The Myth of a Christian Nation

by Gregory A. Boyd

  A DIFFICULT SIMPLICITY

  Our central job is not to solve the world’s problems. Our job is to draw our entire life from Christ and manifest that life to others. Nothing could be simpler—and nothing could be more challenging. Perhaps this partly explains why we have allowed ourselves to be so thoroughly co-opted by the world. It’s hard to communicate to a prostitute her unsurpassable worth by taking up a cross for her, serving her for years, gradually changing her on the inside, and slowly winning the trust to speak into her life (and letting her speak into our life, for we too are sinners). Indeed, this sort of Calvary-like love requires one to die to self. It is much easier, and more gratifying, to assume a morally superior stance and feel good about doing our Christian duty to vote against “the sin of prostitution.” Perhaps this explains why many evangelicals spend more time fighting against certain sinners in the political arena than they do sacrificing for those sinners. But Jesus calls us and empowers us to follow his example by taking the more difficult, less obvious, much slower, and more painful road—the Calvary road. It is the road of self-sacrificial love.

  When we adopt this distinct kingdom-of-God stance, everything changes. While living in the kingdom of the world, of course, we still wrestle with tax and inheritance issues. And we should do so as decently and as effectively as possible. But our unique calling as kingdom people is not to come up with God’s opinion of the right solution to these issues. Our unique calling is simply to replicate Christ’s sacrificial love in service to the world.

  When we return to the simplicity and difficulty of the kingdom of God, the question that defines us is no longer, What are the Christian policies and candidates? No, when love is placed above all kingdom-of-the-world concerns (Col. 3:14; 1 Peter 4:8), the kingdom-of-the-world options placed before us dwindle in significance—as much as Matthew’s and Simon’s fireside opinions were dwarfed in significance by their common allegiance to Jesus. For we, like Matthew and Simon know that the one question we are commanded to wrestle with is this: How do we love like Christ loves? Or to ask the same question in different ways: How do we communicate to others the unsurpassable worth they have before God? How can we individually and collectively serve in this particular context? How can we “come under” people here and now? How can we demonstrate Calvary love to every person? The revolution Jesus came to bring was “a genuinely human one,” as Andre Trocme notes. “People, not principles, were his concern.”11

  We need not be able to figure out how society should tax its citizens, enforce inheritance laws, or deal with prostitutes. Neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor any New Testament author gave inspired pronouncements about such matters. But that does not prevent us from washing the feet of overly taxed citizens, disgruntled younger brothers, and despised prostitutes. Jesus and the New Testament authors gave plenty of inspired pronouncements about that.

  CHAPTER 4

  FROM RESIDENT ALIENS TO CONQUERING WARLORDS

  Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord…and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

  2 CORINTHIANS 6:17–18

  You’ve got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I’m for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes ten years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord.

  JERRY FALWELL1

  BEING THE FIRST FRUITS

  According to the biblical narrative and church tradition, at some point in the primordial past, Satan managed to deceive humanity and co-opt us into his rebellion against God, seizing the world and making humanity his slaves. Jesus came into this world not only to take it back and free earth’s inhabitants but also to put an end to the war altogether. He came to destroy the Devil and his works (1 John 3:8; cf. Heb. 2:14). In becoming a human, the Son of God was entering “enemy-occupied territory,” as C. S. Lewis says—the territory in which Satan was “ruler” and “god” (John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4).2

  Now, through his death and resurrection, Jesus accomplished the task for which he came. He defeated the kingdom of darkness and set humanity free. In principle, therefore, the world has already been reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:14–21; Col. 1:15–20). In principle, the wall of sin that separates humanity along ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, and tribal lines has been destroyed. In principle, all have already died in Adam and been made alive in Christ (1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:14). In principle, we are already one new humanity in Christ (Eph. 2:14–15). In principle. Yet Scripture as well as our own experience make it painfully clear that what is true in principle has not yet been manifested as accomplished fact (see, for example, Heb. 2:8).3

  From God’s eternal perspective, the interval between what is true in principle and what is manifested as fact is undoubtedly no larger than the interval we experience between, say, turning on a light switch, on the one hand, and seeing the room completely filled with light, on the other. From our perspective, however, the interval has already lasted two thousand years, and for all we know may go on for another ten thousand (popular apocalyptic authors notwithstanding!) (2 Peter 3:8).

