Priorities

My pastor told a story yesterday about a chaplain he met who was very adamant about saying that he is not a “black Christian.” He is, he said, a “Christian black.” The importance of that semantic argument is the adjectives change nouns, and become more important.

He raised some very good points about the nature of the massacres in Rwanda, in which tribal identity supplanted common faith. He spoke about the Christians in Palestine, conveniently forgotten by the Christian Republicans who support Israel without question; and many other groups.

I am considering delving into the issue of Christians in Palestine, and will probably do so at some time. Not today, though.

Rather, I want to look at how we as Christians view our role in the world and in politics.

I have heard a lot of people who identify their first priorities, especially in this campaign season. “I’m a conservative first, then a Republican.” “I’m an American first,” “I’m a capitalist above all else.”

I know very few people who have said that they’re Christians first. That concerns me. The Christian Church should not be a part of the conservative movement, nor should it be an arm of the Republican Party, and certainly not a cog in the machine of capitalism.

The Christian Church has its own unique goals and priorities. They are not compatible with a lot of what is served up as political orthodoxy from either major party. There is an extent to which we, as Christians, simply do not belong to either of the major parties as they exist. Sure, I find myself generally right of center, but there are times when I simply won’t support an argument rooted in social Darwinism. I don’t believe that greed is good.

I also don’t believe that a life becomes more valuable simply because it’s an American life rather than a Canadian, Japanese, British, or French.

Or a Mexican.

Or an Iranian.

To cite Colossians 3:11-17 (NIV, courtesy of BibleGateway.com):

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

To say to this original audience that there was no difference between Jew or Greek, slave or free, was as radical as it gets. No less, and probably more, radical than saying that there is no difference between a black man and a white man to a Georgia plantation owner in 1850. Christians are brethren in Christ. If that loyalty is ever shifted from our God and our family to our nation or our political party, then we have made a very serious error.

Jesus Himself said, recorded in Matthew 5:13-15 (NIV; again, courtesy of BibleGateway.com):

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

Are we acting like salt, or are we just being part of the earth? Have we hidden the lamp?

To what extent have we, simply for the sake of getting along, disregarded Biblical precepts and commands?

A few questions that Christians need to ask ourselves, and should answer honestly:

Is capitalism more important than compassion?

Are national borders more important than love?

Is national identity more important than spiritual kinship?

Are we being good stewards of what we’ve been given?

There are many more such questions. A lot of them come up as I read comments in various articles around the internet. People are encouraging Christians to vote one way or another, and inevitably come to some argument that isn’t, as far as I can tell, rooted in Scripture. There is no question that protecting life and marriage are Biblically-based. One can make arguments on either side of capital punishment and various other things.

Ultimately, though, we have one standard by which we are to be measured — and that standard is the same whether we’re Christian Americans, Christian Palestinians, Christian Rwandans, or Christian Iranians. I fear that not many of us even remember that in this country.