I am very concerned about the direction that many American evangelicals have taken with regard to their strong support for the just-past Trump administration. Here they had a leader who skillfully manipulated them in support by his strong political stand (not necessarily personal conviction) against abortion and gay marriage.
This does not mean that all American evangelicals are included in this caution.
There is a strong point of wisdom from the study of history. ‘Everyone who does not learn from history is bound to repeat the same mistakes.’
Two of the most glaring mistakes that churches have made was the Catholic Church in France in the many decades that preceded the French Revolution (1789). The second was the very close marriage between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Czar (the autocratic government) prior to the revolution of 1917. In both examples both sides were benefitting from the power and wealth of the other. It was a social marriage of enrichment.
But what happened? When the revolution (the uprising of the anger of the people to the oppression of the king and religion) erupted, both churches were butchered! The people took out their anger and frustration on king and church in the same uprising. No one should be sorry that the churches suffered so greatly. They made the wrong friends! They were so entwined with the political and economic powers that they could not see how far off-course they were.
Religion should always have a love-hate relationship with power: whether it be pollical power, big business or big media. If the church is faithful to its calling there will always be a line of tension in all relationships with power!
This does not mean that religion must stand opposed to the leadership of government or of big media. It means that it must cooperate with all forces within a society that are working for the well-being of the society.
Where were the Churches during the three hundred years that slavery was practiced in the Americas? Why were there so few voices that opposed such a brutal and unjust system of economic production?
The people of the Church must ask the tough questions of governments, the big media, educational institutions and big business. There are going to be people in our churches who will walk out in anger: the churches have no business to ever ask how the poor are benefitting from the billions of dollars in profit that our corporations are making this year! Fear of upsetting some people never gives us permission not to ask how our society is caring for and trying to lift up the poor (the people who benefit the least from the benefits of the society).
The Church must work with the parts of society that help its citizens to thrive but it must always walk with a critical eye toward its own timidity to challenge selfishness, racism, destruction of the eco-system and downright indifference toward the poor and the suffering. And it must not only exercise that attitude towards the government but it must also bring these same critical tools to its own exercise of power within its own life. The Church must walk with a self-critical attitude.
Simply put, a healthy church must never become too comfortable!
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