Laying Down Your Life<\/p>\n
Imagined Communities<\/em> by Benedict Anderson is such a great title to a book. I was excited to see this book on the reading list because the very title embraces two words I love. I wasn\u2019t really sure what to expect diving into Anderson\u2019s book but I went in with my imagination ready and curious to learn about community.<\/p>\n Whether it is Je Suis Charlie, Eric Garner, or issues in Ferguson, it is clear communities and nations are having very important conversations regarding ethnicity and race. I was really interested to read chapter 8 \u201cPatriotism and Race\u201d and was encouraged when Anderson reminds us by saying, \u201cIn an age when it is so common for progressive, cosmopolitan intellectuals to insist on the near-patho-logical character of nationalism, its roots in fear and hatred of the Other, and its affinities with racism, it is useful to remind ourselves that nations inspire love.[1]<\/a>\u201d I tend to agree with Anderson. The violent acts of a few have created all sorts of racial and ethnic tension but as a whole I think people want to love one another. The global display of solidarity in Paris a few days ago (the USA\u2019s role is another conversation) showed a beautiful willingness by thousands to support and love others. In many ways the solidarity march was a symbol of nations and communities coming together to find common ground. Many of us don\u2019t know how to best love those that are different from us but that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t want to love one another. While many nations are still divided there are also many nations standing side-by-side, even though religious differences.<\/p>\n As a pastor I am often thinking about how the church can lead in some of these conversations. Anderson doesn\u2019t give a lot of hope; \u201cin Western Europe the eighteenth century marks not only the dawn of the age of nationalism but the dusk of religious modes of thought.[2]<\/a>\u201d I understand Anderson\u2019s point of view and I can physically see more people embracing their nationality over religious convictions but Anderson underestimates the power of the Gospel. When talking about War Anderson notes, \u201cthe great wars of this century are extraordinary\u2026in the colossal numbers of men persuaded to lay down their lives.[3]<\/a>\u201d The allurement of laying down ones life for their country is a noble call but dissipates with the destruction of a nation or rise of another. The call to ones nation can\u2019t compare to the thousands of years that men and women have been laying down their lives for Christ.<\/p>\n The Church should have a powerful voice into the conversation of \u201cimagined communities.\u201d The Church has a unique opportunity to be the bridge builders of one nation to another nation. The call to love and lay down ones life should resonate with all people because of the loving sacrificial act that Jesus did for the entire world. That is an imagined community I hope for.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Benedict Anderson,\u00a0Imagined Communities: Reflections On the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Edition<\/em>, Revised ed. (London: Verso, 2006), 141<\/p>\n
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