Martyrdom of St. Peter, Michaelangelo

Jeff’s post about Tim Tebow started me thinking the other day. What does Jesus’ team look like and what is their record in big games? So I looked it up, and here’s what I found…

JESUS’ TEAM OF “WINNERS”

Peter
“The Rock” was executed around AD64 during the persecutions of Emperor Nero, or later in AD67. Apparently he was crucified, head-down, at his own request.

James
During the persecutions of Herod Agrippa I, King of the Jews, in c AD44, the apostle James was beheaded – ‘put to the sword’ (Acts 12:1-2 ff).

John
John was banished to the nearby island of Patmos, now one of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. He was subsequently freed and died a natural death at Ephesus c AD100.

Phillip
Philip preached the Gospel in Phrygia (west central Turkey) before dying or being martyred there at Hieropolis.

Nathanael (Bartholomew)
Traditionally he met his death by being flayed or skinned alive, and then beheaded. Derbent, north of present day Baku on the Caspian Sea may have been his place of martyrdom. Alternatively he may have suffered this cruel fate in what is now India.

Thomas
The “doubting disciple” took the Gospel to India, where he was speared to death near Madras on the east coast.

Matthew (Levi)
After preaching in Judea, different traditions place his missionary work and possible martyrdom in Ethiopia or Persia.

Jude (Thaddeus)
He may have preached in Assyria (eastern Iraq) and Persia (Iran), before joining with Simon the Zealot and being killed with him in Persia.

Simon the Zealot
One tradition is that he first preached in Egypt, before joining Jude and travelling to Persia, where both were martyred. Simon may have been crucified or hacked to death.

Matthias
He may have preached and been martyred in Ethiopia, Other traditions place him in Judea, and later Cappadocia (eastern Turkey) and the Caspian Sea area.

Paul
Tradition says he was beheaded at a place now called Tre Fontane in Rome.

Other “winners” on God’s team…

2 Corinthians 11:23-30 — (Paul’s record before his martyrdom)

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Hebrews 11:35-39 –

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised…

Luke 6:20-26 –

   “God blesses you who are poor, 
      for the Kingdom of God is yours. 
 God blesses you who are hungry now, 
      for you will be satisfied. 
   God blesses you who weep now, 
      for in due time you will laugh.

 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich, 
      for you have your only happiness now. 
 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now, 
      for a time of awful hunger awaits you. 
   What sorrow awaits you who laugh now, 
      for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow. 
 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds, 
      for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

Today I want to look at one of three tentpoles erected to prop up the evangelical circus big-top, the Americanization of God.

American Exceptionalism

The Americanization of God is not a new phenomenon. Its roots go back to one of the greatest of American theologians and philosophers, Jonathan Edwards. It was his writings and sermons that proclaimed that revivalism in the New World would usher in the Kingdom of God. Edwards was an early proponent of the idea that one must have a personal relationship with God in order to know he was saved. And being very American, Edward’s God—with whom one was to have a relationship—took on distinctive American qualities. Independence and self-reliance were among the most important of these.

Americans became very parochial, especially right after the Revolutionary War. We were the new chosen people, elected by God to lead the way in the world. There existed a “manifest destiny” to which we were called to take over lands from those who were ignorant, those who didn’t follow the same God we did. If we saw it and liked it, then it was right for us to make it ours.

Alexis de Tocqueville observed this “American exceptionalism” in his Democracy In America:

The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one. Their strictly Puritanical origin, their exclusively commercial habits, even the country they inhabit, which seems to divert their minds from the pursuit of science, literature, and the arts, the proximity of Europe, which allows them to neglect these pursuits without relapsing into barbarism, a thousand special causes, of which I have only been able to point out the most important, have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American upon purely practical objects. His passions, his wants, his education, and everything about him seem to unite in drawing the native of the United States earthward; his religion alone bids him turn, from time to time, a transient and distracted glance to heaven.

This brief glance to heaven found Americans staring into the face of a God made in their own image. God became an American, applauding the pioneer spirit, a “go get ‘em” attitude, and above all, capitalism. Religion and Americanism went hand-in-hand to the point where if you were an American, it was assumed you were a Christian. And if you were a Christian, you were following an American God who was very personal—not the stodgy old European God who was only found in sacraments and traditions.

Personal experience was elevated to the same level as deep theological study. God loved the common man and his commonsense. Every American had access to a Bible and could make of it as he wanted. This attitude of independence in one’s religion was cool with God who, after all, shared our same thoughts.

Churches soon began to function as capitalistic enterprises themselves. If a town had a church that was relatively full on Sundays, then it seemed to make sense for someone to start a new church in that same town. This new church would offer a better menu of services to attract the churchgoing crowd, the same way a new restaurant would offer a better menu to draw in the patrons of existing restaurants. It was not much of a leap for churches to begin acting like a business would—for that was the American way of the American God.

This growth in individualism in American religion led Pope Leo XIII in the 1890s to respond to what he called “Americanist Heresy.” He cited four aspects to this heresy that concerned him greatly:

1. Undue insistence on individual initiative in the spiritual life, as this leads to disobedience
2. Attacks on religious vows, and the questioning of religious orders in the modern world
3. Reducing the importance of Catholic doctrine
4. Minimizing the importance of spiritual direction

The response among Catholics to this indictment from the Pope was slight; but non-Catholics used it as just one more reason they wanted nothing to do with Rome. The American God served them so much better. There was no need for authority in churches directed by someone in another country.

I could cite many more examples of how we got to where we are, but let me conclude the history lesson portion of this with a snippet from Ronald Reagan’s farewell speech to the nation in January of 1989. In it he makes reference to Puritan preacher John Winthrop’s idea that the New World was to become a “shining city on a hill.”

I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still…

Just how has the American gung-ho attitude shaped the evangelical church of today? I see it in several ways.

Lack of authority

American evangelicals have rejected not only the authority of the Pope, but most any hierarchy in the church—at least in form.  In function, we now have a lot of individual popes overseeing one large church or, increasingly, multiple franchises of a church. The entrepreneurial spirit pervades among church leaders in our capitalistic society. Mark Batterson, a church leader outside of Washington, DC, said this when he opened his sixth church site:

Lord willing, I want to pastor one church for life. But I have an entrepreneurial itch that needs to be scratched. Multi-site does that. You never stand still. It never gets boring. And I think it keeps you focused on what’s next.

