Making America Unwilling to Love Our Neighbors
My faith is rarely
something I share in public. Because so many who claim to share this faith
leave me puzzled by their overwhelming support of the most indecent and
unchristian president of my life time, this letter from 30 faith leaders seemed
worth sharing.
They focus on six things they reject about politics today on the basis of six things they believe as a result of their shared faith.In general, I do not share their preference for using god-talk as a lens for thinking through public policy questions, perhaps because I lack their courage and moral clarity, but given the context today I appreciate their voices, helping me with my own struggles.
They focus on six things they reject about politics today on the basis of six things they believe as a result of their shared faith.In general, I do not share their preference for using god-talk as a lens for thinking through public policy questions, perhaps because I lack their courage and moral clarity, but given the context today I appreciate their voices, helping me with my own struggles.
Here is a brief
outline of their six affirmations, revised to feel just a bit more like my
voice, but I encourage you to read the entire letter below.
WE BELIEVE we are all children of god.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the resurgence of white nationalism and racism.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the resurgence of white nationalism and racism.
WE
BELIEVE god
is love and the kingdom of heaven is now.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT misogyny
and the oppression of any other child of God.
WE BELIEVE how we treat the stranger and the prisoner is how we treat
Christ himself.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the growing attacks on immigrants and refugees.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the growing attacks on immigrants and refugees.
WE BELIEVE that truth is morally central to our personal and public
lives.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life.
WE BELIEVE that Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not
domination.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule.
WE BELIEVE we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ.
Here is the full
letter (at the link and pasted below)
We are living through
perilous and polarizing times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis of moral and
political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our
churches. We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith
are now at stake.
It is time to be followers of Jesus before
anything else—nationality, political party, race, ethnicity, gender,
geography—our identity in Christ precedes every other identity. We pray that
our nation will see Jesus’ words in us. “By this everyone will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
When politics undermines our theology, we must
examine that politics. The church’s role is to change the world through the
life and love of Jesus Christ. The government’s role is to serve the common
good by protecting justice and peace, rewarding good behavior while restraining
bad behavior (Romans 13). When that role is undermined by political leadership,
faith leaders must stand up and speak out. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
said, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of
the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”
It is often the duty of Christian leaders,
especially elders, to speak the truth in love to our churches and to name and
warn against temptations, racial and cultural captivities, false doctrines, and
political idolatries—and even our complicity in them. We do so here with
humility, prayer, and a deep dependency on the grace and Holy Spirit of God.
This letter comes from a retreat on Ash
Wednesday, 2018. In this season of Lent, we feel deep lamentations for the
state of our nation, and our own hearts are filled with confession for the sins
we feel called to address. The true meaning of the word repentance is to turn
around. It is time to lament, confess, repent, and turn. In times of crisis,
the church has historically learned to return to Jesus Christ.
Jesus is Lord. That is our foundational
confession. It was central for the early church and needs to again become
central to us. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar was not—nor any other political
ruler since. If Jesus is Lord, no other authority is absolute. Jesus Christ,
and the kingdom of God he announced, is the Christian’s first loyalty, above
all others. We pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Our faith is personal but never private, meant not only
for heaven but for this earth.
The question we face is this: Who is Jesus
Christ for us today? What does our loyalty to Christ, as disciples, require at
this moment in our history? We believe it is time to renew our theology of
public discipleship and witness. Applying what “Jesus is Lord” means today is
the message we commend as elders to our churches.
What we believe leads us to what we must
reject. Our “Yes” is the foundation for our “No.” What we confess as our faith
leads to what we confront. Therefore, we offer the following six affirmations
of what we believe, and the resulting rejections of practices and policies by
political leaders which dangerously corrode the soul of the nation and deeply
threaten the public integrity of our faith. We pray that we, as followers of
Jesus, will find the depth of faith to match the danger of our political
crisis.
