A Fulfilled Prophecy

Election years always bring about questions regarding faith and politics. "How much should faith inform politics?" This really hit me the other day, when I saw footage of John McCain exiting his bus with Rod Parsley nipping at McCain's heels. I have been very uncomfortable with the way the so-called Christian Right has been in bed with the Republican Party. (One could even make the argument that the Christian Left--and it does exist--is in bed with the Democratic Party.)

I have been reading one of the great books of religious history in America. It is Revivalism and Social Reform by Timothy L. Smith. On page 16, Smith writes:

[Fletcher] Harper [of Harper's Weekly] complained that clergymen and laymen alike rejoiced when they could persuade a politician or "some old hero of a general" to "harangue on such utilities before the annual religious gatherings"--as though the testimonies of public men were necessary to vindicate the gospel. He warned that if these aspects of religion continued to be presented as the chief ground of its support, Christianity would cease to serve the republic. Instead of the church evangelizing the world, the world would secularize the church.

I ask: "Is that not were we are today?" The church has sought its legitimacy from famous people--be they politicians, athletes, actors, etc. Does the church need John McCain (or some other famous person) to give Christianity legitimacy? Is not the church's legitimacy in Jesus Christ? He said, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

The reality is that the church winds up secularized.

This is not to say that Christians should abstain from voting or refrain from entering the political arena. The problem comes from when we try to show how legitimate our faith is based on who wins elections.