Christian Patriotism Not Christian Nationalism

 Use of the term "Christian Nationalism" or "Christian Nationalist" has spiked in the last several years.  I will begin this by stating that I am not a Christian Nationalist.  I would prefer to wear a label, if I must, of Christian Patriot.  I plan to flesh that out more later in this piece.

Before I tell you why I believe that Christian Nationalism misses the mark I want to make a few concessions or, rather, a few clarifications about Christian Nationalism.  

Firstly, I believe that though there are Christian Nationalist, the term itself has become a bit of a boogeyman.  Much like the word racist or chauvinist can be lobbed at anyone that wants to discuss issues of race or gender, the term Christian Nationalist has been levied against those that simply want to be a faithful Christian and discuss politics.  If we are going to have a proper discussion about this weighty matter we must not use labels to shut down discussion.

Secondly, a politician's political beliefs being affected by his faith shouldn't be strange.  The opposite of Christian Nationalist must not be Atheist Nationalist or Undiluted Secular Nationalist.  Anyone that thinks one's religion won't or shouldn't affect their politics is either naive or, worse, prejudice against religious people.  Remember all laws are morality written in ink.

Thirdly, I have a longing for what they desire.  The Christian Nationalist longs to live in a place governed by God's laws that are executed in righteousness.  They want a place to live where Jesus is exalted as King.  I want this as well.  However, I think the Christian Nationalist has put his hope for this longing in an un-Biblical or, at least, under-Biblical location.

Christian Nationalism misses the mark. In the following section I want to give four ways in which it does so and then following that I would like to share what I believe is the alternative for Christians who love their particular place on the globe.  Before I begin this I will pull back the curtain and tell you that I considered making this a four or five part series, but I concluded that there is in no way many people want to read or will read a series of posts from me; and I know my work will get busy and there is a high likelihood that I wouldn't finish a series of post in a timely matter.

The four ways Christian Nationalism misses the mark:

1) It is Not Prescribed in the Epistles

All sixty-six books of the Bible are profitable for helping us know how to live when and where God has planted us (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  That said, I believe the epistles are where we most clearly find God's instructions for how the Church and Christians operate.  These letters were written by the Apostles to the churches to help them know how to govern themselves and live in unity under the truth of the Gospel.  If you want to know God's call to the Church most directly we look not at the Old Testament (though we know and love it), not at Acts (though we preach it and love it), not at even the Gospels (though we cherish it and teach it).  All the other books of the Bible must inform the Church but the epistles were given to the Church to instruct her on how to be the Church.

Since that is the case, why doesn't Paul or Peter or James or Jude give instructions on how to be the magistrate?  Why is there not any guidance on what a Christian Nationalist state is to look like, if that was a mission of the Church?

Romans 13 tells Christians how to live under the authority of the state (state meaning government not Iowa or the like).  It tells us that God has given authority and a roll to governments and that it is a Christian's job to be in submission, generally, to that authority.  Paul did not write Romans 13:1-7 because Rome was overtly Christian and good.  Paul wrote it because in God's sovereignty He has given the sword explicitly to the state for the punishing of evil.  The Church is not given this sword, but even a pagan state is.

You may affirm this point with me so far but argue that a Christian Nationalist state would exercise this sword very well.  You may say it sounds utopian to you.  So, I ask, "What do the epistles teach us to hope the state does?"

"First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Paul instructs Timothy to pray for the ability to live a peaceful and quiet life.  He asks for what I would say is a level of religious liberty.  Paul does this because he says these conditions lead to the best soil for evangelism.  Note that Paul does not instruct Timothy or us to pray that kings and all rulers exercise an overtly Christian form of government.

If you read 1 Peter 2:13-17 you'll see Peter instructing us to be subject to the government, which he calls a human institution.  He says that government is to punish evil and praise good.  He implores us to honor the emperor, even if the the emperor is a pagan (which he was as Peter wrote).

