Good Intentions

No one would argue that we don't live in a charged political environment in the United States. It seems like every week there is a new headline further highlighting the divides in this country.

I am tired. Surely, I am not the only one. It seems like we are often tired as a country. Maybe I am just getting older and don't have the energy or enthusiasm I had ten years ago. There are so many different things we could focus on, but what drew me to finally write on this blog again is the difference between following Christ and following an ethical system.

Moralistic therapeutic deism is a term from the book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. In general, the teenagers who believed in this sort of worldview didn't hold to any particular set of beliefs from a distinctive faith.  Instead they believed in a god who is separate from the world and can aid them in a psychological sense. Additionally, the central goal of life is a general sense of happiness.  Being a good moral person is more important than following any particular precepts or system. There are several other things that could be said about this view and the general worldview, but for now I would like to focus on the commonality I see with some Americans navigating the world today.

Specifically, the equivocation of what it means to "be a Christian" in today's milieu of disagreements appears concerning. Following Christ must be an apprenticeship in death to self. This must be at the core of what it means to be a Christian. So much of the current disagreements, vitriol, and speech focus on the personal will to power. Each person wants what he feels is his due. To make amends, serve the other person or serve others, even to the point of losing something real or much less fancied, is largely absent in our national, regional, or local dialogue. 

In direct contrast to many of our public figures, Eugene Peterson wrote the book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. It's a classic for many reasons- chief of which is that it points towards Christ. It is of the same attitude as of Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow me as I follow Jesus! (my own translation). Peterson died last week before two tragic events. The synagogue shooting and the murders of two black individuals in Louisville after a white nationalist tried to break in to a church. These types of crimes are not new, but the climate in which they are happening is new insofar as it is a new expression of old evil. There is nothing new under the sun. 

It is easy to look at the election of men like Bolsonaro in Brazil and the militarization of the government by Duterte in the Philippines as further escalation of broadening nationalism which threatens democracy and core principles of free society. Some people may look at the breakdown in political civility in our country much the same way. There is still nothing new under the sun. The stress of the world, whatever your political leaning, will not go away by putting your hope in political or societal change. 

Christians must be Christians first. 

This week I mourned the news of a missionary killed and many innocents attacked in the African nation of Cameroon. We continue to mourn the plight of children in Yemen.

We also celebrated the release of Asia Bibi while simultaneously praying for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.

The world is tired and cries out for its Savior. Why do we spend more time, energy, and money on politics, economics, safety, and our individual concerns than we do on the things of Jesus' Kingdom? We, and I include myself in this, are often just deists. Well-meaning deists. Deists with a moral plan and moral outrage. But just deists. 

We must be Christians first. The Lordship of Christ, not just a hereafter focused soteriology, must be paramount. 

How do we do that? Jesus said, "Slaves are not greater than their master" (John 13:16, my paraphrase) as he served his apprentices/disciples. We must serve- daily, regularly, often painfully, definitely sacrificially. 

A final quote from A Long Obedience... "If the attitude of servanthood is learned, by attending to God as Lord, then serving others will develop as a very natural way of life."

Note here that Peterson is saying not just that we treat God as a deity, but as Lord. We must go beyond the simple ethical standard relationship with which we may approach God. In that set up, we try to live whatever we deem to be a good life, order our world in such a way that it makes sense, and be good Christians. This setup must be abandoned for Lordship. 

In Lordship, Christ is all. It may not always make sense. It definitely won't always be comfortable. We won't always feel like we are part of this world. When we participate in this new life, we are free to love other people. This burden is light. It is not tiresome.