The “Christian” America many of us grew up in is gone and it’s not coming back. It’s not hard to understand what’s happened. Hyper-individualism has weakened the institutions of American democracy, including the church. Look at the attendance and participation in your own congregation. It’s probably not what it was several decades ago. The cause is not Covid.
The Reformation in the 16th century freed the individual from the domination of the medieval church. “The Christian individual is a completely free lord of all, subject to none,” wrote Martin Luther, but centuries later American society has made individualism an idol. Now if you imagine you and your ideological affinity group are the last word on anything, you don’t need anyone else, don't need the church or any other institution, except that you do. Where do you look for deliverance from whatever you imagine afflicts you and your tribe? Turn to the second great trend in our time, the growth of the federal government. Political pundit Gene Healy calls it the “state stepping in for Yahweh.”
Many evangelical Christians have turned to political action to change America, but isn’t that falling into the trap of thinking government is the answer? For Lutherans, “secular authority deals with matters altogether different from the gospel. Secular power does not protect the soul but, using the sword and physical penalties, it protects the body and goods against external violence” (Augsburg Confession, XXVIII, 10-13). But yes, we should be good citizens. What’s in the soul of a follower of Jesus that can make a difference in today’s dysfunctional America?
Luther not only said, “The Christian individual is a completely free lord of all, subject to none,” but also, “The Christian individual is a completely dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Our witness to America is the servant Christ within us (Colossians 1:27). “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Service to neighborhood and community, service to people who “are not like us,” service to people with whom we strongly disagree, can reinvigorate the institutional church and, we pray, make a difference in dysfunctional America.
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