Lately I have stumbled across a term or two that, although strange at first, seemed to put bones in some of the thoughts and feelings I have had for years. I grew up rather politically unaware. I am not sure if it was intentional on my parents part to not get involved, or if I was just so oblivious to those areas of life that they just passed me by. I would guess the latter. As I matured (at an admittedly rather slow pace), I started to hear political noises, but did not make much sense of them, and we eventually moved overseas, where any American noises were drowned out by local coups, kidnappings, and general strife in that country. Upon returning, my social group was Republican, but I was not sure what that meant. I somehow figured out that it meant “values”, which would assume that the Democrats did not have such things. Then I started to become aware of social causes, and realized that they were mostly pioneered by Democrats. There seemed to be some conflict with the abstract idea of values that the Republicans held, and values Democrats routinely put into practice. Now, this was still in my early adulthood. I still saw nothing wrong with despoiling the Earth, after all, it was all going to burn soon. Over the years I found myself coming back to the connection between Christian values and Republican values. Only in recent years has it occurred to me that there really is not a connection at all. Or, I should say, there should not be.
The principles taught by the Christ have nothing to do with small government, low taxes, and business autonomy. Just as he had no statement about Caesar’s rule of Israel, he makes no statement about the direction of America. So here is where the title of the post comes in. The evangelical church wants to change the world. That sounds good. They want to change it for the better. That is good too. They want to change it through the use of power, “in the name of Jesus Christ!” Hmm… That sounds a little strange. Like it or not, Evangelicalism is involved in a movement, and it’s goal is to bring the world under the dominion of the Christ. Actually, dominionism is a view held by a larger group that includes Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and several other Protestant and Catholic branches. What is interesting to me is the way that, inside the church, we are told that we are in the minority, and we are fighting to keep America wholesome against the hordes of unclean unchurched pagan sin worshipers, and it is a loosing battle. But when you look at the last two elections, the reality is obvious: it is working, and it is not a minority. The other word in the title? Christianist, as in Islamist. This movement toward power by Christians is not itself Christian. If you pay attention to the media, you will hear about the effects of power, no matter the spiritual label. There are historic bad times that were brought on by Christians in power who claimed to be led by God.
Apart from the political aspects, what are the implications of dominionism? What does “under the dominion of Christ” actually mean in everyday life? Does it mean that I dedicate my life to the following of his teachings, and example? Does it mean I surrender all my desires, to be fulfilled through relationship with God? Does it mean giving away all I have to follow this way of life? So far, dominionism does not seem to mean any of those things. It does seem to mean spending more money on things/stuff/junk that is either sold at church, sponsored by a church, written by a pastor or the current favorite conservative pundit. It does mean making sure the world around me knows that I disapprove of their falleness, without admitting to it myself. It does mean accepting every word from a pulpit, assuming that God has put that person there, not politics, charisma, selfish ambition or pride. It does mean family values is a political issue, not something to live out, in real life. It does mean equating democracy and free market economics with Christianity and integrating them with evangelistic outreach.
I agree that our culture is corrupt, but I also think that the church is corrupt and misguided in it’s attempts to force change. The real reason that the whole thing is corrupt is not because there are so many people fighting against Christianity or Christian values in our culture, but because we Christians on the whole aren’t very good Christians. All this talk and political ragging about marriage, and family, but why should anyone believe us? Have we been a good example? What is a good example anyway? Successful, nice house, friendly, good neighborhood? Is that the Christian ideal? That is the American Dream, not God’s desire for us. I am pretty sure he does not care if we have it, but he does care how we think about it, crave it, worship it, and protect it. Why do we think this way? Why do we fret about our crap, manicure our lawns, expand our borders, pray for material blessings, and bless wars? Why do we still have broken families, greedy pastors, and bitter and broken churches?
It could partly be because we believe what we are told. Are we willing to turn off our TVs and radios, and listen to God? Not just for a day or a week, but for a year? Can we stop watching movies, stop reading the newspaper, turn off the music, and turn off the Internet? Can we take a sabbatical from “church” on Sundays? Are we afraid to be alone with our thoughts, and alone with God for that long? All those inputs tell us what to think, what to believe; how can we know which thoughts are our own? Are we just picking up what someone else tossed at us? Can we trust their intent? Maybe true Christian living begins with questioning everything, even our faith. Is it really mine if I have not questioned it? Think of the questions the Christ asked of those around him and those who were following him. Am I willing to let him ask me questions?
