4th Thoughts
I buck at the prophetic aspect of my calling. What do I mean by a prophetic role? Not an idea of prognostication, but the more biblical idea of calling out sin where I see it. The preaching and proclamation of God’s word for people and situations directly.
Early on in my cross-cultural ministry, I heard Tom Elliff say that this was an important, often unexpected role for missionaries towards their “home” countries. Much like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot, people get used to slow changes and don’t notice what has happened. But when someone on the outside is suddenly thrown in, they get the full shock. And that is what has happened to me repeatedly.
Contrary to what a lot of people who know me might assume, I love my country. Contrary to a lot of my countrymen, I still tear up a bit at the national anthem. I’ve lived nearly half my outside it’s borders, and that gives me a different perspective. I appreciate it more and don’t take my citizenship for granted, but I also see warts more easily.
I was first shocked when I arrived in the U.S. for college after being gone nearly a decade. But in the past several years, my trips back to the States have made me more and more worried.
And not in the way that so many Christians in the States are worried. In fact, their fears are a big part of what worries me. Not all Christians, but a lot of them.
The number of Christians who are blaming all of the problems in the world on “the blacks” or the “Hispanics” or conversely, on the “racists” is on the rise.
And the nationalistic flavor of Christianity is concerning. I was always disturbed by the level of America Worship in church services in the States. But these days, in a lot of churches, it has gotten ridiculous.
America is a great place to live and be from. And it has, for some of its history, been an example of a place that tries to be a moral place. (In certain, limited, cultural ways at least.) But it is not God’s country. It is not the new Israel. (And if it were, I fear it would be like the Israel of the Northern Kingdom, melding YHWH worship with paganism and materialism, so not in a good way.) And, believers need to understand that to be Christian is not the same as to be American, and to be American does not make one automatically a Christian.
Most of all, Christians need to rise above the nationalistic tribalism that is hurting our land and hurting the church. We are to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not republican free market capitalism (as was recently preached at a major megachurch) nor a Marxist socialistic utopia.
But, as I said, I hate having to play that role, so I’ll stop now…
Early on in my cross-cultural ministry, I heard Tom Elliff say that this was an important, often unexpected role for missionaries towards their “home” countries. Much like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot, people get used to slow changes and don’t notice what has happened. But when someone on the outside is suddenly thrown in, they get the full shock. And that is what has happened to me repeatedly.
Contrary to what a lot of people who know me might assume, I love my country. Contrary to a lot of my countrymen, I still tear up a bit at the national anthem. I’ve lived nearly half my outside it’s borders, and that gives me a different perspective. I appreciate it more and don’t take my citizenship for granted, but I also see warts more easily.
I was first shocked when I arrived in the U.S. for college after being gone nearly a decade. But in the past several years, my trips back to the States have made me more and more worried.
And not in the way that so many Christians in the States are worried. In fact, their fears are a big part of what worries me. Not all Christians, but a lot of them.
The number of Christians who are blaming all of the problems in the world on “the blacks” or the “Hispanics” or conversely, on the “racists” is on the rise.
And the nationalistic flavor of Christianity is concerning. I was always disturbed by the level of America Worship in church services in the States. But these days, in a lot of churches, it has gotten ridiculous.
America is a great place to live and be from. And it has, for some of its history, been an example of a place that tries to be a moral place. (In certain, limited, cultural ways at least.) But it is not God’s country. It is not the new Israel. (And if it were, I fear it would be like the Israel of the Northern Kingdom, melding YHWH worship with paganism and materialism, so not in a good way.) And, believers need to understand that to be Christian is not the same as to be American, and to be American does not make one automatically a Christian.
Most of all, Christians need to rise above the nationalistic tribalism that is hurting our land and hurting the church. We are to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not republican free market capitalism (as was recently preached at a major megachurch) nor a Marxist socialistic utopia.
But, as I said, I hate having to play that role, so I’ll stop now…
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