A friend brought The Boston Declaration to my attention. It was part of an email from the Indiana Annual Conference on November 30, 2017, apparently promoting it as worthy of our theological and political consideration. My friend wrote that he considered responding to the Declaration. That comment began the process that has resulted in this brief reflection. I have respect for many of those who signed the document. Since I have read the books of some, they surprise me that they have signed a document like this. It will probably help any potential reader to read the declaration first. Rather than analyze the document, I have written my own declaration. I have embraced the flow of the Boston Declaration. However, I have used it as a foil for my declaration. In doing so, please understand that I am giving the Declaration great respect. I hope my response is respectful, seeing some common ground but acknowledging large areas of disagreement.
I am just one follower of Jesus, whom I believe to be a
Jewish prophet and teacher of wisdom, as well as the promised Jewish Messiah,
the hoped for Son of Man, and therefore Son of God and Savior of the world. The
Christian community needs to hear in a new and powerful way his message of love
for the neighbor, love for the enemy, and his beatitude upon those who make
peace.
We live in a cultural setting in which outrage against
inappropriate sexual behavior has become highly politicized. People have what
appears to be moral outrage at private behavior when it conveniently advances
their political agenda but turn away when it becomes politically expedient. Such
selective outrage at private moral failings reveals the importance of the
political issues involved. Voters have too often had such difficult decisions
forced upon them by the political process.
We live in a cultural setting when people rightly express
outrage against the small numbers of those who advance white supremacy, (one is
too many) while conveniently ignoring the rise of violence and the shutting
down of free speech on campus and other settings, simply because such
intimidation and violence advances the progressive cause and beats opponents
into silence. We can celebrate the advances made in race relations in America. Racism
is the birth defect of this nation. If we have the eyes to see, we will see the
influence of the Civil Rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as
evidence of correcting this defect. The changes in legal, political, economic
and cultural standing of racial minorities are a celebration. Yet, too many
persons, organizations, and political parties, depend upon alienating races
rather than bringing them together.
Christians as individuals and communities need to have
boldness and courage to resist the forces that divide and alienate. Such a path
is a risk. It involves costly discipleship. It might mean our preferred tribe, which
is that collection of people and organizations who think like us, will disassociate
from us. It might have to embrace the fact that in this cultural climate fellow
Christians will judge and exclude us. Following Jesus today involves reminding
people that their political opinions ought not to become idols. Jesus has become
the property of a tribe. Jesus is greater than their political agenda. Jesus did
not have a political or economic agenda. In fact, if we have come to political
opinions, we need to hear Jesus in the voices and ideas of our political
opponents. We need to hear the voice of Jesus outside our tribe. Christians agree
that the poor need always to before us as we contemplate our political and
economic views. We must always oppose the forces that separate and alienate on
superficial grounds, such as economics, social status, religion, or race. We must
also be mindful of the forgotten men and women in a free enterprise system that
have the vision and passion to use their talents in a way that finds and
creates needs among people and devise plans to fill those needs and desires. Such
creativity requires faith and hope in the future, as well as love for family,
community, and nation. It has led to improving the material lives of all
persons, including the least of these. We need to have a rebirth of respect for
the pursuit of happiness and respect for private property, both of which are
important for the economic well-being of all.
We can be grateful for the biblical challenge to choose life
(Deuteronomy 30). The West has inherited a tradition of philosophy and religion,
of politics and economics, which provides the intellectual and practical resources
that will improve life. The diversity of cultural setting is impressive,
whether from eastern and southern Europe, from the Middle East and North
Africa, and eventually from northern Europe and America. These resources
encourage openness to learn from and tolerate views that derive from other
cultural traditions. Such resources have advanced the cause of freedom in such
a way that they encourage on-going social reform. For that reason, the economic
advances made by all persons, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation,
is one that all Christians can celebrate. “Following Jesus today means choosing
life, joining the Spirit-led struggle to fight the death-dealing powers of sin
wherever they erupt.” The Holy Spirit, the giver and sustainer of life, bids us
to choose paths that lead to life for self and for others. Too many people
choose death. We see death in the too many abortions. We see death in the
sexual obsession of so many. If we have the eyes to see, we see death in the
abuse of drugs. We see death in the political decision to stifle free
enterprise and the use of private property through federal taxation, bureaucracy
and regulation that leads to economic stagnation rather than creativity and
growth. We see death in locating sin among the wealthy and powerful, making
them the object of envy and hate, instead of recognizing our common bond with
them in sin and potentially our common bond of faith. Too many who profess
Christ are actually part of the alienating forces in America today, as they
focus upon the superficial differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, social
status, and economic status. Such differences, while important, do not define
us as human beings or as believers in Christ. Christians who fire the flames of
suspicion and alienation between such groups do nothing to advance the ministry
of reconciliation God has given the church (II Corinthians 5:18-20). Too many
Christians adopt a stance of critique toward a tradition and toward a political
and economic tradition while at the same time participating fully in that
system. They are enjoying the benefits of freedom and relative economic
well-being while supposedly advancing an alienating critique from a morally
self-righteous position. Their critique, offered from what appears to be the
moral high ground, is in contrast to their lives, which rely upon participation
in the system they profess to critique.
