Tony Beam

A recent meeting of left-wing religious and political leaders produced an air of premature victory over those who would describe themselves as the traditional Christian right.  The meeting was sponsored by the Center for American Progress, a left-wing think tank that boasts in its’ about us section that they hope to “expose the hollowness of conservative governing philosophy” and uniquely and effectively “engage in the war of ideas with conservatives.”  CAP was founded and is led by John D. Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and professor at the Georgetown University Center of Law.

 
     Christian Post Reporter Michelle Vu quoted Brookings Institute fellow and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. saying he was “surprised by the extent in which Sen. Barack Obama has been tormented by religious questions given the amount of effort he spent to think through and explain his faith in the public square.”  Dionne should not have been surprised that evangelicals would question Obama considering the comments he made on June 24, 2007 at the United Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut.  According to Manya Brachear of the Chicago Tribune Obama told the crowd, “faith got hijacked by the so-called leaders of the Christian right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.”  And what issues, according to Obama, divides us?  Issues like “abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design.”  What does Obama think should unite us?  Issues like “raising the minimum wage, adopting universal health care, stopping genocide in Darfur, Sudan, ending the Iraq war and embracing immigration reform.” 
     In other words conservative evangelical issues like the definition of marriage, the sanctity of life, prayer, and answering the ultimate metaphysical question of our cosmological origins are divisive and should be abandoned.  But liberal (or progressive) evangelical issues such as better pay, universal health care, and genocide outside the womb are issues that unite and should be embraced by everyone.

 
     In early March of this year Obama told a town hall meeting in Nelsonville, Ohio that he was tired of questions about his religion.  He also told audience members that “they would feel right at home at his church in Chicago.”  That was just two weeks before the infamous video of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor and mentor for 20 years, hit the public airwaves.  Obama took a break from campaigning in Ohio to speak at a fundraising dinner in San Francisco where he derided Ohio voters for being bitter and “clinging to” guns, religion, and anti-immigration and anti-trade sentiments.  All of these episodes from the campaign trail mean Obama should continue to expect “religious questions” that ask him to explain his faith.

     Dionne, who is Catholic, went on to say “in the Republican Party, you are seeing what we thought of as  the old religious right weakening very substantially” and pointed to McCain’s victory in the Republican primary even though the Christian right supported Huckabee as the primary evidence.  What Dionne obviously doesn’t understand is the dynamic of the 2008 Republican primary.  McCain’s victory was not a rejection of the Christian right but an affirmation of the old adage, “divide and conquer.”  If Fred Thompson had dropped out of the race before South Carolina instead of making South Carolina his last stand Huckabee would have won the state by ten points instead of losing by three points.  A divided Christian right opened the door for maverick McCain to gain the nomination as Romney, Huckabee, and Thompson cancelled each other out.  If the Christian right can unite before the Republican Convention they will still be a formidable force in the 2008 general election.

     It is no wonder Democratic candidates are talking more about faith this year.  Both of the Democratic front runners have paid consultants who are helping them to couch their liberal policies in religious language.  Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners is successfully driving a wedge in the evangelical community by helping to elevate poverty over abortion and the environment over homosexual marriage. In his book Onward Christian Soldiers, Deal Hudson, former Chairman of Catholic Outreach at the Republican National Committee says that left leaning evangelicals, “want to convince religious voters that their broader social program is as spiritually and morally equivalent in importance as the fight against abortion and related life issues such as fetal stem-cell research.”  Hudson calls this the “equivalence argument “which left leaning Catholics have long used to explain how they can be both Catholic and pro-abortion.  The strategy is to “create a large number of positions on a range of issues from health care to poverty and global warming, and assign each a single point.”  Using this system, prior to the presidential election of 2004 John Kerry was declared to be “the most Catholic Senator” in the Senate.

 
     There is no doubt the political playing field has changed since 2004.  Left leaning evangelicals are determined to counter the influence of conservative evangelical voters who, according to exit polls, contributed greatly to President Bush’s re-election.  All they have to do is siphon off between five and ten percent of these voters and a close election will see the country move to the left.  If the general election were held today I would have to say this strategy would succeed.  However, it’s a long way to November.  Once the democratic primary finally grinds to its inevitable conclusion, conservative evangelicals will begin to focus on what the democrat nominee really believes.  That focus may bring clarity to Christian conservatives and ignite the flame of resolve that will lead to the re-energizing of their involvement in the public arena.  
    

GETTING “THE LOOK” OVER “GOING GREEN.”

Are you, “going green”?  That question comes up from time to time at North Greenville University and since I hold the title Vice-President for Student Services and Christian Worldview it often comes to me. I usually have to bite my tongue to avoid responding with something like, “Why…do I look like I bit into a bad apple?”

