Still, a citizen of the kingdom of God need not deny the positive outcomes that have resulted from Europeans discovering and conquering America. Yes, the process was largely immoral and extremely bloody, as it typically is when versions of the kingdom of the world collide. But the bloody injustices don’t negate the fact that America has arguably now become, by historic and global standards, a relatively good version of the kingdom of the world. Still, we must never confuse the positive things that America does with the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of God is not centered on being morally, politically, or socially positive relative to other versions of the kingdom of the world. Rather, the kingdom of God is centered on being beautiful, as defined by Jesus Christ dying on a cross for those who crucified him.
To promote law, order, and justice is good, and we certainly should do all we can to support this. But to love enemies, forgive transgressors, bless persecutors, serve sinners, accept social rejects, abolish racist walls, share resources with the poor, bear the burden of neighbors, suffer with the oppressed—all the while making no claims to promote oneself—this is beautiful; this is Christlike. Only this, therefore, is distinct kingdom-of-God activity.
WINNING BACK THE WORLD
I should end this chapter by saying that, as misleading and dangerous as the slogan “Take America Back for God” is, there is a profound element of truth in it. For as citizens of the kingdom of God, we are called to win back America for Jesus Christ—as well as Europe, Iraq, Sudan, Rwanda, and the rest of the world. But everything hangs upon how we believe we are to do this. What power do we trust?
If we think for a moment that we are fulfilling the commission to take the world back for God by acquiring the ability to control behavior through the power of the sword, we are deceived. If we suppose that America, Europe, or any nation is closer to the kingdom of God because certain Christian ideals dominate the political landscape, it is evidence that we have bought into the temptation to trust the sword rather than the cross. If we think we can tweak any version of the kingdom of the world to make it into the kingdom of God, we thereby reveal that our thinking has been co-opted by the kingdom of the world. Again, the only way the world can be won for Jesus Christ is by people being transformed from the inside out through the power of Christ’s love expressed through the Calvary-quality service of his followers.
The question that wins the world is not, how can we get our “morally superior” way enforced in the world? The question that wins the world, and the question that must define the individual and collective life of kingdom-of-God citizens is, how do we take up the cross for the world? How do we best communicate to others their unsurpassable worth before God? How do we serve and wash the feet of the oppressed and despised?
We conquer not by the power of the sword but “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony.” We conquer by not clinging “to life even in the face of death” (Rev. 12:11); we conquer by refusing to place our trust in the violent “power over” kingdom of the world, while instead making it our sole task, moment by moment, to manifest the unique righteousness of the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). God in principle won the world through the Lamb’s loving sacrifice, and he’s in the process of manifesting this victory throughout the world through us as we replicate the Lamb’s loving sacrifice in our lives. This is the kingdom of God; this is how the kingdom of God advances. And this is how the kingdom of the world will ultimately become the kingdom of the Lamb (Rev. 11:15).
If your response is that this “power under” approach is impractical, if not morally irresponsible, perhaps this too reveals that you have been conformed to the pattern of the world (Rom. 12:2) and have allowed yourself to trust “power over” rather than “power under.” Perhaps it reveals that you have placed more faith in worldly “common sense” than in the resurrection. Perhaps it reveals that worldly effectiveness has replaced kingdom faithfulness as your primary concern.
When Jesus was crucified, it looked as if he were losing. More often than not, when the kingdom of God is being authentically carried out, it looks that way, at least initially. The cross didn’t look effective on Good Friday, but God raised up Jesus on the third day. And our task is to believe that, however much it looks like we may be losing, God will use our Calvary-quality acts of service to redeem the world and build his kingdom. However much we lose—even if it’s our own life—we are to believe in the resurrection. Ultimately God wins, and each one of our acts of loving self-denial will eventually be shown to have played a role in this victory.
This is faith in the resurrection. This is the kingdom of God.
CHAPTER 6
THE MYTH OF A CHRISTIAN NATION
The words and acts of the founding fathers, especially the first few presidents, shaped the form and tone of the civil religion as it has been maintained ever since. Though much is selectively derived from Christianity, this religion is clearly not itself Christianity.
ROBERT BELLAH1
AS WE HAVE NOTED, MANY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT AMERICA IS, OR AT least once was, a Christian nation. We have argued that this notion is inaccurate for the simple reason that Christian means “Christlike,” and there never was a time when America as a nation has acted Christlike. Indeed, we have argued that it’s impossible for any version of the kingdom of the world to be Christlike for the simple reason that they participate in a system of domination that necessarily places its trust in the power of the sword. It may use this power in just or unjust ways—and we should certainly do all we can do to influence the former and resist the latter—but in neither case can it be said to be acting like Christ. The kingdom of God, which always looks like Jesus, is not simply an improved version of the kingdom of the world, for a version of the kingdom of the world may be relatively good, but it cannot be beautiful.