  Now, we need to understand that this interval is not to be a time in which we passively wait for the end. Rather, it is the time in which the kingdom of God that was planted at Calvary is supposed to grow in us and through us to encompass the entire world. People who are submitted to the King, and whose lives are therefore being transformed into a domain in which God reigns, are called the “first fruits” of God, because they manifest in their lives what humanity and the world will look like when God’s kingdom is fully manifested (2 Thess. 2:13; James 1:18; Rev. 14:4). We are to show ahead of time the eschatological harvest that is coming; we are to reveal the future in the present, the “already” amid the “not yet.”

  What is more, the Calvary-quality beauty of this coming kingdom revealed in our lives is to be the primary means by which the mustard-seed kingdom expands in the world. Tax collectors, prostitutes, and all others who hunger for real life are drawn to the beauty of the kingdom of Jesus, who was the first fruit of the new humanity (Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18).

  To be these first fruits, we must allow the kingdom to grow in us and through us. When we genuinely repent (turn from) our idolatrous allegiances to the world and submit to God’s loving rule, the kingdom gets planted in our innermost being. From there, as the Holy Spirit continually teaches us to yield, the kingdom slowly takes over our hearts, minds, and finally, our behavior. As we learn to think, feel, and act under God’s rule, we learn how to get our worth, significance, and security from Christ alone. We learn how to be freed from our addiction to futilely trying to acquire worth, significance, and security for ourselves. We learn how to walk in freedom from violence, self-centeredness, materialism, nationalism, racism, and all other false ways of getting life. As we die to our old self and “put on” our “new self” created in Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:22–24), we learn how to be loved and how to love God, ourselves, our neighbor, our enemies, as well as the animal kingdom and the earth God originally placed under our dominion and loving care (Gen. 1:28–30).

  As we grow in Christlikeness, we grow as conduits of the kingdom, increasingly manifesting the fact that we are “first fruits.” Through our Christlike love, others are brought under the influence of the kingdom until, in time, it is planted in them and the process taking place in us begins to take place in them. This is how the mustard seed takes over the entire garden (Matt. 13:31–32); this is how demonic powers are defeated. And this is how what is true in principle becomes manifested as fact.

  STATIONED BEHIND ENEMY LINES

  We play an important role in this momentary interval between Calvary and the full manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth. We are not only the garden that is taken over by the mustard seed; we are the means by which the mustard seed continues to take over the rest of the garden! God wants to work with us to grow his kingdom; indeed, the sovereign God chooses to need us to grow his kingdom.4 He longs for a bride who learns ho
w to rule with him upon the earth (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10; 20:6; 22:5). Hence, things genuinely hang upon whether or not we fully yield to the kingdom growing in us and through us. While we are loved unconditionally, we are only as useful to the kingdom as we are yielded.

  As yielded vessels, we are to do what Jesus did. Indeed, to the extent that we are yielded, Jesus himself continues to act through us as we saw in chapter 2. But by the same means, the enemy that confronted Jesus in his earthly ministry continues to confront him through us as we work with God to advance his kingdom. Though God’s archenemy was in principle defeated on Calvary, this is not yet manifested fact, and so we continue to live in the war-torn interval between the “already” and the “not yet.”