2) It Misses the Warnings of Total Depravity

"You are not cynical enough about Cesar if you think he will be in partnership with us for long." -Former staffer for presidents of both parties and Georgetown professor Paul D. Miller

I believe in keeping government both in place and limited.  A Christian must not be an anarchist but must also be wary of an overreaching government of any ilk.  It has been said by Lord Acton that "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  He's also said "authority that does not exist for liberty is not authority but force."

Jesus picked the most fights and had the most arguments with the religious rulers of His day.  Are you so sure that you'd do better?

The current American system certainly has Christian roots but avoids the corruption of absolute power.  The separation of powers in the American Constitution are a brilliantly effect way of curbing the power of mere men.  It seems to me that the founders of my nation had a strong view of the depravity of men with power.  Remember that the pilgrims fled a Christian-state not a pagan-state.  I can't imagine a Christian Nationalist state that doesn't soon get into persecution of denominations and non-essential Christian beliefs.  Wishful naivety can blind us to this key flaw of Christian Nationalism. 

3) It Misses What the Church's Mission Is

A mission worker friend of mine said this to me: One of the main differences between Muhammad and Jesus is that Muhammad came carrying a sword and Jesus came carrying a cross.

The state must carry the sword (Romans 13:4).  In order to be the government you must have the power of the sword.  This is a major flaw in Christian Nationalism because the Church isn't to bear the sword.  This isn't a prohibition of Christians owning firearms.  This is a prohibition of the Church's use of force to further the Kingdom of Heaven.  

"My Kingdom is not of this world.  If my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.  But my Kingdom is not from the world." John 18:36

The Kingdom of God is not an earthly state.  In Christian Nationalism mission work becomes more imperial than Kingdom of Heaven advancing.  The Gospel does not move through coercion and force except where God has been gracious in passing over our errors and working in spite of our foolishness.

"But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." Philippians 3:20-21

The Church is an outpost, not a nation yet.  She is an embassy, not a wing of government.  Furthermore, the United States is not ancient, covenant Israel nor is any nation.  Christian Nationalism misses when it flops over what the Church's mission is and what the modern nation-state is and isn't.

4) It Misses What We Are Defined As

We Christians are members of a nation already.  We are exiles and sojourners.  We are citizens of another nation with longterm residence in another where we, at least most of us, have earthly citizenship.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:9-12

We are already part of a holy nation.  Our goal isn't to have the reins of power under the umbrella of a church to make a holy nation or even a more holy nation.  We are already the people of God even as we are scattered under the flags of nations all over the entire earth.  

Instead of Christian Nationalism I argue for Christian Patriotism.

Christian Patriotism works in whatever nation you live.  If, like my sister, you live in Australia, be a Christian Patriot there.  As for me, I will be a Christian Patriot in the United States.

Christian Patriotism, at least as I will define it, is not only Biblical but it is achievable.  Christian Nationalism seems mostly, to me, to be a pipe dream for those who I hear talk about what it will or will not look like.  Meanwhile, you can do Christian Patriotism today.

A Christian Patriot absolutely wants to see entire societies changed by the spread and the deepening of the Gospel.  We are ourselves explicitly Christian but don't need our government to be so.  We believe that God is a God, rather the God, of reason and therefore we can use reason to argue the same things we see in Scripture in the public square.

C.S. Lewis said this in his essay Is Theology Poetry?

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

For the Christian Patriot we are free to, in a representative democracy as I live in, vote for rational, moral people that aren't necessarily Christian.  That said, we know that Jesus is the Lady Wisdom of the book of Proverbs personified.  We know that Christians have a unique upper hand moral in reasoning.

In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." Because God created and ordered the universe there will be wisdom that can be seen from natural revelation.  So, we can argue for moral laws based on self-evident, visible, truth.  And those who have and love the gift of special revelation (the Bible) have an advantage on this.  Some of us are to be people like Daniel who live uprightly with great wisdom in the halls of power of a pagan nation.

