Blog Note: The following is not the typical subject matter of the Divinesatisfaction website, but comes as a result of a passionate desire to see Christ magnified above all else. I recently read an Open Letter to Conservative Christian’s in the U.S., on Health Care, by Brian McLaren. Assuming that I fall into that label I thought I’d respond.
Dear Mr. McLaren,
Thank you for your open letter to us lowly and apparently ignorant evangelical conservatives. Your opening paragraph giving “kudos” to your evangelical heritage, and your self-proclaimed passion for God and gentle manner of speaking sets my mind at ease, just like the southerner who always says “bless their heart” right after or before insulting the person whose heart he blessed.
You mention in the second paragraph that we conservatives are allowing ourselves to have our lives shaped by political/media/ideological codes rather than by moral/spiritual/biblical ones (I think I’d reverse the order in the second group…but that’s just my conservatism speaking). Mr. McLaren aside from one oft-maligned news network, it appears that the political ideology that you connect yourself with is the same one that drives the rest of the media, our president, and most of the members of congress.
You state that as you sometimes think that people are influenced by talk show hosts more than by religious leaders or the Bible! You know, for a guy related to a movement that hates stereotypes….but I digress. The conservative “leaders” that you mention are demonized by liberal leaders (which you fail to mention as influencing those of the liberal stripe) who instead of engaging in the conversation, end it by employing ad hominem tactics (i.e. every time Limbaugh’s drug history is brought up). I’m personally afraid that many self-proclaimed Christians are being influenced more by the McLaren’s, Jones’, McKnights and even Comings’ (That’s me) then by the four gospels…and the rest of God’s revealed Word.
You then call on Christians to harmonize their lives with the teaching and example of Jesus. I might ask at this point “which Jesus?” There does seem to be a fundamental difference in the way you and I understand who Jesus was and is. Some have labeled Jesus as the ultimate “community organizer” which I find highly offensive! First and foremost the primary reason that Christ came to earth was to live a perfect life so that he could be an acceptable sacrifice for sin, providing atonement and justification for those who believe. If that’s not primary, then we’re better off looking to Gandhi. Secondly, Christ came as our example, and just what was this example? He did not lobby Rome (or even Jerusalem) for healthcare reform; he cared for those who came to him. He did not seek to align himself with the powerful; he actually ostracized himself from major political parties of the day (Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees). He wasn’t even after large followings as he successfully whittled a crowd of over 5000 down to a handful by showing that to be a true believer is more than jumping on a bandwagon. And as a side note, he didn’t tell the Roman soldiers he came in contact with to stop working for a tyrannical, imperialistic, militaristic government. Is it possible Mr. McLaren that too many of “us” are becoming more and more zealous social activists, but less and less Christ-like Christians and “we’re” too interested in the issues to notice the difference? Being a Christian is about having one’s passions wrapped up in the glory and desire of Christ. As a result this bleeds over into the people we come in contact with so that they may have that same passion, desire and satisfaction.
“Thankfully”, you say, “many Christian leaders are far more thoughtful and nuanced in their integration of faith and public life.” This of course is why the links you provided at the end of your site are an almost point by point mirror of the liberal talking points. And speaking of nuanced, you talk of inappropriate comparisons to Hitler. You may wish to remember that it’s not the conservatives that started the Nazi name calling business. If you cared to check you’d find that the talk-show hosts you listed have been called Nazi’s and Hitler far more than the other way around. And even recently it was the liberal Speaker of the House that started the Nazi business by calling the conservative protesters Nazi’s (by claiming that Nazi symbolism was everywhere). This of course is laughable because many of these citizens are concerned about the ideological similarities between the current health-care plan (which apparently you don’t support) and Nazi Germany. So, I’m assuming that your silence on these issues means that your are granting tacit approval of Nancy Pelosi and others on your side spreading misinformation and throwing around brown-shirt comparisons. But those talk show hosts better not call them on it, and heaven forbid they point out the irony.
Mr. McLaren, this letter offends me, not because we differ ideologically, but because you accuse conservative Christians of being duped into believing a lie when many of us are looking at your arguments and thinking the same thing! On top of this I see a grave danger for the church. Having made health-care (among many other things) a political issue for the church to lobby for, we have taken away the personality of the problem. In other words, if people can assume that health-care is the government’s problem, why should they be bothered to help the sick? I can see a person being asked, “What do you do for the sick?” “Oh, I held a sign at a protest.” An extreme illustration to illustrate that an issue is not personal, while helping a person fighting cancer in your church (or community…whatever) is extremely personal. Otherwise we’re telling people through our activism that the way to fix the problem is to get the government to do it. Instead of coming to the aid of the homeless we use them as examples for why the government should do something. I do not believe the church should be focusing on government health-care reform, but instead focusing on fulfilling their calling to help the sick, feed the poor, help the homeless etc. in the area that God has placed you. Christ said that “The poor you will always have with you”, and until He returns we’ll have sickness and death as well.
Finally, this letter offends me because though it calls for civility, this letter (especially the beginning) is anything but civil. Nuanced? Yes. Civil? No. Because at the heart of it you stereotype your subjects, seemingly assume their positions are false, assume they mindlessly follow people of the same epistemological world-view apart from Biblical foundation, and then piously quote James 3 as if your letter was “peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
I conclude with this thought: I am a Christian whom you would label conservative. I am in no way perfect, and this letter was not intended to assume or insinuate that I in any way am morally, intellectually or ideologically superior to you. I agree that any debate should be civil and focused on the issues rather than the personalities. I hope that I have avoided calling you names and any motive that I may have assigned you is only as I perceived from your letter.
Of your letter paragraphs 13, 14 and 16 are great thoughts that I can totally concur with, and there is more of your letter that I would love to discuss with you, maybe over coffee if you’re ever in the area.
Daniel Comings
I found his entire letter to be incredibly condescending and one-sided. The very idea that conservatives are influenced by the rabid voices on the right, while liberals are the paragons of equilibrium.
I also found disingenuous his attempts to establish common ground–as if he were “one of us”. The only way anybody could possibly fall for that is if they have read nothing he has written.
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