AMERICAN AND CHRISTIAN
Two war-related articles caught my eye in yesterday's paper. One talked about footage of Marines temporarily draping a US flag over a statue of Saddam Hussein. The other talked about the eagerness of evangelical Christian groups to enter Iraq for humanitarian and proselytizing purposes. Both articles were fearful of the negative PR: would the world think this was a matter of conquest rather than liberation, a war against Islam rather than a war against an oppressive dictator?
Compounding matters is the fact that our president is American and Christian in all of the worst ways, in the eyes of his opponents. He is from Texas, and had never left the country before he became president. He is evangelical, bold about his faith, and apt to using loaded religious terms like "evildoers" and "crusade."
As an American and a Christian, it matters to me how America and Christianity is portrayed. America need not be ashamed of its might. But it needs to be more humble about its past mistakes and more careful about how it is perceived by others. Right or wrong, many people hate America. Rather than coming across as a haughty superpower and saying, "That's their problem," America needs to take some responsibility of its own; some of this is a matter of managing its image, and some of this is matter of doing the right thing.
Christians believe that humans are fallen: sinful, rebellious against God, and dead in trespasses. Miraculously and mercifully, God has made a way, through the life and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus, who, though He was born a Jew, represents salvation for all people who will confess their waywardness and follow Him. Christianity is not an American or Western thing; in fact, it all started in the Middle East, and today, spectacular growth in Asia, Africa, and South America has shifted this world faith's center from West back to East.
I am saddened by the many misrepresentations of the Christian faith, whether it be fundamentalists bashing other religions or missionaries who think people whose message is more about Westernizing people than it is about pointing them to Jesus. I am also saddened that Christians sometimes are apologetic and downright hypocritical about their faith. The Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to salvation; I'm sorry if you're offended by this, but this is what I read in my Bible. Does this mean we are mean to people from other religions, think more highly of ourselves, and demean people just because they have a different faith and culture background from us? Absolutely not. But nor does our world's current landscape mean we must backpedal and be uncomfortable about the absolute nature of our beliefs.
The Bible tells of holy wars, and on more than one occasion praises people for killing those who have done wrong or have chosen not to follow the one true God. Does this justify killing Muslims simply because they are Muslims? Absolutely not. But nor does it give us justification to be revisionist in our read of the Bible. I am uncomfortable about a lot of passages in the Bible; some I wish didn't exist, quite honestly. But I'm not going to lie and say that Islamic religious texts speak of jihad and Christian texts don't. It's not my job to sugar-coat the Bible, or to steer people to some passages and hope to God they don't read others.
After 9/11, there was a lot of talk in Christian circles about how this was an unprecented opportunity for evangelism. I don't totally agree. To the extent that our world was rocked, which made us think about life and death and what's really important, to be sure that is a great entree for discussing matters of faith and salvation. But I think this is tempered by the fact that we have become more ashamed of our faith. We don't like that people kill over religion, and we're afraid to admit that Christians have done the same, both in the Bible and in history.
People hate us because we're American and Christian, and they've jumbled those two things together. And so have we. My own personal mandate, and what I hope is a mandate for all American Christians, is that we will not be lazy in our thinking, revisionist in our understanding of our historical track records, or too boastful or too shy about future work. Rather, we will be honest with our past mistakes, unashamed of who we are, and better representatives to the world of what it truly means to be American and Christian.
Two war-related articles caught my eye in yesterday's paper. One talked about footage of Marines temporarily draping a US flag over a statue of Saddam Hussein. The other talked about the eagerness of evangelical Christian groups to enter Iraq for humanitarian and proselytizing purposes. Both articles were fearful of the negative PR: would the world think this was a matter of conquest rather than liberation, a war against Islam rather than a war against an oppressive dictator?
Compounding matters is the fact that our president is American and Christian in all of the worst ways, in the eyes of his opponents. He is from Texas, and had never left the country before he became president. He is evangelical, bold about his faith, and apt to using loaded religious terms like "evildoers" and "crusade."
As an American and a Christian, it matters to me how America and Christianity is portrayed. America need not be ashamed of its might. But it needs to be more humble about its past mistakes and more careful about how it is perceived by others. Right or wrong, many people hate America. Rather than coming across as a haughty superpower and saying, "That's their problem," America needs to take some responsibility of its own; some of this is a matter of managing its image, and some of this is matter of doing the right thing.
Christians believe that humans are fallen: sinful, rebellious against God, and dead in trespasses. Miraculously and mercifully, God has made a way, through the life and death of His only begotten Son, Jesus, who, though He was born a Jew, represents salvation for all people who will confess their waywardness and follow Him. Christianity is not an American or Western thing; in fact, it all started in the Middle East, and today, spectacular growth in Asia, Africa, and South America has shifted this world faith's center from West back to East.
I am saddened by the many misrepresentations of the Christian faith, whether it be fundamentalists bashing other religions or missionaries who think people whose message is more about Westernizing people than it is about pointing them to Jesus. I am also saddened that Christians sometimes are apologetic and downright hypocritical about their faith. The Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to salvation; I'm sorry if you're offended by this, but this is what I read in my Bible. Does this mean we are mean to people from other religions, think more highly of ourselves, and demean people just because they have a different faith and culture background from us? Absolutely not. But nor does our world's current landscape mean we must backpedal and be uncomfortable about the absolute nature of our beliefs.
The Bible tells of holy wars, and on more than one occasion praises people for killing those who have done wrong or have chosen not to follow the one true God. Does this justify killing Muslims simply because they are Muslims? Absolutely not. But nor does it give us justification to be revisionist in our read of the Bible. I am uncomfortable about a lot of passages in the Bible; some I wish didn't exist, quite honestly. But I'm not going to lie and say that Islamic religious texts speak of jihad and Christian texts don't. It's not my job to sugar-coat the Bible, or to steer people to some passages and hope to God they don't read others.
After 9/11, there was a lot of talk in Christian circles about how this was an unprecented opportunity for evangelism. I don't totally agree. To the extent that our world was rocked, which made us think about life and death and what's really important, to be sure that is a great entree for discussing matters of faith and salvation. But I think this is tempered by the fact that we have become more ashamed of our faith. We don't like that people kill over religion, and we're afraid to admit that Christians have done the same, both in the Bible and in history.
People hate us because we're American and Christian, and they've jumbled those two things together. And so have we. My own personal mandate, and what I hope is a mandate for all American Christians, is that we will not be lazy in our thinking, revisionist in our understanding of our historical track records, or too boastful or too shy about future work. Rather, we will be honest with our past mistakes, unashamed of who we are, and better representatives to the world of what it truly means to be American and Christian.
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