You may say that self-evident truths can often be ignored.  You're right.  There are many self-evident things that people willingly blind themselves to today.  The fact that the man who penned that all men being created equal and endowed by their creator certain unalienable rights also owned and sold slaves.  That is true.  Yet it was people like William Willberfoce that fought in the halls of government as it was to end the slave trade.  

Christian Patriots seek the good of their homeland or current nation even well outside the halls of government.  Christian Patriots are civic-minded, good neighbors in a variety of rolls.

As Jeremiah says in the letter to the exiles:

"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.  Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.  But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare." Jeremiah 28:5-7

I am under no delusion that a Christian Patriotism can create a utopia, but I do believe that it can make whatever community it is practiced in better.  Christian Nationalism seeks a utopic nation-state through a firm grasp on the levers of power.  Christian Patriotism, out of love for country, pursues her best even if far from the levers of power. 

In conclusion, I believe that Christian Nationalism grossly misses the mark.  I also believe that my country and all nations need Christian Patriots who love their neighbor as themselves and seek the good of the place they live.  I think we also need to think clearly about what is Christian Nationalism and what isn't so we don't join in the lobbing of verbal grenades.  Finally, there is certainly much I missed regarding this topic.  I'm sure some of you are giving a hearty amen because I said what you already agree with and some of you haven't liked at all what you read.  Either way, I appreciate you reading to the end of this and if this is something you're wrestling with I ask you to read, pray and think deeply about this subject today.

Grumbling is Slowing Your Growth

 Could my complaining be a major hindrance to my progression in the faith?

I don't know about you but I have times when I am prone to grumble and complain.  I'm, if I'm being honest, very good about not complaining in some situations and prone to complain more than others around me in other situations.  I often have a lot of grace in hectic situations and not near as much in situations that I feel should be under control and are not.  I'm way too prone to grumble and complain.

Could my grumbling cause me to stunt my growth?

I just finished studying Philippians and I was struck by the love and care the Apostle Paul had for the church as a whole and the individuals in particular in the congregation. He has this focus on them living as a beam of light for the Kingdom in the darkness of the Roman Empire.

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13

In this excerpt Paul implored his beloved church at Philippi to grow in sanctification.  He wants them to be encouraged to take the middle piece of the salvation process (justification, sanctification & glorification)  seriously.  Paul desires that they flourish and please God.

Now notice the first means he gives to go about doing this.

"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights of the world..." Philippians 4:14-15

The first way Paul encourages them to achieve this growth, this sanctification, this working out their own faith with fear and trembling is to not grumble and complain.  Would this be your first piece of advice to a Christian who asks you how to grow in the faith?  Would this make your top-five in a church discipleship program?

For those of you that know your Bible well, you may have a bell ringing when you hear the word "grumble".  In the story of Moses and the people of Israel moving from Egypt to the Promised Land the word grumble or murmur is mentioned roughly 20 times. The people grumbled about water and food because they lacked faith in God's provision.  The people grumbled about Moses and Aaron and many were swallowed up into the earth and burned.  They grumbled that Moses was gone too long and made a golden calf while he was gone.  They grumbled that the people in the Promised Land were too powerful for them to overtake and God made them wander forty years in the wilderness instead of entering the land flowing with milk and honey. 

Christians, we are a lot like the children of Israel.  In our justification we have been redeemed like they were when they left Egypt.  Like them we are headed toward a promised land and the glory that comes with that. And like them our grumbling and complaining can slow us down.

Grumbling and complaining is an impediment to the sanctification process.

Brothers and sisters, we are supposed to be blameless and innocent in the midst of a crooked generation.  In a sea of whining and complaining people we are to shine like lights in the world.  Doing all things without grumbling and complaining will make you shine in comparison to most of the people around you.

Church, we should be an organization that works differently than others.  I'm not calling for a worldly "Good Vibes Only" mantra.  I'm saying that we should flip back to Philippians 2:1-11 and work toward imitating Jesus so we also "do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

So, practically what does this look like?  

