BY NATHAN BROWN
t used to stand in the forecourt of the World Trade Center. Now The Sphere-damaged and scarred though it is-has been reinstalled in Battery Park, downtown New York City. It was originally dedicated to the cause of world peace. Now The Sphere has been rededicated to the resilience of the American spirit.
It is perhaps a worthy memorial, but it also represents a significant change in philosophy, not necessarily in just the past 18 months, but in the time since The Sphere was first dedicated. Judging by recent church experiences in the United States, it may be an ideological shift American Christianity has not avoided-but perhaps should have.
There is a darkness in the soul of American Christianity: the almost unquestioning acceptance-even the "celebration"-of its own Americanness and the tragic militaristic attitudes and history associated with that. There is a jarring correlation too readily drawn between Christianity and American patriotism. Sadly, this is a darkness with which American Adventism is similarly afflicted.
In a recent address, prominent Christian sociologist and author Tony Campolo neatly summarized this disturbing tendency: "I contend that we have reached a stage of idolatry when, in any given church in America, you're going to run into more trouble if you remove the American flag than if you remove the cross."1 Sobering words, particularly for a denomination that quibbles about placing crosses in our churches.
As people-and particularly as Christians-it is time for a new perspective. Writing on the anniversary of September 11, Ajith Fernando, of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka, suggests: "There is a growing frustration coming from a suspicion that American Christians are listening only to what American experts say about the situation in the world outside their borders. . . . Out of solidarity with the Christians in the developing world, Western Christians need to be reluctant about giving blanket support to military initiatives against non-Western powers."2
Maybe we need to see war and tragedy as it really is. In Telling the Truth Frederick Buechner suggests we should observe the world "without the audio."3 Try watching the news sometime while ignoring the feeble attempts at explanation or justification. The "truth": murder is murder, no matter what the rationale; exploitation is exploitation, no matter who profits; and bullying is bullying, whether by military, economic, or cultural means.
When we ascribe spiritual legitimacy to militarism and political power, we ignore the plight of billions downtrodden by this power. When we pray for victory over our enemies and preservation of our own way of life, "it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think." We are praying, "Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!"4
As Christians we must be able to recognize these truths no matter where we hold our citizenship-and stand up for truth, justice, mercy, and goodness. To unquestioningly equate Christianity with Americanness also equates-in the eyes of the wider world-Christianity with the military campaigns, corporations, economic policies, cultural imperialism, and absurd consumerism we should be speaking out against.
The challenge is to readjust the balance in "American Christian" between the "American" and the "Christian." The terms are not synonymous. Whether we like it or not, the terms are even sometimes-perhaps often-opposed. There is no question as to which should overrule. As Paul put it in his greeting to the Colossians, as citizens of the kingdom of heaven we are only at our present postal address but we are in Christ.5 We must be primarily Christians and only ever secondarily patriotic.
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1 Ted Olsen, "The Positive Prophet," www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/001/1.32.html.
2 "Why Americans Are Alone in Their Worldview," www.sojonet.com.
3 Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale, pp. 14, 15.
4 Mark Twain, "The War Prayer," www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html.
5 See D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "In Christ, at Colosse," Love So Amazing: Exposition of Colossians 1.
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Nathan Brown is a freelance writer and graduate student in Townsville, Australia.
