Christianity and The American Way

The state of affairs that has developed between Christianity and American culture is more than a little interesting. Two extremes are emerging in terms of versions of Christianity within American culture. One version of Christianity is the version that subjects itself to American philosophies of life top to bottom. In this version of Christianity, the individual is the captain and pilot of his own ship. The Bible is useful in a few scenarios and only in a few scenarios but it must be kept in check, in subjugation to the modern minds of enlightened men and women that know better than the ancient, out dated, backwards thinking, misogynists, narrow minded bigots, often blood-thirsty, and hyper-patriarchal men that wrote it. Modern American minds are thought (only by American culture) to be superior, not only to the minds of the men God used to write Scripture but also to the rest of the world in many cases. The superior attitude of the typical individual in American culture is both fascinating from a psychological standpoint, and incredibly appalling from a moral perspective.

This modern, enlightened, sensible, but perverse understanding of Christianity is the product of unregenerate scholars, pastors, teachers, Christians, and Churches. This perversion begins with a rejection of the ancient tradition of Christian doctrine as it is expressed in Scripture. Moreover, this version of Christianity begins with a rejection of the traditional view within Christianity on the subject of Scripture. The two most distinguished statements of faith in modern Christian thought are the Westminster Confession and the London Baptist Confession. The former was adopted by the Presbyterians and in modified form by the Congregationalists while the latter served as the Baptist expression of Christian belief. With only a few nuances, the documents are virtually identical and it is understand that the Baptist Confession used the Westminster Confession for much of its work. I should add that the Congregationalists modified version of the Westminster Confession is known as the Savoy Declaration. First, most Christians in modern American Churches are completely oblivious to these historical documents. This fact tells you a great deal about the mindset of the typical American Christian and their leaders. The reason I mention these confessions is first and foremost to point out that all three of them begin with what creators believed was the single most important factor within Christianity: a proper understanding and perspective regarding the Christian documents we now call the Bible. Each confession holds to virtually identically language concerning the high position of Scripture within the Christian community. For these men, Scripture was over the Church, something to be appreciated, understood, believed and obeyed. This was the only acceptable disposition of the Christian and his attitude toward sacred Scripture.

In the mind of the modern American, it is the individual that is elevated and placed over Scripture. In the minds of the overwhelming majority of modern “Christians” Scripture is no longer viewed as something that holds us captive and frees us from ourselves and the sin which we so dearly cherish, but rather, it is precisely the other way around. Modern Christians, American ones especially, think it is their duty to rescue Christianity from the embarrassing claims and teachings of the Bible. Hence, anything in the sacred writings that runs the risk of offense to the modern sensibilities of the autonomous and enlightened mind is either cut away from the text overtly or reinterpreted covertly so that the Bible can co-exist with the tastes and preferences and sensibilities of the modern American mind.

If there is no one standard by which Christians ought to live their lives, eventually we end up in a radical free-for-all where anything goes. And it is this exact place that I believe best defines the pop Christianity of American culture. The numbers of negotiable beliefs that are on the table seem to extend of every Christian belief that has come to shape Christianity from the beginning. This pop Christianity over time has called into question and deemed acceptable just about every modification Christian doctrine imaginable.

The very first movement of this pop Christianity of course is the challenge to Scripture as our final authority for faith and practice and long held Christian belief that Scripture is of divine origin and must be believed and obeyed. The London Baptist Confession of 1689 opens with this line, “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.” Once Scripture is depreciated to the place where human minds can either dismiss it or subject it to radical reinterpretation, the Christian worldview is no more. The distinctive of Christianity as a religion evaporates upon a non-Christian perspective of the nature of sacred Scripture. Once this move is made, Christianity becomes a religion based upon the autonomy and authority of the human mind. And there will be as many versions of that religion as there are human minds tinkering with it. When the sole standard for what must be believed and obeyed is discarded either by way of overtly relegating it to the ash heap or covertly by perversion of what it expresses, then every other competing standard has an equal opportunity to sit at the table. And whatever that religion is, at the end of the day, I can tell you what it is not. It is not Christianity in any true sense of the word, Christian.

