By Rudy Barnes, Jr., June 24, 2023
In case you haven’t noticed, churches in America are losing membership, and their influence in shaping American culture is diminishing. The church has traditionally been the primary source of America’s standards of moral legitimacy (what’s right and wrong). Its nadir came in 2016 when most white Christians elected Donald Trump.
Trump’s narcissism is the antithesis of the altruistic moral teachings of Jesus on discipleship; and Trump’s continued popularity in the white church has sealed its fate. The church seems beyond redemption, unable to reconcile America’s tribal polarized partisan politics, and unable to promote altruistic morality in a materialistic and hedonistic culture.
When the early church adopted Paul’s atonement doctrine it subordinated the cost of discipleship taught by Jesus to mystical doctrines of belief in a divine Jesus Christ as the alter ego of God and as a blood sacrifice to forgive the sins of all believers. Church doctrines made those exclusivist beliefs essential to salvation, but they were never taught by Jesus.
The church should promote the altruistic values taught by Jesus, and accept the reality that most Christians have put belief in exclusivist church doctrines over the teachings of Jesus. Christians should oppose the corrupt moral values of America’s materialistic and hedonistic culture. While that may make them a political minority, they can be a minority for God's will.
The teachings of Jesus are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors of other races and religions as we love ourselves. It’s a universal moral imperative taken from the Hebrew Bible and taught by Jesus, and it has been accepted by Muslim scholars as a common word of faith.
Jesus was a Jew who taught his disciples to follow him, not to worship him. It’s unlikely that a church that has grown popular and powerful by promoting the worship of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation will support universal salvation by loving the least of those among us--but that’s what Jesus taught in the story of the last judgment in Matthew 25:31-46.
The teachings of Jesus were never popular. Church doctrines limiting salvation to exclusivist beliefs provided cheap grace by ignoring the cost of discipleship. While that enabled the church to become popular and powerful, the election of 2016 exposed its moral weakness. Discipleship has become costly to the church since like politics its measure of success is popularity.
The church can remain a popular social institution and continue to ignore the moral imperatives of discipleship; but Christians who seek to follow Jesus will have to reject the cheap grace of exclusivist church doctrines and accept altruistic love as the cost of discipleship. They will have to choose the narrow way of God’s love over the broad and popular ways of the world.
Notes:
On the largest and fastest religious shift in America that is well underway, see https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/opinion/religion-dechurching.html.
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On the Greatest Commandment as a Common Word of Faith, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/the-greatest-commandment-common-word-of.html.
On Seeing the Resurrection in a New Light, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/seeing-resurrection-in-new-light.html.
On Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logos?, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html.
On Faith and Religion: The Same but Different, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/10/faith-and-religion-same-but-different.html.
On Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/religion-and-reason-as-sources-of.html.
On Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous, see
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On Hell No! See
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On A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
On Jefferson’s Jesus and Moral Standards in Religion and Politics, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again, see
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On Musings on Why Christians Should Put Moral Standards Over Mystical Beliefs, see
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On Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism, see
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On Musings on the Great Commission and Religious and Political Tribalism, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-on-great-commission-and.html.
On Musings on Faith and Works: The Unity of All Believers and The Last Judgment, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Hypocrisy of American Christianity, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Post-Christian America, see
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On Musings on the Relevance of Jefferson’s Jesus in the 21st Century, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Divinity and Moral Teachings of Jesus, see
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On The Moral Failure of the Church to Promote Altruism in Politics, see
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On Back to the Future: A 21st Century Pentecost for the Church, see
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On The Universal Family of God: Where Inclusivity Trumps Exclusivity, see
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On Musings on Jesus and Christ as Conflicting Concepts in Christianity, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-on-jesus-and-christ-as.html.
On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christians as a Moral Minority, see
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On Musings on the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Altar of Partisan Politics, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on America’s Morally Muddled Mainstream, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/01/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_15.html.
On Musings on Popularity as a Corrupting Influence in Democracy and Christianity, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/01/musings-on-popularity-as-corrupting.html.
On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Why Americans Are Losing Their Religion, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Obsolescence of Christianity in Politics, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.
On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Church and the Greatest Commandment, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion and the Wisdom of God, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Jesus, the Church and Christian Nationalism, see
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On Musings on the Need for a Civil Religion in America’s Dysfunctional Democracy, see
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On Musings on the Evolution of Christianity into the American Civil Religion, see
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On Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Future of Christianity and Democracy, see
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On An 18th Century Preview of America’s Political and Religious Schisms, see
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On Musings for Christians Uncomfortable in Churches Without a Moral Compass, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/05/musings-on-christians-uncomfortable-in.html.