In my opinion, nothing has been more damaging to the advancement of the beautiful kingdom in America, and to a significant degree around the globe, than this myth that America is a Christian nation. In this and the following two chapters I shall discuss five negative consequences that have resulted from this myth.
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
First, the myth of a Christian nation harms global missions, and a little background will help explain this.
Since the time of Constantine, Christianity has largely been the obedient servant of the kingdom of the world, while the cross has often been reduced to the pole upon which a national flag waves. When leaders of so-called Christian nations felt the need to go to war to protect or expand the interests of their nation, they could often count on the church to call on God to bless its violent campaign and use its authority to motivate warriors to fight for their cause “in Jesus’ name.” However much leaders were driven by power or economic concerns, their cause could be made “holy” by convincing Christian subjects that God was involved. Hence, when any group had to be vanquished in the interest of the Christian nation, it has often been carried out under the banner of Christ—even when the enemy was other professing Christians. “For God and country” has been the battle cry of Christians, as it has in one form or another for almost every other army, whatever the particular religion or nation.
When America was founded as a British colony, this traditional Constantinian “God and country” sentiment reigned, and when America broke from England, it continued to reign. Though America is now largely secularized, this Constantinian perspective continues to reign, though in a more secularized, subdued form. Many still believe we fight “for God and country,” and leaders continue to use this faith to their full advantage whenever possible.
AMERICA AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
A stunningly clear example of this was (and as of this writing, still is) the heavy use of religious rhetoric to support the invasion of Iraq and the ongoing fight against terrorism. Instead of simply arguing that it was in America’s national interest to go to war—a claim that some would accept and others reject—many religious leaders and some politicians invoked God’s name in
support of this cause, just as the extremist Muslims did. As in the medieval Crusades, “Abba” has once again been pitted against “Allah.” Many even argued that supporting the war against the Taliban and Saddam Hussein was a “Christian duty.”
This Christianization of military force was strongly reinforced when President George W. Bush depicted America as being on a holy “crusade” against “evildoers.” Elsewhere he said that America is the “light of the world,” which the “darkness” (that is, our national enemies) could not extinguish.2 He was of course quoting Scripture in making his point—Scripture that refers to Jesus (John 1:1–5). The fact that evangelicals as a whole were not shocked by this idolatrous association is, in my opinion, evidence of how thoroughly we have accepted the Americanized, Constantinian paradigm. In this paradigm, what applies to Jesus (“the light of the world”) can be applied to our country, and what applies to Satan (“the darkness”) can be applied to whomever resists our country. We are of God; they are of the Devil. We are the light; they are the darkness. Our wars are therefore “holy” wars.3 With all due respect, this is blatant idolatry.
That a political leader would use religious rhetoric to rally people around a military cause is not surprising. This is typical in all versions of the kingdom of the world. What is surprising, and cause for great concern, is that many evangelicals were not only not disturbed by this—they applauded it.
THE HARM TO GLOBAL MISSIONS
While history proves that it’s usually in a nation’s self-interest to use religion and religious rhetoric to advance its causes, kingdom-of-God citizens need to see how harmful it is to the advancement of the kingdom of God. Among other things, when we associate Jesus with America, even in the most remote ways, we legitimize the widespread global perception that the Christian faith can be judged on the basis of what America has done in the past or continues to do in the present.
Now, this isn’t all bad. America has done and continues to do good things around the world, for which we should be thankful. But it’s also done some bad things—or at least things perceived by some to be bad. Though many Americans, including President George W. Bush, seem unable to appreciate it, there are reasons why a significant percentage of people around the globe despise us.4 Not only does America represent greed, violence, and sexual immorality to them, but they view America as exploitive and opportunistic. To their way of thinking, for example, the 2002 invasion of Iraq, largely in defiance of the United Nations, on the later disproven grounds that Saddam Hussein posed an “imminent threat” because he was building “weapons of mass destruction,” simply confirms a long history of U.S. aggression under the guise of “spreading freedom.” When President Bush repeatedly says that America has a responsibility to spread freedom throughout the world, what some people around the globe hear is that American imperialism is alive and well and that we are planning on aggressively bringing other governments under our control for self-serving purposes.
Now, whether this perception is justified or not is not my immediate concern. What is a concern—and should be the primary concern for all kingdom-of-God people—is that this disdain gets associated with Christ when America is identified as a Christian nation. The tragic irony is that those who should be most vehemently denying the association for the purpose of preserving the beautiful holiness of the kingdom of God—in contrast to what America represents to many people—are the primary ones insisting on the identification! The result is that it has become humanly impossible for many around the globe to hear the good news as good. Instead, because of its kingdom-of-the-world associations, they hear the gospel as bad news, as American news, exploitive capitalistic news, greedy news, violent news, and morally decadent news. They can’t see the beauty of the cross because everything the American flag represents to them is in the way.
