This week's sermon is going to briefly touch on the danger of Christian syncritism, particularly our dangerous penchant to 'Americanize/patriotize' the church. I'll be giving some examples, but consider the accompanying painting called 'One Nation Under God'. Jesus holds the US Constitution and is supported by the likes of our soldiers, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and JFK. As an American and a Christian, what are your thoughts of this painting in particular and 'Christian art' which paints the church in distinctly red, white and blue colors in general?
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
One nation under God?
This week's sermon is going to briefly touch on the danger of Christian syncritism, particularly our dangerous penchant to 'Americanize/patriotize' the church. I'll be giving some examples, but consider the accompanying painting called 'One Nation Under God'. Jesus holds the US Constitution and is supported by the likes of our soldiers, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and JFK. As an American and a Christian, what are your thoughts of this painting in particular and 'Christian art' which paints the church in distinctly red, white and blue colors in general?
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Who's Thomas Paine? Just kidding. You're preaching to the choir here. I think a lot of people in our country substitute the name America in their Bibles for the name of Israel, as if this is "the chosen people of God". This is a secular nation, and it is not God's kingdom. I'm as patriotic as the next person, but the solution to American's problems isn't prayer in schools, outlawing abortion or gay marriage, but Christ reigning in people's hearts. One could spend a lifetime fighting to bandage the wounds without addressing the source of the bleeding and feel really good about it.
Our country has undoubtedly benefited from a strong moral foundation which was built upon biblical teachings, and is certainly drifting from that strong mooring and probably headed for an eventual destruction as has been the case for all great empires. But would Christ have us fight harder to preserve this worldly nation or to advance his kingdom? Do the words "In God we trust" on our coins or "one nation under God" in our pledge make us Christians, or make us a Christian nation (is there such a thing as a Christian nation)? Or do they make us feel better about our country while we go on pursuing the kingdom that really matters to us (the kingdom of me)?
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