I would advise that it really depends on your grumbling temptations.  For example, I'm about to fly to Australia with my four children. I will have many opportunities to grumble (while experiencing an opportunity of a lifetime) about the wait times, the delays, the boarding process, the cost of airport food, the grumpiness of my children, etc.  Or maybe you're prone to complain about work around the water cooler.  Whatever it is that is one of your main grumbling triggers I urge you to resolve to not complain this week.  Just try one week where you don't allow yourself to grumble or participate with those that are.  I bet you'll find it improves your week. I am willing to bet that you'll shine a little brighter against the backdrop of your office or the crowded airport.

Is grumbling and complaining a hindrance in the progression of your faith and the projection of God's glory?  If so, let you and I resolve to (Hebrews 12:1b) "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" today.

The Atomic Power of the Nuclear Family

 In the Midwest we make this comment a lot, "He/she comes from a good family."

I'm a rural Iowan and I have noticed that we Midwesterners put a lot of stock, more than we might even admit, in how much we gate keep and evaluate young people based on the family from which they come.  I'm not here to counter that either.  Surely there are numerous times when a snake came from a nest of doves and that sweetness came from a bitter jar, but the truth is that coming from a solid family is something worth noting in our initial evaluation of, especially, a young person we might want to hire or use as a babysitter.

The family is one of the most important institutions in the world.  The Church is the most important institution in the world.

I recently spent my personal Bible study time in the book of Ephesians.  As I read the book one theme came to the top as paramount: Christ through the Gospel has created the Church to be a unified, loving body.

In Ephesians Paul spends the first half helping people understand what God is up to and the second half applying that truth in our lives.  As my pastor Doug says, "Our orthodoxy informs our orthopraxy." In laymans terms, "Our correct understanding of God causes us to have correct behavior." Orthodoxy = right thinking.  Orthopraxy = right practice.

Paul's orthopraxic goal in the book of Ephesians is to help the readers live in a loving, unified local church and therefore create a loving, unified Church universal.

The loving unity of the Church is built at the atomic level.

Paul first addresses the individuals and then give guidance and instruction on the home.  He talks about the structure of self-sacrificing love, respect, submission and edification between husbands and wives. Then he instructs parents and children in the structure of obedience, grace, instruction and discipline.  He ends this section in chapters five and six by helping bondservants and masters live in the Godly pursuit of service to God and mutual submission of both as slaves of God.

Paul focuses so much on the family unit as it existed in the town of Ephesus because to build a healthy local church you need the building blocks of healthy families.  Let me show you in two verses:

"'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it might go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Ephesians 6:2-3

This verse quotes one of the 10 Commandments.  This is the commandment with a promise, which I might call an axiom.  This truism doesn't mean that if you honor your parents you will live to be 96 years old.  Obedient children are less likely to get hit by a car by darting into traffic as their mother shouts "stop!", but that's not what, "that you may live long in the land" means.  If Israel was going to be a thriving civilization in their new land the family would be a major key.  Parent-honoring communities will treat the old well and raise the young well and will therefore thrive.

What was true of the nation of Israel is true for the Kingdom.  The loving unity of the Church is built at the atomic level.

If we can't love and function well in a family how can we authentically do well in the local church?  Much of my darkness that is hidden from my community is exposed on a regular basis and inflicted upon on a regular basis my own household.  Here's another axiom: What is hidden will eventually be exposed.  We must, and I must, work out our faith in the training ground of the household or it will inevitably seep into the church and create ruptures in the loving unity Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17.

Christ through the Gospel has created the Church to be a unified, loving body and one of the ways we are part of experiencing this more fully is by working on aligning correct beliefs about the Gospel to how we function in our own families.  

So, this week think deeply about how you should treat your wife and then treat her as well as Jesus treats you. This week forgive your brother more than he deserves and as much as Jesus forgave you.  This week be as gentle and lowly in your fathering as Jesus is on the pages of the Gospels.  The loving unity of the Church is built at the atomic level; therefore focus on your family for the good of the Church and the good of the world today.