As a result, global missions have been tremendously harmed by American nationalism. And we who seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33) must accept responsibility for this. We have not placed the preservation of the holiness—the radical distinctness—of the kingdom of God as our top priority. We have rather allowed the cross to become associated with the sword of Constantine. We have allowed the unblemished beauty of Calvary to get wrapped up in the typical ugliness of our version of the kingdom of the world. We have allowed our allegiance to the kingdom of God to be compromised by allegiance to our nation. We have far too often placed our worldly citizenship before our heavenly citizenship (Phil. 3:20) and allowed the flag to smother the cross.
The time to turn completely from this Constantinian idolatry is long overdue. For God’s sake—literally—we who profess allegiance to Jesus Christ must commit ourselves to proclaiming in action and word the truth that the kingdom of God always looks like him. Since our ultimate allegiance is not to our nation or institution, we should be on the front lines proclaiming that the history and activity of our nation has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. Far from invoking God’s name to justify the behavior of our nation (for example, to “blow [people] away in the name of the Lord”), we should in God’s name lead the charge in prophetically critiquing our nation. Indeed, following the example of Jesus (which is, after all, our sole calling), we should publicly side with all who have been or continue to be harmed by our nation.
CIVIL RELIGION AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Not only are foreign missions harmed by the pervasive myth of a Christian nation, missionary work inside our own country has been harmed, for this foundational myth reinforces the pervasive misconception that the civil religion of Christianity in America is real Christianity.
To understand this, we need to understand that throughout history most cultures have been influenced by some religion or other. Typically, most people in the culture don’t make the dominant religion the central point of their life. But the religion nevertheless plays an important role in providing the culture with a shared worldview, shared history, shared values and practices, common holidays, and so on. In short, it helps bind the culture together. We might think of this as the civil role of religion.5
While legitimate debate continues about what various founding fathers of America actually believed, it is undeniable that the civil religion of America from the start has been a deistic version of Christianity. Our worldview, our sense of history, our values, and even our calendar have been influenced far more by Christianity than any other religion. While things are changing quickly, a majority of Americans still identify themselves as “Christian” to pollsters.
Now, as is typical of civil religions, if one further inquires into what actual impact these people’s faith has on their lives, one discovers that in the majority of cases it is negligible. Indeed, research has consistently demonstrated that the majority of professing Christians, when asked, lack even an elementary understanding of the faith they profess.6 Though they may attend church on occasion, they think, feel, and behave pretty much as they would even if they were not Christian. They answer “Christian” when asked, not because it makes any significant difference to them on a personal level, but simply because this religious identification is part of the cultural air they breath.
On one level, there’s nothing wrong with this. Every society needs some sort of shared vision of the world and shared values to stay healthy. And, as the decline of communism suggests, it is difficult to support this shared vision and these shared values without some religious underpinnings. Civil religion is good, if not necessary, for a healthy culture.
Problems arise, however, when kingdom people fail to see that civil religion is simply an aspect of the kingdom of the world. Problems arise when kingdom people forget that the kingdom of God always looks like Jesus and so has no intrinsic relationship with any civil religion. Problems arise when we fail to see that the civil religion of Christianity has no more kingdom-of-God significance than the civil religion of Buddhism, Hinduism, or the ancient Roman Pantheon.
THE HARMFUL ILLUSION OF THE CIVIL RELIGION
When we fail to dist
inguish between the quasi-Christian civil religion of America and the kingdom of God, two things happen.
First, American kingdom people lose their missionary zeal. Because we buy the myth that we live in a Christian nation, as defined by the civil religion, we don’t live with the same missionary zeal we’d have if we lived, say, in a country where Buddhism or Hinduism was the civil religion. This is why American Christians so often define “missions” as sending people to other countries—as though there was more missionary work to do there than here.
I believe this sentiment is rooted in an illusion. If you peel back the façade of the civil religion, you find that America is about as pagan as any country we could ever send missionaries to. Despite what a majority of Americans say when asked by pollsters, we are arguably no less self-centered, unethical, or prone toward violence than most other cultures. We generally look no more like Jesus, dying on a cross out of love for the people who crucified him, than do people in other cultures, and thus are generally no closer to the kingdom of God than people in other cultures. The fact that we have a quasi-Christian civil religion doesn’t help; if anything, it hurts precisely because it creates the illusion in the minds of kingdom people that we are closer to the example of Jesus than we actually are (cf. Matt. 21:31).
If we simply hold fast to the truth that the kingdom of God always looks like Jesus, we can see the irrelevance, if not harmfulness, of the quasi-Christian civil religion for the advancement of the kingdom of God. When a kingdom person realizes that the civil religion of America has no more relationship to the real kingdom of God than any other civil religion—that it’s all just part of the religious trappings most versions of the kingdom of the world adopt—they are motivated to live as much as a missionary in America as they would if they were stationed in, say, China, Cambodia, or India. The only significant difference is that in at least one respect it’s arguably harder to be a missionary in America, for here the majority think they’re already Christian simply by virtue of living in a Christian nation. Their need for the true kingdom is concealed behind a civil surrogate of the kingdom.7
The Myth of a Christian Nation Page 11