Spirit to fight our battles- not the freedom of speech. We put on the full armor of God to defend against evil- not the Constitution. Let’s be clear here, the New Testament knows nothing of promoting the welfare of the church through secular, this-wordly means…nothing!!

So we come back to "evangelical" and the evangel in it. Only as a society is transformed by the Gospel and by Christian values, does that society “welcome” the Christian perspective. In this way alone will “evangelical times” be created. Politics may be used as a tool by the Almighty. Yet, politics is not necessary to create that society. The Gospel must influence politics and the public square- all things must be subordinated to the will of God revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Thank God for his Gospel, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed” (Romans 1:17).

 [1] http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/obama.turkey/index.html

 [2] http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/perspectives.php/1224/01-2010?pg=all
http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2009/02/taking-line-vi-tough-civility-and-civic.html

[3]  http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2009/02/taking-line-vi-tough-civility-and-civic.html