You Are What You Love

I grew up memorizing scripture, lots of scripture in fact. Mom had her favorite verses and many of those were of the “two birds with one stone” type. We learned scripture but with a learning that was purpose driven, attending to some need for behavioral formation in our youth.

We learned to “be ye kind to one another” in the hope of keeping the peace amongst us kids. We learned about coming judgment for “every idle word that men shall speak” in the hope of keeping our speech pure. We learned to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” as one more requirement of being holy.

Of course, mom had a backup plan if the desired outcome wasn’t immediately forthcoming. If the “be ye kind” didn’t work, the “rod of correction” was kept nearby. If an idle word slipped out, soap was just one bathroom away. And if the “whatever is pure” fell short, a lecture on hell fire could be readily brought to bear.

We were called to be a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” and mom knew how to get there. Christian formation was kindness, self-control in speech and thought, abstaining from immorality, temperance, and the shunning of bad habits. All were typical holiness moves back then, a witness to the deep holiness and fundamentalist roots in our Pentecostal movement. Of course, there was prayer, reading the bible and swinging from the chandeliers (just kidding). But that holiness stuff was king.

It’s all about the fight
Fast forward 60 years to last January when Rodney Howard-Browne, an evangelist who once frequented our church in Alaska, lashed out at John Bolton over the news that the former national security adviser had written a book that might confirm the existence of a quid pro quo between Trump and Ukraine, an allegation that had been made by House Democrats leading up to Trump’s impeachment.

“You are a slime ball of the highest order,” Howard-Browne said. “I should have knocked your sorry butt through the door of the Oval Office into the rose garden when I saw you. I would have gladly been arrested.”

A few months ago, Eric Metaxas, one of Trump’s court evangelicals sucker punched a protester on a bicycle from behind. Metaxas claimed that it was self-defense, but the video of the incident clearly shows otherwise as Metaxas had to step out of his way to punch the biker as he passed.

Trump’s term may be over, but the culture wars live on. As Peter Wehner in the Atlantic tells of a colleague who, after interviewing a number of evangelicals said: “I have never witnessed the kind of excitement and enthusiasm for a political figure in my life,” he told me. “I honestly couldn’t believe the unwavering support they have [for Trump]. And to a person, it was all about ‘the fight.”

Wehner opines: “Part of the answer is their belief that they are engaged in an existential struggle against a wicked enemy—not Russia, not North Korea, not Iran, but rather American liberals and the left. If you listen to Trump supporters who are evangelical you will hear adjectives applied to those on the left that could easily be used to describe a Stalinist regime…For them, Trump is a man who will not only push their agenda on issues such as the courts and abortion; he will be ruthless against those they view as threats to all they know and love. For a growing number of evangelicals, Trump’s dehumanizing tactics and cruelty aren’t a bug; they are a feature. Trump “owns the libs,” and they love it. He’ll bring a Glock to a cultural knife fight, and they relish that.”

Wehner is a longtime Republican operative with fellowships at conservative and faith organizations. Hence, his observations cannot be discounted as another partisan attack against the church. Particularly since they are backed by the results of the 2016 American National Election Survey (ANES). Called the “gold standard” of political surveys, ANES data show white evangelicals as the ethnoreligious group with the strongest support for “rough politics” in the public sphere.

Jesus Brought Something New
We live in a fallen world. A world marked by self-interest that inevitably leads to strife and conflict. A world marked by incredible beauty, but also by genuine evil as the ages will attest. And a world which too oft seems like Joseph Conrad’s moral abyss – covered over by a civilized thin veneer with an underlying barbarism ever ready to break through and expose the black cauldron below.

Jesus came to earth to bring something new, through the launch of a kingdom that was not of this world. As citizens of that kingdom, we are to be instruments of God’s new creation, planting signposts in hostile soil that show a different way to be human. Our task – then as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-imitating, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world – is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to bring healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion.

So how can that be? To wit: how can image-bearing, Christ-imitating, Spirit-filled Christians, called to show the world a different way to be human, not only want to live for the “fight” but be excited about it, to the extent they surpass all other groups in embracing “rough politics?” And how can such cruelty be even possible for those destined to be “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works?” Especially given the injunction in Colossians to “clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,” another verse mom had us memorize, which scripture calls an outgrowth of being God’s “holy people.”

You Are What You Love
What we say, act and think provide a window into our heart, for “out of the abundance of our heart a man speaketh.” Although who and what we worship ends up fundamentally shaping our heart, our awareness of what we worship is often lacking. There are drives deep within us and often at a subconscious level but then life’s pressures incite our passions and we find out who we really are as that thin veneer gives way to expose what lies below.

The pressure cooker of politics provides the ultimate heart truth tester. Its influence over our heart is a primary theme of James KA Smith” book “You Are What You Love.” Smith shows that the harmful outcome of this political influence is a repeated refrain throughout history. Earthly power is assimilative and through that assimilation our loves become distorted, away from the mission of the kingdom. Although we desire to shape culture, culture ends up shaping us; rather than witnessing the transforming power of the gospel, the gospel instead becomes transformed. It’s because our loves are informed by what we are devoted to and our devotions are drawn to the battle.

There’s a battle which lives loudly within today’s white evangelical church and our preoccupation with this culture war may be the biggest hinderance to the gospel. This battle acts like a Star Wars tractor beam, assimilating us into a partisan tribal collective – an assimilation with far reaching tentacles that invade every part of our life. It changes deeply held values as it reshapes our identity into a syncretistic mixture of two kingdoms. The transformation becomes complete through our passion to defend our new identity. Hence, we become what we love and our loves tell a new story of a devotion no longer solely focused on Jesus.

Once the dogs of war have been unleashed, it’s hard to call them back. Those dogs of war, which are fed by fear, crowd out the priority of love. Those dogs of war, fed by a populism-inspired “they the enemy,” are at odds with teachings of Christ. And the dogs of war, which bind and blind us to the tribe, changes our gospel witness of a God “who so loved the world.”

Jonah Goldberg said: “if you see yourself in a Manichean existential battle with the unholy Forces of Darkness, it’s much easier to overlook the adultery, greed, deceit, and corruption of your anointed champion.” Especially when that battle opens up a pandora box to a host of ungodly sensibilities, from the black cauldron of our human and fallen nature of which the cruelty is just one visible symptom.

The Upside-Down Exchange
Calvin spoke about a “wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God…Having undertaken our weakness, he has made us strong in his strength.”

The preoccupation with the culture war turns this wondrous exchange upside down when we rely upon our political muscles in a battle for the soul of the nation. Of course, there are many calls for prayer, but our actions speak louder than words. Those actions choose the coercive force of political power rather than the “foolishness” of the cross. Those actions choose the a top-down cultural pressure, rather the power of Spirit-led influence. And those actions are confirmed when a “love one another” faithfulness becomes exchanged for rough politics in the public square because of the “righteousness” of “owning the libs.”

They say this exchange is needed because Christian identities and norms hang in the balance with the rules of engagement governed by the terms of the state. Success belongs to the victor, with the cosmic ends of this struggle justifying any means. Religious behavior is desirable, but no longer a first order goal. Our Christianity must be saved and our Christian nation restored to greatness too.

Jesus never engaged in political debates but focused instead on ushering in God’s Kingdom. Christ within us is the hope of the gospel, as long as that gospel stays true and as His character is formed within us, God’s culture changing kingdom power becomes unleashed.

We are called to be the shadow Jesus casts as we imitate the King. We are called to love our enemies through an unconditional love without borders. We are called to demonstrate his Kingdom for we are His ‘workmanship” in this world. As citizens of that kingdom, we choose the cross instead of the sword. By an ethic of serving others, we choose a power submissive to others rather than a power coercive over others. And as we enlist in God’s kingdom’s plan to transform society from within, we bring Calvary’s radical countercultural love – a love that’s removed “as far as the east is from the west” from today’s cultural “knife” fight.