CHRIST-APP by philtierneyblog

Cultural Christianity:

As I mentioned, the strategic response to the decline in the number of those who identify as Christians in America has been to blame Humanism and demonic activity. Christianity is based upon belief in and commitment to Jesus as well as following His teachings. Humanism is a philosophy based on human values and interests, which stresses human dignity and individual self-actualization, emphasizing reason and human needs. Demons are believed to be spiritual forces or entities that are in active rebellion against God.

A Different Political path to Achieve an American Christian Culture

Many American Christian influencers look at the decline in the number of active Christians in Western Europe. They fear that America is heading in the same direction. And so, politicized Christian influencers have urged their followers to identify, politically, with Eastern Europe, instead.

Such Christian influencers believe that the direction God wants for the future of America is to become more like Russia, Hungary, Bolivia and Brazil. They perceive that the majority of Americans are too apathetic about preserving Christianity in America, and are convinced that, therefore, democracy no longer serves the establishment of Christianity as the foundational component of American culture.

Using Authoritarian Means to Impose an American Christian Culture

They envision using a form of the political authoritarianism of those countries to protect and advance Christianity, instead of trusting God. Those Christian influencers have been aligned with using a quid pro quo agreement with a willing autocrat to make America Christian in return for their support his rule. In the process, such Christian influencers hope to gain power and influence, themselves.   

For the sake of gaining power there have been altogether too many Christian influencers and politicians, who have enmeshed religion and politics.  They cloak political agendas in Christian terms. They have been simultaneously political promoters and Christian influencers. But, as Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters…” They cannot serve Jesus, serve God, and serve political power. They show too many of the signs of wanting to rule rather than serve. What they seem to aspire for is the imposition of a form of American cultural Christianity rather that dedication to following Jesus.

Cultural Christianity Illustrated

What does such American cultural Christianity look like? Here’s a current example. In May of 2021, pop/country western musician Lee Greenwood published a Bible that he called the “God Bless the USA” Bible. It used the King James Version Bible and added to it the following features: Emblazed on the cover, outside and in, are the words, “God Bless the USA.” It includes a representation of the American flag. It includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and the first ten Amendments of the Constitution or Bill of Rights. It also includes the refrain from Greenwood’s song, “God Bless the USA.” During his 2024 campaign for the U.S. Presidency, Donald Trump, has been promoting it on his social media platform and in person.

In June of 2024, the head of the Oklahoma state Board of Education mandated that study of the Bible must be included in public school curricula. That mandate was ordered to take immediate effect for all public school students, grades five through twelve. The superintendent has approved the God Bless the USA version of the Bible for that purpose.

It has not been uncommon for modern versions of the Bible to include information apart from the biblical text, itself. Some versions include maps of the biblical lands during certain biblical timeframes. Some add alternative translations of words. Some include topical concordances in the indexes and even subjective interpretations in the margins. It’s very recent and novel for any version of the Bible to be printed with documents biased toward an individual nation, let alone to a particular political persuasion or sub-culture within a nation. And yet, this is taking place in America. It is the most blatant departure from thousands of years of biblical production ever. It enshrines certain portions of national documents, slogans and pop songs as equal to the divine inspiration of the contents of the Bible.

If any culture had any claim to a divinely approved status, it would not be the United States of America. Israel could claim that, but the Apostles rejected that claim in their decision at the Council of Jerusalem, which I’ll discuss later. It might be Italy or the Holy Roman Empire, I suppose. The synthesis of an American culture, let alone with American politics and a particular political party has no basis in Holy Scripture or Christian tradition, whatsoever.

Spiritual Malpractice

If contemporary Christian influencers were physicians, they would be guilty of malpractice. They have misdiagnosed the American condition. They have developed the wrong treatment plan. And they have offered an incorrect prognosis.

Misdiagnosis

It is wrong to identify Humanism and demonic activity for the decline in the number of Christians in Western Europe. There have been at least three entirely different conditions that have caused Europeans to become disaffected from Christianity.