  This is why Scripture makes it clear that, even after the resurrection of Christ, Satan is still the god of this age, the ruler of the power of the air, the highest functional ruler on the planet who controls the entire world, and the one who still opposes the advancement of the kingdom at every turn.5 This means that all who have the kingdom of God growing in them must understand that they are stationed “behind enemy lines” as much as Jesus was. The world is still “enemy-occupied territory.” The “pattern of this world” is still demonically structured, and so we must still resist being conformed to it (Rom. 12:2 NIV). We who have Christ being formed within us are no more at home in this present world system than Jesus himself was, and so our attitude toward the present world system must be the same as his. His kingdom was not of this world, and we who are part of this kingdom must never forget that we are not of this world either (John 17:16; cf. 8:23; 15:18–19; 17:14).

  THE CALL TO BE “HOLY” RESIDENT ALIENS

  Scripture drives home this truth when it teaches that we are to view ourselves as soldiers stationed in a foreign country and, thus, are not to let ourselves get overly entangled in “civilian affairs” (2 Tim. 2:4). It tells us that we are to see ourselves as aliens and exiles in a foreign country, just as Abraham did (Heb. 11:8–10, 13–16; 1 Peter 2:11). Whatever country we may naturally belong to, Paul says, we are to remember always that our real citizenship is in heaven (cf. Phil. 3:20). Whatever opinions we have about how to solve society’s problems, we are to remember always that we cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13). Our allegiance, therefore, can never be to any version of the kingdom-of-the-world, however much better we may think it is than other versions of the kingdom-of-the-world. Our allegiance is to our heavenly Father, whose country we belong to and into whose family we’ve been adopted (Rom. 8:29; Gal. 1:2; 6:10; Eph. 1:4–5).

  Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon capture the unique nature of the true church when they depict it as a small colony in a foreign land, “an island of one culture in the middle of another.”6 As the title of their masterful book denotes, we are to see ourselves as “resident aliens.” We are in the world, but are not of the world any more than Jesus was of the world (John 17:16); we are to march to the beat of a different drummer. And—note this carefully—preserving this “alien status” is not an addendum to our calling as kingdom-of-God citizens; it belongs to the essence of what it means to be a kingdom-of-God citizen. The way we advance the kingdom of God is by being the unique kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdom of the world.

  This is why Scripture repeatedly stresses the fact that we are called to be a “holy” people (2 Cor. 6:17), a concept that indicates something consecrated and set apart (Ps. 4:3). Like the Israelites coming out of Egypt, we are to come out from the world and be “set apart” for God. We utterly trivialize this profound biblical teaching if we associate our peculiar holiness with a pet list of religious taboos (such as smoking, drinking, dancing, gambling, and so on). No, the holiness the New Testament is concerned with is centered on being Christlike, living in outrageous, self-sacrificial love. If you make this your life aspiration, you will certainly be peculiar—about as peculiar as a Messiah dying on a cursed tree! You will be a “resident alien.”

  AVOIDING UNBIBLICAL DISTORTIONS

  It’s important that we understand that the primary reason God called Israel to be a holy nation was not to isolate it from other nations but to raise it up for other nations. Israel was to serve other nations by being their light, winning the world over to allegiance to Yahweh (e.g., Isa. 49:6; 55:4–5; 60:3–5; Jer. 3:17; Zech. 2:11; 8:20–23; cf. 1 Peter 2:9). God’s plan was always to bless the entire world through Israel (e.g., Gen. 12:2–3; 17:4–6; 18:18; Ezek. 36:23; 37:28), and he has always been the God of all the nations (e.g., Ps. 46:10; 47:8; 67:2, 4; 72:11), working toward a kingdom that would include all people (Isa. 45:23; Acts 17:24–28; Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10–11; Rev. 5:9; 7:9; 14:6). So too, the reason God now calls kingdom people to remain separate from the ways of the kingdom-of-the-world is not to isolate them from their culture but to empower them to authentically serve their culture and ultimately win it over to allegiance to Jesus Christ. The reason we are not to be of the world is so we may be for the world.

