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The End of “Christian” America
July 25th, 2009 | 7 Comments 
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Introducing the Summer 2009 Edition
Newsweek declares Christianity dead 4/4/2009
For decades Christians were distracted by the allure of political power. What emerged was “The Christian Right” everyone knows (and is now widely-resented). How much money did we divert from the Great Commission for this lost cause? Did we really think Christianity might conquer secular America through political action?1
Even those of us not really sold on Christian politics cheered (maybe secretly?) as Christians gained political clout–who cheers against their own people? We were all complicit, to some degree. Even the radical-left Christian politicos like Sojourner Magazine spoke meekly during the heyday of the Christian Right (Sojourner is correcting that now).
"Christian America" is gone, whatever that means.
Hopefully the politics are behind us now. Even President Obama said America is “Post-Christian” now, and Newsweek declared “The End of Christian America“. They probably didn’t understand Jesus said His Kingdom “is not of this world,” and “Christian America” never ended because it never existed.
Hopefully it proves all that money and decades of massive political willpower did not work as promised.2 If anything, Christian political muscle only stirred resentment and detracted from what really matters. In this sense Obama’s presidency is refreshing, even liberating.
The only thing that matters now is the Revolution which Jesus taught and died for: it spread across the Roman Empire and penetrates the strongest regimes, like in China today, or the Medieval European dynasties, and reaches obscure tribes enslaved by superstition. Everywhere the Revolution spreads, dull slavery is crushed by Revolutionary Joy .
But above all else, the Revolution breaks the power of Institutions that stand in-between God and His people: “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure!” (Matthew 9:17) It is a cause worth fighting for, if we grasp the thrill of it.
It isn’t political action that wins. It’s breaking the rules through Revolution! What makes a difference is the Love Authority of God–which, like Revolution, breaks the rules–and infuses loving, changed people into a loveless, cold culture.
Footnotes:
- Read about the rise of Political Christianity in “Sins of the Past“. [↩]
- Known as Amillennialism, Calvin’s Reformed Theology, like the Catholic theology of his day, claims the Visible Church (Christian institutions) will eventually arise and conquer the earth–unfortunately, due to the decline of Christianity in the West, it appears only the Chinese church is strong enough to fulfill Calvin’s prediction. [↩]
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Filed under: Op-Ed · Tags: christian right, church growth, Wineskins
7 Responses to "The End of “Christian” America"
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Someone spelled “Obama” wrong.
Thanks for the tip, but I can’t find it! Doesn’t surprise me though, even the spell-checkers don’t know how to spell the President’s name yet! (What’s up with that?)
I love the wineskins concept. I’m reading “The Problem of the Wineskins” by Howard Snyder. Jesus talks about this and says if you put new wine into the old wineskins they will burst. Although God’s character and message remain the same, the Bible says he is always doing a “new thing”. He’s always on the move, loving people and bringing people to himself. How could an institution attempt to contain the love of God? God’s love and grace burst out and the old ways of doing things are no longer sufficient. The “wineskins” refer to the structures we use to bring his message to people. I love it that God is anxious for us to change them often because God meets people where they are at, not in our institutions we create and make people come to.
Snyder, you may realize, is from the Free Methodists, which was originally very anti-ritual and “free” from established church tradition (the so-called “Free Church” movement). Breaking the chains of traditionalism also meant breaking ties between the government and the church, historically, so these Christian movements were always heavily persecuted.
It’s misspelled in the first “additional reading” point.
I love Snyder! I love the Radical Wesley book, The Problem of Wineskins, and his chapter in Evaluating the Church Growth Movement. I wish I would have read him sooner. But maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much.
I like your positive take on the outcome of this election. It’s true that Christians needs to get off the Christian politics movement and try to reach individuals instead of crusading against a nation. Hopefully this “defeat” will wake some people up to that.
[...] he goes into “The Shock of Culture Shock” and strengthens the strongholds. It’s a real losing strategy championed by American Christians for decades [...]
Sweet Intro Keith!
It’s so true “Christian America” never even began