The first was their experience during the two world wars. Americans did not have the same experiences during those wars. Americans did not undergo the same degree of existential threat. America was not devastated or made destitute in the ways European countries were. Those existential threats caused Europeans from all nations and religious denominations to pray for God’s help in desperate ways that Americans can barely imagine. Mind you, they were praying to the same God, most of them in the name of the same Lord, Jesus Christ. The wars wore on relentlessly. That became a crisis of faith for most. Many drifted away due to their profound disappointment. That’s one reason Western Europeans turned their backs on Christianity.

The second was Europeans’ collective consciousness of the Christian wars throughout European history. Jesus clearly taught that Christians should love on another and be known by that love. Nevertheless, there have been few things in this world that have so obviously divided people and turned them against each other, to the point of killings and wars, than Christian differences. Some of the differences have been over doctrines. Some have been over differences in approach to worship. Some of the differences have been over who’s in charge. And many have been differences in the divergent Christian cultures that existed within and between nations. That history of violent Christian divisiveness alienated people from Christianity. That’s another reason Europeans turned their backs on Christianity.

The third condition was the way the churches in Europe behaved. The leadership of many churches, especially in countries with a State religion, was all too often dry, dogmatic and rigid. That led people to believe that Christianity was irrelevant. That’s a third reason Europeans turned their backs on Christianity.

Western Europeans turned their back of Christianity because Christian leaders failed them. It wasn’t because of secular Humanism. Average Europeans didn’t even know what Humanism stood for. It wasn’t because of devils and demons, unless you want to include the evils of fascism in that category. If you do, then altogether too many American Christians are looking for the same demons of authoritarianism to save Christianity and will be doomed to the same fate of Americans eventually turning their back on Christianity.

You may ask the question, “Well, what about the Eastern Europeans? They suffered the same conditions. Why didn’t they turn their backs of Christianity?” The answer is simple. After those wars, they suffered from another condition. It was called Communism. Communism was oppressive and all but outlawed Christianity for the better part of two generations. If Western Europeans turned away from Christianity in reaction to their conditions, Eastern Europeans were also reacting against their conditions, as well.

Alternative Diagnoses

The misdiagnosis of the condition that led to European agnosticism has caused American Christian influencers to misdiagnose the spiritual condition of Americans. The movement of Americans away from churches and to identify themselves as unaffiliated is far more connected to the failures of churches and Christians than it is to demons and Humanists. Likewise, therefore, the antidote to the condition is wrong.

Demons and Humanists are less likely to be the problem than we Christians. What has alienated Catholics from the Church? It isn’t secular Humanists or demons. It’s Catholic clergy.

Speaking to the Apostles, Jesus said this about the Jewish religious authorities of the time: “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23: 3-4) Catholic clergy have never been married. They have never had intimate sexual relations. They have never had children. They have never balanced a family budget. They have never raised children. They have never had any responsibility for a nuclear family. And yet, they believe they are entitled by dogma to dictate sexual practices and family planning to the members of their congregations and dioceses. That has driven many Catholics from the Church.

Worse still, some of those same clergy have been pedophiles. They have satisfied their own sexual appetites by preying on the very children they were audacious enough to mandate their parents to have. The Church hierarchy covered up the pedophilia. Then, when they did acknowledge it, many blamed the sexual revolution. And yet, in my own experience my granduncle, who was a monsignor and administrative assistant to the Archbishop of Boston, advised my mother that I not serve as an altar boy because of clergy sexual abuse in the 1950’s. Clergy sexual abuse of children drove many Catholics from the Church, as well.

Americans have given all sorts of reasons for leaving Protestant churches. Some have said that churches are too dogmatic. Others say that churches are irrelevant. Some say that churches are too manipulative. Others claim churches are judgmental. Some say churches are unfriendly or unloving and uncaring. Some others say that churches ask for money too much . Some that say churches are too boring, while others say they follow fads too much. Some claim they don’t serve the needs of the community. Others say they’re too divisive. And still others claim that churches have become too political.

I’ll add that altogether too many preachers resort to polemical sermons. Polemic is a speech or written communication that includes strongly critical attacks against ideas, people or conditions and institutions.

