Forum: Across the great Christian divide
The split between evangelicals and progressives is growing deeper, says the Rev. N. Graham Standish, reflecting fault lines in society as a whole
Pittsburg Post Gazette - Opinion
Have modern Christians become a people of two faiths divided by a common Bible? Looking at the increasing division among Christians on so many topics, it's hard not to think so. At a time when the walls dividing denominations from each other are crumbling, a new wall is rising -- one dividing Christians into two competing camps. In one camp are evangelicals, and in the other camp are progressives.
It's ironic that while Christians like to see themselves as offering an alternative to the faults and failures of secular life, the present divisions among Christians have mirrored the divisions in our culture between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats.
On a national level we seem to be one nation divided by a common language -- the language of democracy and the market economy. The difference is that while the divisions in the Christian realm threaten to tear churches and denominations apart through splits and schisms, on the national level we are nowhere near a similar kind of civil war. Still, the similarities are striking.
Increasingly, Christians are identifying themselves either as progressive or evangelical, rather than as a member of a particular denomination. Christians of each camp believe they are in the right, and accuse those of the other camp of having betrayed their biblical foundations. Is one side or the other really guilty of betrayal?
The problem isn't one of betrayal. In fact, each side is sincerely trying to be true to their biblical foundations. One side follows the biblical ideals of the Great Command (progressives), the other the biblical ideals of the Great Commission (evangelicals).
Great Command Christians try to ground their faith in biblical teachings such as love, acceptance, refusal to judge others, the Golden Rule, forgiveness, justice, peace, nonviolence, social responsibility and defending the poor and oppressed (teachings that have historically influenced the Democratic Party). These teachings are found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and well-known parables such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. They are grounded in Jesus' Great Command: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and others as yourself." For them God is love, faith is a matter of loving others as ourselves, and our Christian mission is to spread Christ's love so that the world can live in peace and harmony.
Meanwhile, Great Commission Christians ground their faith in biblical teachings that emphasize salvation, redemption, morality, obedience, righteousness, discipleship, evangelism and defending the fundamentals or essential tenets of faith (teachings that serve as a basis for much of the present Republican ideology thanks to the involvement of evangelicals in the Republican Party).
These teachings are found especially in the Ten Commandments and the letters of Paul. They are central to the ideal of the Great Commission given by Jesus at the end of Matthew's Gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." For them, Christ is the Word, faith is a matter of obedience to scripture, and our Christian mission is to spread God's word in order to make everyone Christ's disciple.
Increasingly, we have two sets of Christians polarized by a Great Divide. This divide is especially apparent when it comes to discerning the role of homosexuals in the church, an issue that presently threatens to divide the Episcopal Church because of the ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson as the first openly homosexual bishop in the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church.
On the issue of homosexuality, each side claims that it is being true to scripture. And both are right if you consider the basis of their beliefs. For example, Great Commissioners are clear that the Bible condemns homosexuality, and they are right. Although the Bible doesn't deal much with the issue of homosexuality, when it does, it condemns it.
Still, Great Commanders are right in reminding us of the biblical command to look first at the log in our own eye, rather than the speck in another's, for prejudice is a sin; and that we who are without sin should cast the first stone, for all of us are sinners. They remind us that we are not to judge, but rather to love those who have been judged and persecuted. This clearly applies to homosexuals, for they have been cruelly judged and persecuted by Christians for centuries. They are also right in asking who of us is sinless enough to be a leader in the church when all of us are sinners. How do we decide which sin is worse?
The question of the age is how we bridge the Great Divide. I'm not very hopeful. I'm concerned that we in the Christian realm have become so polarized that some sort of divorce is imminent. I fear that we have become like once-loving spouses who are now immersed in acrimony, accusing each other of adultery and abuse.
I'm not even sure there is a possibility of reconciliation for those on either side of the Great Divide. We don't trust each other much, nor do we value each other's faith and perspective. As a result, we fail in the end to follow either the Great Command or the Great Commission, despite the fact that we Christians are called upon to ground our lives in both the Great Command and the Great Commission. We cannot have one without the other.
It is similar to our situation on a national scale. While Republicans and Democrats dream of a day when they will be able to make real their utopian visions, the reality is that our country needs both because each side complements, checks and balances the other.
The sad thing, whether we are talking about Christianity or politics, is that there are far too many of us who are stuck in the middle of the conflict. Like children of divorce we are increasingly being asked to choose one or the other, when really we love both. Perhaps Christianity and the modern political culture aren't so different after all. The real question is why our country is able to stay so committed to this one union when our churches can't.
(The Rev. N. Graham Standish is the pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople |
