American Jesus: Christ as a Political Figurehead

Alright, so I stole the title from a Bad Religion song. Sue me.

I generally try to avoid politics on my blog, except when it involves an important application of the gospel; my reasoning behind this involves the fact that political pursuits so often become false idols to God-loving people. For many people I know, everything is about politics. Even Christianity.

Really, I do not mean to rant endlessly about politics interfering with Christian living. I do believe Christians may participate in politics by voting, lobbying, or even running for public office. However, I warn those who engage in politics to do so ever-carefully, taking pains to examine their hearts before God in order to avoid idolatry.

To put things bluntly, it seems as though many politicians—primarily conservatives—have invoked the name of Christ, not to call on Him for guidance, but simply to accumulate votes. What makes matters worse, though, is that Jesus has in many ways been turned into a mere political figurehead. Like Uncle Sam, our created “Jesus” has become propaganda. Coincidentally, the American version of Jesus sure looks a lot like the politicians of the Religious Right. He has been stripped of his deity; He is no longer the Redeemer of mankind, but the redeemer of a “moral” nation, here to bring America back to its “Christian” roots (although it is clear that our founding fathers were deists, not Christians, and that our country has throughout history generally failed to demonstrate good morals).

The Kingdom of God has been done away with; the Kingdom of America is in its place (although I suppose some might hold that the two are congruent). In all of our pathetic legalism we have determined that it is, after all, good deeds that bring salvation. The atonement has been done away with; we seek behavior modification, and not heart transformation. The problem, however, is that this stands in stark contrast to the gospel; mere morality and behavioral change are worthless if one’s name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, aren’t they?

I understand that I am making a generalization. Obviously not all conservatives are idolaters. In fact, it’s generally a small few who bring about such a misconstrued idea of the Christian faith, but when it makes the news, it seems like everyone’s in on it. Still, somehow, America has come to embrace a civil religion; nationalism and Christianity have been fused into a very agreeable faith: good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell, and a mythical figure named Jesus supposedly encourages us and grants us whatever we pray for.

To avoid ranting any further, I will conclude with this:

Jesus is more than a moral teacher. He is the living Son of God. He was crucified for the sins of the world, buried, and resurrected on the third day. Our belief in Him should most certainly affect the way we participate in politics, yes. But please, let it not be the other way around.

“The astonishing thing is that people can become religious without being converted. That is, they join churches and start reading the Bible and doing religious things with no change in the foundation of their happiness: It is still themselves. They are the ground of their joy.”

-John Piper

Narcissism in a World of Self-Esteem

This article highlights the product of years of “self-esteem enhancement,” forced upon children from the earliest years of their lives. It’s been taught at home, at school, and (I would suspect) in church. “You are special,” I was told countless times as a child, even into my teen years. I wasn’t even close to my family, but I was still inundated with the message that I was something special and that I needed to have great confidence in myself. I liked it at the time, because it made me feel good. But now, I see that today’s teens and twenty-somethings have been conditioned to become highly self-absorbed narcissists. Arrogance, concealed by such pleasant terms as “self-esteem,” burgeons in our hearts from the earliest days, fueled by haphazard parenting and the merciless promotion of individualism at school. Like Pavlov’s dogs, my generation has been conditioned to the point of self-worship, salivating eagerly when any attention is paid to them.

Reaping What We’ve Sown

It is quite evident that the so-called “Self-Esteem Movement” has led to young people abounding in selfishness and pride. But what sparked this movement in the first place? I would like to suggest that perhaps our culture’s fairly-recent obsession with self-esteem is born of a rejection of the Gospel. We have invented this monster called “self-esteem” out of a misunderstanding of Creation, and its effects have been a misunderstanding of Redemption.

Sowing From a Misunderstanding of Creation…

First, the Self-Esteem Movement seems to be an attempt to compensate for a post-Christian worldview which denies that God created man in His image. If we understood how God created us, there would be no need for “self-esteem.” With a solid understanding of God, a man needn’t think too highly (or lowly) of himself. This is because a proper understanding of who God is is essential to a proper understanding of who we are. Without having a healthy image of God, we cannot possibly have a healthy self-image. If we have a Biblical view of God, we are much more likely to have a Biblical view of ourselves. But if we do not believe that God created man in His own image, then we must find meaning in something else.