When pseudo pop Christians become the face of Christianity in a culture, mass confusion and chaos follows. This is exactly what has happened in American culture. Pop Christianity has come to the place where it rejects the Bible as the inspired and inerrant word of God. PC rejects the view that one must believe that Jesus is divine in order to be a Christian. PC rejects the sexual ethic of biblical Christianity, not only permitting sexual promiscuity within its community but also rejecting the biblical teachings concerning marriage as between a man and a woman. PC has accepted the view that you can engage in the perversion known as gay sex and still be a Christian. PC has rejected much of the OT teachings about God and His activities and believes one does not have to accept these stories as historical realities in order to be genuinely Christian. Things like abortion on demand, female leadership, divorce on demand, and a host of other ungodly practices have been deemed morally acceptable with pop Christianity. There is essentially no difference between pop Christianity and the general values principles of American culture. Pop Christianity is a religion that uses the language of historic Christianity but then it empties that language of all its historic content and replaces it with modern philosophies based on the sensibilities of modern enlightened minds that know better than the ancient documents of sacred Scripture.

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Prov. 14:12)

Who is Jesus? America’s Corruption of the Christian Religion

Believe it or not, accept it or not, America is one of the most idolatrous nations in the history of civilization. There are more versions of God, more versions of Jesus, and more versions of Christianity in this county than any other country in the world, or so it seems. The old song from Sinatra rings especially true in American religious thought: I did it my way. This is precisely where America is when it comes to religion. Now, this would not be so upsetting if it were not for America’s roots in the deep riches Christian intellectual thought. At one time, perhaps she was a different kind of nation. But those days have long since passed. In fact, they passed into the annals of history long ago, more so than most Christians want to admit. America has been playing catch-up with the rest of the secular world, and she has managed to do just that. In fact, from the vantage point of many observers, she is on the verge of taking over the prized lead position.

In Mark 8:27, Jesus asked His disciples an extremely important question related to our topic: τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι; “Who are men saying I am?” Of course Jesus already knew the answer to this question. His question was for the benefit of the disciples. Jesus’ question was met with a variety of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, or perhaps one of the prophets. Jesus then asked His disciples who they thought He was. Peter, so impudent and uninhibited thundered, “You are the Christ.” It is a very good question and one that every person coming into the world must answer sooner or later. Who is Jesus? The views are multifarious. But for Peter, the answer was obvious!

Some will say that Jesus was a good man. Others say He was a very wise philosopher who gave us some great principles to live by. Moreover, He even demonstrated how we could live out those principles in every-day life. Some say Jesus did not exist as a historical figure and that he is the construction of an over imaginative religious mind. Such a view is without historical merit and discredits those who hold it. Others admit He is the founder of the world’s largest religion. But they say He was nothing more than a fascinating man among fascinating men.

Some say Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, but not God of very God. In other words, He was a very special man, and perhaps the most special of all men, but he was a man nonetheless. His Messianic status should not be defined as deity. This view can even be discovered in supposedly evangelical Churches in the twenty-first century. The Mormons say that Jesus was the offspring of a god. He was the brother of Satan. He rose above all others because of his obedience and as a result, he has been promoted to the status of god. In fact, we too we can reach this status if we work hard enough at doing the right things long enough.

Jesus, after revealing Himself to His disciples informed them of His mission. He told them that He would be delivered over to the Jews and Romans and eventually He would be killed. He also informed them that after three days he would rise again. This was His mission as the Messiah. Evidencing that they had other intentions and plans for Jesus, Peter stood up and rebuked Jesus for this view. Peter had envisioned a literal, immediate King that would ascend to the throne of David and establish the Kingdom of God here and now. Peter and the other disciples had an agenda for the Messiah. They had certain presuppositions about what the Messiah would do once He finally arrived on the scene. Indeed, being murdered by the Jewish and Romans leaders was not part of their vision for what the Messiah would do.

