holy anger

While most activists could use a good dose of gentleness...I think most believers could use a good dose of holy anger. Shane Claiborne

It was extraordinarily fitting that I read these words last night because yesterday I was pissed off. Pissed off at American Christianity that has become a subculture which, to quote myself, throws in the nice parts of the Bible, bits of the American dream, promises of a comfortable lifestyle and an island paradise for eternity (6/30/08).

What makes me really angry is the fact that we're indoctrinating ourselves with this belief. And it has moved to the Church. To my church.

I receive a weekly email from our church administrator that includes that Sunday's bulletin announcements, order of worship, etc. Although I no longer work for my church officially, I still enjoy looking over these files to see what's going on in the life of our church. This week, I noticed that the song "How You Live" was listed as the offertory piece.

I hate hate HATE this song. I usually try to avoid using the word 'hate' in any context, but I mean it about this song. I mean my stomach has started to churn again just thinking about it.

To quote myself again from that same blog post I linked above, here's why it makes me so mad:
I'm afraid we're growing comfortable in a culture that ignores the costs of servanthood & relaxes in the blessings we've been given. The Christian radio's playing songs that say "wear your red dress, use your good dishes, go to the ballgames, go to the ballet, turn up the music" and we're tapping our toes right along. I agree with the underlying message of this song--but it's not scriptural and I don't think it corresponds with Christ's main message. But when we begin to equate this and similar songs' mantras with Christianity, we find ourselves in a cultural-religious hodge-podge that throws in the nice parts of the Bible, bits of the American dream, promises of a comfortable lifestyle and an island paradise for eternity. I'm just not entirely sure that's what Jesus meant when he said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (john 10:10). I mean, really, not every Christian can afford to go the ballgame, let alone have at least 2 sets of dishes. C'mon, Jesus was eating with whores and thieves--hardly the types to have "good dishes." I bet Jesus would gladly eat off your floor if He were to drop by for dinner tonight and you hadn't yet started the dishwasher.

You can read the rest of the disgusting lyrics here. My other favorite lines include "have what you want" and the obligatory "give to the needy" thrown in on the last stanza. In my opinion, this song could be the anthem of America's cultural Christianity: spend enough on yourself to live the good life and remember to think about those less fortunate every now and again so you can feel good about your charitable contributions. God Bless the USA.

(I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "USA bless God." Preach.)

Now back to the part about me being pissed off. I've made it clear that I hate this song--but I don't think that's enough to warrant a true state of holy anger. What gets me so upset is the fact that we're going to sing this song in church...(here's the real kicker) after my pastor preaches a sermon on Matthew 6:19-21. In this passage Jesus recommends that we store our treasure up in heaven.

So the service will run something like this: Part 1) don't horde your treasures on earth where moths destroy and thieves steal. Part 2) Live life to the fullest! Spend money on a new red dress, tickets to the ballet or the ballgame. Have what you want! We've been blessed so make sure your enjoy every minute of it! Part 3) We take communion together--with the idea being that we share in the body of Christ with our brothers & sisters around the world. Our brothers & sisters who sure as heck aren't going to the ballet or using their good dishes.

To me, this is straight up spiritual warfare. My church will be sending subliminal messages this Sunday (I think it is a fortunate occurrence that I am teaching Sunday School this week and won't actually be in the service). We've become so blinded to the difference between a life of discipleship as described in the Gospels and a life of comfortable Christianity as described by American pop culture that we don't even realize it when the very word of God is being contradicted in church. Satin has found a way in. My pastor will preach a good word based on the very words of Truth, then the prince of this world gets his sermon in as we sing a song about complacency, about comfort.

Does that piss anyone else off? Literally tears of frustration and anger welled out of my eyes last night as I was discussing this with my mother. Just thinking about it again has caused my muscles to tense up and my heart to pound. This is serious friends. The gospel of American Christianity is finding its way into the Church. We're being told that it's okay. It's okay for us to spend money on ourselves. It's okay for us to give to the "needy" instead of building relationships with them. It's okay to have a nice house in the suburbs with multiple sets of china while half the world is living on less than the coins in our change purses.

THAT IS NOT OKAY! What happened to the Gospel?? Where did it go? What the heck do we think we're doing, and how dare we call it Christianity?

Will you join me in this anger? And pray with me that this anger leads to a genuine embrace of true Gospel living in our own lives, and to the pursuit of a ministry that seeks to eradicate the heresy of American Christianity.