Craig Groeschel’s Life Church has fourteen campuses spreading from Oklahoma to Tennessee to Florida to New York. More than 25,000 gather on Sundays to watch Groeschel preach on video transmitted from the main campus in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church currently has ten campuses, with two more about to open. Seacoast Church has twelve locations in North and South Carolina and Georgia. The tens of thousands of people who gather to hear messages from their “pastor” in these multi-site churches would vehemently deny that they have a pope leading them. They are individuals with a personal relationship with God. But is that how it really works in their lives?

Missions

Because God is an American in the evangelical mindset, he must want us to spread American Christianity to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, we have become very good at that. Look at the number of “prosperity” churches that are growing in South America and Africa. The idea that God is here to meet our every need just when we need him is now pervasive wherever we have had a strong missionary presence. In our American way of thinking, suffering is insufferable. Anyone who lacks anything needs to find a way to meet that lack and end the suffering. Fortunately, we have a benevolent government that does not want anyone (at least, any voter) to suffer. This idea is now part of evangelicalism, and we’ve exported it to other nations. Suffering is taught as something brought by the devil; God would never allow suffering. Get active. Increase your faith. Give (to the missions organization) so God can give to you. Lift yourself up by your own bootstraps. It’s the American God’s way—and it needs to be the way in any nation that wants God’s blessings.

My way is the right way

One last aspect of the Americanization of God is this. My way is always the right way. I have a personal faith, and thus what I believe must be right. If I believe that the handing out of money to those I deem able to work is wrong, then it must be wrong in God’s eyes as well. If I think that we need to bomb some country into oblivion, then obviously God does as well. We tend to gather with other Christians who agree with us, thus making whole communities of people whose ideas are completely right and godly. And if our ideas are right, then yours must be wrong. If you are not part of our community, then you must be a bleeding-heart liberal or a compassionless conservative. God is on my side, not yours. If you want to be a “real Christian,” you’ll change your thinking to be like mine. And if you don’t, well, good luck come judgment day.

The making of God into an American in our own image has helped strip the evangelical emperor buck naked. But very few are willing to say this out loud. I just did. Your thoughts?

Next tentpole: The marketing of the church.

So many people these days seem to be angry at poor people.  I hear comments by journalists, by so-called pundits, by television and radio talk-show hosts, and by the people who call in on those shows.  The poor, according to these professionally angry people, are getting a “free ride;” they’re part of an “all-out war on the productive class of our society for the benefit of the moocher class.”  The world has “makers” and “takers,” and the poor are the takers.  They’re “parasites;” like “raccoons, they do the easy way [sic].”  In fact, the welfare culture has turned them into “utterly irresponsible animals.”  These are all actual quotations, and some were said by people who would identify themselves as Christians.

I’m not making a political point.  I’m really not.  I don’t want to talk about the efficacy or morality of government programs.  I want to ask two questions.  First, why are so many people so angry – furiously, tremblingly angry – at poor people whom they probably don’t know and would rarely see in the course of their daily lives?  And second, what is the proper Christian attitude toward the poor in today’s complicated economic and political climate?

Why Are They Angry?

First, maybe they’re angry because American poor people don’t fit American notions of what poverty really is.  Many Americans considered poor in the census data own televisions and refrigerators; they buy soda and cigarettes ahead of us in the grocery store.  They’re more likely to be overweight than underweight.  Heck, some of them are even employed!  If they looked like Somali famine victims, or even like the ragged foreign children in advertisements for charities, people might feel more sympathetic.  But is someone sympathetic to the foreign poor because she sees them as genuinely needy or because she doesn’t have to stand behind them in grocery store lines?  Would she grow angry with Somali famine victims if they were on the sidewalk outside her house?

Second, many Americans have the understanding that the poor are exploitative.  We see claims in the media that they abuse food stamps, welfare benefits, and unemployment insurance.  Some people hold that even the lawful and correct use of these benefits is exploitative.  Of course this thinking relies on careless generalization and stereotyping:  ALL of the people defined as poor are “the moocher class,” “parasites,” and “utterly irresponsible animals.”  Really?

Third, some angry people justify their wrath by pointing out that in a land of opportunity like America, poverty is the result of poor personal choices.  Better thinkers than I have tackled the question of whether poverty is personal or systemic, but let me just say this.  Why is it excusable to feel rage toward people who are victims of their own bad choices?  Are there grounds for compassion toward the victims of society but none at all toward the messed-up people who are floundering around in a disaster of their own making?

Fourth, many of these ranters have a materialist, zero-sum view of the universe.  Unlike the strong in faith, who know that there is enough good to go around, they feel that humankind is competing over scarce resources.  They are sure that every benefit enjoyed by someone else represents a loss in their own potential for happiness.  Every day I hear people who struggle and work hard for something rage when someone else gets that thing “for free” from the government or a charity.  These people identify with the workers in the parable who were hired early in the day, and they resent the free-loaders who came later.

Fifth, perhaps people are angry because they’re frustrated.  The poor are a seemingly insoluble problem.  We keep trying, in this rich and blessed country of ours, to wipe out problems like poverty.  And yet no matter what we do or how rich we become, some people stubbornly stay poor.  Their existence is almost an insult to all our best efforts.  More than an insult – an indictment:  of our world, of our country, of me.  Who likes a reminder like that?

Sixth, perhaps people cultivate anger at the poor because it enables them to feel better about themselves in contrast.  Ninety years ago Virginia Woolf asked herself a similar question to the one I’m asking:  Why are men angry at women?  This was at a time when women, like the poor, had few rights or powers, and Woolf was as baffled then as I am now.  “It seemed absurd, I thought, turning over the evening paper, that a man with all this power should be angry.  Or is anger, I wondered, somehow, the familiar, the attendant sprite on power?  Rich people, for example, are often angry because they suspect that the poor want to seize their wealth. . . .  Possibly when the professor insisted a little too emphatically upon the inferiority of women, he was concerned not with their inferiority, but with his own superiority.”

Finally I would suggest that the prevalence of anger arises from a misunderstanding of what anger is.  There are people who approve of anger, who think that it is the appropriate response to exploitation, unfairness, or wrongdoing.  Anger, they think, is proof that you care; proof that you discern wrong from right, evil from good.  In addition, anger toward evil proves that the angry person is not himself guilty of the evil – it distances him from it.

This misunderstanding leads me to consider my second question.

What is the proper Christian attitude toward the poor in today’s complicated economic and political climate?

Short answer?  Same as it ever was.

Today’s complicated economic and political climate doesn’t change a thing.  Everybody who ever existed lived in a complicated political and economic climate.  The universal understandings expressed in the Bible are still true.

“The poor you will always have with you,” according to Jesus in Matthew 26:11.  That there are poor should not be shocking to us; that they exist is no excuse for anger.  The commands to help the poor and the examples of charity offered throughout both testaments make it clear that anger is not the biblical response toward poverty.

