Pastor Urges Christians to Follow Christ's Example

Watch any news channel for any length of time these days and you are bound to see some politician or other noted personality claiming that America must get back to being a "Christian nation."It is an unsound argument to say that America was founded as a Christian nation, when in fact, the original 13 colonies were established by those who were seeking relief from the restraints of the British Empire, whose king presided over an imperial church. According to Erwin Chermerinsky writing for the University of California, Berkley School of Law, the founders of this nation knew full well the conflict that is inevitable when a government becomes aligned with a particular religion, thereforethey rejectedgovernment-established religion and wrote into the Constitution the secularization of government and a commitment to religious tolerance.

History aside, one must ask, what does it mean to be a Christian anyway? Going back more than 25 years to a Baptist Church I once attended, the pastor there, Rev. Fred Froman reminded the congregation what a Christian actually is. He said the name "Christian" is used so much today that it has virtually lost its true meaning-and this was in 1996. He added that one is not a Christian by being an American. One is not a Christian by being a church member. One is not a Christian by being religious. Rather, a Christian has passed from death to life and has been justified by faith in Christ alone. A commitment to Christ and his teachings exemplifies a life lived for Him. Somewhere this basic idea has been lost amid partisan politicians using the label "Christian" to attach some legitimacy to whatever policy or agenda they are arguing for.

This bring us to the book "Not In It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church," written by communicator, author, and pastor Andy Stanley and released in 2022 by Zondervan Reflective Publishing. Stanley explains that the pandemic of 2020 and the economic distress it brought led Americans of all faiths to navigate the social unrest that arrived along with a circus-like election year. Everyone was scared, frustrated, and angry. Every opinion and disagreement became politicized including vaccines, masks, and protests. Stanley says he was dismayed to see the normally productive middle ground disappear from the cultural and political landscape and replaced with two extreme sides: the right and the left, the red and the blue. The nation became divided and the church as a whole became divided as well.

In "Not In It To Win It" Stanley says, "With the collapse of the middle, nuance left the building. Without nuance, comments are taken more literally than intended, and productive discussion around complex topics becomes virtually impossible." The result he says, was people including Christians, chose sides and sought an opponent to target. He adds, "Unfortunately, and to the point of this book, churches, church leaders, and prominent pastors took their cues from culture and vacated the middle. To our shame they added their voices to those of their secular counterparts. We did what everyone else was doing, pretty much the way they were doing it. We sided publicly with a party and a candidate-and defended both regardless. In short, we forgot what it means to be a Christian."

At 219 pages, Stanley, who is founder and pastor of Atlanta-based North Point Ministries, breaks down the predicament the church finds itself in today as he sees it and offers solutions for getting Christ's people back on track over the course of 10 easy-to-navigate chapters. He also offers scriptural references to back up his claims throughout the book. The solution, Stanley asserts, is love. Love your God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Love those who disagree with you. Love the unlovable.

In an interview on MSNBC last June, Stanley said, "Jesus stayed in two lanes and the one lane he stayed out of was policy; the two lanes he spent most of his time in was addressing the heart of human beings because he said all of the problems you're going to deal with in society comes from the heart and at the same time he would minister to and extend grace and mercy to the people impacted by societal ills. As the church, we need to stay in those two lanes and when we do, we actually make an impact on society. When church leaders get out of those two lanes and start playing in the policy lane, things become murky and we end up prioritizing our politics over our faith and justifying our politics with our faith."

As Christians have recently celebrated the resurrection of their savior, perhaps many are wrestling with the role politics should play in our religious life and /or our church. Stanley offers guidance to followers of Christ who are confused about just that. "Not In It To Win It" is available at Barnes and Noble Booksellers and online.