c. 2006 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Now that the unloosed genie of religious intolerance has replaced racial hatred and anti-communist blather as the go-to guy of desperate politicians, it is time for religious leaders of all stripes to take back the night.
We now know what politicians think of us _ conservative Christians are goofy and off-balanced, progressive Christians don’t even exist _ and by their behavior we know how little the gospel has penetrated their veneer of moral probity.
Fine, Christianity has always served better on the margins than at the center of power. When we walk hand-in-hand with power-seekers, we lose touch with the gospel. When we grasp public funds, tax benefits and prestige, we stray far from a Savior who commanded exactly the opposite.
Fine, shame on us. We got in bed with the wrong people. Our polite invocations did nothing to cleanse the corrupt hearts of today’s politicians. Photo-ops simply aligned us with policies that, by any reasonable assessment, violate the most fundamental principles of our faith.
Fine, for the price of a power breakfast we got snookered. Conservative Christians lent their heft to crooks and cowards, and progressive Christians lapsed into self-protective silence.
Enough of this. It is time we remembered who we are.
We are preachers, trying to proclaim a gospel that the world finds unsettling. We proclaim a hope that doesn’t depend on wealth and power, we call our people to give, not take, and to form families and friendships that nurture life, healing and love.
We are believers who yearn to know God, who want to make a difference with our lives, who take today seriously and approach tomorrow with confidence.
We are inheritors of noble traditions like hospitality, self-sacrifice, carrying food to the grieving, building houses for others, seeing the needy at the gate, looking beyond self-interest, singing God’s praise through even the darkest night. We forgive those who hurt us, and we confess our wounding of God.
We look stupid parading alongside the corrupt. The dais and dalliance of modern politics aren’t our place. Crumbs falling from Republican and Democratic tables aren’t the manna we seek. We have nobler ideals than staying in office for another two years. We have food that endures to eternal life.
That doesn’t mean withdrawing from public life or lapsing into silence. Exactly the opposite. The commonweal needs our voices _ even when we disagree. The citizens of our land need to be reminded what matters. But they need our voices to be free _ free of compliance, free of taint, free of grimy calculation.
Even more, the citizenry needs to hear our disagreements, even when the only way we know to express them is to shout invective at doctrinal enemies. People need to know that God isn’t a captive of any political party; that faith is about life, not campaign slogans; that faith is challenging, not easy; and that Christianity’s many accents convey the promise of redemption.
Yes, we disagree. It’s hard to think of any matter, from large doctrine to small liturgical preference, on which Christians don’t hold strong and mutually exclusive positions. Fine, that is our cross to bear, our sin to confess. Politicians offer nothing to that work. They use and abuse.
It is time for us to take back our gospel, even though we disagree mightily about what the gospel says. It is time for us to speak for ourselves, and let politicians find other justifications for their self-serving charade.
The Good News isn’t for sale to the political class.
KRE/JL END EHRICH
(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)
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