Politicization of the Gospel – is it only the progressives who do it!

A discussion starter and by no means the last word….

For a long time the main-line and old-line Churches have been familiar with a message that amounts to a reduction of the supernatural kingdom of God/heaven to an idealized, this-worldly utopia, reached through effective social, political and economic action. This kind of teaching comes in a variety of forms and seems always to lose the priority of the transcendent sovereign rule of God in order to gain an immanent sense of progress towards peace, justice and equality on earth. In this scheme, people are being saved for and into an earthly paradise rather than being brought graciously through an evil age and world into a supernatural and heavenly kingdom.

In this progressive, liberal message, there is no ultimate heaven or hell beyond and above this world, but there is a kind of heaven and hell on earth. Heaven on earth is realized when full human rights are in operation, when there is true equality of persons and genuine peace amongst peoples, and when there is justice for everyone and when poverty and squalor have been removed from the earth. Hell is the absence of peace and justice and the triumph of evil and misery.

Hints of this kind of theology are found in the “baptismal covenant” and in the “catechism” of the 1979 prayer book of the ECUSA, as well as in many World Council of Churches publications. Where such theology is found and dominates, then the Gospel of the Father concerning his Only Son and the salvation of human beings from their sin into the righteousness of God, is neglected, eclipsed or denied. Further, the Sacraments change their meaning and purpose (e.g., the Eucharist becomes a community meal open to all who aspire to justice and peace) and preaching becomes advocacy for a this-wordly cause. The obsession of the ECUSA in the last thirty years with a progressive message of justice, peace, equality and human rights provides a near perfect example of an intensely religious but secular form of commitment to a this-worldly salvation. The rights of homosexual persons in the church and society are but the latest of a long line of concerns for such justice in this church.

Not only the progressives but also the orthodox….

At the same time, some (but not all) of “the orthodox” in the Churches need to be aware that they too can and do often politicize the Gospel of the Father concerning his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. To state it symbolically, they place the US Flag in front of the Cross, or they insist on singing the National Anthem in close proximity to the Prayer for the Church [militant here on earth] in the Eucharist. In plain terms, and as examples, they think of Christ as if he were an American, they tend to understand the biblical concept and language of freedom (in Christ by the Holy Spirit) in terms of the freedom associated with the “liberty” of the American constitution and the American dream, and they are prone to identify Israeli policies in the Near East as just, right and biblical and those of the Palestinians as at best unacceptable.

They seem unable to separate the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from their values of patriotism, nationalism, ethnicity, culture, class and even race. They cannot understand how a Christian can vote for a party other than the Republican, and they often support conservative forms of liturgy and piety, as well as doctrine and morals, because they see these as expressing or lending support to their social conservatism. Further, they seem unable to comprehend the possibility that the true Church of God, the Body of Christ, is to be in this world and for this world but yet not of this world (where “the world” includes the ethos, norms and culture of the USA!).

The Gospel

The offer of the Gospel and the gift of God therein is made to all peoples and all classes and races, and thus in Christ there are no divisions, for in Baptism and by regeneration all are equal before God the Father. The Gospel does not favor one political party over another or one culture above another. All parties and cultures are under the judgment of God and there are different degrees of “human good” in them but none of them is anywhere near an expression of the Gospel or the Kingdom of God. This age, with all its enlightenment and achievements is an evil age and this world is under the constant judgment of the Lord. Of course, Christians have to make judgments as to how they shall live whether it be in a democracy or in a dictatorship. Yet never are they to identify any human order with the kingdom or with the demands of the Gospel, for both the kingdom and the Gospel belong to that which is above and not of this world. This means that though they prefer this party to that and this program to that and this social policy to that, they are preferring that which is imperfect to that which is more so, since nowhere in this world is there perfection in God’s reckoning.

The Ten Commandments is not social conservatism for they begin with a strong word of Redemption; the Sermon on the Mount is not social conservatism for the Lord calls for radical behavior to obey his word; and the ethics of the apostle Paul call for major changes in the relation of social classes in the fellowship of the churches.

The Gospel is all about the new creation, the order of the kingdom of heaven/God, and what it promises is both above and future, even though aspects of what shall be are felt and known now by the elect – already but not yet! Thus the Gospel must not be closely identified with any social or cultural or economic program of the right or the left, even though the Church is called to show mercy and be the salt and light of the world. The Church is to be in the world and for the world (in mission, evangelization and social service) but not of the world (in identifying closely with political parties, cultures, norms, values etc.).

Certainly our political and social views should be informed by the Gospel and the teaching of the Kingdom of God. Informed by but not equated with, and always under the judgment of God.

The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon MA., D.Phil (Oxford)