USA Today had an interesting opinion piece titled, What has happend to America’s Jesus?.
While I share the writer’s dislike of the embarrassing way some claim to speak for Jesus in our country and the ridiculously un-Jesus-like things they do, I think he didn’t go back far enough. He’s compared today’s misconceptions about Jesus to another generation’s misconceptions about Jesus, but possibly ignored the actual Jesus altogether. The one who is the Way, Truth, and Life. The one who threw people out of the Temple and healed broken people whom no one else would touch. The one who refused to eat for a 40 day fast and who fed thousands with one kids’ meal.
But the article got me thinking…
Who speaks for Jesus today?
Does ‘conservative American’ really equal ‘a voice for Jesus’?
Is more conservative the same as more Christian?
Is Satan using a few hot button issues to distract conservative Christians from the real Jesus or will the battle for Christ truly be won or lost in these issues?
Is one political slant more or less Christian than another?
What are we doing to find out what Jesus really has to say?
What do you think?
All very interesting. This is something I struggle with so much. On the one hand I usually support the causes brought up by Conservative Christians, but on the other hand I often think these causes distract us from what God really wants us to be doing.
I am currently reading The Political Ethics of Alexander Campbell and he discouraged Christians from seeking public office because the government’s interests are not the same interests as the interests as the Kingdom of God. He also publicly opposed “morality societies” that sought laws against drinking, gambling, and other immoral acts.
Coming from the same faith background I thought you might find that interesting, and I wonder what some of the more conservative ministers in the Restoration Movement think about that.
Thanks for the comment Paul.
I haven’t read Campbell’s politics, but I’m not sure I’d say we should pull out of the political leadership of our nation alltogether. But on the other hand, I don’t think political activism is the most effective way to strengthen the church, either. (I’ll have to dig for that and read it sometime soon.)