Foundations of Our Faith: A Little Adventure with a Rabbi Named Jesus

“Red, White and Blue:
You’re Voting for Who?”

By Russ Pierson

The Old Guy

As an “old man” of 50 now, I’ve been especially intrigued this political season by the Christian response to the pending election. (I say this knowing full well that “Christian” never makes a good adjective.)

Many of my evangelical and fundamentalist friends—often though not always older like me—are “holding the line,” “keeping the faith,” finger in the proverbial dike, toeing the Republican line as they try to stem what has seemed at times to be a strange groundswell of enthusiasm—even among “the faithful”—for Barack Obama. Sarah Palin’s solid evangelical credentials has served as a happy rallying point for these dear friends. For them, there is only, uh, “right” and wrong.

For these friends, the orthodox Christian political view is pro-life, slightly suspicious of the green movement (“drill, baby, drill”), pro-military and pro-business. It’s all about baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Jesus Christ … who would surely vote for John McCain. (Sorry, Chevrolet—and it occurs to me that you even have to be a certain age just to remember that incessant GM ad campaign I reference here).

Many other evangelical and/or less traditional Christian friends—often though not always younger—are “jumping on the bandwagon” (or “jumping ship”, depending on your perspective), marching in step with the Democratic Party, excited about meaningful but not very specific platitudes like “change” and “hope”.

For these friends, the “post-modern, neo-orthodox” Christian political view is left-leaning, focused on climate change (“what would Jesus drive?”), peace and an equitable distribution of wealth that leaves no one behind.

“Tipping Point”

Friends, I’m only 50—and I would probably need to be at least 550 to make this observation with any reasonable certitude, but I’m going out on a limb anyway: it feels very much like we are in a major transition period in church history (if not history period). We’re witnesses—participants really—in a massive global shift that will impact both our practice and our theology.

Yes—our theology.

Most Christians enjoy the private luxury of believing that what “we” believe will never change.

It isn’t so.

Christian theology has moved and morphed through the ages, often leaving a flurry of “minority reports”, whose authors were long ago dismissed as “heretics”.

What seems so absolutely certain today may well be questioned tomorrow.

Minority Report

To be honest (and perhaps a little less alarming), I suppose I’m not talking about the Big stuff, the giant stones in the foundation. Something like the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah seems like it resides at the very bedrock level of faith and won’t ever be seriously challenged (though it certainly may be—and in fact has been—minimized as mere metaphor rather than celebrated as remarkable reality).

But there are theological perspectives that, for example, most all evangelicals who remember the Reagan era share. It is such a universal bias that we don’t recognize it as a bias at all.

Without trying to suggest that anyone is more right or wrong, let me offer a few examples of areas where the theology (and hence the practice) may not be as cut and dry as it first appears:

• Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice. Truly this is way more complicated than it seems. Just consider this, my evangelical, WASP friends: there are HUGE segments of the Christian population with whom we would identify as brothers and sisters who would be “pro-life at a personal level” but understand the realities of life in a way that do not preclude them from also supporting some degree of pro-choice rights. As an example, many within what are typically considered urban, primarily “African-American” denominations and congregations, are supportive of a woman’s right to choose. Their worldview has been forged in difficult circumstances, with generations entrenched in poverty, a huge percentage of single mothers and absent fathers, and story after story of victimization that began with sexual abuse at the hands of white slave owners.
  
  In addition, many younger, nouveau evangelicals point out a theological perspective that is “Pro Life in the Big Picture”. In other words, it is bad theology to be staunchly pro-life on the one hand, yet with the other hand support business that pollutes the environment and deducts years from the lives of our children. As Bishop Charles Blake, of the Church of God in Christ, famously put it in his strong, pro-life keynote address at the interfaith conference during the 2008 Democratic Convention, “Others loudly proclaim their advocacy for the unborn, but they refuse to recognize their responsibility and the responsibility of our nation, to those who are born.”
  
  Still others point out the apparent contradiction that many who are “pro-life” are also staunchly “pro-war”. They might well ask if, for example, Iraqi children view President George Bush’s political position as genuinely pro-life.
• War and Peace. To carry the conversation with regard to the military further, let’s be clear: Two world wars (and one Cold War) in the twentieth century with reasonably clear-cur sides marked “right and wrong”, coupled with the overwhelming might of the American military, has skewed our historical perspective as evangelicals. By all historical accounts, the early Church—for at least the first 300 years of its existence—was anti-military, trying very literally to fulfill Christ’s call for peacemakers. In fact, in some places and at some times during that period, one literally could not be a Christian and a soldier.
  
  Indeed, one can argue convincingly that the break between the early believers and their Jewish sisters and brothers was cemented after the Nazarene sect fled Jerusalem and otherwise failed to join the Zionist fighters when Rome first destroyed the Temple in 70 ce and later razed what remained of Jerusalem after the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 135 ce.
  
  This commitment to peacemaking largely changed—as did many things about the Church—after Constantine converted to Christianity. He legitimized this “new faith” and adapted its precepts to fit his purposes to the benefit of the Emperor and his Empire. Christianity’s position on militarism changed virtually overnight. This change was formalized ca. 400 ce when Augustine developed the theory of “just war” that remains with us to this day.
  
