Jesus Camp, My Take
Last night I watched the movie “Jesus Camp.” I must say
there were several times that I just wanted to throw up. Here is the “Reader’s
Digest” version of the complaints I had with the group that the movie revolved
around.
First of all, they
were basically forcing little kids to speak in tongues. Now don’t
misunderstand, I certainly believe in spiritual gifts including speaking in
tongues, but I am a bit concerned when folks are telling 5 year olds that the
need to open their mouths because “God can’t speak if you don’t open your
mouth.” Excuse me, but God can do whatever He pleases with whomever He wants,
whenever it seems fit for Him to do it. Not to mention that He doesn’t work
like a vending machine. We can’t just expect that because we do a certain
thing, in this case open our mouths, that He is automatically going to respond
in the way that we want Him to.
I also noticed that
they talked about Satan in their preaching more than they talked about God. In tandem
with that, there was more exciting and moving rhetoric than truths from
Scripture. It seems dangerous to me to preach using quick and witty rhetorical
quips while failing to delve in to the depths of the Truth of Scripture, Jesus
of Nazareth.
They touted George
W. as like the savior of America.
Now I am not necessarily trying to bash good ol’ W, I’m just not convinced that
they really needed to make a cardboard cutout of him and more or less praise
him as God’s anointed to save America
from the “evils” of the liberals. Basically I think he is a much better
politician than he is a theologian and people need to learn how to make that
distinction in their minds.
Along that line of
thought, the conservative evangelical Pentecostal group on which most of the
documentary was centered certainly proclaimed a message I hear too often. They
were going to “take back America
for God.” Since when were we ever truly a Christian nation? Maybe it was when
we were hauling 8 million Africans over here on over packed cargo ships to be
slaves, or perhaps it was when we were slaughtering 20 million native
Americans, or could it have been when we were oppressing women and denying them
basic freedoms, or possibly when our factories were dumping tons of harmful
waste into our rivers and streams.
Not to mention that
a “Christian Nation” seems to be counterproductive to the Gospel message, since
Jesus himself said that his Kingdom was not of this world. If we are viewed as
a “Christian Nation” then every action and inaction of our government, our
military and even individual citizens, is then looked upon as “Christian”
behavior. Sometimes the behaviors may certainly be in alignment with the teachings
of Jesus, but there are often times when that is not the case. The fusion of
religion and patriotism has proven to be one of the most dangerous combinations
for mankind throughout history, not to mention it has never been good for the
Church or the teachings of Jesus.
Now for the final
thought about their mission to win back America
for Jesus through our political system. The Kingdom
of God is distinctively different
than any kingdom of this world, not matter how good or bad those kingdoms may
be. I certainly love America,
and I believe our system of government is one of, if not the best, way of doing
the kingdom of the world, but it is not synonymous with God’s Kingdom. This
worlds kingdoms work by coercing or forcing people to do the “right” thing
through threats of punishment for breaking the law. This means that they are
concerned primarily, perhaps totally, with behaviors not attitudes. The Kingdom
of God works in a totally different
way. It comes under people to meet their needs, by living sacrificial lives,
laying down our lives, even for our enemies, in order to change people’s
attitudes, not just their behaviors.
Greg Boyd says this
about the power of the Kingdom of God,
“its not found in picking up the sword, its found in picking up the cross.” In
other words we don’t force our beliefs on others by being the ones who control congress;
instead we come up beside the hurting, afraid, lonely, and even arrogant to meet
their needs by giving of ourselves in radically sacrificial ways and be willing
to die for them. It is the precedent set by Christ and I believe His plea is
that we will take up our crosses and follow Him.
Suggested Reading on this topic:
“The Politics of Jesus”- John Howard Yoder
“Mere Discipleship”- Lee Camp
“The Myth of a Christian Nation”- Greg Boyd
Also a sermon series, “The Cross and the Sword” by Greg Boyd
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