Christianist Dominionism? It is dominion over everything but self, in the name of the Christ, who told us to love God, and love our neighbors. Oh, and to pay taxes.
Wow. A lot of thought provoking content. I agree that the conservative right isn’t necessarily spiritually right. I’m content with how our church interacts with pop culture and it’s consituents. I’m glad you are trying to hash out these issues. Unfortunately, with people involved, this will be an ongoing quandry. Most Christians are looking for leaders they can trust, so that they can follow.
Thank you for putting words to all this. There is a constant thread of discontent in my head about a lot of this, and I’ve never been able to write it well. This is a good start.
Well done! This is really excellent, both the thoughts and the way your expressed it. I think that if those who claim to follow Christ took the words, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” as a personal mandate instead of a political one, things would be different. Anyone who looks at history can see that nations rise, and then fall, like slow-motion bubbles in boiling mud. In the meantime, God is working in individual lives, everywhere, all the time, using the wars and peacetimes, joys and sorrows, life and death on this planet to demonstrate His love, mercy, justice, grace, kindness, righteousness and patience, so that we will want His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. So that we will be a people who desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.
Some good thoughts here, Daniel, thanks (I was directed to your blog by a comment that your brother Luke left on my blog).
It seems to me that the Church often mislocates the problems of our society. We should really not be surprised when people in the world do evil things, when their marriages collapse, when they kill their unborn children and are drawn to violence and death. The way to address these problems is not primarily by means of compaigning for new laws to uphold ‘traditional values’, but by means of addressing the Church’s own problems.
The most important question in politics will always be Christ’s question, ‘who do you say that I am?’. This is the question that the Church needs to address to our political leaders. The Christian faith is, I believe, a political message, and is not just a message for the individual person. Christ calls all governments to recognize His authority as the true Lord of the World and to acknowledge the fact that they are but stewards, recognizing the greater authority of the King who will one day return and to whom they must vacate their thrones and before whom they must cast their crowns. In the interim, the Church is to live as the colony of Christ the King and to proclaim His authority in every area of life, by living as a city set on a hill, embodying the authority of God in its own life.
The most important battles that we face today are not political battles against some of the unhealthy values of political liberalism, which lacks any conception of a society united around a substantial conception of the ‘good’, but against problems within the Church itself. If we want to address the problem of abortion, for example, we might be better off seeking to deepen our understanding of what it means to worship the Triune God and reform our liturgies. It might be better to respond to the problem of abortion with a deeper attention to what it means for the Christian Church to be a place of hospitality and openness to the gift of life and with a renewed living out of what it means for the Church to be a family.
Political battles will generally be short-lived. They attack the symptoms of our culture’s disease, but fail to grapple seriously with the root cause — the fact that the heart of our society is corrupt. If our society is in darkness we would be far better off trying to live as ligth in the world, rather than trying to get new laws enacted to prohibit the darkness.
Once again, thanks for your thoughts.
Thanks for the good comments.
Nathan (brother):
There are certainly those who should be followed, but after watching churches hire and fire and seeing leadership imported and exported based on resumes and DVDs, I have looked for leadership where there is no spotlight. I am looking for lives worthy of emulation based on proven hardship, vulnerability, brokenness, and hope. I am not looking for a superhero, but a brother.
ShackelMom:
Amen.
In response to Al:
We have given politics a special place in our society, a position with too much weight. It is called politics because it is polar, and it thrives on debate and conflict. If Christ’s commandment to “Love your God with your entire being, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” was the core belief of our society, where would that put politics? Christ’s “politics” went directly against the expectations of his followers because he did not attempt to be involved in any way. His teaching was radical because he told them their focus was wrong. Their lives, their attitudes toward God and their neighbors, their love of money, and their hypocrisy was what he talked about. When the politicians of the day tried to engage him in debate he gave them answers that defeated them because he saw through the politics, and into their hearts. The Christian faith is a way of being, living in the present, in the presence of God. Governments are people, in just the same way that church is people. The call of God to governments is no more than the calling of the individuals that make up the government, just as it is with churches. My point is that politics are false, and the real “power” of Christ is in the everyday choices of the people that together are called the church. Not the churches that pepper the country, but the whole church. It is not just how we traditionalize our faith, but the minute decisions we make, from where we live and work, to the food we eat, to how we interact with the grumpy lady down the street. It truly is about the individual because every organization consists of individuals.
Again, thank you for your comments. Very thought/heart provoking.
A juxtaposition: Mission of man (The American’s Dream). Missio Dei (Mission of God). Go.