In reflecting upon such matters theologically, the identity
of God becomes important. This God asks people to do justice, to love kindness,
and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). This God asks of all people to honor God
and to do what is right (Acts 10:34-35). God has created humanity in the image
of God (Genesis 1:27), regardless of the superficial differences humanity has
created. Behind the diversity in which humanity lives, moves, and has its being
(Acts 17:28) is the unity humanity has as creatures of God. The path of following
Jesus involves recognizing the blessing of God upon the poor, the pure in
heart, the peacemakers, the meek, those persecuted for the sake of
righteousness, and the merciful (Matthew 5:1-10). Uniting with the people of
Israel, following Jesus involves loving God with all that we are and loving our
neighbors as ourselves (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18, Mark 12:28-34). As Jesus
received the Spirit in his baptism by John, as the Spirit empowered him in his
teaching, healing, and exorcism, as the Spirit empowered the early church and
the first believers, the Spirit will lead us in the world today. This means
willingness to discern the places where evil shows itself in this world, the
courage to oppose it, and the willingness to suffer for the sake of
righteousness. The spiritual danger is always present that those who oppose
evil will find that evil overcomes them. Resentment against the existing order
of democracy and capitalism, for example, can become a secret poison. Such resentment
can become its own form of slavery that people carry with them wherever they
go. No one has the right to hold the possibility of a new world brought by
human action, even if we delude others and ourselves into thinking Jesus is
with our brand of politics and economics. Even if successful, such a proposal
will become another oppressive existing social order that will inspire
resentment and opposition. Evil is not the answer to evil. Discontent, hatred
and insubordination toward the existing social order forgets that every human
system lives in the shadow of evil (Karl Barth, Romans, p. 480-1). In opposing evil, we run the risk of becoming
like what we oppose. The revolutionary who fights oppression too often becomes
like the oppressor (George Orwell, Animal
Farm).
As a follower of Jesus, I find in him my rest, peace, and
salvation. I mourn the coarseness of our politics. I mourn the disrespect
Americans show to their political opponents. I have a particular concern with
how people are bringing Jesus into their political ideologies. Far from
honoring Jesus, such attempts actually reveal the idolatrous attachment we have
toward our politics. We reveal our desire to have Jesus to serve our political
ideology (Karl Barth, Romans, p. 378).
I lament the broken lives and homes of this nation. I lament the alienation
that so many people feel from a nation that has steadily grown its respect for
the worth and dignity of its citizens. I lament the alienation some citizens
feel from an economic system that has created so much opportunity for people to
pursue happiness. I lament the sometimes-justified feeling of alienation people
have from the police, military, and others who defend this nation devoted to freedom.
I lament the failure of so many Americans to understand that we live in a
dangerous world and that therefore the nation needs to defend itself. I lament
a divided church in its understanding of the role of the Bible, the teaching of
the apostles, the classical teachings of the church, and the role of the political
views of its members. The failure to show honor to other Christians has been a
failure of immense proportions in terms of their witness in the world. In particular,
bringing Jesus into our particular vision of the responsibility of government
brings dishonor to Jesus. It suggests that the only thing that matters is
politics and economics. It fails to see the spiritual issues that afflict
humanity and which only the risen Christ can heal.
America is full of false ideologies. Among the deepest is
the failure to recognize that the ideas that established America, especially
its devotion to liberty, limited government, and constitutional rights are the
best hope for the world. Such ideas have shown that political and economic
freedoms are beautiful partners in expanding the wealth of a nation, the
freedom of its citizens, and the respect that institutional life offers
individuals. Such ideas do not isolate the wealthy as particularly evil or the
poor as particularly virtuous. The more people can feel their worth and dignity
finds respect in the political and economic spheres of cultural life, the
healthier the nation can become. Respectful participation will always lead to
healthier individuals. The ideas that founded America have become increasingly
part of the world, not only in Europe, but also in Asia and Africa. The false
ideology in America places at the feet of America exploitation, racism, sexism,
and empire that more accurately lays at the feet of communist and fascist
movements, as well as other forms of totalitarianism. Today, the greatest
danger to those who love liberty is militant Islam. We live in a violent world.
We show love to the neighbor when we defend them. In particular, opposition to
the hateful ideology that we find in militant Islam deserves the full support
of the church and individual Christians. The willingness to give hateful labels
to such concerns (homophobia, islamophobia, racist, and so on) betrays its own
bigotry and unwillingness to engage reasonable discussion and debate. Such rhetoric
attempts to put one on a moral high ground that one does not hold while shaming
any opposition to a particular view of the role of government in this nation. Such
an approach is the path to its version of fascism. Such an approach will never
acknowledge that it may have much to learn from the opposition.
As one who worships the God of Israel and seeks to follow Jesus in this
world, the invitation is always present to choose today whom I will serve
(Joshua 24:15). As a call to action, I am just one person. I want to do my part
in this setting. I want any reader to know that I choose to make political and
economic commitments that are life-giving. As such, I will treat the stranger
with love. While respectful of the differences human beings have created, I also
recognize that beneath the differences are common humanity and our existence as
creatures God has made. I look forward to the spread of regard for the worth
and dignity of all persons. I long for a time when Christians can be with each
other in the way the risen Lord is with us today through the presence of the
Spirit. I want to work with others for a reasonable care of the earth. Instead,
so many people seem to use the language of care for the earth as a mask for a
socialist and anti-capitalist agenda. I hear in the deep divisions in our world
a call for my feeble efforts to bring healing. I will work against anti-Semitism.
I will work against any effort to dehumanize the Muslim. I gladly open myself
to the wisdom that will come in our global setting from religions differing
from my own and from those who have no religion.