The Magnificent Ability Christians Have of Munging Things

As both church treasurer and the office admin for a non-profit (soon to be a private foundation, which I don't think can be called a non-profit anymore, can it?), I end up with the occasional oddball letter in my mailbox. One that I received recently is, in my opinion, a classic example of how Christians munge things together without, apparently realizing that they're doing it (or that doing so lacks integrity). Here's a copy of the letter (with all formatting as shown in the original):

SOLDIERS OF CHRIST ARISE

This is a wake up call to God's people! In America, God and His son, Jesus, are cursed in the media, in the public arena and in the market place, all with little overt negative reaction or correction by believers in His Son.  Muslims on the other hand, are willing to die for Allah and Mohammed.  They will not permit criticism of their religion in any way, even using violence if necessary. Muslims stress morals, daily prayers and clean living.
What happened to our morals in this land once established on faith? What happened to the faith of our fathers? What happened to morality throughout this land? We sit back and hope things will change for the better while they deteriorate. Regardless of what the "Word" demands on homosexuality, many large businesses support same sex marriage with funds and personnel. Lobbyists have been able to push their agenda in the schools whereas the Bible is deemphasized or forbidden.
The Word urges Believers to unify to build up the body of Christ to maturity. In every church or religion, there is a lack of will to work in concert to reach a common goal.  Our different interpretations of God's Word keep us from focusing together for Biblical morality. Emphasis on teaching morals is a major need in our pulpits. Scripture teaches that the body will grow to maturity in unity, and only then will there be positive outcomes.  Each denomination is individually ruled, yet all can work as ONE for the morality of this nation. We are losing the battle in families, especially with our young people who are drawn to the dark side of computer technology, television, movies, drugs and a downward lifestyle all because WE failed early on to monitor and express our outrage as worldliness crept in. It is not too late to be assertive.
God generously sent His only Son Jesus because He saw man incapable of directing his steps.  However, with this gift comes the responsibility for our ministries to be proactive in counteracting errant behavior.  You may feel you, and others, have done this.  God is the judge.  If moral standards are emphasized throughout the nation, there will be positive improvement and a reduction in sinful practices.  Why aren't we standing and being counted to bring this nation to the morality about which the apostle Paul spoke? Ponder this message and pass it on to every one you meet.  One person can make a difference.  YOU can make a difference! Will you stand up?

A Pilgrim

What interests me is the confusion about who "we" are. Granted, there are several other interesting pieces to this letter like thinking that terrorists have a lot to teach the church, that the goal of church unity should be for the "morality of this nation", and the strongly stated but completely unsourced statement that emphasizing moral standards will reduce sinful practices. But I think most of those oddball things can be chalked up to the mad ravings of an eccentric outlier.  That confusion about "us" though, that's something that I hear in Bible studies, Sunday school and other Christian gatherings, and it's from some pretty un-eccentric people.

The very first sentence of the letter states that it's to "God's people." Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean Christians, but I think it's safe to assume that that's who the "Pilgrim" had in mind. The second sentence makes clear that an outside group (the media, the public and businesses) is cursing God. After a short digression in which terrorist Muslims are praised before being munged together with non-terrorist Muslims) there's suddenly a switch to a concern about "our morals in this land." Who's morals? The Christians? The Muslims? The general populous of the nation? The media, the public and businesses? The munging has begun.

Throughout the letter it's difficult to tell whether "Pilgrim" is upset about the lack of morality in the church, or in the nation as a whole. It appears to be the latter, but the premise that's made is that the church's morals should be the nation's morals because "this land [was] established on faith." (I could swear that this nation (the U.S.A) was founded upon the declaration of Independence, which is a political document, not a religious one.) In other words, "Pilgrim" seems to be tying the church and the nation so tightly together, that they appear to be one entity with the same regulations, responsibilities, etc.

At what point did the church receive instructions from God to rule the nation (and is it just for one nation, or should the church be ruling all nations)? At what point did those in the nation, who are not Christians, come under the jurisdiction of the church? Jesus was not sent to make us all moral. Nor did he come to make disciples whose chief goal would be to make others moral. Jesus came to bring life, something that had been lost to us specifically because we couldn't keep the laws (morals) that had been given.

To expect those who have not chosen to be one of "God's people" to follow God's laws is inappropriate and a severe misunderstanding of the gospel. The good news is not that we need to be moral people. The good news is that even though we can't be truly moral people, no matter how hard we try, God has provided a means of forgiveness and acceptance anyway.

Eccentrics happen (not just in Christian circles but within every subset of the populous). You generally can't convince them of anything accept that you don't agree with them. But munging is a wider problem and one that I believe is inappropriate and leads to confusion and hurt. Yes, Christians should be exhorted to be loving and kind and gentle and pure and all the other things that are directed in the Bible. But our attitude toward non-Christians should not be one of forcing our morals upon them.  Rather Jesus tells those he sends out to "proclaim the good news," to "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." (Mt 10:7,8)

Jesus tells his followers to "first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." Claiming that someone else's eye is your own, and then attacking the other eye with a vengeance is a serious misinterpretation of that directive. As Christians, as "God's people," it behooves us to be clear about who we are talking to, who we are talking about, and what we have been directed to say to those individuals. Munging just muddies God's name.