Where do Evangelicals Live?

       “Home sweet home.”   “There is no place like home.” “Home is where the heart is.” “Take me home…country roads…” “You can’t go home again…” Ok, well maybe not the last quote, but the word ‘home’ evokes a powerful memory in all of us.  We define home as the place we are from, the place we go to when we are scared…the place that is sacred to us. 

            As we continue to learn about Evangelicals in the 21^st century, we are confronted with the second of N.T. Wright’s five questions: “Where do we live?” As we examine this question, we will see how important the concept of home is for them. 

            As we have seen, Evangelicals view themselves as the true heirs of Christ’s church, the last protectors of the true faith and the only legitimate church.  They find themselves caught between liberalism on one end and secularism on the other.  They see themselves always on the defensive and they need to protect their territory against all enemies.

            “Where do we live?” or “where is home?” is important for Evangelicals.  So where do American Christians live?

            Well…the United States…obviously…duh.

            Ok, yes, the United States is the physical home for the American evangelical church.  But it is not the physical location we are talking about…it’s the spiritual…or philosophical meaning that is truly important.

            The United States has always been important in Christian history.  The Puritans arrived here to have religious freedom (so one myth goes).  God has appointed the United States to be a ‘city on a hill’ to bring the light of Christ to the world (so another myth goes).  But there is a sense in Evangelical understanding that this country is the rightful heir of Israel in the Old Testament.   The United States is a special country, chosen by God, to be a vessel for the transmission of the Gospel throughout the world.

            Christians look to the Founding period to assure themselves that the Founding Fathers envisioned a Christian nation. The United States, the argument goes, is a Christian nation, conceived to be such.  Authors such as Peter Lillback, demonstrate that George Washington was extremely concerned to create a Christian nation.  Popular myths, such as Washington almost being killed by Native Americans during the French and Indian Wars, become evidence of God’s providence. Christian Evangelical scholar David Barton reinvents Thomas Jefferson as a devout Christian who has been deconstructed by liberal scholarship.  John Adams is summoned to talk about the necessity of the country’s Christians ethos. American history is rewritten to a Christian narrative in books like The Light and the Glory, which are taught in Christian schools and homeschools around the country.  The modern narrative is that the United States is one of the last true vestiges of Christianity in the world. It must continue to be a light in the darkness and the city on a hill.

            But the problem is that this Christian nation is under threat by the same enemies that they themselves face.  The liberals and secular powers want to make the United States into a non-Christian nation.  National issues like abortion and homosexual marriage are battlegrounds in the ever lasting war over the soul of the American nation.  If the United States continues to allow abortion or homosexual marriage, then it is evident that the United States has turned it’s back on God.  If this happens, the Gospel will suffer and many will not be able to achieve salvation.

            These issues are very important to the Evangelical church because they are directly related to the vision they have for America.   If any issue or topic can unite the hopelessly disjointed Evangelical church, it is the hope for the United States.  Evangelicals will unite around a topic like abortion because the very home they love is at stake. If the United States embraces liberalism, it will deny God and therefore forsake the very purpose of its existence.  

            ‘Battles’ over political issues reveal the true war going on in the country for the Evangelical Church.  Abortion, gay rights, socialized medicine, gun control all represent issues that threaten the spiritual and moral fiber of the country.  Evangelicals align themselves with conservative politicians and issues because these politicians represent the heroes fighting against the tides of evil.  This explains why so many Evangelicals are willing to forgive conservatives for sins while lambasting liberals for the same failings.

            For many American Evangelicals, the role of the country and the church are tied into each other. The traditional values must be adhered to, otherwise God will be angry.  Almost every year at the See You At The Pole, students around the country pray for the country and recite 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land” (NIV).  This verse, taken out of context and applied to the United States, becomes a banner by which the Evangelical Church can unite for a common purpose.

            It is no wonder, then, that we are seeing the rise of Christian nationalism within the country. Rich Lowry’s book The Case for Nationalism provides an understanding for the Evangelical church not only to the power of nationalism but also for a purpose in resisting the cases of evil. Nationalism provides an avenue for Christians to pursue wholeness and wellness for the country that God has blessed them with. 

