THE LAST RIVER MILE

Organized religion under the “Christian” label is in trouble in the United States. For most of my career as a local church pastor the overall problem of Christianity here was its benign nature. The majority of churches had become ingrown and maintenance-focused, rather than missional and outreach focused. As Methodism’s founder John Wesley feared, they had the external form of religion without the movemental power. (See II Timothy 3:5.)

Now, much that passes under the label of Christian in our country has moved from benign to toxic. A thin veneer of Christian verbiage is used to cover and defend a narrow view of the world, of faith, and of politics. The ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth has been reduced to an express pass to reward when this life is over. In this life, faith and practice boil down to nothing more than following a personal morality formula; a formula which is more defined by those with privilege and power than by Scripture, Systemic or corporate sin, decried in volume by the prophets in the Bible, is ignored, dismissed, or actively rejected. (Note the vehement dismissal of “Critical Race Theory.”) Contrary to the good news of Jesus the Christ, judgment takes precedent over grace. And this segment of church people has taken as its hero one who judges whole nations as “sh**hole counties” and openly devalues whole groups of God’s sons and daughters as “lowlifes.” Many church folks apparently accept or approve of his lack of anything close to kindness, excusing it as somehow “righteous.” As such, they are content to allow the least powerful in our country to stay on the margins, all “in the name of Jesus.”

This is tragic, especially for those of us who believe Jesus was serious when he commanded us to “go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19.) It was bad enough for the majority of churches to simply ignore this mandate. Now, people who would not identify as Christian are presented with a brand of “Christianity” which is known more by what it is against than what it is for, and which bears no resemblance to the teaching and actions of Jesus.

Now more than ever the historically valued term “evangelical” needs to be taken back from those who have reduced it to a particular theological and political label. We need to present compassion, driven by a God whose very definition is love. (I John 4:8.) Believing that every human being is worthy of the life, death, resurrection, and promised return of Jesus, we must recapture the drive that all would know him and see him in us. Knowing that all persons can become new creatures in Christ, we must loudly proclaim that there are no “sh**hole” countries or “lowlifes” in the eyes of God. In humility we must see all those around us as better than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3-4.) We must not only practice charity, but we must confront the systems and structures which create the need for charity in the first place. We must stand with the least, the last, and the lost, showing that there is an allegiance greater than that which is demanded by any era’s “empire.” (Philippians 2:9-11.) Jesus said the world around us would know that we are his disciples by our love. So we must love not just in rhetoric, but in action. (I John 3:18.)

None of this will happen through programs and rallies. It will not happen through proclamations and social media posts like this one. It will not happen organizationally. It will happen through relationship and demonstration, much as it did in the faith’s highly impacting first century.

Sometimes a season of crisis is not a bad thing. Sometimes crisis clears out the debris and allows the stream to flow freely. Maybe this is such a time for the gospel in North America.

I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.