Many U.S. churches are on wrong side of power, author writes

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This article was published 16/03/2024 (566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This month, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos have legal standing as children in that state. The ruling got a lot of attention. What also got some attention was how Chief Justice Tom Parker used his Christian faith to justify the court’s decision.

Writing in support of the ruling, Parker invoked the Bible, writing that Alabama had adopted a “theologically based view of the sanctity of life.” He went on to say that “even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God,” and that to destroy an embryo would incur “the wrath of a holy God.”

Of course, Parker has the freedom in the U.S., or in Canada, to hold whatever religious belief he chooses. But what alarmed some in that country is how he mixed his personal Christian beliefs with the law, as if everyone in Alabama should have to abide by those beliefs — Christian or not.

Others, however, supported Parker. Many of these people consider themselves to be adherents of Christian Nationalism, a belief that America was founded as a Christian nation and that its laws should be based on the Bible.

It is not a fringe belief. A 2022 Pew survey found more than 40 per cent of Americans think the United States is, or should be, a Christian nation.

Many Christian nationalists in the U.S. are guided by what’s called “The Seven Mountains Mandate.” This idea, which takes its inspiration from a verse in the book of Isaiah, maintains that Christians in that country need to take over and then rule what they consider to be the seven mountains, or spheres, of public life: family, religion, media, entertainment, business, government and education.

For many years, this was a marginal idea in American religious and public life. But it took off in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump as president. He was seen by many who subscribe to that notion as specially chosen by God to lead America back to its Christian underpinnings.

And if Trump should be re-elected in November, many of these same Christian nationalists are looking forward to putting into place Project 2025, a plan to reshape American life according to Christian principles.

For David Fitch, who teaches evangelical theology and ministry at Northern Seminary near Chicago, this is all very alarming and dispiriting.

“There’s something desperately wrong with the church in America,” he said of how so many Christian leaders, mostly evangelicals, support Christian nationalism and seek to use the power of the state to force their version of Christian faith on that country.

“That is so different from when God’s power is at work,” he said. “But many seem willing to exchange God’s power for worldly power to make the state do what they think should be done.”

Fitch, who grew up in Hamilton, Ont., and pastored for 30 years before teaching, is author of the new book Reckoning with Power: Why the Church Fails When It’s on the Wrong Side of Power.

In the book, he writes about how many churches in America today are on the wrong side of power; the difference between the world’s approach to power and God’s power; how Christians have been tempted throughout history to utilize worldly power; and how Christ showed a different version of power during his earthly ministry — and how the church in the U.S. might get back on the right side of God’s power.

Fitch understands the need for worldly power to organize society and keep it safe and functioning. But worldly power has its limits when it comes to enforcing morality, he said, using civil rights in the U.S. as an example.

“As a country, we created laws to enact civil rights, but that could not cure racism,” he said. “Laws can address a racist culture, but they can’t redeem or change a racist heart.”

And yet, he said, today many Christians in the U.S. think they can use the government to enforce their morals and beliefs by restricting the kinds of books people can read, passing laws against trans people, and outlawing abortion.

“It’s so glaring how screwed up parts of the American church are when it comes to this,” Fitch said, noting it’s just a short step from there to abusing power “in the name of God.”

Although these Christians think they are protecting the church, in fact they are weakening it, Fitch said, pointing to surveys showing that many Americans, especially younger people, are leaving church. “They’re turning many people off of Christianity,” he said.

For Fitch, God’s approach to power is shown in the earthly life of Jesus, something that was invitational and peaceful. “Jesus doesn’t work through violence and coercive power, but through his healing presence,” he said.

Fitch acknowledged things are different in Canada. But, he said, Christians in this country should beware if Christian nationalism takes strong hold in the U.S. — it could influence Canadian Christians who are disposed to what is called “dominionism,” a concept similar to Christian Nationalism in the U.S. that holds that the Christian God should have dominion over Canada, too.

Canadian Christians, he suggested, can learn from the mistakes of their American neighbours, “by being alert to the Christian misuse of power in the U.S.”

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