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Grace to Overcome Division
To paraphrase Pogo, "We have met the government, and it is us."
The partisan ice in Washington appears to be thawing as elected representatives feel the heat from fed-up voters. Those who claimed that a government shutdown would be "no big deal" were not considering the ripple effects of furloughing hundreds of thousands of government employees. The hardship imposed on the families of veterans and government workers around the country has been shameful. And towns and villages near national parks have lost $750 million in revenue since the shutdown began. Let's hope momentum for resolving the crisis will bring quick results.
American citizens like to rail against the federal government as though it is an alien force operating against their collective will. But let's not kid ourselves. We got the government we elected. We live in a democracy, which is by nature messy. In recent years, our democracy has become dysfunctional for several reasons. Among them:
1) Television, which has steadily transformed politics from "public service" to "public image." Our image-oriented culture rewards grandstanders and punishes those who would rather work behind the scenes to get things done.
2) The rise of the 24-hour cable news cycle and social media, which together create an expectation of "transparency" that is impossible to meet.
3) The continuing "culture wars," which really began in the 1960's and have continued to polarize our political system to the point that consensus is nearly impossible.
4) Gerrymandering of Congressional districts, which protects incumbents from serious electoral challenges.
5) A broken primary system that favors the most ideological candidates over the most pragmatic.
None of these aggravating factors were imposed upon us. As a culture, we have created the climate we are in right now. The only way we will return to a working government is if a critical mass of the public demands it by electing people to office who are more interested in governance than in demagoguery.
That of course, is no easy feat. It means that Americans will have to come together
around common ideals, which of course is what the founders had in mind in the early days of the Republic. But that has always been an elusive goal. Our ideals are enshrined in the lofty words of people like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. But it would be dishonest to suggest that the American Revolution succeeded because all the colonists rallied around the Enlightenment principals of a free society. Some colonists were fighting to make sure the British didn't prevent them from owning slaves. Others were fighting in protest of the British prohibition against claiming land inhabited by native tribes. Still others didn't really join the effort until near the end, when it was clear that they would be on the losing side if they remained loyal to the British crown. In reality, what created a critical mass for the Revolution was a common enemy – George III – more than common values. Not surprisingly, the immediate aftermath of the Revolution produced an incompetent government unable to balance competing interests.
Over the course of our nation's history, the national government has been most productive – and has received the highest public approval ratings – when we have been the most threatened. Washington D.C. was at its best during the Depression, World War II, the early days of the Cold War, and the immediate aftermath of 9/11. (I wouldn't be surprised if future historians tie the current government dysfunction to the end of the Cold War and the loss of a clearly definable enemy.)
That's human nature. We come together to fight. And when the fighting is over, the victors begin to divide, realizing that, while they shared the same enemy, they don't share the same goals. Conversely, bitter factions find a way to compromise only when it is their self-interest to do so.
This is why church community is so challenging. What brings Christians together is not a common enemy, but a common Savior and a common calling.
In a church Bible study, I am currently leading people through 1 Corinthians, a letter Paul wrote primarily out of concern over the deep divisions that plagued the church in Corinth. He identifies four specific factions, each of which claims superiority over the others. In frustration, Paul writes that, because of their quarreling, they are living "in the flesh" rather than "in the Spirit." That is, they are acting purely out of their human nature, which tends to divide us, rather than the Spirit of Christ, which brings us together. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes that the "works of the flesh" are, among other things, "enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension, factions, and envy." He then identifies the fruit of the Spirit as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Left to our own devices, we always divide from one another. But the Spirit of Christ transcends our differences. Ideally, then, church congregations should not consist only of people who are mostly alike. Church, by its very nature, is the practice of unity in the midst of all kinds of diversity – even diversity of opinion.
Paul did not take sides in the factional fray at Corinth. He did not use his religious training or his apostolic authority to declare who was right and who was wrong. Everybody was in the wrong, regardless of whatever truth might by found in their particular perspectives, because they had given in to their human need to defend themselves and had nullified the grace of God that had first brought them together. In Romans 14, Paul wrote, "Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions...Who are you to pass judgment?" In other words, if you believe it is important to prove that you are right (even if you are) and discredit those you think are wrong, GET OVER IT.
We're all disgusted at the spectacle of brinksmanship, grandstanding, and uncompromising demands that have brought our nation's capital to the edge of chaos. But we're not watching a scene from another planet. We got the government we elected. And we're watching the worst of human nature. Whether we want to admit it or not, we're looking at ourselves.
You may protest that this view of human nature is too pessimistic. After all, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of people coming together for "good causes." Aren't human beings just as "aspirational" by nature as we are divisive?
Well, to "aspire" literally means to "to breathe" or to "take in spirit." It is absolutely natural for us to "breathe in" the Spirit of our Creator. But when we don't aspire to be better – that is, when we turn inward, led by our own selfish desires rather than God's desires for us – the results are always sobering. Purely human nature – apart from the Spirit – tears us apart, because we try to become our own gods, creating and defending our own worlds.
Left to ourselves, the only things that bring us together are common threats and enemies. In order to come together around common values or the common good, we need God's grace. One of our national hymns admits this: "America! America! God shed his grace on thee / And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."
We can't legislate grace. But we can hope that the individuals who are elected to lead us will seek it, and that the graciousness they receive will bring peace in the midst of division. Meanwhile, we who are members of local churches are called to demonstrate tangibly to our world how grace brings people together despite their differences.
Copyright 2013 by J. Mark Lawson
Posted by J. Mark Lawson on 10/11/2013 at 03:37 PM in Christian Theology, Church & Ministry, Current Affairs | Permalink