Some conversations stay with me forever. This one happened almost 40 years ago in the county I grew up in. Pastor Paul served the Congers United Methodist Church; he was from India but had come to this country on a mission trip and fell in love with America. I was serving my first congregation in Garnerville, NY, and was trying to learn about my colleagues. I asked Paul if he could describe the difference between Christianity in India and the USA, and he said this: In India, Christianity is narrow (small) but deep – in America, Christianity is wide but shallow. Of all the descriptions I have heard about the church in America, I still think this is the most accurate. Until recently. I think the church in America may, finally, be in the process of becoming the church.
For most of our history, the church has been in bed with the government. We have benefitted from being the majority, and we have generally kept silent in the face of secularism and Christian nationalism. The obnoxious voices of Evangelicals rushing to grab secular power are a response to the death cries of Mainline Christianity; they are like scavengers picking over the carcasses of carrion, shouting triumphantly that they are the winners. Meanwhile, we in the church that was are bemoaning the competition we face on Sunday mornings instead of recognizing the faithfulness of those who choose worship over entertainment. I look at the faithfulness of people who have made the blessed community a priority in their lives, and I am warmed to my core. The Spirit is there.
It isn’t that the church hasn’t, at times, been the real church, it’s just that being the real, committed, loving, justice-oriented community that Jesus envisioned isn’t easy. It is far easier to go with the flow – to keep silent while tyranny grows – to hold our tongues while fake patriots turn Jesus into an action figure – to cower in the shadows while hateful bigots use God and Scripture to bludgeon the oppressed. Too many churches talk about the candy they make instead of the compassion they show; too many Christians support ideas and practices that are the opposite of the teachings of Jesus. For the remnant, though, we are becoming the church, maybe for the first time in American history. That should give us hope. More to come on this during this very holy Holy Week.
Prayer – Holy God, this week we continue our journey of faith, following the footsteps of Jesus. We pray for courage. Amen.
Today’s art is the FDR Monument in Washington, DC.