Speaking Out

As N.T. Wright sees it, something is awry in western Christianity. Wright, the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England and a prominent evangelical scholar, doesn’t flat-out say we’ve become heretics, but he comes close. The problem, in brief, is that we no longer believe in the resurrection.

In its place, we’ve adopted Gnostic notions about life after death, says Wright in his latest book, Surprised by Hope. This has neutered our faith and made it the opiate Karl Marx said it was. “A piety that sees death as the moment of ‘going home at last,’ the time when we are ‘called to God’s eternal peace,’ has no quarrel with power-mongers who want to carve up the world to suit their own ends.”

I read Wright’s book over Memorial Day weekend, a time when we are encouraged to remember the departed and especially the sacrifices of those who died in military uniform. As I read, I also tried to come to terms with the realization that I live in a nation that invades and occupies other countries without provocation, then tortures prisoners in its custody.

Wright’s point is that our hopes for life after death, and our hopes for justice and peace in this world, are brought together in the kingdom of God and sealed by the physical resurrection of Jesus from the grave. Those who understand this unity also see continuity between the present world and the future one. This gives them the robust determination to “build for the kingdom” and oppose injustice in this life.

Which brings me to George W. Bush. During the violence and dishonor of these nearly eight years we have been led by a man who identified himself as a committed believer in Jesus Christ. Whether we claim him or not, he is one of us—at least so far as the world perceives it.

We may prefer to minimize the significance of this and pass it off as another instance in which an apparently devout Christian is found to have engaged in wrongdoing.

But what has emerged in recent years is much more far-reaching: a synthesis between Christian triumphalism (we deserve the best) and U.S. imperialism (we are the strongest). This is supported theologically by the view that what we do in this physical world isn’t important when compared to the spiritual reality just ahead. Mixed together, this is a poisonous brew that produces leaders who are devout, belligerent, and utterly without shame.

Those who have long been critics of our nation and its international actions may wave this off as old news. That would be a mistake, in my opinion. We Christ followers in the United States are at a turning point because an ugly truth is no longer in dispute: Our leaders intend to dominate the world for the sake of our comfort and will wrap themselves in the banner of our Lord as they do it. If we do not agree, we had better find a way to make this clear to our neighbors.

Wright says we will find the courage to take such a stand if our hope is in the resurrection. “It was people who believed robustly in the resurrection, not people who compromised and went in for a mere spiritualized survival, who stood up against Caesar in the first centuries of the Christian era.” And, he writes: “[Jesus’] resurrection, and the promise of God’s new world that comes with it, creates a program for change and offers to empower it. Those who believe the gospel have no choice but to follow.”

As wrenching as it has been to see our beloved country pursue an imperial agenda, it is far worse to see the gospel of Jesus Christ adulterated by that same spirit. Tempted as we are by thoughts of earthly privilege followed by disembodied bliss, we need to remember that God’s Son came to live on this earth and redeem it as his own. Can we aspire to be part of anything less?

Berry Friesen is a member of East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa.