The Myth of a Christian Religion Read online

  One final aspect of the Old Testament’s unfolding vision of a reunited humanity should be mentioned. Throughout the Old Testament we find a growing expectation that someday all the nations will be reunited under a divinely appointed king.

  In Psalm 72, for example, the author prays for a day when “all kings” and “all nations” will “bow down” to a king whom God will anoint. God’s king will deliver “the needy who cry out” and save “the afflicted who have no one to help.” He will “take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.” He will “rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” When this happens, the psalmist concludes, “all nations will be blessed through [God’s anointed king]” and “the whole earth” will “be filled with his glory.”

  What passages like this reveal is that God’s promise to bless all the nations through Abraham and his descendents is to be fulfilled in a coming king whom God will anoint. Through him all the scattered people groups will be ministered to. Through him all the tribes and nations will be reconciled as they come to know the one true God. Through him God’s dream of a united human community reflecting his triune love will be finally realized.

  THE TRANSNATIONAL KINGDOM OF JESUS

  The anointed king, of course, is Jesus Christ. (Christ means “anointed.”)

  When the New Testament announces that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, as it frequently does, it has to be understood against the backdrop of this Old Testament motif. Jesus Christ is not just the Lord, Savior, and Messiah of the Jews: he is the Lord, Savior, and Messiah of all people. In him, all the prophecies about the nations being reunited will eventually find their fulfillment.

  The theme is unmistakable if we read the Gospels against the backdrop of their original social and political milieu. Most Jews of Jesus’ day were intensely nationalistic and were expecting a completely pro-Israel Messiah. They thought the Messiah would lead Israel to victory over their Roman oppressors and would reestablish Israel as a sovereign nation under God.

  This is why people constantly tried to force Jesus’ hand on the divisive political issues of the day. But as we noted in Chapter 2, Jesus uniformly refused to weigh in on these debates. He would not play the role of a pro-Israel, anti-Roman Messiah or let himself be co-opted by any nationalistic agenda—not even on behalf of God’s “chosen nation.” For the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish is about fulfilling God’s dream of reuniting all the nations.

  Jesus reveals that, where God reigns, national walls will be torn down and national distinctions rendered insignificant. “In Christ,” Paul says, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile.” In Christ “the dividing wall of hostility” has been abolished between groups of people and a “new humanity” has been created. A central aspect of the Kingdom revolution, therefore, is manifesting the beauty of what it looks like for a people to be freed from the idol of nationalism and to be reunited under the God who is Lord of all nations.

  CHRIST BECOMES A WARRING, TRIBAL GOD

  For the first three hundred years or so of the Kingdom revolution, Christians on the whole remained beautifully free of nationalistic idolatry. The early Christians didn’t see themselves as belonging to the empire they lived in, and they would not pledge allegiance to or fight for any ruler or country. They routinely choose to die rather than pledge allegiance to a symbolic statue of the emperor. They were consequently criticized and persecuted for being unpatriotic, subversive, and cowardly.

  By their refusal to conform and willingness to suffer, these early followers of Jesus bore witness to a radically different, beautiful, Christlike way of doing life. (The word martyr originally meant “witness,” but it soon became synonymous with witnessing by dying.) In sharp contrast to Islam, which experienced explosive growth in its earliest years by the ferocity of its warriors, the early Church experienced explosive growth in its earliest years by the beautiful way followers of Jesus chose to die rather than fight.

  Constantine’s alleged vision, telling him to go to war under the banner of Christ (discussed in chapter 2), changed all this. Christ was reduced to a pagan, nationalistic god of war. Once Christianity became part of the empire’s nationalism, masses converted to it. While many followers of Jesus resisted this watering down of the faith, the Church, on the whole, embraced it. In the minds of thinkers like Eusebius and Augustine, God had blessed the Church by making it a powerful, politically influential institution.

  Not surprisingly, in the centuries that followed, the Church, more often than not, lacked the capacity to distinguish clearly between the Kingdom of God and whatever national kingdom it happened to find itself in. Leaders as well as the masses too often embraced their nation’s values and goals as though they were God’s own. Consequently, the Church was often been reduced to little more than a religious puppet of the government and assigned the job of blessing its nation’s causes and military exploits, just as pagan religions have done throughout history.

  The Church blessed European kings and armies as they attempted to reclaim the Holy Land, fought infidels, and carried out other “holy” causes throughout the Middle Ages. As the so-called Holy Roman Empire started becoming fragmented along national lines in the late Middle Ages, this nationalistic idolatry resulted in a myriad of intra-Christian nationalistic wars. Divided by national and denominational lines, Christians brutally slaughtered each other—all under the banner of Christ and always “for God and country.” There was, for example, the Hundred Years War in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Eighty Years War in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century. The wars were so costly and vanquished so much of Europe’s population that secular authorities finally had to step in and call a truce (the famous “Peace of Westphalia”).

  These bloody intra-Christian wars arguably did more to push the West in a secular direction than any other single factor, including the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. And this simply illustrates the diabolical consequences that follow when Jesus’ followers fail to resist the demonic pull toward nationalism.

  MANIFEST DESTINY?

  Sadly, this nationalistic, militaristic brand of Christianity played a big role in the conquering of America. As all nations have done throughout history, the Europeans who conquered America did it under the banner of a tribal god. It’s just that this tribal god wasn’t Zeus, Apollo, or Allah: it was Jesus. In the name of the crucified messiah, and “for God and country,” white Europeans claimed this land, slaughtered millions of Native Americans, enslaved millions of Africans, and eventually came to rule.

  Not only this, but following the tradition of Eusebius and Augustine (as well as pagans throughout history), the success Europeans enjoyed in vanquishing their enemies was viewed as proof that God was on their side. It was “Manifest Destiny,” many claimed, that white Europeans were to lord over the land and over non-Europeans.

  This idolatrous nationalism has persisted throughout our history. Americans have always been inclined to see their nation as a “Christian” nation, uniquely “under God,” uniquely righteous, and uniquely destined by God to transform the world. Many, including a former president, have spoken of America as the “light of the world” and a “holy city set on a hill.” Many continue to believe that American soldiers fight “for God and country,” for, they assume, we are a just and righteous nation while our enemies are “evildoers.”

  There is, of course, absolutely no evidence God agrees with any of this—unless, of course, you buy the old pagan argument that military victory is itself proof of divine favor. The myth of America’s favored status is simply something we’ve told ourselves for centuries to buttress national self-identity and motivate our soldiers in war. The myth, in other words, is just our particular version of nationalistic idolatry.

  It’s time, I believe, for the Church in America to finally free itself completely from this diabolic bondage.

  LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPP
INESS

  When followers of Jesus aren’t careful to clearly distinguish the Kingdom from their own nation, we easily end up Christianizing aspects of our national culture we ought to be revolting against.

  For example, America is founded on the conviction that everybody has an “inalienable right” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Now, politically speaking, I think these rights are the greatest privileges a government could ever give its people. Politically speaking, I’m a fan of the Declaration of Independence. But as a Kingdom person, I have to be careful not to think these values are Kingdom values. Indeed, as a follower of Jesus I have to critically assess these values as things I may have to revolt against to manifest the unique beauty of the Kingdom. Let’s briefly consider each of these rights.

  The Right to Life

  Americans believe we have the right to defend our lives and our rights when they’re threatened, using any means necessary.

  This is a noble political right. I personally wouldn’t want to live under a government that didn’t grant this right to its citizens. Yet as followers of Jesus we must never let political values—even noble ones—define the unique Kingdom that alone has our allegiance.

  As Kingdom people we’re called to follow the One who surrendered his right to life in order to express God’s love for his enemies. We’re thus called to manifest the beauty of a life that no longer clings to its right to remain alive and no longer fears death, even at the hands of our enemies. Following Jesus, we’re called to manifest the beauty of an outrageously impractical life that would sooner be killed than kill.

  So, while we can affirm the right to life as a noble political value, as Kingdom people we have to revolt against the temptation to put this noble value above the value of self-sacrificial love in order to manifest the beauty of the Jesus-looking Kingdom.

  The Right to Liberty

  We Americans believe we have the right to exercise our free will however we see fit so long as no one gets hurt. And we believe we have the right to have a say in who governs us and how they govern us.

  These are noble political rights. I personally wouldn’t want to live under a government that didn’t grant these rights to its citizens. Yet as Kingdom people we must notice that this value, while politically noble, has brought about massive decadence in our culture. The emphasis on personal freedom has produced a society that is largely characterized by greed, gluttony, self-centeredness, and sexual immorality. This has to curb our enthusiasm for the ideal of freedom somewhat.

  Sadly, many American Christians assume personal freedom is an ultimate value that is therefore worth killing and dying for. Indeed, for many, this is the “light” America shines to the world and the reason why we are a “holy city set on a hill.” For many, their faith in freedom and their faith in Christ are essentially inseparable. Standing up for freedom at all costs is part of what it means to be a “true Christian.”

  But one reads nothing about political freedom in the Old or New Testaments. Most importantly, Jesus doesn’t say a word about political freedom. The early Church grew and thrived for several hundred years in a context entirely devoid of political freedom; yet never once in their writings do we hear early Christian writers wishing for it or expecting it—let alone fighting for it! Nor does one find any talk about political freedom throughout the rest of Church history before the modern period (the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries). In fact, the Church on the whole strongly opposed the concept of people governing themselves when it first began to be discussed in the late Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. How ironic that several hundred years later the majority of western Christians assume political freedom is synonymous with the Christian faith and—even more ironic—worth killing for! This simply demonstrates how thoroughly the faith of many western Christians has been co-opted and redefined by nationalistic ideals.