“Do not go over your vineyards a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen.  Leave them for the poor and the alien.  I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:10)  Now try replacing “poor and alien” with “moocher class” and “takers” to see how anger sounds in contrast to the Bible.

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the oppressed.”  (Psalm 82:3)  Again, try switching “weak and fatherless” or “oppressed” with “utterly irresponsible animals.”

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, and the good news is preached to the poor.  Blessed is the man who does not fall away from me.”  (Matthew 11:5 and 6)  This verse is one to remember when looking at a long line of “parasites” at WalMart.

You know these verses.  You can find them and many more by looking up “poor” in your concordance.  You can read the Church Fathers, like St John Chrystostom:  “If you see anyone in affliction, do not be curious to enquire further . . . [the needy person] is God’s, whether he is a heathen or a Jew; even if he is an unbeliever, still he needs help.”  Or read Martin Luther, who called the poor “living images of God.”

What you won’t find anywhere is a mandate to be angry at the poor or to consider them as less than human.  Never mind mandate – you won’t even find an excuse to do so.  Believe me.  I’ve spent decades wrestling with this issue, and if there were an excuse to find, I’d have found it.    I’ve lived and worked with the ragged-children poor on two foreign continents and the Cheetos-and-cigarettes poor here in America, and I keep wanting to say to the Bible, the Fathers, and the other Christian writers, “Yeah, BUT . . .” But a lot of poor people are exploitative and self-destructive; but a lot of charity is useless or worse; but throwing money at a problem doesn’t help; but I’ve been ripped off and abused by poor people I’ve tried to help.

And Jesus responds, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:44-48)

I can’t find any room for anger there.  Only compassion:  toward the poor, and even toward those angry at the poor.  Toward all.

My reliable source for the culture war, prosperity gospel, and all things “trend-a-gelical” is The Christian Post. They call themselves “the nation’s most comprehensive Christian news website…delivering up-to-date news, information, and commentaries relevant to Christians across denominational lines.” Actually, most of the time it’s like walking into a bad Christian bookstore with mostly bargain book quality material.

Nevertheless, it keeps me informed about what’s happening in some of the main rings of the evangelical circus.

Exhibit A: today’s article about Joyce Meyer, with the tagline, “Charismatic televangelist and bestselling author Joyce Meyer on Thursday opened up about the death of her younger brother David as part of a message on the life of self-pity versus the life of diligence and faith.”

I usually don’t bother commenting on such prosperity gospel mavens as Meyer, but this message is such a glaring example of the false “American Gospel” and prosperity message of self-righteousness that I am making an exception.

In Thursday’s message at the C3 Conference at Fellowship Church in Dallas, Joyce Meyer got personal. She told the sad story of her brother, a Marine Corps veteran who became addicted to drugs and whose life turned into a series of bad choices spiraling down to a tragic death. His decomposed body was found after Christmas in an abandoned building after he had gone missing for thirty days. He left only a few meager personal effects.

My jaw dropped when I read her comment. She said, “My personal effects and his personal effects are sadly different. What are your personal effects going to be when your time here is up?” Apparently a person’s life DOES consist in the abundance of his possessions.

This contrast became the sum and substance of her message: what made her life different from her brother’s?

Her text was John 5, the story of the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda whom Jesus healed. When Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed, he responded with self-pity, complaining, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” (5:7) For thirty-eight years, the man had laid there without being healed.

Joyce Meyer likened this to what her brother did. “He (David) just wanted to lay by the pool another year, feel sorry for himself, blame somebody and remain crippled.”

Even though Meyer herself experienced sexual abuse at the hands of her father and had a difficult childhood, she chose another direction. Even though the crippled man in the gospel story couldn’t move much, Meyer suggested he could have at least wiggled to the edge of the pool. Applying this to herself, she testified, “I got tired of laying by the pool and I decided to wiggle.”

So, this is the application: “I think sometimes God has a miracle for people but he sees if they’re going to wiggle first,” she said. “Next time you’re having a pity party and want to give up, I hope the Holy Ghost whispers in your ear, wiggle!” Or, as the Christian Post summarizes the point of her talk: “it’s up to the person’s determination to follow God’s plan, not his circumstances, that allow him to reap God’s promises.”

And finally, the inevitable prosperity gospel mantra: “God operates on the seed principle of faith, Meyer pointed out. No matter how pathetic the attempt is, if we try our best then God will bless us, she said.”

Return of the Prodigal, Sorley

This is classic. So classic.

First, draw a stark dramatic contrast that captures the audience’s emotions and defines the “winners” and “losers.” On the one hand you have Joyce Meyer’s brother, who made an absolute mess of his life (read her message for details—and believe me, they are gory), and met the most tragic, dreadful end imaginable. LOSER. On the other hand, you have the hero—Ms. Meyer herself—world-renowned preacher and wealthy, happy Christian celebrity, with millions of books sold and TV programs broadcast all over the world, who overcame the worst odds and achieved the greatest success. WINNER.

Second, find a Biblical story that has a line or two that seems to apply and which confirms your point and your audience’s prejudices. The only line in the Gospel story that seems to apply at all to Meyer’s personal narrative is the complaint uttered by the paralytic. And she interprets it in remarkably American “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” terms. You see, this man’s problem was not that he was paralyzed, but rather that he was expecting others to help him rather than try to help himself. And so he just laid there (for 38 years!) griping and complaining.

[Joyce! I want to shout. The man was paralyzed! He DID need someone to help him! Maybe it's even part of the story's lesson that a man like that could lie near the Temple for years without receiving any help.]

Meanwhile, the audience is nodding and agreeing. We all know people like that lazy paralytic! Won’t move a muscle to help themselves!

Question: Where’s the grief over Joyce Meyer’s brother’s death? If that happened to my brother, I would be devastated; probably so profoundly saddened by it that I couldn’t speak. Instead, less than two months after her brother was found, we not only get a profusion of words, we get a message that roundly condemns him for his wasted life and needless death. Condemnation! You can’t call it anything else. The big brother of Jesus’ Prodigal Son parable apparently has a sister.

Third, leave the Biblical story altogether and make your own point, condemning the sinner and exalting the righteous. Somehow Meyer introduces the idea that this man had the capacity to at least “wiggle” himself over to the water by himself, but he refused to do it. Would you be surprised if I told you that is nowhere in the text? No, I’m not surprised either. Because this is not about understanding and living in the Biblical story, this is about making my story the most important thing, and forcing everything to fit to that. This is about taking the place of the Pharisee and saying, “Look at me. I did it right. But not him. He blew it when he had the chance. See here, the results prove it. Thank God I’m not like him!”