So, A Biblical understanding of mankind should greatly humble us, all while giving us confidence not by commending us for who we are, but by bringing to light the gracious God who has both created and redeemed us. Without this Biblical worldview, however, we find ourselves scrambling to take hold of some system of meaning, and instilling self-worship into our kids is apparently the best we’ve got. So, with our misconstrued idea of Creation, we have created the concept of self-esteem to give a sense of meaning to our existence.

Reaping a Misunderstanding of Redemption…

Although the Self-Esteem Movement was built upon a post-Christian idea of the creation of man, its effects have also been a non-Biblical view of redemption. The encouragement of self-esteem has pushed us to “believe in ourselves.” Without God as a source of purpose, we’ve come to the miserable conclusion that we truly are on our own and must do our best to feel good about ourselves in order to find hope. As realists, we recognize the fallen, broken world around us. But without a Redeemer, and with no confidence in others, we have come to rely wholly on our inflated view of ourselves to bring change, as if we were the saviors of the broken world in which we live. This is the goal of self-esteem: to construct a sense of hope in light of a decaying world, hope that is found within oneself.

We all like to think of ourselves as heroes and saviors. I’m sure most men who saw The Matrix (which seems to be nearly every guy under 40 in America) felt the closest connection with Neo, “the One.” Or for those of us who are so obsessed with the Halo video game series, it’s exciting to play the role of Master Chief, the earth’s last hope in a cosmic war. And while these characters are purely fantasy, we cannot help but think of ourselves as someone special, a “savior” of sorts. This is absolutely a false gospel created by the Self-Esteem Movement. Who would have known that such aspirations to be our own savior would have come from our parents continually telling us that we are “special?”

Narcissism is growing ever stronger in our culture. And while most of us claim to be fed up with the self-esteem gospel, few of us have been able to shed the habitual self-seeking behavior it has bound us to. Even now, as a believer in Christ, I find myself subconsciously expecting that I might be some great man, a savior of sorts, who may be idolized by large numbers of people. Thank God that He found me and showed me something far greater than that.

Steve Jobs Has Good Things To Say

As much as I dislike Apple, due to their selfish use of proprietary technology and documented falsehood toward consumers, not to mention their haughty customers who think they’re superior to others because they bought something that was marketed well and seems “hip” (wink wink), CEO Steve Jobs had some interesting things to say as he gave the 2005 Standford commencement address. While it’s not the gospel, some of his points certainly seemed to be crying out for it.

This was originally posted on the Desiring God Blog. I thought I’d repost it because it was interesting, plus it gives me a chance to go on a short rant against the ever-so-popular Apple Computers. And if you’re an Apple fan, don’t take it too seriously. I suppose we can get along. Jon Bloom writes:

When Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, gave the 2005 Stanford commencement address, he essentially challenged the graduates to not waste their lives. Although his conclusions about how to not waste life fall short, it is interesting that Mr. Jobs tells his listeners to 1) trust in Providence, 2) see purpose in their suffering, and 3) reflect every day on the reality of death.

Unlovely, But Loved

Matt Ritchey, with whom I share fellowship at Seven Hills Church, made a great post about the active love of God, emphasizing that it is not our loveliness that makes God love us.

Here is a link to his post: For the Love of God

Driscoll on Jesus vs. Religion

 This is a good, thought provoking video clip from one of my favorite pastors to listen to, Mark Driscoll.

For more media from Driscoll and Mars Hill Church, visit www.marshillchurch.org.

Creating God in Our Own Image: Part 3

Self-Determination

If you were to take a survey, asking Christians what saves them, most people would probably say “faith.” You might notice that a smaller group of people actually respond with “God.” Now, I’m not calling those who said “faith” heretics, but their response perhaps indicates a problem in our view of God.

Scripture teaches that we are justified by faith, but nowhere directly connects the entire process of salvation (which includes justification, but is not only justification) directly to faith. This may seem insignificant, but, there’s actually some importance here. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)

So, we are saved by grace, working through faith. The difference between being saved by faith and saved by grace is the person doing the saving. We are not saved as “a resut of works,” but as “the gift of God.” God saves us; we don’t save ourselves. It is not our own faith that brings about our salvation, but God’s grace, operating through our faith.

I doubt there are many who would disagree with me at this point, although I’m sure many of you think I’m being far too anal and nit-picky about mere semantics. But I think these subtle issues are tiny reflections a much larger problem; unfortunately, we often (many times unknowingly) subscribe to a gospel that proclaims a man-made way to God.