  Personal and political liberty certainly is a noble cultural ideal, but it certainly is not a distinctly Kingdom ideal. In fact, on some level, personal liberty is something Kingdom people are called to revolt against.

  As Kingdom people we’re called to imitate the One who never exercised his free will outside the will of his Father. We’re called to surrender our freedom and submit our will to God’s will, both as he’s revealed it in Scripture and as he directs us by his Spirit moment-by-moment. Not only this, but we’re called to live in communities in which we surrender our rights and humbly defer to one another.

  Our fallen tendency to exercise our free will however we want is something we must revolt against. As we faithfully do this, we manifest something that goes far beyond a noble political value. We manifest the beauty of a life that is no longer addicted to its freedom and rights, for it has found something far better and far more beautiful—the eternal Life that comes from God lived in a community characterized by servant-love.

  The Pursuit of Happiness

  We Americans believe we have the right to do whatever we need to do to try to find happiness.

  Again, this is a noble political ideal. I wouldn’t prefer to live under a government that didn’t grant us this right. Yet as Kingdom people we must notice the massive negative effect this cultural value has had on people, both inside and outside the Church. Precisely because we give such emphasis to our right to pursue our own happiness, the highest authority for most Americans is their own personal preferences. Almost every decision is made solely on the basis of whether we think it will make us happy and whether we can afford it. And this simply means that, for most Americans, the pursuit of happiness—or, in starker terms, “hedonism”—is the ultimate lord of their lives.

  As Kingdom people this is obviously something we must passionately revolt against. We are called to seek God’s will above our own happiness. For Kingdom people, it’s not enough to ask, “Is this what I want?” and “Can I afford it?” If God indeed reigns over our life, we must allow him to reign over all the major decisions we make. Our most fundamental question, then, is not “Is this what I want?” but “Is this what God wants?” This is what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God, as Jesus commanded.

  As we do this, we manifest something far more beautiful than the pursuit of earthly happiness; we manifest Kingdom joy. In Christ we can be free from the addiction to trying to find happiness. In Christ, we have access to the beautiful Life of God that is characterized by fullness of joy, even when our circumstances are unhappy.

  OUR SOLE ALLEGIANCE

  A number of years ago I attended a basketball game at a Christian school. Just before the game everyone was asked to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. So I stood, placed my hand over my heart, and began to recite our national creed. Halfway through, however, I began to wonder what I was doing. I’m called to live as a foreigner in a strange land. I’m called to be a citizen of a Kingdom that is not of this world. I’m called to live as a soldier stationed in enemy occupied territory whose job it is to carry out of the will of my enlisting officer. Yet here I was pledging allegiance not to Christ, but to the flag of this foreign land in which I happened to be stationed.

  Early Christians were willing to be martyred rather than express allegiance to the Roman Empire, but here I was expressing allegiance to the American empire. This didn’t seem right. I stopped and haven’t said the Pledge since. I love America, but I cannot serve two masters. My allegiance must be pledged to Christ alone.

  I acknowledge that people have differing opinions about this matter. Some have told me they recite the Pledge to express support for the good things America stands for, not to express their ultimate allegiance to it. Others have told me they do it out of respect for those who have sacrificed their lives to defend our rights and freedoms, but again, not to pledge their ultimate allegiance. Others have told me they do it simply because they feel like a communist if they don’t. Fine. My concern isn’t with this particular American ritual.

  What concerns me is that it doesn’t even occur to many American Christians that there migh
t be a conflict between their allegiance to Christ and their Pledge of Allegiance to America. Their faith has become so nationalized that they assume these dual allegiances are compatible. This is an idolatrous assumption, and it helps explain why the lives of most American Christians are indistinguishable from the lives of their pagan American neighbors. We’re failing to revolt against the pagan values of our nation because the nation, with its pagan values, has our allegiance—to the point that many followers of Jesus don’t even recognize the pagan values as pagan. They rather think the nation, with its values, is basically “Christian”!

  We’ve been seduced by the Powers.

  It’s time for Kingdom people in America to be done with this. Our ultimate allegiance cannot be to America or any other country. It cannot be to a flag, democracy, the right to defend ourselves, the right to do what we want, the right to vote, or the right to pursue happiness however we see fit. We are Kingdom people only to the extent that God alone is King of our lives, and thus only to the extent that we revolt against the temptation to make any cultural values or ideas supreme.

  THE LIFE THAT HEALS THE NATIONS

  In his marvelous vision of the New Jerusalem—a symbol for the fully established Kingdom of God at the end of the age—John says he saw:

  a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: