Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever blog about an article in which a program I coordinate was addressed, much less an article in which I was quoted! While I thought yesterday’s LA Times article on the program I coordinate on Capitol Hill was, to borrow a phrase, “fair and balanced”, I do want to clarify a few items in the article that could be misconstrued. Because several “liberal” and seperationist blogs have picked up the story, and quite a few have made their way to this blog through google, I wanted to respond to a few of the points of contention.
I’ll quote the portions with my comments below:
“Holy Father, we thank you for providing us with guidance,” said Bouma, who works for an influential televangelist. “Thank you, Lord, for these students. Build them up as your warriors and your ambassadors on Capitol Hill.”
As I mentioned in my previous post, I really wish I wouldn’t have used the word “warrior”. I didn’t realize she was writing down my prayer (chalk it up to my rookieness with the press!) and normally wouldn’t say something like that with non-Christians. I often use that with the guys I spiritually encourage to convey something different than what might be construed by non-Christ followers and seperationists. The last thing I want to convey is that we are on some Mongolianesque Crusade for the conservative culture war. What I desire is that God build staffers up as ambassadors for his glory, purpose, and Kingdom…
They learn to view every vote as a religious duty, and to consider compromise a sin.
This sentence was just plain editorializing, pure and simple. In no way do we ever convey staffers must urge their bosses to vote a certain way or think according to some ideological doctrine. We especially do not in any way suggest thinking or voting in a certain way is sinful! Out of the entire article, this sentence pissed me off the most, and I really do not know why it is in the article…What we try to do with this program is to help staffers understand what God desires on a range of topics that they deal with in their positions as legislative aides.
That puts them at the vanguard of a bold effort by evangelical conservatives to mold a new generation of leaders who will answer not to voters, but to God.
Again, a slight twist on what we are trying to accomplish. To suggest staffers or their bosses should not answer to their constituents is completely ridiculous, and would be even more ridiculous if we suggested this! Again, what we desire is to equip followers of Jesus Christ with the intellectual tools to “test and approve the will of God–his good, pleasing, and perfect will” and apply this to the issues they deal with on a daily basis. More on this below.
To Greene, there could hardly be a more appropriate location. He considers his private faith and his public duty inseparable.
This, of course, plays off of the “separation of church and state” concept. It also conjures up fears of a Talibanesque theocratic take over. As followers of Jesus Christ and agents of His restoration, we should desire to restore society to the way in which God originally intended it to be. Christian spirituality makes factual claims on reality and we believe those claims are true. Why wouldn’t we want to incorporate those truths into our society? In essence, this is the concept of the kingdom of heaven, though I STRONGLY suggest the mechanism through which God desires to bring about this Kingdom is NOT through government, but through the Church. What we try to do is help staffers understand the reality that God has established and restore America to this originally reality. Is this contradictory? Comment below…
To which Lynn responds, with exasperation: “He says that because he knows in a majority Christian country, the Christian view is going to be expressed by more voters. They have no problem imposing their biblical worldview on every American.”
Evangelical conservatives acknowledge that’s their goal.
And they now have a systematic plan for achieving it.
This idea that we want to impost some metanarrative is unfortunate. There is a very thin line here between those issues that the Church must prophetically speak against or for because they reflect the desires of God’s reality, and those that have been hijacked by ideological groups to further political ends. It’s too bad that people think all we want to push is a conservative worldview. As coordinator of this program, this is something I truly desire to root out. In fact, I hope to bring some thinkers from Sojourners to add some balance. But I do find it difficult to reconcile the fact that some biblical issues have been transformed into political issues, by both sides of the spectrum…
She dips into the Bible to explain her opposition to most global treaties, reasoning that Americans have a holy obligation to protect their God-given freedom by avoiding foreign entanglements.
“The Scripture talks of taking every thought and making it captive to Christ, and that’s what the Statesmanship Institute helps us do,” Echard said.
I’m not exactly sure what is meant by either of these sentences. I know Jessica well, so I’m not sure what she really meant to say here, but I think we need to caution ourselves about how we use the Bible. Yet we should recognize that His Breath gives guidance through Scriptures as a “blueprint” to all of life as individuals relate to God and each other in society. Our most basic assumption is “God revealed, therefore I can know.” I blogged about this point several weeks ago, and it speaks to the idea that we can know and understand through His Spirit what He desires for us as individuals and society.
In the program, we try and strike a balance between understanding what God directly speaks to, and topics that are vague but can be addressed with principles from God’s Word. One such topic is the area of foreign policy. The professor takes a different take than most Christians in saying the Bible does not directly spell out how nations should interact in this arena of international relations and is very vague, but there are principles we can use to guide the conversation. We just need to maintain a posture of humility as we seek to understand those principles…
That focus on legislative victory disturbs some evangelical leaders, who would prefer to work on spreading Christian values throughout society.
“Too many programs start with the idea that if we [enact] right-wing, conservative policies, we’ll change America and God will be pleased,” said Ryan Messmore, who runs a leadership academy aimed at helping young Christians share their faith through the arts, the media and other professions.
I whole heartedly agree with Ryan! For those of you visiting for the first time, I would encourage you to read my posts under The Politics of Yeast section, a series I hope to turn into a book someday. The series outlines an alternative vision for reaching the Capitol Hill community and influencing change by sharing the love of Jesus through the gospel and living incarnationally. And this is primarily what we do: we primarily exist to explain the significance of relationship with and restoration through Jesus Christ, and then seek to encourage and equip followers of Jesus in their work on Capitol Hill. This reported program is only one facet of the overall work we do. Unfortunately, that reality got lost in the spotlight on SI.
So why exactly did I write this post? I realize it is fruitless to react and respond to every little article and comment made toward me or the organization for whom I work. As I mentioned at the beginning, I wanted to clarify a few points in the interest of giving a broader picture of what we are trying to accomplish. This program exists to equip staffers to engage biblically and intellectually with the issues of this country, in the interest of leading well and restoring our broken society. No, we are not interested in ushering in an era of theocratic rule. No, we are not interested in brainwashing staffers and Jesus followers to kowtow to a certain ideological doctrine. But we do, unabashedly, seek to help staffers “mine the Bible for ancient wisdom”, because that ancient wisdom is completely true, factual, real, and applicable to this contemporary society called America.
As I have said plenty of times in my nearly 100 posts in 3 months, if the Church desires to effect change on Capitol Hill, it must do so missionally. Resorting to the worldly tactics of Power and Might reduces Her to an interest group and sidetracks Her from Her primary mission: to be and make disciples, in authentic community, for the good of the world. Thankfully, Christ-followers on Capitol Hill have the freedom and calling to be Jesus in the Hill community for it’s good, and America’s.
be His,
jeremy
