Musing 32

In the classic Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr, there were 5 ways the Church relates to culture -

• Christ against culture
• Christ of culture
• Christ above culture
• Christ in paradox with culture
• Christ redeems culture

While much could be said about these categories and how they are understood today, I want to take a moment about the Christ of culture category.

Historically, Niebuhr associated this with theological liberalism and heresy of various sorts (ie any movement that removes Christ’s condemnation of culture itself or somehow bridges the gap between Christ and the world without opposing sin).

But one of the more . . .. curious things is that it seems to me that we have a day where there is just as strong a “Christ of culture” moment on the right wing as we do on the left. Especially in the last 10 years or so, I’ve seen loyalty to the Religious Right or generic Republicanism that trumps gospel loyalty. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard otherwise conservative Christians say “if I have to say a Buddhist prayer to get that abortion clinic shut down, I will” and then push back when called out on the idolatry that was just expressed.

Or when the same people complain about absolutely horrific people being nominated as a Republican, but daren’t allow anyone else to air those complaints, because “you wouldn’t want the Democrat to win, now would you?” despite the fact that the two’s actual track records on moral issues were actually nigh interchangeable.

While there is much wisdom in not voting for a leopard that will eat your face (and we are to seek leaders who will let us live in peace so as to spread the gospel), I think it’s become clear that both sides are equally opposed to the gospel, just in different ways.

On the left, that opposition is found in its ties to secularism and advancing rebellion against God in the personal morality realm. On the right, the opposition to the Gospel is found in the refusal to bring the Gospel into the economic realm, regardless of what the consequences might be. A company pours out toxic chemicals in the water and causes terminal cancer in the locals? Nothing a bribe won’t just fix, but buy a wholehearted political defense. A manager who steals wages from his workers? Well, that’s just industry practice, you can’t really expect us to prosecute everyone, can you? If so, that’s just government overreach and cloaked socialism.

And with those magic words, the majority of Christians will shut down their thinking about what the gospel may require us to push for in society, and we simply listen to what the talking head on the screen tells us.

Sadly, I wish I was making up the above comments, but all are things I’ve heard when providing good faith critiques of those we wish to elevate to leadership (either for the first time or to a higher office). As Christians, our concerns are very different from that of the worlds, but it too often seems to me that in pursuit of political power, we have sold the gospel to ally with those who have just enough Christian morality to salve our consciences towards the alternatives.

Yes, there are times when the only options before us are forms of evil. But such mustn’t deter us from recognizing that righteous leadership will only happen when the people themselves are converted.