The purpose of preaching is to uncover the meaning of biblical passages in ways that are relevant, meaningful and applicable to listeners. Such sermons have their purpose in upholding Jesus and encouraging trust in God. They are meant to help listeners to better grow in their relationship with Jesus, their receptivity to God’s Spirit and follow Jesus’s teachings. Sermons may often comfort the afflicted and encourage the apathetic to reform their lives and serve others as they are able.

Too many preachers are divisive by their polemics, these days, instead. They identify adversaries of their own choosing. Those adversaries may be prevailing behaviors, philosophies, other religions, types of people, non-believers, institutions or government. They cast those adversaries as enemies in exaggerated terms. The polemical exaggerations often engender fear or anger in their listeners. Then they agitate their listeners to be vigilant against them.

It’s a shortcut to energizing and harnessing the passions of Christians, but it often politicizes the listeners instead of calling the listener to serve the objects of their attacks. That’s usually because the members of their congregations don’t actually know anyone that fits the description of the enemies, personally. And so, instead of urging congregations to love enemies and forgive those who hurt you, as Jesus taught, the call is to stand against them, to overcome them. That is polemical preaching. It creates straw adversaries that can easily be attacked.

Wrong Prescriptions

Too many Christian influencers claim that America used to be a Christian nation, and now it isn’t. They claim that Humanists or demons have taken positions of power in the nation and made America a secular nation. They claim the solution is for them to gain the political power to be able to reshape American culture from the top down. They believe that in so doing more Americans will be Christians and American culture will become Christian again.

The fact is that there are many cultures in America. Some of them seem to be more aligned with Christianity, culturally, than others. In parts of the South and Midwest, the second question you may be asked, right after you share your name, is what church you attend. That’s soft evangelism. If you answer, none, then inquirers are likely to invite you to join their church. But, in other parts of the country, the question isn’t likely to come up. It would be thought of as intrusive.

Subcultures are different from one another in certain respects. It’s less likely that demons and Humanists cause those differences or keep people from church and personal Christian commitment than other factors. I’ve just mentioned the first. Some people are alienated from Jesus by Christians and churches.

Competition

In earlier eras, especially in rural areas, participation in a church was one of the few social outlets people had. Currently, there are many different ways that people socialize or are entertained than by church fellowship and worship services. Those other activities compete with church and Christian fellowship. Times have changed. Nowadays, some adults often prefer to attend professional football games or their children’s sporting events. Older adults would rather play golf, tennis or pickleball. It’s now socially acceptable to be unaffiliated with Christianity in many parts of the country.

Families often used to attend church for the sake of their children. Taking children to church is more difficult, nowadays. Children are more resistant because they’re overstimulated. Sunday School is less appealing because children feel it’s more boring than sports, video games and other peer group activities. Parents don’t want to argue with their children before church, and so they accommodate their children’s preferences. Hence, they are less likely to attend church.

For the better part of forty years, the economy has been such that it requires more than one income to survive. Most adults are required to work a fulltime job. When both partners in a couple have to work it’s less compelling to attend church than to relax or do other recreational activities. Americans are less likely to have lively Christian interests and values when they have less input from Christian sources, but many adults are inclined to spend their Sundays involved in more relaxed and recreational activities.

There have been various reasons that Americans have stopped going to church and have become religiously unaffiliated. I’ve mentioned a few. I say that it’s God’s will that it has happened. There have been all sorts of reasons that Americans had affiliated with Christianity in America and many of them had nothing to do with commitment to Him and following His ways. Some did it because it was socially acceptable. Others did it because they were nominal or cultural Christians. Some did it because it was a way to make connections for business purposes. Others did it because they had nothing better to do or simply wanted the social contact with others. Those and other motivations kept people in church.

Now that many Americans have decided to leave churches may not be good for church budgets and pastors’ compensations, but it increases the pool of those with whom to gossip the Gospel. In cultures that didn’t consider themselves to be “Christian” followers of Jesus could easily be differentiated. That differentiation, at its best, was not by claiming that those who weren’t believers were evil by being Humanists or demon possessed. It was by acting in ways that were distinctively loving. When asked why they were so charitable and caring, they could answer they were following Jesus. That earned trust and drew some to Jesus, too. Those who aren’t Christian are not to be demonized, but infectiously loved in Jesus’s name.

