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The train of faith is roaring away from the Gospel as defined by Jesus in
the Sermon on the Mount. While Christian atheists are committed to driving
the train, they have become mere passengers in an escape from God.
Peel away the layers, and the Christian identity culture has its roots in
the white supremacist movement very familiar in American history as a
backdrop for fear and conspiratorial beliefs. Christianity steeped in
symbolism but without the sovereign grace of God is a mockery of the faith,
the purpose of which was to overcome our failure to be righteous through
symbolism and obedience to a bunch of codes and laws that nobody can
keep anyway.
I believe that, rather than making progress in the flight from ignorance
of what we believe, we have institutionalized ignorance of the Gospel to the
extent that we can now point to some 30% of the America public – some
100M people – who adhere to the populism of the Christian Right, whether
they are professing Christians or not…This movement is no longer loosely
organized and structured; it has coalesced around the Republican Party and
has, I believe, given voice to a marginalized public that is becoming larger
and more diverse…
The inherent distrust that the Christian Right has for any organization,
any nation, any political party and any church other than its own
dysfunctional ghetto, resonates with the marginalized in our society…
I’ll open this up for questions in a minute, but I want to close with a few
last thoughts:
I have been horrified by how much pain and suffering can be meted
out in the name of Jesus. Those decidedly pro-birth have shown themselves
to be anti-life. Those called by their Founder to turn the other cheek have
taken up arms to pummel the world into submission. Those who are called
to suffer for the sake of Christ drive to their churches in luxury cars and
fancy clothes.
I cannot reconcile hate spewing from the lips of a professing Christian,
including my own. I cannot reconcile the litmus test for Christianity being
abortion and gay marriage rather than the fruits of the regenerated life. I
cannot reconcile global power as a tool of strength with God’s people. I
cannot reconcile a Christian public insisting on Dominion over the earth
through politics, war and wealth, applauding the rape, pillage and
desecration of the earth and its other-than-us inhabitants.
I coined the phrase, “Christian Atheism,” as a term to describe a
Christian depending on the Sinner’s Prayer for hope and the American Dream
for security. Somewhere along the way, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
and Jesus has lost His sovereign power. Somewhere along the way, people
who believe in Jesus no longer believe in nor trust God. Their trust is in their
money, their political affiliation, their nation and their theology, however
warped are any of the four.
The desert wanderers of our day will have to face the fact that God’s
judgment against these Christian Atheists will spill over into all of our lives…
Finally, here are words very familiar to you as Methodists:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can…