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