If Only Christians Would Pipe Down...
They'd still be problematic
Given the current, highly contentious, election season I’ve seen a lot of online commentary lately about how Christians need to stop inserting themselves into political or cultural issues and just be nice. They are reasonably counseled love one another, feed the hungry and help the sick and poor. Some of this is from Christians and some from non-Christians.
There’s some truth here. Jesus modeled what he wanted believers to live. He explicitly told them to love one another, to love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them. He said to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. He said to protect widows and orphans and to keep children from evil. He called for believers to advocate for justice for the downtrodden and love the unlovable, from lepers to tax collectors, from adulterers to Roman soldiers. He wanted his followers to be lights in the darkness.
He also said for believers to preach deliverance from sin and a transformed life. He told the disciples to cast out demons. He said that one day he would visit judgment on mankind and that he would separate his followers from his enemies.
Sorry if those last bits sound harsh, but he said, it not me. (Take it up with him…)
Basically he gave Christians a LOT to do. Given all of that, it’s clear that Christians can easily become far too embroiled in politics and cultural drama. It can be tempting to try and prove the faith through apologetic argument and clever rhetoric rather than by living it, day to day, with friends, foes and families (families are sometimes both…). Christians can spend their precious days on political campaigns and memes instead of in prayer as he directed them.
To that point, St. James, the brother of Jesus, was called “Camel Knees.” According to one early Christian writer named Hegesippus, James earned this name due to the callouses he developed from prolonged prayer.
St. Paul warned believers, in 2 Timothy 2: 3-4, to focus on the right things: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” And oh Christians are ever entangled…
Indeed, the early Church, the spiritual ancestors of modern followers of Jesus, lived in community. Its members shared their belongings. They cared for orphans and widows and rescued infants “exposed” by parents who didn’t want them. (An early and very purposeful, rather revolutionary pro-life movement against the routine infanticide of antiquity.)
The followers of Jesus gave value to women and children. Believers sometimes used their money to liberate slaves. In fact the Biblical Greek word for redemption, ‘apultrosis’ carries the meaning of a ransom paid. The church preached a gospel of love, first in the vast might of the Roman empire and then over time, the whole world.
What happened? Well, the church experienced explosive growth. The whole “love one another” thing really appealed to those suffering in a system where the weakest were not considered intrinsically valuable. (A thing we believe and apply in policy today thanks to the Gospel.)
Of course, another thing happened. Christians suffered several hundred years of pretty vicious persecution.
Christians were seen as problems. They were distrusted and mocked. The early graffiti called the “Alexemanos graffito” or “graffito blasphemo” states “Alexamanos worships his god.” It was found in Rome, dated to around 200 AD. Jesus appears on the cross, with the head of a donkey.
They were sometimes outlawed by the empire. They were hunted down. They were killed by wild beasts in the coliseum.
They were crucified. They were torn by animals for sport. They were lit on fire as torches in the gardens of Nero.
They were considered rebels, heretics, dangers to civil society. They were labeled haters of mankind. Their acceptance of slaves was cause for suspicion. They were accused of magic.
The many causes of those early persecutions are complicated. But much of it seems to have come down to the fact that they were just, well, odd. (I’ve spent my life in church. I get it.)
Early Christians were separate. Some of their suffering was official or semi-official; some was just regular people doing what regular people always do to those who are different. That is, torment them.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/causes-early-persecutions
Oddly, the church just continued to grow. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” said early Christian writer Tertullian.
There’s obviously a vital lesson here for Christians; especially for those Christians who seek to fit in and be accepted, and wish to avoid any offense against anyone else.
No matter how closely believers follow the teachings of Jesus, no matter how quiet about issues, no matter how gentle in disputes, no matter how many times they feed the poor or clothe the naked, odds are they will eventually run up against a system that insists on compliance.
Christians can’t “nice” their way into being accepted by society unless they simply stop being Christians at all. And when they refuse, there will be a price. It might be social isolation. It might be loss of income. It might even be criminal charges. But in plenty of countries, to this day, that price is misery, poverty and death.
So indeed, Christians must love everyone and follow the teachings of their master. But they mustn’t expect the world to love them for it. Jesus himself was quite clear on this point.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15: 18-19
So what is the lesson for believers? Live the life. Walk the talk. Love, worship, study, pray, baptize, celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Be kind. Comfort the poor, the sick and the dying. Preach the Gospel. Be courageous in bringing justice.
And along the way, call out evil of all sorts, from lack of charity for the stranger to disregard for single mother to the murder of the unborn; from oppressive poverty to human trafficking; from wreckage caused by greed to the pain that results from sexual depravity. Believers should speak out about the abuse of children, the elderly and spouses. They should find ways to help the homeless and the addicted. They should stand against the propagation of lies.
Christians should be non-partisan in their accusations against wickedness in the world; they should preach Jesus, and offer repentance, to conservative and liberal with the same fervor marinated in the same love. Some people will be offended, but that’s the price of truth and service.
We must not mind insulting men, if by respecting them we offend God.
— St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople and Church Father (349–407)
However, there’s another lesson here for those who find politically engaged modern Christians problematic. (And again, I’ll grant the point. Sometimes politically engaged Christians can be very unkind and very un-Christian.)
There are those who believe that Christians would be just fine, would be more tolerable if they were just like the early church. The reality is is that even when Christians do proper Christian things, even when they are at the mercy of the state, they are often still disdained.
Modern reporting shows that for their efforts, Christians are still harmed, impoverished, imprisoned and and killed with great ferocity; not for being politically active, but for simply believing and acting on that belief.
If anyone doubts the historicity of this fact, they need not look to Rome but merely to the Soviet Union in its heyday or to Communist China. There are plenty of other examples. (1)
Maybe the lesson for those who want Christians to pipe down, to stay out of the issues, is that no matter what, no matter how quiet, no matter how politically irrelevant Christians are, they still may not be ‘acceptable,’ or ‘likeable’ in any modern, popular sense. And when they simply preach what they were told to preach, it will ultimately touch on hot-button issues and cause offense.
Even when they aren’t seeking power but merely seeking souls.
In the end, Christians are never better than when they’re living most like the one they worship. And no matter what one believes about his divinity, there is no denying the impact he had, and still has, on humanity.
But for all his kindness, for all his love, for all his passion for justice, even he was too much for the crowds and died like a criminal.
There’s truth there for all of us.
Edwin
(1) I’m not whining about the plight of my brothers and sisters in the US. We have it easy. But here are a few numbers from around the world:
52,000+ Christians killed by Islamic militants in the past 15 years in Nigeria.
25 Churches and 85 homes of Christians ransacked and looted in Pakistan in 2023.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-in-pakistan-reeling-year-after-horrific-attacks.html
Churches in China closely monitored by camera as oppression increases.
https://www.mnnonline.org/news/chinese-christian-persecution-worst-in-40-years/https://www.mnnonline.org/news/chinese-christian-persecution-worst-in-40-years/
The Voice of the Martyrs tracks Christian oppression worldwide.
The list goes on and on. These are not people, in places, where Christians have political power or sway elections. They just want to worship, live their faith and be left alone. But they cannot be because they, like the early Christians, will not renounce their faith in exchange for what is predominant. These are not Christians who are seeking Christian nationalism. They simply believe in the kingdom of God. These are not Christians wearing conservative hats or t-shirts or watching Fox News. They’re busy watching to street to see if someone is coming to arrest them.
As always a voice of reason in the storm.
I’m grateful for your insight. Thanks my friend!