Book review: Bad Religion

Not too long ago, I came across an article about the political phenomenon that is Donald Trump; the article was entitled How Christianity Explains Trump. In the course of the article a reference was made to the book Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.by Ross Douthat, a columnist for the New York Times. As I look around at the state of faith in my country today, I found the premise fascinating. So it didn't take me too long to read it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the history of 20th and 21st century American religion, and what it means for us today.

The book is divided into two main parts. First, it traces major trends in religion over the past 100 years or so. This may sound like a tedious exercise and at times it really is. There is a lot of history, a lot of names, and no shortage of facts. While this is laborious, it is necessary to lay the groundwork for today's issues. He starts with a period of time where faith was grounded in the historic Christian tradition. While there were the usual denominational disagreements about doctrines, the foundation was the historic view of the nature of Jesus, the Trinity, and God's purposes for the world. The church was growing in popularity and figures like Billy Graham helped spur unprecedented levels of church attendance. He then shows how the church moved into what he calls "the locust years," where people (and clergy) were leaving the church in droves. Much of the church then responded with "accommodation," which was based on the idea that if we could just water down the message, people would come back to a faith that didn't demand much of them. It didn't work. So then came "resistance," characterized by pushback against the softness of accommodation. It led to active political involvement of evangelicals and is the basis of much of the support from Christians that Republicans enjoy today.

And then we come to today's world, and this is where I think Douthat has hit the nail on the head. All of these forces have led us to a pair of religious philosophies that he labels as heresies. My first reaction was, "Whoa, that's strong language!" But as I look back on the warnings of Jesus and the writings of the apostles about false teachers, I think he may have something. Both of these heresies are driving the public debates of 2016.

The first is the prosperity gospel - the unscriptural concept that God's primary goal for Christians is that we have riches, or at least an easy life. If we pray hard enough or have enough faith, God stands ready to give us all that we ever wanted. Put another way, God owes me the American Dream. This is an insidious distortion of the gospel, but why is the subject for another post.

The second is when we turn American nationalism into a religion. Somehow, a large number of us have come to believe that we are some sort of latter day Israelites, the chosen nation of God. And as such, we claim the promises of God to his people (made up of "people from every tribe and language and people and nation" - Revelation 5:9) and act as if they were made specifically to our nation. This leads to a sense of entitlement and religious snobbery toward our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. It show up on the liberal side in a belief that the USA is the solution to all the world's problems. On the conservative side, it shows up as a deep pessimism: Woe is us, for our nation which used to serve the living God is sliding down the path to destruction. If only we were God's people like we used to be.

The fact is (conservatives) that God's people have always been a remnant in every nation. It should be out goal to expand the kingdom of God one person at a time.

And it is also true (liberals) that our country is not the church and so we can not expect it to meet the needs of all the people; that's our job.

I believe the book gives an excellent diagnosis of the deep divisions we have in this country. So how should we respond as Christians? I believe we must:

• Commit ourselves to the kingdom of God as our first loyalty,
• Recognize that our material blessings are a gift of God, not a right as Americans,
• Use more of our resources (time and money) for God's kingdom, including finding ways to meet the needs of the poor,
• Make sure our political thinking is kingdom-based, taking a stand on each issue separately rather than allowing ourselves to be pigeon-holed into one box or the other, and, above all,
• Avoid voting out of fear or with our pocketbooks; vote for what's right without regard for self.

Again, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is wondering why Christian influence is divided and waning. And then I recommend a lot of prayer about what you can do.

God bless his creation.

Super Bowl Ads 2015: This Land Is Your Land

In the shadow of the steeple
I saw my people
By the Relief Office
I've seen my people.
As they stood there hungry,
I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

- This Land Is Your Land, Woodie Guthrie

Don't there always seem to be Super Bowl ads that generate controversy? Last year there was the Coke ad with children from around the world singing America the Beautiful, which I wrote about here.

Judging from twitter and other social media, the two biggies last night were the atrocious Nationwide commercial about childhood accidental deaths, and the Jeep ad using Woodie Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land as the background music.

For those who didn't see it, here's the ad:

Now, apparently there were many who were outraged by the use of this song to show images from around the world instead of just America. After all, this is one of the great patriotic songs I grew up with, and it is about THIS land...not other lands!

Here is a sample of the tweets out there:

"This Land Is Your Land" is about America, not the whole world. @Jeep
— Tom Metzger (@TheTomMetzger) February 2, 2015

They are showing video of places not in America while playing "This Land is Your Land" which is about America. #CommercialFail #SuperBowl
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 2, 2015

Jeep should be kicked out of America for using that song as an advertisement for the world
— Nico Helems (@CheeksAndDekes) February 2, 2015

And....

I am now boycotting Jeep because of this commercial.
— Mitch Losito (@Mitch_pulease) February 2, 2015

But, as Lee Corso would say...Not so fast, my friend!

Did you see the verse at the top of this post? Not exactly a model of patriotism, is it? What most people don't know is that Woodie Gurthie wrote This Land Is Your Land as a protest song. In 1940, one of the most popular songs on the radio was Kate Smith singing God Bless America. Reportedly, Guthrie for so tired of hearing it that he wrote a song in response to it. The song was called God Blessed America for Me. He later changed that line to "this land was made for you and me" and the song was recorded in 1944.