Fourth, drive home your point and motivate your audience to pursue this self-righteousness by trying harder, doing more, giving more. If you read the Gospel story, you don’t read anything about the paralytic’s faith, determination, willingness to “wiggle,” or any such thing. He simply utters his sad story, then Jesus takes over completely and says, “Get up and walk!” And the man does! This is not about making the right choices, being determined to lay hold of God’s blessing, or any such thing. It’s about Jesus and his power to heal with sovereign, loving grace, period.

But Joyce Meyer and those who preach the bad news of self-righteousness are not interested in Jesus. They only care about disseminating the great American dogmas of personal effort, positive thinking, and opulent prosperity. They care only about condemning those who won’t “wiggle” when they should be trying to pull themselves up out of the mire. Through our faith and determination, we have become winners, they proclaim. You can become winners too, if you’ll just get off your butts and do something to get God’s attention.

This is most definitely NOT good news in the spiritual sense. It has nothing to do with Biblical Christianity. It serves only to enrich the prosperity preachers and enslave the audience in legalistic and moralistic self-righteousness. It is Christ-less, grace-less, hopeless “Christianity.”

In contrast, Jesus announced, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”—the ones who have nothing to offer, who are spiritually bankrupt, who have no “wiggle” whatsoever in them. They have no “seeds of faith” to plant. They are the helpless ones, who have no resources whatsoever. They are the prisoners who can do nothing to set themselves free, the incurably blind, the lame who cannot move move a muscle to get into the pool when the angel stirs the waters. The message of self-righteousness has nothing to offer these people—who by the way represent all of us, you and me, and everyone who walks the face of the earth.

Joyce Meyer has disrespected the dead and done a disservice to the living with this message. Let us call it what it is—bad news of self-righteousness.

Shame on Christian Post and anyone else who promotes it.

By Chaplain Mike

Note: certain words have been rendered in Swahili to pass the censors’ muster.

Last year, we here in Indianapolis celebrated Holy Week with renewed faith and hope. All week long we prayed and focused our attention on the Great Day to come, when victory would be revealed.

Each day, we had fellowship with our brothers and sisters, aware of the building excitement. Events and gatherings throughout the week prepared our hearts and minds for the great celebration to come on the weekend. We studied and listened as our teachers and mentors gave their perspectives and helped us enter into the spirit of what has always been the highpoint of the liturgical year, the Sunday of Sundays, the day of triumph.

We picked out our finest clothes, planned a special menu for our festive Sunday gatherings, invited family and friends to join us, and prepared to spend the day together.

When the great Day arrived, we rejoiced!

We celebrated!

We enjoyed fellowship that was a foretaste of heaven!

And then the New Orleans Saints beat our Colts, 31-17, and won the super bakuli.

Once more, it’s our sports “holy week” in America—super bakuli Sunday is this Sunday, Feb. 6. Kickoff is at 6:28 ET.

In this year’s game, the Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Green Bay Packers in Dallas, Texas for the right to raise the Vince Lombardi trophy, awarded to the champion of American professional football.

For “old-school” football fans like me, it’s a great match-up, promising hard-nosed, back to basics toughness and defense, while also featuring a couple of offenses that can light up the scoreboard. The Packers are, at this point, favored by 3 points.

(As a Chicago Bears’ fan, I am contractually obligated to say that I can in no way root for the Packers. I do like cheese, however, and plan to eat plenty of it during the game.)

It’s the holiest day of the year, and what a service we’re expecting! Our sanctuary will be the most impressive cathedral in contemporary American sports stadiums: Cowboys Stadium. This venue is perfect for today’s worship, as it features the world’s largest HD video screen—more than 25,000 square feet in size. The massive display weighs 600 tons, is 180 feet long and 72 feet tall. It’s made of 10.5 million LEDs. Let’s hope the PowerPoint team doesn’t screw things up.

Leading the service will be our priests, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman of FOX. With authority and relevance, they will enlighten us on the details and mysteries of the game. Inspiring and enthusiastic praise and worship music will be provided by Christina Aguilera (national anthem), Lea Michele of Glee (“America the Beautiful”), and the Black-Eyed Peas (halftime show). Break-out discussion sessions will be facilitated by such qualified teachers as Terry Bradshaw, Michael Strahan, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson.

Of course, the highlight of the day will be provided by our multimedia ministry, featuring the always creative and inspiring super bakuli commercials. These ground-breaking ads will not only bring an immediate blessing, but will also no doubt have a transformative impact on our culture for years to come.

No matter which team wins the game, everyone who participates in the festivities will end up a winner. A champion, in fact.

Let us pray for a memorable day of celebration, fellowship, instruction, and encouragement. Invite your non-football friends to join you. Even if they don’t normally like watching games, there will be plenty for them to enjoy, and you never know, they just might open their hearts and receive a great blessing from the experience.

Let us pray:

Our Father, who art in the skybox,
May your name be cheered enthusiastically.
May the championship be won.
May touchdowns be run
In Dallas as they were in New Orleans.
Give us this day our daily wings (and nachos).
And forgive us our bad sportsmanship
As we forgive those who exercise bad sportsmanship against us.
And lead us not into indigestion,
But deliver us from bad bean dip.
For thine is the super bakuli, the Lombardi trophy,
And the best commercials forever and ever.
Amen.

Warning: I am going to rant. I am going to rant and rave and basically have a fit. If you want something more fun and entertaining, I suggest you check out these amusing Nancy and Sluggo covers. Otherwise, proceed at your own risk.

Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me (Psalm 69:9 NLT).

I am, on the whole, a fairly easy person to get along with. I don’t get too worked up about things–or, at least, I try not to. But this week I’ve had it. I have had it with stuff I have been hearing and reading, and I just don’t care to be nice about it any more. This site has called people out since almost day one, and we have no intent on changing that. Michael Spencer wrote about Joel Osteen’s “gospel” in this manner:

As much as I would like to join those who say that Osteen is a simpleton who doesn’t know what he’s doing, a close examination will show that at every point where there is a choice between being part of the church or departing into heresy, Osteen sticks with the church where there is money to be had and departs from the church where there is a faith to be confessed. He could be called a heretic by some, even if he is a believer, and he communicates a purposefully false trivialization of the person and work of Jesus Christ in favor of a man-centered motivational message of self-improvement.

Again, as I’ve said before, every evangelical leader needs to personally and by name repudiate and separate from Osteen, and call upon him and his followers to come back into the faith that is articulated in the Apostle’s Creed.