 I was sitting in a meeting recently with our food service provider and he announced to me with much excitement, “You know, Earth Day is coming up soon…what would you like for us to do to celebrate?”  It was his way of asking me if I was “going green”.  I asked him how we celebrated last year and he said, “Well, we didn’t do anything.”  I suggested that sounded like a perfect plan for this year.  He was shocked and suggested that most College and University Dining Halls would at least be withholding trays from their students for Earth Day.  I was shocked and I asked what earthly good it would do to make people carry their plates, cups, and silverware without the benefit of a tray?  He said, (with a straight face I might add) “The students won’t take as much food if they have to carry their plate without a tray.” I said, “That may be true but the food wasted because it winds up on the floor will more than offset any savings we get from not using the tray” (food credits maybe?). My food service director gave me the, “you just don’t get it” look.
 
I recently got the same look from the owner of the fitness club where I work out. He told me in a very excited manner that a windmill now provided all the electricity for the club.  I looked out the window, scanned the parking lot and adjacent property and saw nothing more than a small propeller turning on what looked like a combination miniature windmill and weathervane.  I pointed at the contraption and said, “You mean that little windmill”… “No, of course not!” he said.  “Our wind power comes from a windmill in the Midwest.” Before I could make a comment about how long the power cable must be he explained, “We estimate our monthly electric costs and send a company out west a check equal to the amount we send the power company.  They respond by issuing us enough carbon credits to cover the cost of the power we are using!”

 Rather than sharing in his excitement I asked if he would let me work out the same deal with some of the members who are struggling to lose weight.  “What kind of deal?” he asked.  I said, “Well whenever they eat a double-bacon cheeseburger they can send me what they paid for the burger and we will call it “calorie credits.”  I will take the money, spend it on whatever I want and they can say they stayed on their diet because they offset the calories in the burger by sending me the money.  He responded by giving me, “the look.”

Then I got “the look” from two students who interviewed me for the campus T.V. station.  They asked me what I thought about “going green” and I answered by holding up an Earth Day T-Shirt someone had sent me in the mail.  I got “the look” when I complained the shirt came in an oversized envelope (not recycled) with instructions to “wash separately in cold water before wearing.”  I told them it would be better for the earth if I just wore one of my old “Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart” t-shirts and put the envelope in the recycle bin.

Going green is the latest thing for Evangelicals. For many, it is the new test of faithfulness.  The problem for me is it seems the modern fad of going green has more to do with Mother Earth than with Father God.  For example, according to the Dalton-based Daily Citizen Newspaper Cheryl Phipps, a committee member of the Ecumenical Earth Day Celebration at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Dalton, Ga. summed up her Church’s Earth Day activities saying, “We have a lot of things to promote the earth.”  Wow…. and I thought the Church was supposed to be about glorifying God. 

This is why Evangelicals should think twice before they head for the greener pastures of going green.  God has called all believers to be good stewards of the earth.  If we cut down a tree we should plant a tree.  If we make a mess we should clean it up. We should refrain from pouring filth in the air and throwing our garage onto the highway.  We should manage what we use with care making sure we use common sense, always giving glory to God as the Author of Creation. 

Many in the “going green” movement have, “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever”(Romans 1:25, NASV). Evangelicals must remember that, “the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains” (1 Cor.10: 26).  Genesis tells us God is the Creator of all things (Gen. 1:1).  Isaiah tells us the earth is the footstool of God (Is. 66:1) and it is filled with His glory (6:3).  Revelation reminds us one day there will be a “new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away”…(21:1). 

Celebrating Earth Day should be a celebration of God’s greatness and His sovereignty over the earth.  Instead of “going green” why don’t we just fulfill the command of God to exercise wisdom and common sense stewardship over His creation? We will avoid the extreme view of pagan earth worship and we will manage to stay away from those who have made the environment a political hotter-than-global-warming hot potato.

Of course, if we do we will have to learn to live with “the look.” 

      The week of Obama's race relations speech was an amazing week for Barack Obama’s campaign.  It began with a speech that was heralded by some as the greatest speech ever delivered on race relations.   It was supposed to be a speech about the controversial remarks of Obama’s longtime pastor and mentor but the speech missed the mark right out of the gate.  As one of my students, Cory Truax said, “In the language of the college classroom he didn’t complete the assignment he was given.  Instead of addressing and defining his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and answering why he didn’t sever that relationship in light of Rev. Wright’s anti-American, racist tirade he simply made up a new assignment.  He gave a great speech about race.”

     Cory is exactly right to accuse Obama of mishandling his assignment.  I tried to imagine what my reaction would be if I assigned a student the task of writing about the economic effects of World War II and he came back with a paper about German and Italian Fascism.  No matter how articulate or well researched the paper might be if the assignment is ignored the paper would receive a failing grade. 

     There were some attempts at rationalization in Obama’s speech and there were some places where a deeper knowledge and proper application of God’s Word would have been helpful.  For example, while clearly condemning Wright’s most egregious comments by describing them as expressing “a profoundly distorted view of this country,” and “Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive,” Obama then applied the “tip the scales” defense in favor of his embattled mentor.  He described Wright as a man who “helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick to lift up the poor.”  He also pointed out that Rev. Wright “served his country as a U.S. Marine,” and “for thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on earth by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.” 