It had the four verses we are used to singing, but also a verse about private property and how No Trespassing signs belie the idea of it being everyone's land. And of course the verse quoted above, where he wonders whether a land with hunger can really be made for everyone.

Now let's be clear. I am not saying that I endorse Guthrie's cynicism. Quite the contrary. But I am saying that we have taken a cynical protest song and turned it into something it's not. It was written as the opposite of a patriotic song. And then we get mad when someone uses it to highlight the beauty of the whole world and its people, which God created for his glory?

It's kind of like when people use Springsteen's Born in the USA in a patriotic context. Really? Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics?

So maybe we should all chill a little. Maybe we should enjoy the fact that God made a great big world that he wants us to care for. This land - this world - was made for you and me.

What's beautiful about America

Super Bowl commercials. We love to watch them, talk about them, and even complain about them. There was one from Coca Cola last night that became all the buzz on Twitter. This one:



As soon as it aired, Twitter exploded with comments. Most of the comments were about how America the Beautiful should be sung in English because it's an American song. If you live here, you should speak our language. That's what a country is.

Somehow, it seems many were seeing the ad as a concession to illegal immigration. By acknowledging the variety of cultures here and showcasing that by singing in multiple languages, we were opening our borders to all comers.

Well, I would bring this into the conversation: If we could completely close our borders and kick every illegal immigrant out, leaving nothing but citizens and legal immigrants working toward citizenship, our country would still be just as diverse. It would be full of people from all backgrounds and countries all over the world. Many, many of us have great grandparents who came over the sea without speaking a lick of English. We're English, Irish, Italian, French, Chinese, etc., etc., etc. Because they came, we are here. What makes our country great is freedom, and that freedom is something that people from all over the world have been flocking to for the last 250 years.

And it is true, whether depicted in an advertisement or not.

So what does it mean that our country is full of such diversity? As a follower of Jesus, I have been called to take the  gospel into all the world. The kingdom of God is greater than any other kingdom, and all the others, including ours, will pass away. How awesome it is to live in a place where you can share the good news of Jesus with so many cultures without even having to get a passport! Go into all the world? Heck, just go to the other side of town. Because while the early believers in Jerusalem had to go to the world, the world has come to us.

And that is just one of the things that makes America beautiful.

Which reminds me of another Coke ad, from my childhood:



All sorts of people, from all backgrounds. In perfect harmony. That's what Jesus can bring.

What a beautiful country.


What did you think of the commercial? How does it compare with the one from 1970? Have the issues changed that much?

Where did your family come from generations ago? What issues do you think they faced?

In a shell

I read the craziest article just now. The statistics in it were shocking, and yet as I read the article I could see that they were sound, and revealed a blind spot for me. The stat?

20% of non-Christians in North America do not personally know any Christians.

That's right. Any. I highly recommend that if you are a Christian, you read this article...now. In fact, if you have to choose between reading it or finishing this blog post, read the article. Here's a link:

The Craziest Statistic

Considering that 80% of the population calls themselves Christian, what an astounding result! Now, the article talks about possible causes, including immigration. But when it comes down to it, the biggest reason is that so many of us Christians stay in a shell. We hang around with people just like us - like us in status, like us in income, like us in ethnic background, like us in religious beliefs. As the article points out, there is too much apathy about reaching out to those different from us, which means doing very little to befriend non-Christians. As Jeff Christopherson said in the article, "We hide in our evangelical ghetto." Or Gina Bellofato: "I don't know how many more million Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews need to come to this country before it becomes a priority."

Now, international missions is a major priority to me. If you follow this blog, you've seen post after post about how my heart reaches out to children in Africa and how I've traveled there four years in a row. Really, it's why I started this blog in the first place. And it's still true. God has called us to go spread his love and announce the Kingdom of his Son to the entire world.

But my goodness! Can we all just start by being a little more like Jesus where we live? Like Jesus, who was always being criticized for hanging out with people different from him. Like Jesus, who left the comfort zone of his father's carpentry shop to bring hope to the lost, sight to the blight, and freedom to the oppressed. He didn't have to go far - he just had to open his eyes and leave home.

Have you ever thought about the question Jesus was answering when he told the story of the good Samaritan? He had told the crowd the need to love their neighbors, and the question was, "Who is my neighbor?" And so when you see the story in the light of the question, the answer was...Samaritans. People different from you. Half-breeds who had stopped worshipping the one true God. That is who you need to love.

No, God doesn't call all of us to go overseas - either short or long term. So good news! There's plenty of Kingdom work for you to do right here. Because if only 20% of the non-Christians living all around us even know a Christian...well, there's plenty to do. And it all starts with just getting to know people - people who are different from us.

I am sooooooooooo lacking. I definitely have four fingers pointing back at me. So I pray that God would use this article to open my eyes, and see the neighbors - Samaritans if you will - who need to be loved. And then that I would love them.

20%. That's gotta change.