I. WE BELIEVE each
human being is made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). That image and
likeness confers a divinely decreed dignity, worth, and God-given equality to
all of us as children of the one God who is the Creator of all things. Racial
bigotry is a brutal denial of the image of God (the imago dei) in some of the
children of God. Our participation in the global community of Christ absolutely
prevents any toleration of racial bigotry. Racial justice and healing are
biblical and theological issues for us, and are central to the mission of the
body of Christ in the world. We give thanks for the prophetic role of the
historic black churches in America when they have called for a more faithful
gospel.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the
resurgence of white nationalism and racism in our nation on many fronts,
including the highest levels of political leadership. We, as followers of
Jesus, must clearly reject the use of racial bigotry for political gain that we
have seen. In the face of such bigotry, silence is complicity. In particular, we
reject white supremacy and commit ourselves to help dismantle the systems and
structures that perpetuate white preference and advantage. Further, any
doctrines or political strategies that use racist resentments, fears, or
language must be named as public sin—one that goes back to the foundation of
our nation and lingers on. Racial bigotry must be antithetical for those
belonging to the body of Christ, because it denies the truth of the gospel we
profess.
II. WE BELIEVE we
are one body. In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender,
identity, or class (Galatians 3:28). The body of Christ, where those great
human divisions are to be overcome, is meant to be an example for the rest of
society. When we fail to overcome these oppressive obstacles, and even
perpetuate them, we have failed in our vocation to the world—to proclaim and
live the reconciling gospel of Christ.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT misogyny,
the mistreatment, violent abuse, sexual harassment, and assault of women that
has been further revealed in our culture and politics, including our churches,
and the oppression of any other child of God. We lament when such practices
seem publicly ignored, and thus privately condoned, by those in high positions
of leadership. We stand for the respect, protection, and affirmation of women
in our families, communities, workplaces, politics, and churches. We support
the courageous truth-telling voices of women, who have helped the nation
recognize these abuses. We confess sexism as a sin, requiring our repentance
and resistance.
III. WE BELIEVE how
we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, and the
prisoner is how we treat Christ himself. (Matthew 25: 31-46) “Truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,
you did it to me.” God calls us to protect and seek justice for those who are
poor and vulnerable, and our treatment of people who are “oppressed,”
“strangers,” “outsiders,” or otherwise considered “marginal” is a test of our
relationship to God, who made us all equal in divine dignity and love. Our
proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ is at stake in our solidarity with
the most vulnerable. If our gospel is not “good news to the poor,” it is not
the gospel of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18).
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the
language and policies of political leaders who would debase and abandon the
most vulnerable children of God. We strongly deplore the growing attacks on
immigrants and refugees, who are being made into cultural and political
targets, and we need to remind our churches that God makes the treatment of the
“strangers” among us a test of faith (Leviticus 19:33-34). We won’t accept the
neglect of the well-being of low-income families and children, and we will
resist repeated attempts to deny health care to those who most need it. We
confess our growing national sin of putting the rich over the poor. We reject
the immoral logic of cutting services and programs for the poor while cutting
taxes for the rich. Budgets are moral documents. We commit ourselves to
opposing and reversing those policies and finding solutions that reflect the
wisdom of people from different political parties and philosophies to seek the
common good. Protecting the poor is a central commitment of Christian discipleship,
to which 2,000 verses in the Bible attest.
IV. WE BELIEVE that
truth is morally central to our personal and public lives. Truth-telling is
central to the prophetic biblical tradition, whose vocation includes speaking
the Word of God into their societies and speaking the truth to power. A
commitment to speaking truth, the ninth commandment of the Decalogue, “You
shall not bear false witness” (Exodus 20:16), is foundational to shared trust
in society. Falsehood can enslave us, but Jesus promises, “You will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). The search and respect
for truth is crucial to anyone who follows Christ.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT the
practice and pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life.
Politicians, like the rest of us, are human, fallible, sinful, and mortal. But
when public lying becomes so persistent that it deliberately tries to change
facts for ideological, political, or personal gain, the public accountability
to truth is undermined. The regular purveying of falsehoods and consistent
lying by the nation’s highest leaders can change the moral expectations within
a culture, the accountability for a civil society, and even the behavior of
families and children. The normalization of lying presents a profound moral
danger to the fabric of society. In the face of lies that bring darkness, Jesus
is our truth and our light.
V. WE BELIEVE that
Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination. Jesus said, “You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles (the world) lord it over them, and their
great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever
wishes to be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-26). We
believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny,
so we must protect the limits, checks, and balances of democracy and encourage
humility and civility on the part of elected officials. We support democracy,
not because we believe in human perfection, but because we do not. The
authority of government is instituted by God to order an unredeemed society for
the sake of justice and peace, but ultimate authority belongs only to God.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT any
moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule. We believe
authoritarian political leadership is a theological danger that threatens
democracy and the common good—and we will resist it. Disrespect for the rule of
law, not recognizing the equal importance of our three branches of government,
and replacing civility with dehumanizing hostility toward opponents are of
great concern to us. Neglecting the ethic of public service and accountability,
in favor of personal recognition and gain often characterized by offensive
arrogance, are not just political issues for us. They raise deeper concerns
about political idolatry, accompanied by false and unconstitutional notions of
authority.
VI. WE BELIEVE Jesus
when he tells us to go into all nations making disciples (Matthew 28:18). Our
churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests
always surpass national boundaries. The most well-known verse in the New
Testament starts with “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). We, in turn,
should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants, rather than seek first
narrow, nationalistic prerogatives.
THEREFORE, WE REJECT “America
first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a
patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that
places one nation over others as a political goal. We reject domination rather
than stewardship of the earth’s resources, toward genuine global development
that brings human flourishing for all of God’s children. Serving our own
communities is essential, but the global connections between us are undeniable.
Global poverty, environmental damage, violent conflict, weapons of mass
destruction, and deadly diseases in some places ultimately affect all places,
and we need wise political leadership to deal with each of these.
WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED for
the soul of our nation, but also for our churches and the integrity of our
faith. The present crisis calls us to go deeper—deeper into our relationship to
God; deeper into our relationships with each other, especially across racial,
ethnic, and national lines; deeper into our relationships with the most
vulnerable, who are at greatest risk.
The church is always subject to temptations to
power, to cultural conformity, and to racial, class, and gender divides, as
Galatians 3:28 teaches us. But our answer is to be “in Christ,” and to “not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable, and
perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
The best response to our political, material,
cultural, racial, or national idolatries is the First Commandment: “You shall
have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Jesus summarizes the Greatest
Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul,
and your mind. This is the first commandment. And the second is like unto it.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these commandments hang all the
law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:38). As to loving our neighbors, we would add
“no exceptions.”
We commend this letter to pastors, local
churches, and young people who are watching and waiting to see what the
churches will say and do at such a time as this.
Our urgent need, in a time of moral and
political crisis, is to recover the power of confessing our faith. Lament,
repent, and then repair. If Jesus is Lord, there is always space for grace. We
believe it is time to speak and to act in faith and conscience, not because of
politics, but because we are disciples of Jesus Christ—to whom be all
authority, honor, and glory. It is time for a fresh confession of faith. Jesus
is Lord. He is the light in our darkness. “I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John
8:12).
- Bishop
Carroll A. Baltimore, President and CEO, Global Alliance Interfaith
Network
- Rev.
Dr. Peter Borgdorff, Executive Director Emeritus, Christian Reformed Church
in North America
- Dr.
Amos Brown, Chair, Social Justice Commission, National Baptist Convention
USA, Inc.
- Rev.
Dr. Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary
- Dr.
Tony Campolo, Co-Founder, Red Letter Christians
- Dr.
Iva Carruthers, General Secretary, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
- The
Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal
Church
- Rev.
Dr. James Forbes, President and Founder, Healing of the Nations Foundation
and Preaching Professor at Union Theological Seminary
- Rev.
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary Emeritus, Reformed Church in
America
- Rev.
Dr. Cynthia Hale, Senior Pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church, Decatur, GA
- Rev.
Dr. Richard Hamm, former General Minister and President of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ)
- Rev.
Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Faith Community Organizer and Chairman, Community
Resource Network
- Rev.
Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent Emerita, The Wesleyan Church
- Bishop
Vashti McKenzie, 117th Elected and Consecrated Bishop, AME Church
- Rev.
Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., Co-Convener National African American Clergy Network
- Dr.
John Perkins, Chair Emeritus and Founding Member, Christian Community
Development Association and President Emeritus, John & Vera Mae
Perkins Foundation
- Senior
Bishop Lawrence Reddick, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
- Fr.
Richard Rohr, Founder, Center for Action and Contemplation
- Dr.
Ron Sider, President Emeritus, Evangelicals for Social Action
- Rev.
Jim Wallis, President and Founder, Sojourners
- Rev.
Dr. Sharon Watkins, Director, NCC Truth and Racial Justice Initiative
- Dr.
Barbara Williams-Skinner, Co-Convener, National African American
Clergy Network; President, Skinner Leadership Institute
- Bishop Will Willimon, Bishop, The United Methodist Church, retired, Professor of the Practice of Ministry, Duke Divinity School
No comments:
Post a Comment