Michael continued in a different post about Osteen,

Make no mistake about this: Osteen isn’t confused about Jesus like many of the prosperity preachers you hear on TBN. Osteen is intentionally avoiding irrtiating language about sin because he wants to keep it positive every week. He is not just avoiding mentioning Jesus, the cross and the Gospel just because he is seeker sensitive. Joel Osteen is preaching the no-Gospel, no-Jesus message because it’s filling the church with thousands of people who want to hear it. Osteen will ignore his critics because the common people are voting every week—in book sales, ratings numbers and attendance- for his message.

So it is the foundation of this site to not only lift up Jesus, but to call out those who relegate Jesus to a logo for their products. Chaplain Mike did so a few weeks ago when he called Ken Hamm’s plans to build a creationist theme park the “Disney–ization of our faith.” We will continue to do so as the occasions present themselves.

Well, they have presented themselves in spades to me these past few days.

First of all, I love those in my life group. I have been a part of a specific life group—or small group—through my church for at least five years now. I have walked through a lot of messy stuff with these good people. I love them as my brothers and sisters. So when I say I don’t know how I will be able to attend for the next dozen weeks, I say it with intense sadness. But they decided we would start the year by going through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. I “attended” this “university” six or seven years ago, and came away saying I disagreed with 85% of what he teaches. After lesson one last night, I think I am up to disagreeing with 98% of what he teaches. And not only what he teaches, but where it is taught.

I tried to listen last night. Admittedly, I went in with guns loaded and cocked, and I was not disappointed. Ramsey, in case you don’t know, teaches his “students” how to get out of debt, cut up their credit cards, store up money for emergencies, and build wealth. There is not a thing wrong with any of this on the surface. But—BUT—should it be taught in church? Do we gather together as a family of faith—whether in a large church setting or a small group setting—in order to learn techniques for getting out of debt? As I listened to Ramsey last night, two things struck me. First, any so-called credit counselor could teach what he teaches (and I am not ready to concede what he teaches is sound fiscal planning; but that is another discussion), be they Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Druid or atheist. Which brings up the second thing: Jesus was mentioned twice by Ramsey, a self-confessed Christian, both times as part of his brand of humor. Yet this is being presented in our churches. And that should tell you a lot.

Rant? I’m justing getting started.

I read where Rick Warren of The Purpose-Driven Life fame wants to lose weight. Bully for him. So do I. Once you get north of 50, you can just think about a slice of cake and gain a pound. But here is how Warren plans to lose his goal of 90 pounds: He will do it as part of a year-long health-and-fitness program at the church he pastors, Saddleback Church, in Southern California. It’s a plan developed by Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of You: The Owner’s Manual. Warren and others in the church will participate in the Daniel Plan, so named for the prophet Daniel. Oh, didn’t you know that Daniel came up with a diet plan? You didn’t? Neither did I. And neither did Daniel.

(And yes, there is a difference between a weight-loss program promoted through your church and what Damaris called for last week—the preaching of gluttony as a sin. The Daniel Plan is not going to call anyone a sinner for eating an entire crock-pot of barbecue weenies now, is it?)

The Daniel Plan: God’s Prescription For Your Health. That is what they are calling it. God’s prescription for your health. Holy freaking cow. I … I … allow me one more, ok?

My daughters and their husbands both attend the largest church in Tulsa, a 15,000 (give or take a thousand) member megachurch with flashing lights, smoke machines, and “ushers” who stand guard at the doors to keep parents from taking any children under the age of two into the auditorium. (I refuse to call it a sanctuary.) My oldest called me today—I had suggested she and I go to Dallas on Saturday. I have been missing her and just wanted to spend some time with her, and she likes to shop down there. She couldn’t this weekend, partly because of the new series they are starting at her church: “I Want A New Marriage.” No doubt accompanied by Huey Lewis and the News singing a remake of “I Want A New Drug.” (And I’m not kidding. At their annual Christmas spectacular this last year they worked in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” complete with zombies. You read that right. How God is holding back his wrath over our whole city on that one is beyond me.)

So, just what is wrong with getting out of debt, losing some pounds, and improving your marriage? Well, nothing. And yet, everything. It is the no-Gospel, no-Jesus message Michael Spencer saw Osteen preaching. It is effective. It will fill a church building with people with money to spend on books and CDs and DVDs all day long. But it has nothing to do with the Gospel. Nothing.

Not long ago I was reading an ad for a new church that was opening in Tulsa. (They pop up around here like loan sharks on payday.) “Are you stuck in a dead-end career? Do you need help parenting your children? Is your marriage in need of a recharge?”

“What kind of crap is this?” I asked. Someone asked me, “Don’t you think Jesus wants us to have better marriages?” I thought for a minute and then said, “No. No, I don’t think he really cares one way or another whether we have better marriages or not. I don’t think he is concerned about us being better parents or getting promoted at work. No, I definitely think these are things that matter not in the least to him.”

You can probably understand why I’m not exactly at the top of the list for guest preachers any longer.

Let me just say this straight out. If all you are interested in is becoming is a better person, then Jesus is not your best avenue to get there. You can find lots of self-help books—and in Christian bookstores without embarrassing references to Jesus to worry about—that deal with marriage, health, finances and life-issues you find yourself dealing with. They are piled high on tables leading into the temple. As a matter of fact, you can buy them in many temples every Sunday, credit cards accepted.

Jesus is not a self-help guru. He is not interested in you becoming a better person. He could not care less with you improving in any area of your life. Because in the end that is your life. Yours. And he demands you give it to him. All of it. An unconditional surrender. He did not come to improve you, or encourage you, or spur you on to bigger and better things. He came to raise the dead. And if you insist on living, then you’re on your own. Good luck. Sign up for all the seminars, workshops and marriage improvement weekends that you can, because you’re going to need them.

The Gospel is this: We are dead in our sins. Jesus, too, is dead in our sins. But because he is very God of very God, death could not hold him. He conquered sin and death and rose again. And the only life we are now offered is the life he lives in us. Period. He wants us dead. He’ll do the rest.

How many churches are preaching that these days? How many signs do you see in front of churches inviting you to “Come and die with us”? Joel Osteen didn’t need to buy an NBA arena because he is encouraging his followers to die daily now, did he?

Here is a challenge for you. Go into your local Christian bookstore and ask for the book Chaplain Mike has been highlighting this week, Why Jesus by William Willimon. I’ll bet there are fewer than twenty religious stores that stock that book on their shelves. Or Robert Capon. Ask them for anything Capon has written and watch them scratch their heads. But Osteen? Ramsey? Rick Warren? Stacked deep to sell cheap.

Jesus did not attract a huge following, simply because he refused to play the religious games of his day. As a matter of fact, he went out of his way to make the religious professionals hacked at him. And he also turned on those who followed him simply for what they could get. “You want to follow me? Hate your spouse, your kids, your extended family. Hate them.” “Oh, you like the food I provided for you? Want some more? Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Not exactly the kind of thing to say in order to build your ministry now, is it? No wonder Dave Ramsey doesn’t quote Jesus.

So, if you want to know how to budget your money and get out of debt, find a church presenting Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. If you need a new marriage, there is a church in Tulsa that will show you how to get it starting this weekend. Need to lose some of that weight you added over the holidays? Follow the Daniel Plan. I suggest you avoid churches like The Oaks in Middletown, Ohio. All they do is sing and preach and eat Jesus. All they do is show you the way to die daily.

And who wants to do that?

“No, Mom, it really wasn’t that big.”

“Well, I heard something about it on the news.”

“Ah, well, what you heard was that our senator, Jim Inhofe, decided not to ride his horse in the parade this year because the name was changed from Christmas Parade to Holiday Parade.”

“Oh. Well, I knew it was something.”

It was something, all right. Something else to bring ridicule to our state. The city councilors even took up a vote to see if they would still issue a parade permit since the word “Christmas” was dropped from the event. Just one more instance of the Christian protection racket practiced this time of year to try and force businesses—and parades—to “put the Christ back in Christmas.”

It used to be in the old days that businesses needed to pay protection money to organized crime figures to keep anything bad from happening to their stores. By “anything bad,” I mean their stores going up in a ball of flame in the middle of the night. Or middle of the day, for that matter. Now it is organized religion that is forcing businesses to submit to their form of protection.

“If you say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, we’ll put you on our ‘naughty list.’ We’ll boycott you. We’ll mention your business in a sermon saying that you are the reason our country is going to hell on greased skids.”

Merry Christmas, indeed.

Tell me, is your faith really so shallow that a clerk at Target saying Happy Holidays is going to make you rethink your salvation? Is that grocery bagger wearing a Season’s Greetings button causing you to falter in your beliefs?

Or perhaps you think that by forcing businesses to put up Jesus Is The Reason For The Season signs they will win souls. Forcing employees to say “Merry Christmas” will bring a great revival throughout the land. (By the way, you and I—and our sins—are the reason for the season. But that is another story.)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Except for that single mom working two jobs—ringing up groceries during the day, and waiting tables at night—who gets stiffed a tip because she didn’t say Merry Christmas to that lovely “Christian” family with three out-of-control kids and a husband who complained loudly that the chili wasn’t spicy enough.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, except to that man putting up lights that read Season’s Greetings in his yard who hears, “It’s Merry Christmas, you jerk!” from the family driving by on their way to church.

The Christmas mafia is once again out in full force, doing its job to protect us all from the evils of the Happy Holidays gang.

Tell me, just how is Jesus lifted up by forcing one to accede to your holiday demands? How is the Son of God glorified in putting a business on the naughty list because they don’t put up a Christmas tree? Is our God any less of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords because we aren’t greeted with carolers singing O Holy Night when we run into the convenience store to get a gallon of milk? Do I represent Jesus well by verbally assaulting you because you have an inflatable Santa instead of an inflatable manger scene in your front yard?

Ok, maybe I shouldn’t be ranting this close to Christmas. After all, it is supposed to be a happy time, a time of enjoying the season with your friends and family. If you can find it in your heart, take time to smile at an overworked clerk in the next store you visit. Ask them if you can pray for them about anything. Maybe even make a point to get to know them. And relax. As a recent commenter said, “If Christianity survived the persecution of the Roman Empire, it can probably handle the Gap offering generic holiday greetings.”

Happy Holidays from your friends here at Internet Monk.

By Guest Blogger Daniel Jepsen

Coming of age in a fundamentalist church in the 70’s left one feeling a little like a Titanic passenger who’s made it onto the life boat: Yes, it’s kind of cold and cramped in here, and no, we don’t know here we’re going, but at least it’s not down.  Not smug, just relieved, we looked forward to being air-lifted by the rapture.

In the meantime, all sorts of fun could be had in the lifeboat if you knew the games.
The favorite (besides skirmishes with other life boats) was to discern (not judge) the fruits (not the lifestyles) of our fellow passengers.  Standard criteria included the biggies, such as hair length (for men) hem length (for women) and whether they had to look up Amazing Grace and Just as I am or knew all the verses from heart.

My favorite criterion was simpler:  What kind of Bible did they carry? Not the translation, mind you.  You would no more bring in a Bible written after 1611 into our church than you would carry a copy of The Satanic Verses into a mosque.   No, we looked at the type of King James Bible.  If the person clutched a pew bible or plain, standard issue KJV, you could be sure they were a newbie or a slacker.  If they lugged a Thompson Chain-reference, you labeled them studious and serious.  A Scofield indicated true piety, because the Pastor used it.  For most all of us, these were the only real choices. Of course you also had a huge choice of binding (“leather or bonded leather, sir?”) and of colors (“And will that be black, burgundy, or dark blue?”)

My, the times have changed. 

The new convert checking out the Bible section of your average Christian bookstore or website today finds herself like Imelda Marcos with a $100 bill at a shoe convention.  They all look good, but which do you take home?

These are actual Bibles for sale Christianbook.com, and I will let the reader decide if we are really so religious in this country we need all these permutations, or if the marketers have gone a little crazy on us (and no, I am not making these up):

• The Veggie Tales Bible
• The Faithgirlz Bible
• The Soldier’s Bible
• The Grandmother’s Bible
• The Duct Tape Bible
• The Busy Life Bible (“Inspiration even if you have only a minute a day”)
• The Journaling Bible
• The Chunky Bible
• The God Girl Bible (only in “snow white”)
• The Wisdom and Grace Bible for Young Women of Color
• The Waterproof Bible
• The Pray for a Cure Bible (in pink)
• The Divine Health Bible
• The Wild About Horses Bible
• The Fire Bible

I will stop here.  I haven’t even gotten to the study Bibles.  Or the teen Bibles.  Or the Brides/wedding Bibles (14 listed including a “Groom’s Bible” with a striped tuxedo cover).  In all, the website listed 4229 items under “Bibles”, though, of course, this is only because you can order your “Life in the Spirit Bible” or “Seek and Find Bible” in all kinds of bindings and colors.  Some of the bindings:

• Hardcover
• Padded Hardcover (why?)
• Paper
• Vinyl
• Metal (why again?)
• Leather
• Premium Leather
• Calfskin leather
• European leather
• Leatherette
• Leatherlike
• Leathersoft
• Imitation leather
• Bonded leather (this is to real leather what particle board is to real wood)
• Premium Cromwell bonded leather (no idea)

And you want color?  We got color:

• Raspberry
• Melon
• Razzleberry
• Burnt Sienna
• Caramel
• Espresso
• Toffee
• Dark Chocolate
• Glittery Grape Butterfly
• Plum
• Lavender (with flowers!)
• Black Cherry
• Distressed Umber (?)
• Mocha/aqua

This, of course, is in addition to the usual suspects (black, red, brown, etc…).