Paradise in the Fall

 My family and I recently got back from a trip to Hawaii for a family reunion on the Lind side.  I had never thought about going to Hawaii.  I had joked that I thought you had to win the prize puzzle on Wheel of Fortune to get there.  

The trip was incredible.  I was able to see majestic yet lush mountains, come within feet of enormous green sea turtles on Poipu Beach, see waterfalls out of a dream, soak in the beauty of Waimea Canyon, snorkel and see colorful fish up close that seemed to come from the imagination of a girl with a 64 count box of crayons.

The trip also included time with family to reconnect and enjoy one another.  We had time to eat, talk and hear stories of the last Hawaiian reunion 30 years prior.

Hawaii is called paradise by many and it almost is, but it isn't.

Our five year-old Gideon complained of nauseousness while leaving the canyon, but he didn't throw up.  Later that night on our way to get dinner he puked in the Jeep we rented.  We all drove back to our place and he and I stayed there while the rest got some dinner.  I thought he might be car sick.  He wasn't.  He threw up over and over the rest of that night until after midnight.  He and I shared a master room with a bathroom and he was in the bathroom every fifteen minutes or so until a little after the witching hour.

The next, and thankfully last, one to get the stomach bug was our two year-old Faith.

As I rubbed Gideon's back that night in the bathroom while he leaned over the toilet I was reminded that even our "paradise" in tainted by sin.

Don't get me wrong, Hawaii is amazing. I had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have gone there with my family.  Yet even in "paradise" sin corrupts.  Gideon and Faith puke, the sun burns (believe my red belly, it does), and time in paradise expires and a plane awaits to take you home and you come back exhausted.

I loved our once-in-a-lifetime trip.  I am deeply thankful for those that helped make it possible.  I will always treasure the memories and photos I have.  And I am glad for the truth that landed on me that the paradise awaiting me is far better than even Hawaii.

"And He said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'" -Jesus to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43

"Then I saw and new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:1-4

If you every get the chance to visit Hawaii, I say go.  More importantly, you have a chance to know you'll be in the ultimate paradise of the New Heaven and New Earth, place your trust in Jesus and get the assurance of paradise today.

Why Does God Make Beautiful Things?

 My daughter Anna is creative.  She wants to be an illustrator when she grows up and she may very well do it.  Our oldest son is a good drawer if you he copies or replicates something.  He's much, much better than I am, but Anna is truly creative.  She makes things that weren't there before.  Her brother loves following directions and making LEGOs; Anna would rather get a pile of bricks and make what is in her head.

Many times a week she will present us with a drawing, a craft or something she has created.  She loves when we appreciate what she's made.  She likes when we ask how she made it.  She really enjoys when we enjoy her creation.

Why does God make beautiful things?

I recently got back from the Hawaiian island called Kauai.  I had never dreamed that I would go to Hawaii and I was taken aback by the beauty there.  The clear Pacific water teeming with brilliantly colored fish, the massive sea turtles on the beach that swim gracefully through the water like gliding rocks, the lush and majestic Waimea Canyon with its awe inspiring waterfall views.  It was all so lovely and wonderful.

On Father's Day we went through Waimea Canyon State Park.  As we drove I wondered to myself if I had an adequate theology of beautiful things.  Do my kids?  Do my kids even think about God at all while looking at this slice of creation described by many as a paradise?

Why does God make beautiful things?

I can think of three reasons: His own joy, our joy and His glory.

1) For His Own Joy

Do you ever think about God enjoying His own beautiful creations?  When God made the world it says, "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31a)

God created and then looked and beheld that it was good.  He then rested.  One has to suppose that one of the things the Triune God did in that rest was enjoy the beauty of His own creation.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit must have made what they wanted because they enjoyed it.  Sin has tainted everything, but there's still beauty lodged into the masterpieces in need of restoration.  Like my daughter, God enjoys the making and the having made beautiful things.

