American Idols

"You shall have no other gods before me." ~ Exodus 20:2 (from the Ten Commandments)

A recent Time magazine survey got the attention of many in our post-9/11 world. It said that 47% of American Muslims consider themselves Muslim first, and Americans second. Furthermore 29% considered themselves Americans first and Muslims second. This kind of survey reminded me of stories I heard about John F. Kennedy's run for the White House in 1960, when the press asked him if in a crisis he as Roman Catholic would defer to the Pope ahead of the Constitution if confronted with such a choice. Kennedy (who would go on to become America's first Roman Catholic president) answered firmly that as President, no ecclesial authority or religious creed would outrank his allegiance to the Constitution or to the country.

Regarding the two examples above, it seems that many Christians are troubled that the 47% number (nearly half!) is so high, but are relieved at the 29% statistic. Furthermore, it seems that many Americans breathed a sigh of relief when the young Senator from Massachusetts in 1960 made his statement, so much so that they elected him as president over the more experienced former vice-president, Richard Nixon. However, as I read Scripture, from the Ten Commanments to the sayings of Jesus especially, it seems that we as Christians may need to rethink our answer to the following question: Are we more Christian or more American (or whatever nationality we may be)?

It seems the prevailing sentiment among American Christians is that faith is a "private matter" that is part of our learning to be a "good citizen" of America in general and of our favorite political party in particular. It seems that Jesus would disagee, though. Time and time again, Jesus contrasts the Kingdom of God with the "kingdoms of this world." Indeed, the final straw for those seeking to kill Jesus came about when He began making distinctions between the Kingdom He came to proclaim and the kingdom that prevailed financially, politically, and militarily in his own day! He contrasts His peace with the peace that "the world gives." He remarked that His kingdom is not "of this world," which in Greek is best understood as saying that His kingdom does not derive its power or authority from the world's way of governing. And, elsewhere in the New Testament, when Jesus and Paul urge believers to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" and to do our best to respect the authorities placed over us, both make it clear that our ultimate allegiance is to God, and when the two (the government/nation and the ways of God) are in conflict, God's kingdom is to be the winner.

Tony Campolo, the Evangelical preacher and sociologist, once ran for Congress in Pennsylvania. He was introduced at a rally by a well-meaning friend and supporter who stated that if Campolo were elected he would "carry out the will of those who elected him without question; he will be your representative." Campolo approached the podium to thunderous applause, but quickly corrected his well-meaing friend. "My friends," he began, "I cannot completely agree with the introduction I just received. I am a person of faith, a Christian, and I will represent the people of this district on insofar as the will of the people does not contradict what I hold most dear - my faith in God." There were some stunned looks and some pockets of applause. Campolo was not elected, but he went on to become one of the most influential Evangelical ministers and leaders of the last fifty years. Sadly, it was a constituency of Christian voters that was partly responsible for Campolo not receiving enough votes to be elected.

What's the point? The point is that if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, our loyalty is to His kingdom and His ways above all else. I wonder if the survey given to Muslims were taken by we Evangelical Christians, who make a point of saying we highly value the message and meaning of Scripture, if we could even find 47% who would say, "Before anything else, I am a follower of Jesus." If so, then we would be saying with our lives and our allegiance that when our favorite political party is doing something contrary to the ways of Christ, we would rather critique it or even abandon it before we would compromise our faith in Jesus. We would say that, while we are thankful for our nation, we will not blindly worship its ways or policies when those ways contradict the ideals of God and of God's Word. We will allow lesser loyalties to bow before the Majesty of the One who is King of Kings and whose Kingdom/Nation is our heart's true home.

-- Charles W. Christian