You see, the disciple’s version of the Messiah and God’s version of the Messiah were not exactly the same. In God’s version, the Messiah would establish His spiritual kingdom immediately, providing for the redemption of His elect. Thus Christ said He would build His Church on the Rock! It was this Church that Christ’s blood redeems from all of fallen humanity. This was the mission of the Messiah. This isn’t the only time that man’s beliefs for an ideal state contradicted God’s plans. In fact, it happens to be the case that unregenerate men always create a version of God, Christ, the Church, and God’s plan that is quite different from His.

In America, Jesus is a loving person who wouldn’t judge or condemn anybody. The American Jesus is a very different Jesus from the one presented in Scripture. America’s Jesus is as flexible and nimble as the individual wants him to be. This Jesus is the best pop-psychologist we could ever hope for. He can be an all-loving, non-judging, happy go lucky, care-free, do whatever you makes you feel good about yourself kind of Jesus. The important thing is that in America, Jesus is whatever you want Him to be. He is accepting of the gay lifestyle just as it is. After all, sex is love, and gay sex is gay love. Abortion is understood because Jesus respects a woman’s right over her own body. Jesus loves women. Divorce is perfectly acceptable under any circumstances. Jesus wants us to be happy. He understands we make mistakes when we get married sometimes and He is not going to hit us over the head for just wanting to be happy. The American Jesus is tolerant of everything except intolerance and of course any version of Jesus that contradicts him. The American Jesus is the founder of an American Church where anything goes, everyone is welcomed, and God is whatever or whoever the individual wants him to be. The American Jesus gave us the Bible, and he allows us to update it accordingly in order to keep pace with modern enlightened viewpoints, and science of course.

When Jesus rebuked Peter He said something very interesting to him. Get thee behind me Satan for you do not serve the interests of God, but of man. In other words, Peter’s idea of Jesus’ mission was a man-centered idea that served the interests of man and not God. Peter simply wanted to preserve Jesus’ life. He wanted Jesus to ascend the throne now! He wanted to throw off the Roman yoke. He wanted God’s theocracy to begin immediately. Now, at face value, I cannot find fault with any of these things in and of themselves. The problem is that Peter was giving no consideration to God in his reasoning. Peter’s idea was the product of autonomy. He thought Jesus had come to fulfill his ideas of what the Messiah should be and do. Peter thought Jesus was supposed to create a particular state of affairs. Peter was wrong.

The American culture has done precisely the same thing with its version of Christianity. We, too, have a particular kind of Jesus in mind when we hear that name. We also have a particular state of affairs in mind that we think Jesus should be producing in our lives, our communities, our Churches, our country, and even the world. We impose our cultural freedoms onto God, Christ, and the Christian Church thinking we can create a God, a Jesus, and a Church from our own imagination. We feel quite at home making these adjustments. We can make them everywhere else in our lives, why not the sacred? From this particular state of affairs, many of us force onto Jesus an idea that is simply not real. Rather than accepting the Messiah for who and what He is and submit to His work in the earth and humbly accept His mission and work in our lives and world, we begin with our desired state of affairs and force that state on Jesus. And in so doing, we create a false Jesus. In other words, when turn the Jesus of Scripture into the idolatrous Jesus of a sinful heart. We have created 300 million Jesuses in America. And when we stand them in our mirrors, the image we see staring back at us is all too familiar.

“Jesus is reverenced in the cultic setting and in actions otherwise (and in Jewish groups) reserved for God.” [Hurtado, At the Origins of Christian Worship] From her inception, the Church has recognized that Jesus is God of very God. As God, He is the sovereign Lord over all of creation and has full right to our undying loyalty and devotion. What right do we have to reshape Jesus or repurpose Christianity to be what we want it to be? Such an act is not only preposterous, it is idolatry.