Looking at the two lists, one is forced to conclude two things.  First, the people who make these really, really like leather.  Maybe they own cattle futures.  Second, they must have been pretty hungry.

Now, all this could be passed over with merely a snicker if not for two nagging questions.

First, does the proliferation of Bibles marketed to a certain demographic divide the body of Christ?  An incredible number of these bibles are targeted at women, kids, men, grandparents, African-Americans, Latinos, etc….  Shouldn’t the scriptures of the Cosmic God force me to think in cosmic terms, not just apply it to people in my life situation?  Don’t versions like these re-enforce the walls of division that should be torn down? Does Galatians 3:28 mean nothing here?

Second, does the proliferation of what I call “gimmick bibles” cheapen or trivialize the word of God?  Suppose a young couple gets married, and receives 3 or 4 wedding Bibles including, of course, the Precious Moments Bride’s Bible.  What do they do with these?  Don’t they just sit on the shelf or rot in some box?  Are these Bibles intended to be read and obeyed, or are they just a pretty, but meaningless, gift? Or suppose I give my brother in law, who loves hunting, The Holman Sportsman’s Bible.  This treasure comes in a woodland camouflage cover (no, I’m not kidding), and non-reflective page edges that, we are told, “won’t scare away game”.  The ad description promises, “in addition to the full text of the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation, The Sportsman’s Bible contains numerous devotions written for hunters and fishermen…”  Also included are special sections on, “Setting up a Ground Blind” “Tree Stand Safety”, etc…Will a gift like this not encourage my brother in law to think of the Bible as some sort of personal self-help book?  Aren’t we already losing that war without the Christian publishers giving the other side ammo?

When Jesus comes back, I wonder if instead of turning over tables He doesn’t torch a few printing presses instead.

Note: In part 2, I will propose some of my own “designer bibles”; sometimes satire is the best tool to expose foolishness.

By Chaplain Mike

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary Readings
• Hosea 11:1-11
• Psalm 107:1-9, 43
• Colossians 3:1-11
• Luke 12:13-21

Today’s Gospel

Here’s a little secret: God is not against money. Nor is he against people having lots of money. God is not against possessions. Nor is he against people having nice possessions. God is not against enjoying pleasurable things in this life. God doesn’t love poor people more.

Read Proverbs. Read Ecclesiastes. Note that God promised an abundant and prosperous land as his gift to Israel. Remember Abraham, David, Solomon, and a number of faithful people in the Biblical narrative. Recall the prominent people who helped Paul, his mission, and the churches he started.

Nevertheless…

God warns us often about money, possessions, the pursuit of pleasure. He warned Israel that their prosperity would cause them to forget him and think they were hot stuff—slaves who had become princes by their own wisdom and strength. Solomon? The evil trinity of money, sex, and power turned his heart away from God, and succeeding generations paid the price. Lots of people Jesus and Paul talked to couldn’t be persuaded to take up the cross because they refused to lay down their money bags.

And guess what? You don’t have to be wealthy and prosperous to fall prey to the deadly snare of materialism and greed. Look at the guy in today’s parable. Probably just an ordinary guy. He was involved in a family dispute about an inheritance. This is a common matter of conflict in families from all classes of society. Whether we have a little or a lot, I damn sure want what is mine!

Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV)—

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

It’s not the money or the inheritance that is the problem here. It’s this fellow’s attitude. If you read carefully, the emphasis of Jesus’ warning is clear:

• Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
• One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
• So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves, but are not rich toward God.

Greed makes money and possessions an idol—displacing the true and living God from my heart. A sinful view of possessions sees them as all important for my identity and significance in life. If I am making money for myself, with no view of my relationship with God and my responsibility to be a generous steward of the resources he has entrusted to me, in the end it will all mean nothing.

When it comes to money, possessions, and material things, don’t be a fool, be a follower. Imitate the One who is ever giving, ever generous, ever loving, ever kind, ever unselfish with all his riches.

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

• Philippians 4:19 (NLT)

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous….

• 2Corinthians 9:8-11a (NLT)

This past month we celebrated both Canada Day on July 1st, and Independence Day on July 4th. This inspired some thoughts about getting some Canadian perspectives on “American Patriotic Christianity”. As I am the lone Canadian writer at Internet Monk, I gathered up seven of my Canadian, primarily “unchurched” friends, to get their perspective on the topic. A couple of friends, for personal reasons, asked not to be identified, so I have chosen to refer to all by their initials.

Many of you will find the discussion below stereotypical and offensive. Others may find it enlightening. I would ask that you persevere to the end. After interacting with some of their ideas, I will conclude with some thoughts about the Canadian Church, and how it is impacted by American Christianity.

To get a completely different perspective, from someone who has spent decades interacting with both Canadian and American Christians, I would suggest you read this article.

Now, take a moment, sit in on our discussion, and let us know what you think.

Michael Bell: Thank you everyone for being willing to contribute to this discussion. My first question is this—What do you think of Americans in general?

J.L.: I have traveled widely and frequently in the USA. I find Americans to be extremely friendly, welcoming and helpful. This reflects a quietly confident and respectful spirituality that I believe characterizes America far more than the outspoken and extreme views often quoted in the media.

S.F.: It is a nation with such potential to lead the world with intelligence, foresight and understanding.

Michael Bell: I have many American friends who I hold in very high regard.

Michael Bell: I would now like us to look at the intersection of faith and politics. Politically, if Canadians were to vote in the United States, we would be overwhelmingly Democrat. Canadian opposition parties try really hard to portray the governing Conservative party as closest to American Republicans, but truth be told, Obama has enjoyed an approval rating in Canada that has never dropped below 74 percent. This means that Canadians of all political stripes identify most closely with the American Democrats. If you were to look at policies, issue by issue, you would find that in some issues Canadians are to the left of the Democrats, and on some they are to the right. Politicians in Canada tend to move towards the center of the political spectrum which means that Evangelicals are found in significant numbers in all the political parties. In the U.S. you see Evangelical Christians most closely aligned to the Republican Party. Why do you think this is?

