Who is Top Dog?

I believe it goes without saying that we are living in politically challenging times. Now I don't mean to sound overly dramatic but it sure feels that way to me.

This current climate is not an easy one for pastors to navigate. I sometimes feel like the prophet Elijah who said to his people: 

"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.”

For many pastors there are only two option to choose from in helping their congregations navigate through this political quagmire:

One, is to take the position that partisan politics in the church is a bad idea so say nothing at all about the political issues we all face. This is certainly the safest way to go but it doesn’t help their congregants think Biblically or theologically about the current issues.

Two, just throw caution to the wind and in very deliberate partisan fashion preach politics as often as possible. Unfortunately all this boils down to is the pastor imposing his or her political views upon his congregation. This is dangerous in my opinion.

So how long are we going to dance between two really bad options?

Well, to answer this question we must look back into history in order to gain some perspective; that is to discover how one controlling paradigm has shaped the relationship between the Church and the State, even to this day.

It is called the “Constantinian Synthesis.” Back in the 4th century the Roman Emperor Constantine was reported to have experienced a conversion to Christianity. As a result he made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. We can thank old Connie for the Nicene Creed in fact.

From then on Christianity has found itself in at best a tenuous relationship with whatever government it found itself, including American Christianity.

I think the real question for us today is who controls who? Who is the dominant player in this relationship between Christianity and the State? Who is the boss? Whose narrative is top dog so to speak?

Now granted there are many who see absolutely no conflict between the State and Christianity existing alongside one another. Thus one often sees the American Flag (representing the nation's  narrative) standing alongside the Christian flag (representing the Christian narrative) in church sanctuaries. 

One also sees the American flag flying above the Christian flag on church properties. It is quite apparent who the alpha dog is in this hunt.

I realize that I am really over simplifying the issue but please stay with me.

The third option for Christians is of course the narrative shaped by Christ’s kingdom ethic (Sermon on the Mount). Quite frankly this kingdom ethic often finds itself subservient to most forms of nationalism, whose goals are driven by by an ethic most often alien to Christ’s kingdom ethic.

For example, consider the following words of Jesus: 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

Just think of the many ways we Christians have attempted to soften or compromise this clear teaching on enemy love by yielding to competing narratives generated by secular politics (Just War is one example).

Yes, even in these challenging times of political unrest in our country, we Christians have an opportunity to engage the powers that be in meaningful ways. We can lovingly speak truth to power, but only if it is truth that is grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It is an opportunity for Christians to bring to bear on our nation the kingdom ethic of our Lord and Savior. Sometimes in doing so we will call into question the politics and policies of our nation (which can be quite unpopular to do so).

Many Christians today (more than you might think) are beginning to realize that it is time for us to abandon the Constantinian Church/State synthesis that has been the controlling paradigm over the past 1600 years. 

Perhaps it is time for Christians of all stripes to pledge their full allegiance to Christ’s kingdom and to begin living under the influence of the Gospel of Christ’s kingdom. 

So the real question is this: Whose narrative will be our controlling narrative as we move forward? Will it be the narrative shaped by the Gospel or a narrative shaped primarily by nationalism? 

This will not be an easy choice and I suspect many will simply ignore this third option. But for our own sake I pray that we find the courage to embrace fully the kingdom ethic of Jesus Christ (the Gospel) as the controlling narrative of our lives.

So who is the Top Dog of our lives?