2) For Our Joy

When my daughter thrusts the drawing toward my hand she does so because she want me to see and enjoy.  God could have made a drab Soviet Russian prison looking world for us to live in, but He didn't.  God made a beautiful world full of beautiful things.  He made fish and birds of thousands of colorful varieties.  God isn't some utilitarian designer; God has flare.  

When you are looking at a sunrise, a waterfall, a fish, a distant star or anything lovely, do you consider that God, in part, made that for you to see?  As we drove through the canyon I told Anna that before the foundations of the earth God knew we would drive through the canyon today and that's one of the reasons He made it so beautiful.  

To borrow a phrase that Tim Chester uses in his fantastic book Enjoying God, we live in a Fathered world.  My Heavenly Father loves me so much that He made beautiful things for me to enjoy.  If my earthly daughter loves to make me beautiful things, how much more does my perfect, Heavenly Father.

3) For His Glory

Beautiful things bring praise to their creator.  Anna beams a big smile when we praise her art.  It pleases the Creator to praise Him for His creation. Mindful enjoyment of good and beautiful things is worship.  On Father's Day I missed going to corporate worship and I don't like doing that, but I was filled with praise thinking about how good and creative my Heavenly Father is.

Many of you will go on a vacation this summer.  Will your travels to beautiful places cause you to experience the joy the Creator wants to give you?  Will you give your Heavenly Father the praise He deserves for the wonders He has let you experience?  Will your heart feel like it's bursting in wonder?  Will you break out in singing "How Great Thou Art" or "This is My Father's World"?  Will you shape a theology of beautiful things that allows you to turn a summer road trip into a fun-filled pilgrimage of sorts?

Why does God make beautiful things?  For His own joy, for our joy and for His own glory.  Enjoy and give Him the glory as you behold.  Let the created bring your mind to the Creator today.

M.P.B.A.

 Primary elections were on Tuesday.  I voted and a few of those I voted for won and a few didn't.  It is an honor, privilege and blessing as well as a responsibility to vote.

That said, primary elections are a bit exhausting to me.  Elections in general are mentally arduous.  Did you know that every, single presidential election I have ever voted in has been the most important in our nation's history?  At least that's what I was told.

Campaigns, and perhaps primary elections in particular, are exhausting because of what we're told is at stake and what we're promised will happen if our candidate wins or loses.  Both political parties cosplay as a savior.  Both parties paint the other as a demon.  Golden ages are promised and dark ages are warned against.  And both parties see governmental activity as success.

First, what I'm not saying.  I'm not saying elections don't have consequences.  I'm not saying voting doesn't matter.  I'm not saying that legitimately good things can and have happened because an election went one way versus the other.  I'm not saying there is not actual evil things that must be opposed and real good that should be supported.  I'm not saying the two major parties in my country are morally equal and effective.  I'm not saying that governmental activity is never success.

Here's what I am saying: I want to Make Politics Boring Again.

I'm fatigued of thinking about my government and my leaders so regularly.  I host a morning show and we try to talk about what people are talking about.  I'm tired of politics being in the forefront so frequently.  Those older than me and my age can attest that the frequency we discuss politics is much higher today than not that long ago in the recent past.  We have politicians that are experts in staying on the tip of people's tongues and none are better at this than our current president.  

I'm not saying that we should practice ignoring important issues.  As one of my social studies Mr. Semler used to say, "apathy is the yeast of injustice".  Apathy isn't what I'm asking for.  Peace and quiet is.

The Apostle Paul said it this way:

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

The prayer of a Christian isn't for government to be a savior.  The prayer of a Christian isn't even necessarily for a Christian government.  The prayer of a Christian is for freedom to live in peace and quiet that allows for us to share the Gospel so that people can hear and be saved.

Not every generation of Christians gets this.  Some are needed to storm the beaches of Normandy.  Some, like Bonhoeffer, would no doubt have preferred a quiet, peaceful life of service to God and neighbor than the life of opposition to evil.  Many today plead for this and get the life of chaos from a dysfunctional government or the fear of living in a country whose overbearing leadership actively seeks to snuff out the feet that are fitted with the Gospel of Peace.