  Did Jesus offer a “just war” loophole to his call for peacemakers? That’s one of the pivotal questions at the heart of this theo-political shift. I do not propose to answer it; only to note that it is a question worth asking.
• Capitalism: “The American Way of Life”. Our pastor at Eugene Faith Center sometimes tells the story of a guy who was engaged in a heated “theo-political” discussion and finally spouted “Listen—I’m a capitalist … I’m an American … and I’m a Christian—in THAT order!”
  
  Truth be told—and frankly, this is true about virtually every political issue—neither of the major political parties is all THAT far afield of the other. Whatever the case prior to the presidential election cycle, the two major party candidates almost inevitably move to the center; those who don’t usually lose (McGovern is a good example of a Democrat who stayed to the left; Goldwater is a Republican who stayed well to the right). Even Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin stunned one another (and most of their viewing audience) by deciding they basically agreed on the issue of gay rights in their recent vice-presidential debate!
  
  This tendency toward moving to the center is certainly true when it comes to economics. Certainly it might be said that our politicians really ARE capitalists first and Americans second. Capitalism—a free market economy—is at the heart of America’s remarkable growth and incredible prosperity throughout the 20^th century. Capitalism seems to be a good match for a democratic form of government, and as a human methodology of creating and distributing wealth, it certainly seems to be the lesser of many prospective evils.
  
  But alas, my friends, it is not without its dark side; nor is it THE “scriptural” economic system. Indeed, if you read through the book of Acts it certainly appears that the early Church practiced a form of—gulp!—Communism!
  
  Even in God’s “economic plan”, as outlined in the Hebrew Scriptures, there are clear left-leaning tendencies. Land-owners were required to leave significant portions of their produce un-gathered so the poor and the destitute could provide for themselves from these “gleanings”. The Sabbath was a remarkable institution that provided a day free from work not only for the wealthy and the powerful but their families, their employees, their slaves—even their animals. There were methods for the destitute to re-gain an economic foothold in society—and a stunning turning of the tables known as a Jubilee year.
  
  The biggest weakness of capitalism is human greed. Any time our nation gets in a cycle where the rich are continually getting richer as the poor get poorer—and I’m NOT necessarily suggesting we’re in such a period today—it is time for us as Christians to remember that the real “Christian value” is “ … to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27, NIV).

You’re Voting for Who?!?

I’m guessing that if you’ve read this far, you’re probably certain this entire blog is about why I’m voting for Candidate X as opposed to Candidate Y. It isn’t so. If it feels that way, I apologize, and it is probably only because I’m in essence “talking to myself,” correcting my own long-held views and tendencies as I write, reminding MYSELF of the “minority reports”.

Who am I voting for in November? Well, friends, it is still early October as I write this, and I can tell you truthfully: I am still undecided.

I’m writing this to provide some context, to get us thinking, to end the partisan fear mongering that seems to require that we vilify “the other side”—which ever side we may be on. I listened to all four of the acceptance speeches at the National Conventions. I watched the forum sponsored by Saddleback Church and featuring Rick Warren’s identical conversations with Barack Obama and John McCain. I watched the first presidential debate and the vice-presidential debate. I plan to watch every other debate that I can between now and the election.

I can tell you this: I genuinely like BOTH Barack Obama AND John McCain. They EACH espouse positions I AGREE with. They EACH offer some solutions I think are NOT in the best interests of the country. The same is true of their vice-presidential nominees.

I took special note of a short story Joe Biden told in the vice-presidential debate. As a young senator, he took a personal pot-shot at Jesse Helms. Mike Mansfield, then leader of the Senate, asked him, "What would you do if I told you Jesse Helms and Dot Helms had adopted a child who had braces and was in real need…? Everyone's sent here for a reason, because there's something in them that their folks like. Don't question their motive."

I may or may not vote for Sen. Biden in the end, but I can certainly agree with his sentiment, and it’s a special grace we need to extend to our fellow Christians, too. I know Christians I count as sisters and brothers who sincerely and in good conscience plan to vote for Obama-Biden. I know Christians I count as sisters and brothers who sincerely and in good conscience plan to vote for McCain-Palin. I will not question their character or doubt their eternal salvation, though I retain the right to discuss their judgment.2

God bless us every one.

© 2008, Russ Pierson, Eugene, OR

Labels: 2008 election, christians, evangelicals, theo-political shift

# posted by Russ Pierson @ 6:07 PM 0 comments

• 
  I'm approaching 50 years old and I'm a new grandparent. I desperately want to pass along a faith in Jesus that is vital and vibrant and more about the heart than the head.
• I’ve got this wacky half-brother (I'm sure he feels the same way about me) and the half that’s different from me is, in fact, Jewish! He's even a Messianic musician and worship leader.
• I have several Jewish friends who are people I deeply respect and care about.
• All my life I feel as though I keep clawing through the fog to see Jesus more clearly—and I’ve never seen Him with more clarity than I have in recent years. Even now, 50 years into this thing, Jesus is changing me in significant ways—the way I relate to family and friends, the way I spend my time and my money, the way I relate to the earth we live in, the way I relate to people who are not like me.
• I’ve enjoyed the great blessing of traveling to Israel 5 times now. And each time I learn more about the Land, its people and its culture—and about my Lord.

# posted by Russ Pierson @ 2:14 PM 0 comments