America, the modern Babylon?

If you boiled down the entire narrative of scripture to a single sentence it would read something like this. The earthly struggle between the family of God vs. the forces of chaos is one of such turmoil that only the physical intervention of the Most High can tip the scales in the favor of Peace, Justice and Mercy. 

From the Garden of Eden to the final words of Revelation. Agents of chaos and destruction have attempted to take the paradise God created and turn it into something uninhabitable. We find ourselves in dropped into the aftermath of this written narrative, approximately 2000 years after the tipping point of history, God Incarnate. Is our story any different? I would argue no. The story of humanity today can be boiled down to the same sentence, a tug of war between peace and chaos, good and evil, justice and oppression. So where is God in our story? 

If you are tracking with this question, I have words of hope and encouragement. God is moving. He always has been, and always will be. That is His promise to us if we pay attention to the story. No matter what hole or pit the people of God found themselves in because of their sin, carelessness, greed, lust or thirst for power, God redeemed them. Even when hope seemed lost and 400 years goes by without Word from God. He shows up as a baby from Bethlehem. He shows the world what true love is. How to bring peace and justice, stands up to the oppression of the state and they hang Him from a tree as a traitor, a usurper. Where is the hope in that? The story goes on to tell about how this same baby, Jesus, rose from his grave and ascended to heaven to sit on the Throne at God’s right hand to intercede on behalf of God’s family for eternity future. This is where we find ourself in the narrative. In the eternity future after the ascension of Jesus. 

In the book of Acts we see time and time again that the physical intercession of the Most High happen through the Church. God’s promise to bring peace, justice and mercy is still valid, and his promise comes through his people, the Church. Over the last 15 years of my life I have spent time serving in leadership capacities, planting new churches, attending and watching God’s people attempt to bring about the promises of God in their spheres of influence. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I have been heartbroken while watching the institutional church in America. 

I want to make it clear if you are a part of the Church in some capacity. I have spent the last 10 years in a cycle of mourning, repentance, hopefulness and heartbreak. Learning how to trust the promise of God through the Church while I watch the people of the Church including myself act in complete opposition to the teachings of Jesus, the Son of God who we claim to “worship”. As I reflect in my own life where the disconnect is, I find myself faced with this idea of “American Exceptionalism” imbedded in my doctrine. Let me explain. 

The times in my life where, in reflection and repentance, see the teachings of Jesus contradict my actions my justification has been this American Exceptionalism that has been taught as truth in the American Church. Upon an objective study of scripture and a deconstructing of doctrine based on tradition rather than the text, I find myself staring at an enormous parasite in the American Church: Nationalism. The idea that America is “God’s Nation” that the United States are somehow MORE blessed by the Most High than other cultures or countries DOES NOT come from Scripture, but rather American tradition. 

If you read the Old Testament without the lens of American Church tradition, America looks much more like Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Babylon and Rome than it does Israel. If you are unfamiliar with the Old Testament these are the nations that oppressed God’s people throughout the entire story. These are the nations where the wealthy lived and thrived. Where political and state power was more important than the suffering of the poor. Where people who spoke out against the injustice of the state where assassinated. If you read this and see without the context of the article, I could be talking about America, then you’re tracking with my thoughts exactly. 

In the fifteen years I have spent watching the Church in America operate I see over and over the tendency when reading scripture for us to see a story of God’s people being oppressed by Egypt, or Assyria or Babylon or Rome and put ourselves in the place of God’s people, and those we disagree with as the Empire. Where in reality America looks much more like the Empire with wealth and power who oppresses the poor. This is the danger of nationalism when it comes to our doctrine. It doesn’t come from scripture. I am not saying that you can’t be patriotic, that you can’t love your country. I am saying that you CANNOT LOVE YOUR COUNTRY MORE THAN GOD. 

The idols we worship in America are money and power. I would argue they are the same idols Babylon worshiped, they just had different names for them. When you read the prophets their constant critique of Babylon is their willingness to use the poor in order to maintain and enhance their power. Conquering most of the known world and taking their inhabitants back to the capital to indoctrinate them with Babylonian nationalism, allowing them to maintain the appearance of worshiping their local gods while injecting this parasite of nationalism into the religion. “The opiate of the people” you could argue. “Comfort and peace” so long as you were willing to bow the knee to the king of Babylon. Are we any different in America today? 

People of God, wake up. Please wake up. YOU ARE A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN FIRST. Not America. When the calls of your nation contradict the teachings of Jesus you have a responsibility to stand up to those in power, to bring justice, peace and mercy to the poor and oppressed. I urge you to look at the life of Jesus. Who did he spend his time with? Who was he gentle with? Who was he stern with? Why did they kill him? Only when you are able to look at these questions without the lens of American Church tradition can you begin to answer these questions with any sort of accuracy or clarity. My prayer for the Church, not the American Church, but the Church as a whole is that we continue to step into being the family of God who brings about the promises of God for restoration and expel the parasite of nationalism from our hearts. 

The story has been, and always will be about worshiping the Most High God, rather than idols. The idols will constantly change their name and appearances, but let us be diligent to recognize and repent of our worship of them, and turn and be a people who worship the true God only. That is what following Jesus is truly about.