     The point Obama seemed to be trying to make was since his pastor/mentor had filled to overflowing one side of the morality scales with good works he should be allowed to make racist, blasphemous, and virulent anti-American remarks from his pulpit.  This argument echoes the cry of those who were shocked when Jesus in Matthew 9 rejected them.  They immediately present their list of good deeds believing the list would far outweigh any deficit of character they might possess. But Jesus says to them, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles.”  You have to admit, that is a pretty impressive list of good deeds.  But Jesus reminded them that a personal relationship with Him isn’t based on whether or not the morality scales have been tipped in our favor.  If your speech and life doesn’t match your deeds you will hear Jesus say, “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 9:22-23).

     Another defense Obama offers for his pastor/mentor’s remarks is the “nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen” defense.  In his speech, he quotes William Faulkner who once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried.  In fact, is isn’t even past.”  After saying, “We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country” he goes on a somewhat revised trip down selective memory lane reliving the past injustices blacks have suffered in previous generations.  The argument seems to be that wrong actions performed in the past opens the door for wrong attitudes and racist ideas to be expressed in the present.  But what does God’s Word say about the past?  In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul put the past in its proper place when he said, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”(Phil. 3:13-14).  Paul knew that the past makes a good sign post but a poor hitching post.  Obama, like many other liberal leaders and politicians, would have us chained to the past.  They present a picture of America unchanged by the Civil Rights movement.  For them, it will always be 1960. 

     Finally, Obama defended his pastor/mentor justifying his expression of anger against the injustice of the past.  Speaking of Rev. Wright’s generation Obama said, “the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years.”  Harboring anger and nursing bitterness rather than putting both aside for “the peace that passes understanding” will never result in unity whether racial, political, or spiritual.  Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”  Colossians 3:8 says, “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.” 

     It appears that the sun has risen and set many times while Jeremiah Wright nurtured his anger and fed his bitterness.  His statements have opened a window to his soul and allowed his anger to reveal the content of his character. Obama’s speech failed to close that window. 

    

A few years ago, I came across a list of the top ten hymns that are heard in lukewarm churches:

10.  A Comfy Mattress is Our God
9.  Joyful, Joyful, We Kind of Like Thee
8.  Above Average is Thy Faithfulness
7.  My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
6.  My Faith Looks Around for Thee
5.  Blest Be the Tie That Doesn’t Cramp My Style
4.  Oh, For a Couple of Tongues to Sing
3.  Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me
2.  Take My Life and Let Me Be
1.  Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus

While I laughed at the intended humor of lukewarm hymns I also stopped to ask the question, “What defines a lukewarm church or a lukewarm life?” I decided to be lukewarm is to have a measured rather than a meaningful response to Jesus Christ. 
For Christians, everything about our lives depends on our response to the words of Christ.  The quality of our life, the stability and durability of our relationships, the accountability of our souls before God all depend more on our response to Jesus than they do our regard for Jesus.

Take for example the words of Jesus at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell…. and great was its fall”(Matthew 7:24-27 NASV, emphasis mine).  The people who heard Jesus words and built on the sand had a high regard for Jesus.  They listened to what He had to say and they let His words sink in but in the end, they built where they pleased rather than where Jesus was pointing.  They rejected Jesus words rather than responding with obedience.

The people who heard the words of Jesus and built on the rock responded to Jesus.  They understood it wasn’t enough to simply hear Jesus and agree that His words were wise.  In order to escape the effects of the storm they had to allow the inward change the words of Jesus brought to their heart to be evidenced by their outward response.  They realized to hold Jesus in high regard but to refuse to respond with obedience would lead to destruction, so they both listened and obeyed.
 
 Imagine if you will that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad.  As he is preparing to leave he tells you and the other employees, “While I am gone I want you to pay close attention to the business.  You must manage things while I am away but I will write to you regularly.  These letters will contain instructions for what you should do until I return from my trip.”   Everyone agrees so the president leaves and stays gone for two years.  During that time, he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns.  Finally, one day quite unexpectedly, he returns.  He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess.  Weeds are flourishing in the flower beds, windows are broken across the front of the building, the receptionist is sound asleep at her desk, and there is loud music and the sound of horseplay coming from all the offices.  Instead of continuing to be profitable the business has suffered great loss.

Without hesitation the president calls everyone together and ask, “What happened?  Why didn’t you follow my instructions?  Didn’t you receive my letters?”  You answer, “Oh yeah, sure.  We received and read all of your letters.  We even bound them together into a book and some of us have memorized them.  In fact, we have Letter Study every Sunday!  Those letters had some incredible information!”  The president asks, “But what did you do about my instructions?”  The answer would be, “Do…well, nothing but we read every letter!” 

The spirit of this present age seems to be a spirit of moderation when it comes to our response to the commands of Christ.  But a moderate or lukewarm response to Christ will do nothing to fix our increasingly moral bankrupt culture.  Building with the right materials in the right location requires listening to and obeying the words of the architect of the universe.  Spiritually, physically, morally, politically, and culturally we must make sure we are building the best to survive the test.