Something interesting happened at church this morning,
church being First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Bellevue,
Washington, USA. The church’s two pastors were doing they answer questions
routine that they do on three day weekends. One of the questions was what they
thought of Christian nationalism. Pastor Lisa Horst Clark quoted UCC General
Minister and President Rev. Dr. Karen A. Georgia Thompson as having said don’t
call it Christian Nationalism. There is nothing Christian about it. She then
developed that idea. Pastor Stevi Hamill disagreed. She said she hates it when
someone says she’s not Christian because she does not believe like they do, and
she is uncomfortable calling anyone not Christian because they believe
differently than she does. It’s an interesting question, I guess, but I agree
with Lisa. Christianity isn’t what anyone claims it is. Christianity is a
commit to follow Jesus and to live one’s spiritual life according to what he
taught and showed us. He taught and showed us love not hate. Inclusion not
exclusion. Hope not fear. Anyone can claim that anything is Christian, but that
doesn’t make it Christian. Christianity has been so horribly bastardized over
the centuries that few people today understand what it really is. It’s not
about doing and believing the right things and non doing and not believing the
wrong things so your soul goes to heaven after you die. It’s about living the
kingdom life that Jesus taught and showed us in this life not in some posited
but unproven next life.
Jesus absolutely rejected the values of the Roman Empire,
and doing so got him crucified. The empire values he rejected are still the values
of empire, the US empire included. Empires are violent. Jesus taught and lived
nonviolence. Empires favor the wealthy and powerful. Empires oppress the poor.
Empires exclude, that is, they determine who is in with them and who is out.
Jesus said the last shall be first and the first shall be last. He included
everyone, symbolized in large part by his acceptance of the Samaritans most
Jews of his time hated.
No ideology, whatever it calls itself, is Christian if it
embraces empire and rejects Christian peace, justice, and nonviolence. That’s
precisely what today’s Christian Nationalism does. It claims to be Christian,
but it just flat isn’t. It’s adherents can proclaim Jesus and pray in his name
all they want; but as long as they get him as wrong as they do, and as long as
they pray for the wrong things the way they do, they are not Christians. So our
General Minister and President is right. Don’t call it Christian Nationalism.
It just flat isn’t Christian. Rev. Dr. Thompson is right, and this morning
Pastor Lisa was right. That’s just how it is.
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