The Lost Message of Christ in Today’s Political Arena

The Gospel: boring, irrelevant, outdated, unnecessary?

But what is the Gospel Message?

You’d think it has something to do with the American Dream as in “God Bless America!”  You’d think it has something to do with the ultra conservative right wing branch of the Republican Party, a la Ted Cruz.  You’d think that it has something to do with anti-communism, Laissez-Faire Capitalism, or name-it and claim-it economic prosperity.  You’d think it has something to do with power, independence, individual freedom, and the right to happiness.  You’d think that the Gospel was tailor-made for America so as to be “a shinning city upon a hill” to the rest of the world.

You’d think.

For, when the Gospel is couched in patriotic terms, embedded in American values, wrapped in the American Flag as it were and presented as the American Dream, the Gospel glitters and dazzles with glorious applause: “America!!  Isn’t she great?!  That’s what we’re talking about.  Preach it brother!  Spread the Good News—freedom, liberty, wealth and prosperity!  America the Beautiful!  Now, that’s a Gospel message worth talking about!  And cursed be anyone who preaches a different Gospel than that!”

Really?

In actuality, the Gospel of Christ has little to do with the American Dream and most certainly has nothing to do with American politics, the American Way, or American Nationalistic Patriotism.  Yet, somehow many Christians express their Christian faith with patriotic sentiments as if the Gospel and the American Dream were one and the same.  How odd.  For, to do so, is in fact to preach a false Gospel.

In truth, generally speaking, the actual Gospel message, when authentically and sincerely shared, is either ignored, unwelcomed, contested, and/or rejected as irrelevant, narrow-minded, pie-in-the-sky, head in the clouds, outdated matter that has little place in today’s Modern World.

The true Gospel of Christ is first and foremost about God, not wealth and prosperity, not American Nationalism, not liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  It is about God who is righteous, holy, good, and just.  It is about God as Creator, master and lord of the universe.  And it is about humanity’s relationship to God.

According to Gospel Truth, humans are creatures, made by God, made in God’s image.  Humans therefore owe God respect and adoration.  Humans are to rightly worship God.  And thus, the Gospel is about judgment and condemnation—God’s judgment and God’s condemnation of rebellion and wrongdoing and sin and evil.  That is why the Gospel is most pointedly about salvation.  God saving humanity from its own self-condemning acts of rebellion, distrust and disbelief in God’s Goodness, righteousness, and justice.

And so, the Gospel has little to do with American politics or American social economic agenda, as such.  Yes, the Gospel has implications that affect a person’s mindset, attitude, and values, which in effect give shape to one’s thinking and behavior as a citizen of his/her country—whatever country that may be.  But the Gospel is not about one’s nation or country or one’s government.  Rather, it is about a Kingdom that is not of this world—the Kingdom of God.  And it is about a King that stands apart from and above all other earthly rulers—the Lordship of Christ.  And most importantly, it is about humanity being held accountable to God for falling short when measured against God’s goodness, holiness, justice, and truth—God’s Glory.

But here’s the thing, American Christians bemoan the fact that the church and Christianity no longer has the dominant sway and influence over American society that it use to have and once took for granted.

I suggest that the reason for the decline in Christianity’s influence in American society is twofold: (1) Christians have wrongly merged the Christian faith with American patriotism, making it feel to others (especially non-religious type) as if the Christian agenda is supposed to be more authentically “American” than any other agenda, for defining American principles  values  and practices.  And (2) there is a growing lack of belief in God, coupled with a growing variety of Faiths in God, in American society, such that, the Gospel message of Christianity is more and more viewed as too narrow or exclusive (and therefor unacceptable) by more Americans than ever before.

I would therefore suggest that Christians would have a better chance of being heard again, and being respected again for the content of their faith and practices, if they correct the error by UN-coupling American political agenda with the Gospel of Christ.  That is, the Gospel of Christ must be separated from American political nationalism so as to be authentically heard again.

In other words, the Gospel must stand on its own terms and have its own voice again.  America is NOT God’s Promise Land and US political agenda need not cater to Kingdom of Christ principles, values, and practices in order for the Gospel to remain relevant.  Christians are sojourners, citizens of the Kingdom of God, and must therefore act as such.  It is a citizenship of a higher calling, calling for a higher level of living, and should have a deeper impact upon human lives than that of any earthly political party, left or right.