Who Will Save Us Now?

I'm writing this a few days after President Joe Biden gave a speech in Pennsylvania about how the next midterm election is about fighting for the "soul of America." For however long, it seems that those of us who reside in the United States have been fighting that war. It was once religious and spiritual, but now it is mainly political, with religion and spirituality being hostage to politics which are suffering from Stockholm syndrome. This battle or war over the soul of America has ramped up dramatically since the nation has experienced a decline in traditional Western values. As the US has adopted much more progressive ideals by societal elites, many have lamented the breakdown of modernity and what it supports. On the other hand, we have also seen those who despise postmodernism and progressive advocates fight fire with fire and skew increasingly right as progressives skew increasingly to the left. This has seen both sides fall into a self-cannibalization where one might have been conservative or progressive at one point in time and is now accused of being the opposite by their own party if they're not keeping up.

The rampant speed in which political and philosophical ideologies shift has also renewed a different attitude than self-cannibalization; it is the attitude that someone is always out to get us. Therefore, we perpetually have an enemy. But if we always have an enemy, we also need a hero. For argument's sake, let's say now that one of these sides is "right," and that the opponent of the correct side will cause America's soul to be slain. In 2016's election, many on the Evangelical Right believed that if Hilary Clinton had been elected, America indeed would've fallen. They then fought tremendously in support of Donald Trump. Democrats, on the other hand, saw Trump's election to be the death blow to American democracy. In the next election, the same thing was repeated, only in reverse, with much pain and turmoil in our system. In fact, many who place great value on politics have given up on the candidates this country produces and have looked for other models abroad, even if those models are more extreme than we're used to. Nevertheless, each candidate was propped up as the proverbial hero riding in on their horse to save the day. Yet, if every 2-4 years the US needs to be saved, those leaders are failing, and so are we.

In his book Postcards from Babylon, Brian Zahnd laments about how there's always a statue of "some dude on a horse," who's that city's or nation's hero in almost every city he's visited. He points to the fact that horses represent military might. A rider on a horse then symbolizes military victory. While we don't expect our candidates to ride in on a horse, we see each election as a battle that must be won; we think of it as a military victory, and every inauguration is metaphorically that party's triumphant parade through the capital. 

Should the fact that every election cycle seems like a battle cause Christians to pause and rethink how we approach politics? If we have such an attitude towards political activism, doesn't it reveal that we glorify battle and war? What happens in war? People are maimed and killed by their enemies. While political violence can be uncommon in the US, we can certainly maim and kill someone's character through our warlike rhetoric. In the Bible, however, God's people are warned that what we say about another person matters. In fact, the book of Proverbs is chock-full of examples such as, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Prov 18:21), and Jesus says in Matthew, "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them (15:11), and the NT letters repeat similar words.

However, we must consider that our tongue exists beyond the organ in our mouth; it also exists in our pens and keyboards; the tongue is the extension of our heart and mind. If the heart and mind are toxic, our speech will be too. Christians in all seasons of life and in every context are called to reflect the abundant life that Christ has to offer. Reflecting such a life will be much more difficult if Christians continue to see battle and war in every political election. We can admit that there is a spiritual war, though, and that politics unwittingly plays a part in that spiritual war, but even in that case, we also, as Christians, know who wins that war. 

The war over sin and death was won by Christ, and Revelation says that he will arrive on a white horse with all authority. Above I noted that horses were a symbol of military victory and that such an attitude of reverence around figures on horses suggests we glorify battle. But I am not contradicting myself here. Whereas some Christians have played up the final battle between God and the forces of evil, particularly dispensationalists and fundamentalists, the fact is that it's not much of a fight. Revelation 19 says that all Jesus does to defeat the enemy is to open his mouth and speak (v. 21). The forces of evil never threaten Christ, even if they threatened humanity for a time. Christ's victory doesn't just speak to the ease of such a win; it speaks to the fact that Christ subverts how the war was won in the first place. The enemy gathered its forces to prepare for battle, but its assault was undone without classical examples of violent warfare (Additional note: scholar Craig Koester notes in his commentary on Revelation that while Christians are signified part of God's army, it is only Christ who wages warfare; Christians in Revelation through worshiping Christ). If anything, the book of Revelation delegitimizes an attitude that thirsts for war. Therefore, we don't have to go to the extremes we think we do when we're advocating our causes in politics.

There is a story in 1 Samuel where Israel keeps asking for a king. As the prophet of the LORD, Samuel tells the Israelites what life under a king will be like:

11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 1 Samuel 8:11–18 (NRSV).

This passage primarily speaks to the rejection of God through earthly politics. It is about a nation whose king was supposed to be God. God's people now aren't just part of a physical nation; we span the world, and many Christians who have influence live in the US. While we don't exist in a monarchy and have been extended grace and even been allowed to serve God in politics, I sometimes wonder if God is still calling his people to be faithful in a way that predates the days of us wanting a king; to trust in him alone and not in princes. Is not Christ the only victorious rider on the horse we should look to? What would it look like if we didn't partition our faith but let it saturate all facets of our daily and temporal lives? Would not complete trust in God despite what may come be better for the soul of America? Would not complete trust in God unshackle us from worry and allow us to demonstrate God's love for us in Christ? Would we not look like people who'd been formed by the sermon on the mount, the cross, and the Resurrection rather than by a sophist's speech in the Athenian assembly? How far are we willing to accept and take Christ's salvation over our lives?