I realized something this week; I love the U.S.A. I do waiver though. For instance, just last
week I had a daydream that I was shooting roman candles at Minutemen
watching the border. If pressed though, I would have to say I lean more
towards the roman candles than the love.
The thing that changed for me this week was that I had an epiphany
regarding the finite nature of the U.S. It came while reading an article by Gwynne Dyer.
I was intrigued by the balanced tone of the article and was curious
where it was leading me. Well, it lead me to the demise of the U.S.
This was no anti-American rant though, because as Dyer points out
regarding such rants, “what fuels them is the sense of helplessness in
the face of great power”, and that power is dwindling. If the U.S. is
not a great power, where do I point my roman candles? Do I still rant?
The jump from roman candles to love is not as drastic as it may sound. I am a Christian. I am even an evangelical
Christian. Lately though, I want to not be an evangelical for reasons I
am not entirely sure of sometimes but I am certain I want to be a
Christian. Yet I owe a a lot to evangelicalism. It is a major part of
my intellectual and spiritual foundation. It brought good news to my
family and for that I am grateful. I understand the influence of
evangelicalism on church history to be profound and lasting,
particularly the influence of the American evangelicals.
Yet the
shear power of this cultural force that is American evangelicalism does
not make it immune from its share of errors. One such error is the
concept that God has endorsed the U.S. as team captain in the Final
Battle. In all the teaching I received growing up, the end of the world
comes on the heels of the end of the West. Why? How do we know this?
What is the Biblical foundation for this? If I’ve lost you regarding
the possibility of the end of the West, the numbers speak for
themselves. The U.S. is in decline. Canada is coupled with them in a
symbiotic relationship. If that is not enough, one need only look at
history to see that all global powers have their day. Yet the prospect
of the end of the American Empire is both unacceptable and horrifying
to my American Christian friends. Their Christianity is tied to their
country. I find this one of the harder areas to maintain brotherhood
with them. As a Canadian Christian, is my concept of the end times any
better than an American’s? Does it account for a post Western dominated
political landscape? Nope. Any Christian future that I have imagined is
based on the American Empire. Great.
At this point I have even more questions. Is a future world without
a western country in a superpower role a fundamentally doomed one? Am I
naïve to not accept this? My opinion on this or my ability to defend
either side of this question is moot; all countries have their day. If
my faith is in any empire, I am on a rocky foundation. The fear of an
imagined future situation where the West is not in control is what
eventually comes out when I talk with my friends who support the Bush
administration’s pre-emptive actions. This fear is packed with
assumptions about the nature of the Church. Assumptions such as:
- The West is Christian
- The contemporary Church is western
- God is acting militarily
All of these are concepts that need to be revisited in their own right.
What is God’s plan for the end times if not to use the West as a
hand of justice and balance? To be more practical, what is the role of
Christians in a potential political landscape where they are not able
to elect representatives? Does Christianity require an elected
representation because after all, one of the next global super-powers
India allows Christians to participate freely? Are there Christians
that believe that the church practically needs to support western
dominance or at least have tacit agreement to western dominance for God
to be in control?
How do we pray about the future and how do we act now? An article like
Dyer’s, that drops a line about America one day “being off the throne”,
truly gets me thinking. As a Canadian I can think how true it is in a
sort of smug, self-righteous way because I have the luxury of not
being on the throne. To be honest, as a Christian I am not sure what it
means for America to be off the throne. The only explanations I have
heard so far seem to be wholly based on fear. Yet this why visionaries
like Martin Luther King are so engaging, they are able to imagine a new
reality based on faith and not on fear. I feel a little cheated that my
spiritual heritage has essentially put its faith in Empire over
Kingdom. But this is not the first time those hoping for the Kingdom
have done this. The disciples did it right from the start, and Jesus
was very clear in his teaching.
John 18:36 (New International Version)
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants
would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is
from another place.”
Luke 17:20 (New International Version)
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of
God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not
coming with signs to be observed…"
Our affections towards end time gloom are rooted in pre-millennial
theology. For if we are pre-millennial, the Kingdom is not yet here.
This puts us in an awkward position on a contrived timeline. We have
the eschaton between us and the Kingdom of God. What do we preach? How
do we pray for the Kingdom of God to come with authenticity? We are
praying for the end of time to happen; for that is the Kingdom of God.
We are praying for wrath. This predicament has allowed us to inwardly
root for violence to unfold. In fact, violence is then redemptive for
it must be endured to bring in the Kingdom of God! This is evident in
the manner in which the evangelical church has supported Zionism. When
the Kingdom’s timeline does not match our understanding we take it into
our own hands.
Peter struggled with bringing the Kingdom in his own power. He eagerly
desired the Kingdom. He used violence to ensure the coming of the
Kingdom (as he understood it) would not be thwarted. He took his sword
in earnest and lopped off an ear for the Kingdom of God. Jesus healed
the ear and then he was taken away.
Mark 16:5-7
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man
dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were
alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,
who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where
they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead
of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ “
Jesus submitted to the Father’s timeline and overcame death. He also
wanted Peter to know as soon as possible, Jesus loved Peter.
Perhaps my roman candles are like Peter’s sword. Perhaps the project
in Iraq is an evangelical sword. Regardless I still think it would be
crazy fun to shoot roman candles at Minutemen protecting the U.S.
border from Canada…
Linus writes under a pseudonym because the border is scary.