As a teenager and young adult, I was an avid fan of the post-punk\/alternative rock genre, and I discovered REM in the mid eighties. I used to blast them in my car on my morning drive to High School, and then again on my drive home. Radio Free Europe. The One I Love. It\u2019s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine). All great songs.<\/p>\n
Tell me you aren\u2019t singing along right now!<\/p>\n
Then in 1991 the band released the album Automatic For The People, which included the song Losing My Religion. As a committed believer (and by that time, a youth pastor) I wasn\u2019t quite sure what to think about that one.<\/p>\n
The lyrics included: \u201cThat’s me in the corner. That’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion. Trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it. Oh no I’ve said too much; I haven’t said enough\u201d<\/p>\n
I may not be losing my religion, but I resonate with that last line. This week when I read Russell Moore\u2019s book Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/em>, I kept thinking that sometimes I say too much about how US Evangelicals should respond to political and cultural issues\u2026and that other times I haven\u2019t said nearly enough.<\/p>\n In his book Moore says much. He considers and challenges the state of Evangelical Christianity in America. As an American, an Evangelical, and a leader of Evangelicals, this book was talking to me. Repeatedly Moore challenged his evangelical readers to re-examine what living an authentic faith in the midst of our culture looks like, and to put that faith above any potential for personal or political power.<\/p>\n I want to say up front that I agreed with much of his thesis. It\u2019s the tension I\u2019ve been living in for the last few years: In my estimation, too many American Evangelical Christians have become far too enmeshed with politics and culture wars. They (we) have become so aligned with political and cultural power, it\u2019s watered down our commitment to, and witness of, the values, mission and aim of the gospel.<\/p>\n And besides, according to Moore (and I agree), the culture wars are over. And \u201cwe\u201d didn\u2019t come out on top. But I think we might find that\u2019s a good thing. \u00a0Because maybe it will make space for believers to live and act out a countercultural narrative of surrendered-to-Jesus and changed lives, as we largely give up the fight to codify laws that unredeemed hearts are unlikely to follow.<\/p>\n The book struck what I felt was a healthy moderate middle ground that is Kingdom focused and not filtered so much through right or left. In that respect if seemed like a good companion to Michael Bird and N.T. Wright\u2019s book, Jesus and the Powers<\/em> that we read recently. And, I thought it provided a nice contrast to both Matthew Petrusek\u2019s \u00a0Evangelization and Ideology<\/em> on the right and Jim Wallis\u2019 God\u2019s Politics<\/em> on the left (though to be clear, I\u2019m happy we read all of those books that I believe are written from godly and sincere, though different, perspectives.)<\/p>\n In the end, I do believe that having an opinion about good political policy is good\u2014even when voicing strong opinions about what you think is best and what invites the most justice for both the US government and our culture. However we need to remember that the church has thrived in good and bad times, with and without power, and in great freedom and under significant persecution.<\/p>\n So maybe, if we are primarily concerned with the Gospel and God\u2019s Kingdom, we would do well to not make political opinion, even our most strongly held opinions, the most important thing about our lives.<\/p>\n I think this is what Moore was getting at. People don\u2019t get saved because Evangelicals gain political or cultural power, or because they \u201cown the liberals\u201d in the polls; they are changed by the transformative power of Jesus.<\/p>\n Our testimony isn\u2019t found in our electoral victories over the opposite side, it is found in the victory over sin and death on the cross.<\/p>\n Moore understands that if we\u2019re going to provide a genuine witness to the world that we must put the gospel first, before any political or cultural associations we might hold.<\/p>\n I preach this message to my church. Tying to provide Christian formation in ways that help people grasp their primary citizenship is heavenly, and that their US passport is only temporary.<\/p>\n Some folks in my church think I say too much. I fear that often, I haven\u2019t said enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a teenager and young adult, I was an avid fan of the post-punk\/alternative rock genre, and I discovered REM in the mid eighties. I used to blast them in my car on my morning drive to High School, and then again on my drive home. Radio Free Europe. The One I Love. 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