What Jesus Said Versus Religious Right Theology

Never before have I integrated someone else’s writing into one of my blog posts. But what writer Christine Brinn had to say will resonate with so many young people who question the Evangelical Church over their support of Donald Trump. Today I share her thoughts and my own reaction in solidarity with other resistance fighters:

“Dr. James Dobson is basically my spiritual grandfather. I grew up listening to his familiar voice on the radio. Long road trips were passed listening to Focus on the Family’s audio drama, “Adventures in Odyssey.” As a teenager, I looked forward to the latest edition of Brio Magazine and I devoured all 800+ pages of Billy Graham’s Autobiography before I finished middle school. I was born and raised in evangelical America.

Today, my parents still attend the church I grew up in and I see many beautiful ways that my childhood community instilled in me (and still inspire) a genuine love for Jesus. The seeds of my Christian faith were planted within the small, sheltered world shaped by Chuck Colson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Franklin Graham, and so many others. I’m grateful for many of those seeds. I’m also grateful for the communities of faith that have since helped me discover my blind spots. In the years since “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” and “See You at the Pole,” I’ve been given the privilege of following Jesus in many different contexts, and have had to wrestle, evolve, integrate, un-learn, re-learn how I read scripture, how I read history, how I listen to human experience, and discern how to follow Jesus in our present global context. I’m indebted to communities of faith that have collectively shape my imagination (Hillcrest Chapel, Gordon College, Fuller Seminary, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, IFES, Neighborhood Ministries, CCDA, Harbor Church, Urban Life, San Diego Refugee Tutoring, The Ruth Center, Epic Church, The Message Center, Venn Diagram, and many others).

So, what’s my point? Well, this week I read Dr. James Dobson’s heartfelt plea to his community (and my childhood spiritual family). He compelled his audience to protect and fight for religious freedom (aka, Vote for Trump). In his words, this fight is critical because we’re fighting for a God-ordained inalienable right that America’s founders “enshrined” in the first amendment. When I read that sentence, I stopped in my tracks. I realized with clarity why my faith in Jesus no longer fits into the values system that shaped me as a child.

What I’ve learned is this: Jesus didn’t live and die to “enshrine” religious freedom into our government structures. He didn’t impose his agenda on the Roman Empire – or on anyone for that matter. In fact, He did quite the opposite if we read the whole of scripture or through the eyes of the global church. Jesus says a lot about his relationship to Empire, and “enshrining” his ethics into government structures was far from his approach to redemption and healing of the world. The Jesus I follow today is not leading me to vote for a platform at the expense of basic human rights. I believe the Jesus I follow is in fact confronting the blind spots of the American Church and is exposing our possessiveness, our need for control, our dominance and our abuse of power.

I don’t have all the answers. I’m doing my best to listen to everyone’s experience. But, for all those in my spiritual family who are wrestling with this year’s ballot, I pray that we’d ask God to open our eyes to the blind spots we may have. Is “protecting religious liberty” or “voting for a platform” what Jesus lived and died for?

I follow Jesus because I find his invitation compelling: not to fight to protect an Empire, but in fact to consider first God’s deep love for all humanity. Check out Luke 4 – Jesus gives a great elevator pitch! How does your vote bring good news to the poor, the captive, the oppressed? [Side note: White evangelicals aren’t oppressed.].

I’m voting against white supremacy. I’m voting against bigotry and racism. I’m voting for human rights and the sanctity of all human lives. I’m voting for restoration of the earth. I’m voting for sustainability over profit. I’m voting for racial justice and equity. I’m voting for the prisoners, widows, orphans, refugees and immigrants. I’m voting because I believe these are the things Jesus invites me to prioritize. I hope you’ll join me! #vote2020“

Who Is Defying The Teachings of Jesus?

Christine, thank you so much for your words. As my mother used to say, “if everyone else goes and jumps off a cliff, are you going to do it too?” This woman succinctly recounts the pillars of her Evangelical upbringing. She must be about the same age my daughter would have been, considering the benchmark ministries and publications we faithfully followed and instilled in both of our kids. Who, in their right mind, would even guess that the giants of American Evangelicalism would buy into a mindset that so clearly defies the teachings of Jesus? I do believe it’s too late for some of the older folks. They are not willing to examine the evidence and compare it to the Gospels. And tragically, the younger Evangelicals see the hypocrisy and are leaving the church. Worse yet, they are LEAVING JESUS. And who is to blame for that? The pillars of American Evangelicalism, and their followers who lack the courage to OPEN THE BIBLE AND READ THE GOSPELS. There is a new world coming, and hopefully in God’s mercy Donald Trump will not be a part of it. This isn’t the first time the status quo religion of the day will be blown to pieces. Jesus will prevail. He is the Alpha, the Omega, the First and the Last. None of this would be happening if He were not allowing it. Kevin and I know that our job is to be there for the people we used to teach in Sunday School- those who now write to us in pain and sorrow. God will use this for good. My prayer is that God will have mercy on us, and deliver us from Donald Trump.