Creating God in Our Own Image: Part 2

Leniency

If you were to randomly attend any given church service, you’d probably hear much about God’s love, grace, and mercy. However, it is likely that very little (if anything) would be said about God’s wrath, anger, or judgment. The “hellfire and brimstone” approach to preaching today seems archaic, ineffective, and even barbaric. Many churchgoers have been turned off by aggressive, strict preaching; therefore, preachers who focus on the positives rather than on woe, punishment, and destruction tend to attract larger crowds. This trend in recent decades makes it seem as though Christians have suddenly been “enlightened” with God’s grace. God’s not angry, jealous, or wrathful, we conclude. Instead, he’s loving, merciful, and kind. But although most modern preachers continually stress words like “grace” and “mercy,” what they’re really promoting is leniency on God’s behalf.

Creating God in Our Own Image: Part 1

Prosperity

“God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us. “

-Joel Osteen, pastor of America’s largest and fastest-growing
church and author of a New York Times #1 bestseller.

As ridiculous as this “gospel” might sound, some people are buying it. Osteen’s Lakewood Church has over 52,000 attendees in any given week. Furthermore, his book, Your Best Life Now, sold several million copies and even has a supplementary board game. People enjoy hearing the “health and wealth” gospel because it “encourages them.” However, what the prosperity gospel really encourages is nothing more than sinful desires; as people are built up in ungodly pride, they begin to feel good about themselves. Like many other proponents of this false gospel, Osteen masks selfishness and greed by using words like “victory” and “champion.” But by preaching this message, he is only leading his hearers astray, into the ultimate defeat of eternal damnation.

I’m not picking on Osteen just for the sake of being mean; furthermore, I know he is by no means the only false teacher out there. However, when the pastor of America’s largest church teaches such things, Christians must take a stand for the true gospel of Christ.

The Trinity Matters

This article by Bruce A. Ware makes note of modern “tampering” with the doctrine of the Trinity and stresses the enormous importance of “sticking to our guns” over this issue. Many non-orthodox religious groups such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Unitarians deny the Trinity altogether. What is equally disturbing, however, seems to be the trend among some “Christian” circles to alter the doctrine of the Trinity just enough to fit their personal demands of God but not enough to set off the “heresy alarms” among mainstream Christians. To most professing Christians, an egalitarian and/or modalist view of the Trinity does not seem to be a “big deal.” Feminists, third-rate “theologians” and downright passive preachers have allowed—or even caused—these false ideas to become popular. Furthermore, many Christians have refused to take a stand on this issue, as if it were unimportant (this is commonly found in the so-called Restoration Movement, which includes the Church of Christ/Christian Churches). However, the Trinity—that is, the One God’s existence in three distinct Persons—is a doctrine essential to the Christian faith; anything else is quite frankly heresy. So, without any more rambling, here’s Ware’s article:

Denunciation of Christians, An Emotional Exercise since the Early Days

 I found this post here and thought it was worth re-posting. It presents an interesting idea in regard to the reason behind modern-day attacks on the Christian faith.

I bought the book, Early Christian Fathers about a year ago at the local used book store, though I have only begun to read it recently, well today.

Within it are major works of early Christian Fathers, or the generation of Church leaders that followed the Apostles and in most cases, were disciples of the Apostles themselves.

Started reading one these works, The First Apology of Justin, the Martyr circa 155 A.D., today and though I have not gotten far, I’ve realized the content of this apology (lit. a speech for the defense) is as applicable today as it was when Justin (below) first penned it.

The work was written to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (among others) acknowledging them as philosophers and pious men, so that they would see that the persecution of Christians solely on the grounds of professing Christ was unjust.

In the first section, titled a “Plea for a Fair Hearing” Justin writes:

For in these pages we do not come before you with flattery, or as if making a speech to win your favor, but asking you to give judgment according to the strict and exact inquiry–not, moved by prejudice or respect for superstitious men, or by irrational impulse and long-established evil rumor, giving a vote which would really be against yourselves…

But if nobody has proofs against us, true reason does not allow [you] to wrong innocent men because of an evil rumor–or rather [to wrong] yourselves when you decide to pass sentence on the basis of passion rather than judgment.

(emphasis mine)

It seems that the denunciation of Christians back in the 2nd Century A.D., though far more life-threatening in Rome than in present-day America, might have been more fueled by emotion than on sound judgment.

Not much has changed has it?