Fifty years ago, I was a very angry young man. I was frustrated and angry at my inability to cope with getting my eyesight back; I was angry about my life circumstances in general; I was angry about the fact that I was angry about being angry. It was in the midst of one of my regular tirades that a friend of mine said, “I understand that you are angry, but you need to understand, ‘Rage without direction is wasted energy.’”
My friend’s words that day have not stopped me from being angry about many things, but they have made we consider, “How can I channel this energy into some action that might reduce my rage concerning the disparities in life?” To this end, I am writing this note to any, and all, who might read this 2025 New Year reflection.
As the political implications of the new administration become manifest, I am more certain that the Church in all its forms must more widely address the pressures of the Christian Nationalist movement. We must confront the ideology of Christian Nationalism, making certain that the people of God in our midst understand that this ideo-political posture is neither Christian nor patriotic.
It is now time for all of us, individually and corporately, in our faith and social settings, to inform ourselves about the roots of Christian Nationalism and its expression in today’s culture that continues to demean, dishonor, and dehumanize the marginalized (people living with disabilities, Black, Brown, Native American, Asian, and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities). It is now time for all of us to publicly repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and denounce Christian Nationalism as being detrimental to a present and future understanding of God’s image and activity in our world including the confusing, iconic nationalistic messaging in our worship spaces.
The Church, through the promulgation of the Doctrine of Discovery (1452,1455, 1493), initiated the dilemma of today. Therefore, individually and corporately, we need to acknowledge, that, since the Western Church is largely culpable for the creation of White privilege, the Western Church is the body who can best resolve the entanglements which have arisen out of the shoddy theology inherent in this shameful doctrine and misplaced White privilege. When the Western Church owns this sin of dehumanizing, xenophobic hatred, then it can truly engage the work of condemning and dismantling Christian Nationalism as it continues to inform our local, state, and national attitudes and policies concerning refugee resettlement; immigration; racial, gender, and ableist prejudice; and just treatment of the poor in our nation.
In this coming year, let us no longer be silent, but proclaim God’s enduring covenant of presence, recognize God’s gracious desire that all should live in peace, shed light on those who sit in darkness, announce resurrection living to those who sit in the shadow of death, and point to the one who guides our feet in the ways of justice. Let us embrace Luther’s words of Christ’s incarnational living: see Christ in our neighbor, be Christ to our neighbor, and live together in hope.
In Romans 8, Paul tells us, “In hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what is seen, but if we hope for what is not seen, we wait for it with patience.” Yet, today, I would like to introduce some words of impatience, I paraphrase Grace Kim (theologian not the Australian golfer), “Hope is not some future goal to be waited for, but the engine of our work.” It is not the hoped for goal that draws us forward; the impetus for the work we do is hope itself. Another way of saying this is, “We do what we do, not in order to be saved, but because we are saved.” Our salvation hope empowers us to act.
The question, “Should the Church be political?”, is often asked. A podcast I heard pointed out that the Church by nature is political. Every time we elect a council and officers of our church, every time we teach and preach the Gospel, every time we voice our prayers, we are being political. So, the question of whether the Church should be political is the wrong question.
The question for the Church is, “How are we going to be political this year in this place?” Will we lift up the poor, the oppressed, the disabled, and the imprisoned and find ways to serve and advocate with them? Will we hear the words of Matthew 25:40, “As you have done it to the least of these, so you have done it to me,” as a personal challenge? Will we see the policies of our community, state, and nation and the work of those we have elected to act for us and in our best interests, as acts we participate in? Can we act in hope with policies concerning minimum wage, taxation, farm bills, and equal access to the abundance of our society? Will we embrace the gifts of diversity in our nation, or will we continue to suspect and hate those who look, think, and sometimes act differently than society’s privileged White selves?
Howard Thurman claims that the “Hounds of Hell” are fear, deception, and hatred. Do not be immobilized when you hear these hounds loudly bay the Christian Nationalist hunt of the vulnerable which signals much of the political agenda for the coming days.
Remember the angels’ words at Christmas, “Do not be afraid, there are tidings of great joy”. The one who was born in Bethlehem and laid in the eating place is also the one who is living and the one who will come again. In Jesus’ name, I urge you, “Become angry; feel the rage.” But rather than feeding the “Hounds of Hell”, find ways to speak in hope with those who have their “backs against the wall” (the poor, the dispossessed, and the disinherited) of our nation and our world.
Rage against the disparities of our world with energy that makes our voices heard in our local, state, and national politics and tear down the idol of Christian Nationalism. Our flag may call us to lay down our lives for others, but there is nothing salvific in it. Therefore, let us look to the one who does save and speak. For Christ’s sake, let us speak.
Happy 2025!
