The Englishman G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) once commented: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” In the context of an American Christianity that has been popularized by both the prosperity Gospel and a version of Evangelical Christianity whose focus is primarily on life after death, Chesterton’s observation merely raises a few skeptical eyebrows.
In the former Christianity has been aligned with capitalism and the attainment of health and wealth. The underlying assumption of the prosperity Gospel is that God’s favor of health and wealth may be attained by the proper measure of faith, or the right kind of faith, or the right expression of faith. In this prosperity version of Christianity consumerism becomes its closest ally and biggest supporter.
The latter form of Christianity is a modern version closely resembling the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. Because there is a disdain for the physical world the heavenly spiritual realm becomes the ultimate goal of Christianity, making it the primary reason for faith. Therefore one believes Jesus came primarily to offer us eternal life in heaven once we escape this prison we call the body (a very Gnostic idea).
Unfortunately many well meaning Christians are completely unaware of how closely aligned they are with this ancient heresy of Gnosticism. Additionally many Christians are also unaware of how Nationalism/Capitalism and Christianity have blended together into a flag waving consumerist brand of religion that the early Christians would never have recognized.
Now all this isn’t to say that there are no faithful American Christians today. There are indeed those faithful ones who take Jesus seriously enough to pattern their own lives after his example and teachings. Yet when I hear presidential candidates playing on the religious expectations of the population (mainly the Evangelical voting bloc) I have to ask myself which version of Christianity are both sides espousing?
Yet what is even more disturbing to me is the naïveté of many of the American voters. I have maintained for years that Americans can be at times the most religiously naïve or gullible people in the Western world. Many today are duped into believing certain presidential candidates are good Christians simply because their candidate is good at using just the right amount of God talk. Yes, God talk goes long way in the Bible belt, right?
Truth check: Words are empty when not supported by actions. Saying that the next President should be a man who begins each day on his knees in one breath and calling for a carpet-bombing campaign in the next creates some cognitive disturbance for me. I cannot trust such a person. His words and his actions do not cohere. Excusing these campaign tactics as nothing more than a politician playing the crowd will not suffice to justify such behavior.
Claiming to belong to one of America’s great historic denominations in one breath while ignoring that denominations stance on immigration causes me to question the man’s religious integrity. I believe we have the responsibility to make these kinds of judgment calls. It’s not being judgmental but rather practicing discernment—something one candidate in particular would do well to remember when criticizing the Pope for his own discernment of the candidate’s lack of Christian character. When a person’s words and actions misalign something is amiss.
Jesus once said that what’s really in a person’s heart is revealed by the way a person lives. Works, not words, serve as the ultimate litmus test for authentic faith. The American voter would do well to turn down the volume on all the campaign religious rhetoric and closely observe the lifestyle and life history of any given candidate.
Truth is, the version of Christianity Jesus inspired would not win many votes today or any popularity contests. The radical version of faith that Jesus demonstrated is too often branded as unrealistic and naive at best. It’s out of step with the modern world say many. It won’t hold up in the face of today’s harsh realities.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave and self-educated man, wrote in his autobiography the following prophetic words:
“Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference — so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity.”
I too notice a huge disparity that exists between what is popularly embraced as Christianity in America and the brand of Christianity that aligns itself with the teachings of Jesus. Perhaps Chesterton is right and the latter is indeed too tough to try.
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