  This point is especially important today, for a significant portion of evangelical Christianity has come under the influence of an escapist apocalyptic theology. Believing Jesus will soon “rapture” Christians out of the world before destroying it, they have little concern with the church being a witness on issues of social justice, global peace, the environment, and so on. To the contrary, in the name of fulfilling biblical prophecy, many are actively supporting stances that directly or indirectly encourage violence, possibly on a global scale (for instance, extremist Christian Zionism). Since the world is doomed for soon destruction, the thinking goes, the only thing that matters is getting individuals ready for the rapture.7

  Whatever else one thinks about the New Testament’s eschatology, it certainly does not encourage this sort of irresponsible escapism. The hope offered to believers is not that we will be a peculiar elite group of people who will escape out of the world, leaving others behind to experience the wrath of God. The hope is rather that by our sacrificial participation in the ever-expanding kingdom, the whole creation will be redeemed (Rom. 8:20–23; Col. 1:18–20). God so loved the world he sent his Son (John 3:16), and we are to so love the world that we are willing to imitate this sacrificial behavior (Eph. 5:1–2). If we do this, we will certainly be a “peculiar” people. But following the example of Jesus, our peculiarity will lie in our willingness to incarnate ourselves in the tribulations of the world, not in possessing a “rapture ticket” that allows us to escape the tribulations of the world.

  The holiness of the kingdom of God is its peculiar love, distinct from everything in the world. It is the unique mark of kingdom citizenship and constitutes our distinct witness to the world (John 13:35; 17:20–26; 1 John 3:14; 4:8–12). Hence, everything hangs on preserving this holiness and resisting the Devil’s ongoing temptation to compromise it by reducing the kingdom of God to a religious version of the kingdom of the world.

  THE TEMPTATION TO DO “GOOD”

  Paul says we must not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes, for they are subtle (2 Cor. 2:11). We thus need to explore the nature of the temptation Jesus faced—and consequently, the temptation we also face—as we seek to live out the holiness of the kingdom of God.

  The Devil tempted Jesus by offering him all the kingdoms of the world without having to go to the cross (Luke 4:6–8). In essence, the Devil was offering him the very thing he came to get, for Jesus came for the people of the world, and people are always subjects of some kingdom or other. To rule the people, all Jesus had to do was submit to the “power over” god of this age and leave him in place as its ruling authority.

  Think about this. Without having to suffer and die, Jesus could have immediately taken a position as the functional lord of all these kingdoms. True, Satan would have remained over him. His rule, therefore, would have had to participate in the “system of domination” that runs the world.8 But at the very least, Jesus’ position of power would have made the world a whole lot better. He could have quickly overpowered evil in all societies. He could have immedia
tely alleviated much, if not all, suffering and created a kingdom of the world that enacted perfect law, order, and justice. Not only this, but he would have thereby fulfilled all his people’s expectations of what a messiah was supposed to be and freed Israel from the tyranny of the Romans. Those he loved (and he loved all) could have experienced an immediate, vast improvement in their lives. The Devil’s temptation would not have been a genuine temptation for Jesus unless there was a lot of “good” wrapped up in it.

  Yet Jesus refused. Why? Because Jesus didn’t come to make the kingdom-of-the-world a new and improved version of itself, let alone a Christian version of itself. Instead, he came to transform “the kingdom of the world” into “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah” and thereby establish the rule of God, in place of the Devil, “forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). He came to ultimately put the kingdom of the world out of business by establishing a counterkingdom of radical love that would eventually render it obsolete.

  As tempting as it was, Jesus was not going to allow the radical distinctness of the kingdom of God to be co-opted by the demonically ruled kingdom of the world—however good the immediate consequences may have been. He was not going to trade in his holy mission—his radically peculiar mission—for a good kingdom-of-the-world mission. He was not going to do the practical thing and win the world by acquiring “power over” nations. He was, rather, going to win the world by exhibiting “power under” nations. He didn’t want the authority of the world’s kingdom that the Devil was offering him; he wanted only to exercise the unique authority his Father had given him. Hence, in obedience to the reign of his Father, Jesus took the impractical, slow, discrete, and self-crucifying road to transforming the world.