As the national political climate becomes increasingly more
polarized and as religion increasingly identifies itself in political terms, we
are seeing a widening divide in Christianity itself, one for which at this
point there seems to be no possible truce. When an entity wages war against
itself, it is almost assured that it will lose more than it wins, and at great
cost.
Each side claims to be “real Christianity” and is
increasingly angered by the claims of the other, often pertaining to women’s
rights or lately most adamantly to gay rights or the interpretation of the
founding documents of our country, or for very brief moments something as simple as fast food chicken, but at its core it’s a war about Biblical
interpretation.
Let’s call one side the orange forces. In the 1970s this
army married itself to right-wing politics, blending its theology with
Republican ideologies and creating a new political powerhouse different from
either of its two parts. Becoming ever more separatist with each passing year,
this group of Christians teaches that the Bible is handed down directly and literally from
God as God’s rules for our daily living; and when it comes to political and
social issues, whatever is the Republican position on the issue is also perceived
as God’s position. This group puts great
energy and resources into evangelizing the non-Christian world.
The green army consists of most of the other Christians, those
who have not embraced orange ideologies. This group tends to have a more relaxed interpretation of Scripture, often giving heaviest weight to Jesus’
life and ministry, and is driven more to hands-on ministry than to verbal
evangelizing. They are often passionate
about eradicating poverty, hunger, and any perceived social oppression. Politically most of this army is Democrat or
Independent, but they generally believe in a separation of religion and
politics and do not combine or equate the one with the other.
Both armies are passionately living out their perception of
what it means to be Christian, and each is increasingly thinking of the other
as its enemy. The war is not between
Christians and non-Christians but between self-proclaiming Christians and self-proclaiming
Christians.
Must this war play itself out to the end? Is there a possible compromise? I’m not sure there is. While the green army
talks of agreeing to disagree, they are leaving the orange churches, sometimes
uniting with green congregations, but too often leaving church altogether, in
disillusionment. The orange Christians do not mimic the “agree to disagree”
compromise, but rather welcome those who think differently, only if they are
repentant and want to put on an orange uniform.
And perhaps they are right that we have fought too far to simply agree
to disagree.
Indeed, how can a church compromise that women can serve in
leadership roles and that they can’t; or that gay people are welcome and
accepted, and that they are abominable sinners in need of repentance; or that
church and state are to be kept separate, and that God ordained us as a
Christian nation? So churches are
splitting. Denominations are splitting. Families are splitting. Communities are splitting. Hurting words. Mean-spirited accusations. We are at war.
To fight amongst ourselves, killing off many from both sides
and wounding the rest, is tragic. Yet,
the greatest casualties, it seems, might be those outside who are watching us
fight. What was that “great commission”
Jesus gave us? To attack our own
brothers and sisters who don’t agree with everything we believe? (Matt.
28:16-20) How many outsiders watching our war are seeing in us the Jesus we
claim to represent, and how many are rushing to become a part of our “faith”?
Shamefully for us, many are running as far away from our so-called faith as
they can.
Jesus’ heart wrenching prayer for ALL believers:
“I pray also for those who will believe in
me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in
me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world
may believe that you have sent me. I
have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we
are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may
be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved
me.” (John 17:20b-23 NIV)
And two more prayerful thoughts for us all:
“Whoever
claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love
their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have
not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must
also love their brother and sister.” (1 John 4:20-21 NIV)
“My
dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to
speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the
righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:19-20 NIV)