As for me, I am happy to live in my nation.  I want the absolute best for my country and I will seek her prosperity by my actions in the voting booth.  That said, I will pray for the government that will allow all people to live a peaceful and quiet life.  I will pray for and vote for leaders that will hopeful leave the Church free to live in a godly and dignified manner.

Christians, we must beware of giving politics and politicians the mental space that God alone deserves.  Christians, we must, frankly, give evangelism and quiet, pious living much more of our attention.

I'm tired of hyperbolic politics.  I'm tired of heaven on earth being promised in ads and hell on earth being warned of by pundits.  Good governments are a lot like a good umpire: The less I think of them the better job they're doing.  I pray that we as a nation, as we celebrate our 250th birthday, would have a heart of gratitude for our many blessings and that our leaders would seek to be forgettable as they helped protect the peaceful and quiet existence for as many as possible.

May God help Make Politics Boring Again today.

How Would You Answer This Question?

 The Late Show on CBS had its last episode on Thursday night.  The show had been started in 1993 when David Letterman didn't get the Tonight Show gig after hosting Late Night on NBC for years.  Letterman took his show to CBS and hosted it until eleven years ago when Stephen Colbert became the second and last host of the program.  The program was cancelled and there are a few, possibly concurrent, things that brought about the end of the show.  I don't have any care to write about that here.

However, a popular segment on Colbert's iteration of the program was the Colbert Questionnaire.  This bit came about after Stephen enjoyed the answer he received from Keanu Reaves when he asked him, "What happens when you die?" Colbert decided he should ask more people this question and so he designed the questionnaire around it.  

On the penultimate episode of the show Stephen took his own questionnaire answering questions from a variety of celebrities.  Many of the answers were insightful and cute, but his answer of "What happens when you die?" caught my attention.

Stephen is reportedly, as reported by himself, friends and priests, a devout Catholic.  Because of that fact his answer surprised me.  Take a listen to it below:

It caught my attention because it is neither Catholic nor any kind of orthodox Christian.  The answer given would fit very well in the New Age, Gnostic or "spiritual but not religious" camps.

To be fair to Stephen, I have not heard a single answer to the Colbert Questionnaire that would fit an orthodox Christian view.  That, in part, was why I was interested to hear him answer.  I thought, even if he included purgatory (a belief held only by Catholics), that it would be refreshing to hear a Christian answer.

Let me assure you this: My point in writing this is not that I was disappointed that Colbert didn't give a better answer.

I write this to remind Christians that to be a Christian is to believe Christian beliefs.  There is more to being a Christian than just ascribing to set of beliefs, but to be Christian is to believe as a Christian.  To find a basic understanding of Christian beliefs we can look to the creeds.

The Nicene Creed states "I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come."

The Apostles Creed states "I believe in... the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."

The Athanasian Creed says "At his coming all people will arise bodily and give an accounting of their deeds."

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this in Question 37 "Q: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, still being united to Christ, do rest in their graves til the resurrection."

The New City Catechism says this in Question 28 "Q: What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith? A: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.

And to add a Biblical citation to the creeds as to what happens when specifically the Christian dies "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

My point in reacting to what Stephen Colbert said is not to attack Stephen.  My point is to remind Christians that a MAJOR part of being a Christian is believing the Christian faith that has been handed down to us for 2,000 years.  You aren't a Christian because your parents were.  You aren't a Christian because you go to church.  One of the fundamental parts of being a Christian is actually believing what Christ teaches us through the Bible.

I encourage you to look at the creeds again if you don't regularly recite them in service, and if you do recite them regularly, I would have you really engage your mind with what you are saying.  I ask you to read your Bible and believe it.  I recommend you work through a catechism with yourself and with your family.  I remind you that to be a Christian is to believe what Christians believe.  So, take the time to re-school and remind yourself today.