Christianity=Secular (again)

There is a deeper dimension to this. When we try to claim all the world as sacred, we tend to think in terms of establishing “Christendom.”

(When Constantine became emperor, he legalized Christianity and started the process of placing Christianity in a position of political power. This is coming—or has already come—to an end.)

Some would like to see us establish a new Christendom. The founder of Domino’s Pizza is planning to build a Christian community near Naples, Florida. One blogger describes the proposed town:

The new community will have strict Christian beliefs. It will be a town without adult bookstores, or topless bars. It will have strict family values. Monaghan is a devout Catholic. In keeping with the Catholic doctrine, he is asking doctors that set up shop there to offer no contraception. Also, pharmacies and convenience stores will be asked not to stock condoms or any type of pornography.

But this is moving in the wrong direction. Christianity started as a subversive movement and seems to be most effective when it has no political power.

Darryl Dash @ ChristianWeek writes:

Culture has rejected nominal Christianity, and that is good. Underneath the rejection of nominal Christianity is a huge spiritual hunger waiting to be filled. The end of Christendom is not a threat to the gospel. In fact, the gospel first took root in a society much like ours, in a secular world at a time of massive change. According to the book of Acts, it did very well.

Besides, when we try to “Christianize” institutions we often emphasize unimportant (or wrong) things.

• American missionaries in Hawaii “converted” the native women from wearing “several layers of cloth wrapped around the waist, barely reaching below the knees, and with little or nothing above the waist” to “floor-length dresses that were loose-fitting and had long sleeves.” Because “most of the protein in the native diet came from shellfish caught by the women” and diving in a long dress was impractical, many Hawaiians suffered from malnutrition.
• According to The Evangelical Church Blues, at Pensacola Christian College “students could not sit in a chair that had been previously occupied by a member of the opposite sex until the chair cooled to room temperature. They were apparently afraid that the body heat absorbed by the previous occupant would stimulate the lust of the flesh.”
• I come from a tradition that considered dancing, jewelry and card playing sinful.

It’s no wonder that people like Glenn Greenwald are afraid that social conservatives want to “Christianize” the United States:

They believe that their time for true power has arrived and they are not going to modify their demands or be satisfied with token gestures. They believe that they twice delivered the Presidency to George Bush and that the GOP needs them if the party is to stay in power. These beliefs have made them drunk with power

Our job is not to “Christianize” any power structure. Our job is to advance the Kingdom.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”