This came across my Facebook Stream this morning…

What Many Christians Can’t See About The Culture  War

On any given  day you can find  endless social media chatter among Evangelical Christians debating  “culture”, and the “culture wars”, and lots  and lots of  talk of us, “fighting the culture”. There’s recently  been a great deal of similar discussion surrounding  the promotional push for a new  book  by popular pastor David Platt, whose  forthcomingCounter Culture,  seeks to once again position Christianity (as represented by The Church)  as the sole  solution to our  numerous societal ills. I’ve really enjoyed Platt’s past books, and have found  inspiration and wisdom in them.

The premise of  Platt’s latest is a fine one, and it echoes  the ministry and message of so many of those sharing his overall theological perspective; that Jesus was always counter-cultural, and so the Christian Church is called to be that as well.

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So many American evangelicals have existed for so long in a  materialistic,  affluent, largely white, male-dominated religious bubble, that they mistakenly believe they are by default,  living out the radical, upside-down mission of Jesus…

It’s a good read, and for me especially when he writes this:

When  Rome commandeered Christianity, it affixed to the faith  something  it was never meant  to be marked by: Power.

I think this may actually be the first time I’ve ever seen anyone mark the beginning of the decline of Christianity as being when the Roman Emperor Constantine made it the official imperial religion (in exchange naturally, for helping him win a war). I’ve been thinking this for years now. But it was inevitable. What Ta-Nehisi Coates said a week or so ago about how “The interest in power is almost always accompanied by the need to sanctify that power” is obvious yet it keeps needing repeating. Christianity could never keep speaking truth to power without power eventually co opting it. Power is always attracted to power, for the sake of power. The more powerful Christianity’s message became among the common folk, the more attractive it would inevitably become to The Establishment of any age. So Constantine overthrew the old gods, and not so coincidentally rivals to the throne who followed them, and Christianity became the very thing its founder hated most of all, a religion of the establishment. The Pharisees put down their Torahs and picked up their Bibles, spoke in Latin to the masses, and served the new boss, same as the old boss…

The political sway, the financial storehouses, the abuses of power, the gender disparities, the gentrification, and the bullying dominance of the marginalized, which so often characterize the Church today; these all embody a huge part of the culture that Jesus was running counter to.

You can argue that the religion of Jesus of Nazareth never died, but is reborn in every person who takes his teachings to heart and walks his walk. Yes. Just so. But that is not the religion of the Establishment and the high priests of that Christianity take no prisoners. Ask them in South and Central America what happened when Christianity threatened to actually become the champion of the poor, the oppressed and the outcast. It had to happen. The surprising thing is to finally see with clarity how long ago it was that it happened. The risk in speaking truth to power isn’t you are led to the gallows, but to the throne. The king is anointed by God, and it’s good to be God.