T.S.: There are good, honest, well intentioned Christian people in the U.S. who I believe are being sucked into bad political policies under the guise they are losing their Christian vote and freedoms. It is so sad to witness these events. Adding to the volume of rhetoric is the Republican voice that Obama is not a Patriot—there is even a segment who still does not believe Obama was born an American citizen (The “Birthers”). The GOP is all about fear and obstruction. Those who might fall into the “American Patriotic Christianity” are getting sucked in and don’t see the world outside their own backyard.

J.L.: The fact that patriotism is tied to a specific religious belief system is downright frightening; it implies that anyone who does not “fit” is unfit to be an American. If I understand Christ’s message at all, I believe that He would be frustrated by the exclusionary tone of the American Patriotic Christian movement. Christ taught that all are loved and add value to humanity and that defining one self by pointing out what others are not is hypocritical.

A.S.: Ah yes, this is God’s country, the land of free speech, and the land of freedom of religion. Bring us your tired, your weak, your hungry, and so long as (it’s in the fine print) they conform to the Christian part of our country’s founding fathers’ Judeo-Christian values, they will be welcomed with open arms.

Michael Bell: What other issues do you see with Patriotic American Christianity?

A.S.: If it is not too much to ask our president to say his daily prayers, and thank God for blessing America each day for His and it’s existence, is it not too much to have our children recite the Lord’s Prayer each day in our public schools? We would not have gun violence, gangs, sex, unwanted pregnancies and sin in our schools if our children recited the Lord’s Prayer each day because they would learn it, listen to it, and live it.

Michael Bell: Little bit of sarcasm there A.S.?

A.S.: Maybe just a little!

S.F.: God bless us all should they fall prey to the cancerous rantings of backward fundamentalism and ignorant nationalism. To me, American Patriotic Christianity looks, sounds and acts a lot like Sarah Palin—and that should scare the hell out of anyone who wants the world to move forward.

P.B.: The prosperity gospel mentality is another dark side of American Patriotic Christianity. It’s a beautiful country with some really great people, so it’s really easy to sow in a little patriotism and make the average Sunday school kid grow up believing that heaven will look something like the rolling hills of Kentucky on a perfect sunny day, except with more mansions.

A.S.: P.B. is half right—Heaven IS the rolling hills of Kentucky on a perfect sunny day, or Indiana, with more mansions, flowers, and everyone is carrying their firearm in plain view, a Bible in one hand, a gun in the other, gleefully singing “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful,” like at the start of a NASCAR race, waiting to fight off Satan’s hordes when they attempt to plant their truck-bomb at the pearly gates and invade. Diligence, perseverance and duty are part of patriotism. Who but God’s chosen American people will fight to protect Heaven from the outsiders?

C.S.: The Patriotic Christian American sees the U.S. position in the world as part of Godís plan, thus a position of global dominance is natural and should be defended.

Michael Bell: Your use of the word “natural” reminded me of something that I had read recently, that Americans have “natural God given rights”. How do you respond to that C.S.?

C.S.: The American Christian feels that he’s entitled by divine right to whatever he’s accumulated and, thus, resists any and all government initiatives that may cost him a few bucks.

Michael Bell: I guess that ties back into P.B.’s concern about the “Prosperity Gospel.”

T.S.: Tell me how it is a Christian organization is not in favour of health care for those who cannot afford it? I think it happens because they keep drinking the Kool-Aid of disinformation from the GOP.

Michael Bell: Do you have any fears of this brand of Christianity being exported? You have been awfully quiet there R.C., anything to say on this matter?

R.C.: I was thinking of some of the manipulative things that have gone on between some strong-handed Christian leaders and some smaller African country’s governments, for example their influence to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. (Ed. Note: You can read Americansí Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push for more information about R.C.ís concern.)

A.S.: Once others think and believe as we do, that God is good, that God is great, that God is right, that God is American, they will have no reason to attack us anymore.

Michael Bell: Enough with the sarcasm already! So I take it that you think that Americans believe that if they could just export their politics and religion that everything would be right in the world?

A.S.: Absolutely.

Michael Bell: I would be interested in getting some our reader’s thoughts on that one!

Michael Bell: Thanks to everyone for participating, your comments have certainly been enlightening. I would love to see you interact with some of our readers as well.

So how does this impact the Canadian Church?

Canadians and Americans are in many ways joined at the hip. Over half a trillion dollars in trade crosses the border between our two countries each year. Eighty percent of Canadian exports are consumed by Americans. When America sneezes, the world catches a cold, and Canada goes into cardiac arrest. (This most recent recession being the exception!)

Our airwaves are bombarded by American signals. American programming fills our T.V. sets. American music saturates our radios. It is not surprising that the Christian voice that is heard loudest and most often is the American Christian voice.

The voice that we hear is not the moderate Christian voice, it is the bombastic, outrageous, extreme voice. The voice that tells us that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment, or that the earthquake in Haiti was because of a pact with the Devil.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there are many moderate American Christians. I read their comments on Internet Monk all the time. Their voice is starting to get stronger with advocates like Tony Campolo, Rick Warren, and Willow Creek. So maybe the Canadian view will change over time. Right now, however, I believe that the Canadian response to Patriotic American Christianity is one of the reasons why Canadian expressions of Christianity has become withdrawn and quiet. We end up having to spend a lot of time and energy to show that “We are not like that.”

That is problematic for me as I already find it difficult to be a Christian up here. For a while in my home city Christian clubs were banned in the schools. At work (a previous employer) a request to play a Christmas Gift Exchange game as part of the “Holiday Festivities” was turned down because some might find it offensive. Christmas decorations were welcomed, but there had to be symbols of other other faiths represented as well. We experience similar situations in our public schools in the area where I live.

On the positive side, perhaps because I have somewhat of an outgoing personality, I have had no problems letting others know that I am a Christian, and that it is not something that I keep siloed and just practice on Sundays. My wife has been invited into the public school to tell the Christmas story. At my current place of employment, while few would share my Evangelical perspective, many have been open to conversations about faith, and several will be reading this post.

So while I get frustrated at times when workmates ask me about Joel Osteen or Benny Hinn, or Evangelical support for the Republican Party, I believe they have a pretty clear sense that Canadian Christianity is different.

I believe that Canadians having such a negative view of American Christianity impacts their receptivity to the good news of Jesus Christ, and as such becomes a hindrance to the gospel.

My questions for our readers is this: Do you agree? If so, what can more moderate American Christians do to rectify this? Does moderate American Christianity collectively have a responsibility to change what it does, or change what and how it communicates?

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic.