"The church has become too political and that's why people are leaving."
"The reason people are leaving the church is because they are learning it's just about creating a voting bloc for the Republican Party."
"If you want to know why people are leaving the church in America it comes down to two words: Donald Trump."
Those three statements appeared in the comment section on a recent article I read regarding Christian engagement in the political arena here in America. To be sure, the position collectively espoused by those three individuals isn't anything new. In fact, it's been one of the most enduring refrains I've encountered consistently in the two decades I've spent writing and speaking about Christianity and the culture.
The conclusions, in my estimation, stem from this faulty syllogism:
Churches in America have become bastions of right-wing politics.
Right-wing politics is anathema to the gospel of Jesus.
People are rejecting churches in America because they love the gospel of Jesus.
There are two fundamental errors that, when exposed, quickly dismantle that reasoning. First is the distinction between people leaving the Church (with a capital C) of Jesus, and people breaking fellowship with a particular church (small c) or congregation.
Far from shrinking, the global and eternal Church of Jesus is currently surging, and will be ultimately triumphant. No one who is a true believer, and puts his hand to the plow, turns back for any reason, no less their frustration or disagreement with a fellow servant's political views.
What I mean is, if you recognize Jesus as your only hope of salvation, no ignorant posturing by your brother or sister will drive you from Christ's grip because He is your savior, not them.
No one will abandon his own hope of heaven over a disagreement on tax policy.
Now, it is an entirely different story if we are talking about individuals who leave a local congregation and join one more compatible with their preferences (be they political, musical, liturgical, stylistic, or otherwise). But calling that "leaving the church" is misleading and inaccurate.
The second error is the bizarrely prevalent belief that the landscape of American churches (small c) is consumed in a preoccupation with politics, and even more specifically, conservative politics.
Back when I did a radio show, it was a common objection: "All you Christians seem to care about is abortion and gay stuff." I tried to push back on secularists making such an assertion that their only exposure to Christians seemed to be in the political sphere. That was leading them to believe that all Christians talked about or thought about were political controversies.
My challenge was always the same: Pick any one of thousands of American churches at random this week. Walk in on Sunday morning and record what your hear. Messages on grace, forgiveness, joy, kindness, love, peace, the Sermon on the Mount, and any of a host of specific Christian doctrines will monstrously outweigh any political commentary or references to politicians and federal office holders. I would point out repeatedly that the latter just does not happen with any regularity, in mainstream, orthodox Christian churches.
I still stand by that conviction, though I am now forced to admit that in our hyper-sensitive, perilously polarized political environment, there is more invasion of divisive partisanship into what should be the proclamation of the Apostles' doctrine, than faithful believers, loyal to the word, should ever permit.
What's interesting about that, however, is just how much of that emanates not from conservative, but progressive origin.
For instance:
It strains credulity to watch that montage and not conclude that some kind of memo went out on a mailing list, informing men and women supposedly sworn to proclaim Christ alone that they should divert their congregations' hearts away from the gospel and onto the racial implications associated with political appointments in our pagan nation.
It astounds me that anyone driven by an insatiable desire to bring lost souls into reconciliation with God through Jesus could even find time to know the name of CQ Brown, no less spend even one second of sermon time dwelling on his race, or his current employment status.
How could anyone saved by the blood of Christ be so confused about the fact that no matter how distasteful you find his politics, Donald Trump is not the enemy of men's souls, and that as an ambassador for Christ, you have an urgent and earnest need to war not against flesh and blood, but "against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"?
In my humble estimation, that's the question that needs answering by anyone feigning concern over people "leaving the church."
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