            Where do Evangelicals live? They live in the United States…one nation UNDER GOD…which has been called to be the special receptacle of God’s grace and the foundation for God’s kingdom in the world.  Remember that Evangelicals view themselves as the true heirs of God’s teaching…God is preparing them a special country to live in, just like he did with Israel. 

            Ideally, although they would never admit, the Evangelical Christian would like to live in a theocracy.  In fact, many already believe they do.

A Tale of Two Easters

It was the best of times…and the worst of times.

            I had a lot of time to reflect on worship this past week.  Holy Week can be one of the most humbling, awe-inspiring, and most passionate weeks of the year.  Or it can….you know…not be.

            One of the local start up churches was advertising for their Easter Service.  There was no Holy Week (No Maundy Thursday, no Good Friday)…just Easter.  As if we could skip those times and go straight to the joy of the Resurrection.  The service promised “dynamic worship, an uplifting sermon,” and a “cup of coffee”.  The entire advertisement was perfectly geared for the consumeristic, capitalistic, consumption based ministry that encapsulates American Christianity these days. They hoped that ‘you had a wonderful Easter experience.’

            For full disclosure, I did not attend these services.  Maybe they were completely spiritual and maybe they had moments of honest communion with God. I don’t know.  I couldn’t get my mind off the ‘complimentary cup of coffee.’

            I attended most of the Triduum with my Roman Catholic friends.  There was no rock band experience.  There was no entertainment, and there was no complimentary cup of coffee.

   I was raised Catholic and have been cut off from the Church.  But I do not remember in my childhood ever attending these services near the end of Holy Week. The three services were Maundy Thursday, Good Friday (Adoration of the Cross) and the Easter Vigil. While they did not offer free coffee…these masses offered something much more precious…Christ.

            Unfortunately I was called away from Maundy Thursday service and could not fully meditate on Christ’s Last Supper before He was betrayed by Judas.

            I was there for Good Friday.  It has been my practice for the last several years to go through the Stations of the Cross on the Fridays during Lent.  I had missed the previous one and I missed Stations the morning of this service.  While this was not the Stations, this service was focused on the crucifixion of Christ.  The altar had been stripped and the statues of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus that had decorated the church for the past few weeks had been covered up. As we went through the Gospel narrative (dramatized by the priest and several lay leaders), I was brought into the narrat

ive.  The congregation had to respond with the words of the crowd to ‘crucify Jesus’ and I heard my own voice calling for the death of my Savior. It was humbling and I once again saw the horror of my own sin.

            As the Crucifix came forward, they slowly uncovered it to reveal the statue of Jesus nailed to the cross.  As is custom, the Faithful come forward and kiss the cross.  I could not come forward.  I dared not come forward.  I was stunned in my pew as I beheld the image of my Savior.  I cried.  I a grown man in my 40s, cried at a statue of Christ as the depth of my sins came home. I could not come forward because I do not deserve the death of my Savior. I do not deserve the ability to kiss the cross which He died upon.  The Church…and churches have always been clear to me that I do not belong and I should not presume to come into the presence of the living Christ.

            We gathered the next the night for the Easter Vigil.  There were nine readings (!).  Evangelicals who say that Catholics do not read the Bible have clearly not been to a mass.  The Mass is the most Biblical worship service that exists because almost every word came from the Bible. There were no contemporary praise songs, no emotionally manipulating entertainment…just the words of Scripture as we recounted the story of God and His redemption for mankind.

            Yes there was kneeling.  But kneeling in the presence of the King was appropriate. Yes there was standing…in an almost Catholic Aerobic workout scheme…but it flowed because it was all focused on Christ.  The entire service and the entire community focused on the celebration of Jesus Christ.  They celebrated the prophesies…they celebrated the coming of the Messiah and they celebrated the bursting forth from the grave. 

            I was sorry I could not make it to the Easter mass.  I went to preach my own service…which I do not know if it was received well. I do know that we do not have the lights, we don’t have the big band…we don’t have the technology to make the service appealing for the masses.  Heck, we don’t even have complimentary coffee.

            But as I reflect back on the week…I began to realize that maybe this is what we are doing wrong.  Maybe we have our priorities screwed up.  Maybe, instead of offering complimentary coffee…and ‘dynamic’ (whatever that means) worship…maybe…just like this Roman Catholic Parish…maybe we should just offer them Jesus.