Tugging at the Sleeve of the Culture

It’s presidential primary season, which, all by itself, puts my stomach in a knot, as I anticipate there will be no less muck thrown in this election year than in the past couple of presidential elections. But I find one aspect of the campaigns particularly heartbreaking. The media has been waiting to see which candidate would successfully woo the evangelical Christian leadership, and this past weekend Rick Santorum claimed that prize. It’s not that I begrudge Santorum the support of these voters; I suspect he has earned it. What bothers me, what breaks my heart, is that, whereas when I read this news I am reading the fine print – that this support is coming from a distinct, albeit very powerful arm of the American Christian church, others – primarily those who are not a part of the church – just read “Christian.”

This failure to understand that there are Christians, and then there are Christians, is apparent in the conversations I’ve had with un-churched friends and acquaintances, and in the media. This past Sunday I referred to a highly effective, if challenging, YouTube video made by a young man named Jefferson Bethke entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY&feature=share). Mr. Bethke says he’s attempting to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion, which is admirable, and an appropriate reminder for all Christians. In his poem, he points a finger at the qualities the public associates with the conservative, evangelical Christians who are so powerful in American politics. He doesn’t acknowledge that there are many Christians, including most of the people in our congregation at First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo, who agree with him.

Then there’s the article entitled “The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity,” posted by Richard Beck (http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2009/08/bait-and-switch-of-contemporary.html ). Mr. Beck declares, “The trouble with contemporary Christianity is that a massive bait and switch is going on. ‘Christianity’ has essentially become a mechanism for allowing millions of people to replace being a decent human being with something else, an endorsed ‘spiritual’ substitute. For example, rather than being a decent human being the following is a list of some commonly acceptable substitutes:

Going to church
Worship
Praying
Spiritual disciplines (e.g., fasting)
Bible study
Voting Republican
Going on spiritual retreats
Reading religious books
Arguing with evolutionists
Sending your child to a Christian school or providing education at home
Using religious language
Avoiding R-rated movies
Not reading Harry Potter.”

What Mr. Beck doesn’t state, or even seem to know, is that this is not the disease of contemporary Christianity generally, but only of a particular form of it.  We have Republicans and Democrats in our congregation.  At least one belief they share is that voting one way or the other doesn’t mean you are – or aren’t – a Christian.

I begin to feel like a small child tugging on an adult’s sleeve, clearing my throat. “Ahem,” I say. “Ahem, but, don’t you see us, over here, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, welcoming LGBT folks, taking stands against economic and other injustices, celebrating all kinds of diversity including religious diversity and struggling daily with what it really means to follow Jesus?”

The problem is, he doesn’t. Most of our culture doesn’t see us. Here in Marin County we are lumped in with Christian conservatives, the only brand of Christianity that gets any press.

I will be the first to admit that we in the progressive church – or the liberal church or whatever we are supposed to be calling ourselves these days – we are not perfect, either. But I fear we have let our sense of humility, our Christ-like tolerance and our legitimate concern for reconciliation get in the way of our standing up, calling attention to ourselves and telling the rest of the culture who and what we are – and why.