An American Idol

Christianity in America has much more competing with it, and it’s less philosophical or spiritual than it is mundane and practical. Once again, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16: 13)

The degree to which what I’m about to say may cause a visceral reaction in you is the degree to which it’s likely to be true for you. The most significant competitor with Jesus in America is money, gainful employment, and the accumulation of wealth. Americans are more prone to dedicate themselves to gaining money than to serving Christ. Money drives us and occupies most of our time, efforts and thoughts.

We value what we spend most of our time and energy doing. The technical definition of worship is what we value most. Whatever we devote ourselves to as much as or more than God is what we worship. What we worship is a false god. The worship of a false god is idolatry. We Americans are materialists and are prone to worship the idol of money, the “golden calf.” That’s Jesus’s main competitor in America and what actually drives our culture.

Jesus Isn’t Limited to a Particular Culture

Culture matters to people. It especially matters when a country is as large and diverse and complex as America. The nation is made up of different ethnicities, races and socio-economic classes. The more people there are, the more we have the urge to cling to a more particular culture by which we define ourselves. When Jesus told the apostles and other Christians after them to go into the whole world and make disciples of all nations, as I already explained, He meant all ethnicities. And He didn’t mean that making disciples of all ethnicities involved changing their cultures or creating a “Christian culture.”

The notion of a “Christian culture” didn’t arise until Medieval times in Europe. It intensified during the colonial era, when European kingdoms rationalized their pursuit of wealth and land by claiming that it was in service of the “Great Commission.” They wanted wealth and they believed in their own superiority, and so “Christian” conquerors imposed their own kingdom’s culture on natives and called it converting natives to Christianity.

It’s debatable whether identifying as a Christian is actually equivalent to following Jesus. However, cultural Christianity is certainly not following Jesus. There are many American Christians who confuse their cultural version of Christianity with following Jesus. Indeed, there are Americans, who have said that making America a Christian nation will save Western Civilization. Jesus’s mission never was a cultural mission. He didn’t come to create a culture or to save one.

Cultural Christianity is the wedding, the fusion of the trappings and language of Christian tradition with a nation’s or region’s cultural heritage. That fusion doesn’t make the culture Christian. Following Jesus an exercise in spreading that culture. In the same way that there’s no such thing as a Christian nation, there’s also no such thing as a Christian culture.

Cultural Christianity is not the same as living as followers of Jesus. It’s just a fusion or some components of a version Christian tradition with some components of a certain of a culture within a certain timeframe. You may find one expression of that fusion particularly appealing, but it’s not the same thing as following Jesus. That’s a ruse.

There were divisive issues that almost divided the early Christians. They were conflicts over cultural religion. The first was much more mundane, but still important and cultural. You may recall, “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” (Acts 6:1) This was a cultural difference. They were all Jews and all of them followed Jesus, but they had come from different cultures.

The second was a far more divisive and longstanding issue. It involved whether Gentiles (non-Jews) could be treated as Christians if they hadn’t been converted to Judaism first. This is what happened:

“Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.’

The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. When they finished, James spoke up. ‘Brothers,’ he said, ‘listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things —
    things known from long ago.

It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.’”

(Acts 15: 5-6, 12-19)

That decision would change the Christian Way from that time onward. It was a spiritual, religious and a cultural decision. It made no culture a Christian culture. Jesus’s way was open to everyone. No one had to become Jewish, let alone even Judean or Galilean, to be Christian. No culture is a Christian one and no people from any culture is excluded from being a follower of Jesus.

Cultural Christianity is a hoax. If you happen to prefer a culture and you’re a Christian, just say you like that culture. Keep it at that. Don’t even imagine that it’s God’s will to belong to a Christian culture or to say that your culture is a Christian culture or to believe that God wants your nation to be a Christian nation.  The apostles knew Jesus best, certainly better than any of us. Based on their personal knowledge, they neither Christianized a culture nor enculturated Jesus’s Way. American Christians should follow their example and resist the temptation, for that is what it is, to Christianize America or to Americanize Jesus’s Way.