Hola...Well, it's been a little while (once again)....But I just re-read a section of this book earlier today, and thought it was worth putting up here. No original thoughts from me, but good one's from a guy named Shane Claiborne. The reason I looked it up is because I met someone this weekend who thought it was a good idea that a certain church was reciting the pledge of allegiance...This after I had mentioned how disappointing that was to me. I said that well before I had any idea where this fella was coming from, but to be honest, I couldn't and wouldn't have said anything different had i known. Oh well....Take a read and tell me what you think.
"I have become well acquainted with the dualism in the North American church. Once, after taking a trip to Iraq to protest the war, I went to Willow creek and gave a talk titled “The scandal of Grace.” Afterward, they explained to me that the pulpits are not for political messages. I thought about what would have happened if Reverend King hadn’t allowed the gospel to get political. My heart sank as I walked into the foyer and noticed something I had never seen before: the American flag standing prominently in front of the auditorium. And never before was I so heartbroken that the cross was missing. For the flag and the cross are both spiritual. And they are both political. It is a dangerous day when we can take the cross out of the church more easily than the flag. Now wonder it is hard for seekers to find God nowadays. It’s difficult to know where Christianity ends and America begins.[1] Our money says, “In God We Trust.” God’s name is on America’s money, and America’s flag is on God’s altars.
"For those of us who grow instantly nauseated at the mention of the word politics, maybe we can break it down a little bit. The English word politics derives from the Greek word polis, as in “metropolis” or “Indianapolis.” The word is rooted in the concepts of “city,” “civil,” “citizen,” “civic,” basically what it means to be a society of people. Anything involving humans living together purposefully is political, a polis. As the people of God, we are building a new society in the shell of the old, a new polis, the New Jerusalem, the city of God. This is essentially a political act. Without a doubt, envisioning the radical countercultural values of God’s kingdom is by its essence political. Imagine the Gospels with every mention of king, kingdom, Lord, Savior, crowns, banners, and thrones (all words from the imperial lexicon) all edited out. A gospel that is not political is no gospel at all. The root of the word allegiance means “Lord”; that’s exactly what the early Christians were executed for, for pledging an allegiance to another kingdom, another Lord — treason. In 2004, as the presidential election rolled around, many of us studied the Scriptures and considered what it means to claim Jesus as Lord, or as president. When people asked who I was voting for, I would say, “My president has already ascended the throne and has already delivered the State of the Union address. I don’t believe that God needs a commander-in-chief or a millionaire in Washington, and I have little faith that either of the likely options will incarnate the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the fruit of the Spirit. I will declare my allegiance from the mountaintops, joining the chorus of the saints and martyrs. And I will raise the banner of love above all flags.” After all, we vote every day by how we live, what we buy, and who we pledge allegiance to, so I just resolved to write in my vote, as I did not find it on the national ballot. And I was determined not to let my vote be confined to a private booth, secret ballot, or taboo conversation."
LATER IN THE SAME CHAPTER, CLAIBORNE CONTINUES….
LATER IN THE SAME CHAPTER, CLAIBORNE CONTINUES….
Shortly after September 11th, I traveled to speak to a large congregation in the Midwest (And no, it wasn’t WillowCreek). Before I got up to preach, a military color gurard presented the US flag at the altar. The choir filed in one-by-one, dressed in red, white and blue, with the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” playing in the background. I knew I was in big trouble. The congregation pledged allegiance to the flag, and I wished it were all a dream. It wasn’t. I got up to speak, thankful I was standing behind a large podium lest anyone try to pelt me with a pew Bible. I went forward to preach the truth in love with my knees knocking and managed to make it out okay with a bunch of hugs and a few feisty letters. This is a dramatic (though painfully true) illustration of the messy collision of Christianity and patriotism that has rippled across our land.
–Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution
[1] Two of the more troubling signs I’ve seen are a red, white, and blue T-shirt that says “jesUSAves”…and a new line of old-school Christian fish symbols you can put on your car, but instead of “Jesus” in the middle of the fish, it has “Bush.” Truth is stranger than fiction: see http://www.bushfish.org/
