I shouldn’t be surprised any more at what people write in the comments section on my blog. It’s probably because I don’t get a lot of comments that the few I receive get noticed. I’ve got a few older posts that attract comments now and then, like the ones on bilingual ministry. (A Google search for “bilingual ministry” puts some of my posts near the top, so when people go looking for that, they often arrive on my blog)
One comment yesterday on one of those old posts left me with my mouth open. All of the things I’ve written about the dangers of nationalism were personified in this one person’s writings. (I’m still not sure that it wasn’t just somebody “yanking my chain,” as they say.)
The opening sentence to the comment gives you a clue as to the point of view: “I don’t understand why Americans living in America should assist immigrants to America in NOT assimilating to U.S. culture.” That’s right… four references to this country in the first 19 words of the comment. The gist of the comment was: there is an intentional plan by Hispanics to take over this country; allowing people to worship in Spanish is contributing to the downfall of the United States.
Do you get it now? Do you see why I insist that we need to help our people understand where our true loyalties lie? This person doesn’t necessarily representative of any large group of people. But the danger is real. The Pew Center research showing that Christians in the U.S. tend to identify themselves as Americans first and Christians second reflects a problem in our churches.
I wrote a short reply to this person:
____,
Well spoken as a promoter of the Kingdom of America. I promote the Kingdom of Heaven, so your view is totally foreign to me.
I can only serve one Master.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
One commenter has complained that I spend too much time talking about the subject of nationalism and being citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Comments like that one yesterday convince me that none of us talk about it enough.
Tim,
i for one enjoy this theme of your blog, and how simple and plain your arguments are–it helps a very muddy subject. Further, i don’t know why you should ever be made to feel guilty for writing what you want on your own blog.
When i’ve taught classes or seen interactions with church members on this topic, i’ve seen a lot of people just act completely befuddled by the notion that these two allegiances might ever be in competition or conflict, and some of that befuddlement even gets expressed as offense. How do you deal with that mentality?
–guy
Tim,
P.S. i love it when you use that picture–it is one of the most thought-provoking images i have ever seen.
–guy
What?! Are you suggesting the USA is not a Christian Nation and given that privilege by Providence?! Are you suggesting that the USA is a pluralistic nation (if not a nation of pagans) and that all the passages in the prophets that talk about God’s new people is the Church and not America. If you are then GREAT! AMEN! Keep preaching, Brother!
Seriously, Thanks for the reminder that our citizenship is in heaven, and the here we are but straying pilgrims, sojourners, and aliens.
Scott
Keep preaching…I believe this is the number one issue Christianity in the US faces. You might also check out this blog post by Michael Gorman:
http://www.michaeljgorman.net/2011/02/05/civil-religion-watch-continued/
If we tithed the time we spend talking politics to talking about Jesus, how would that change our communities? Vote for whom you will, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord…and make a point of reading Hebrews 11 at least once a week.
As for your postings on our true loyalties and citizenship, preach on!
Pingback: Tweets that mention Why understanding our citizenship matters | TimothyArcher.com/Kitchen -- Topsy.com
Tim,
I don’t believe that the person was “yanking your chain”. The person’s attitude seemed familiar so I looked up the your article on which the comment was made and found out there was a reason it did. There has been a long exchange between the same person and me on a yahoo group of which we are both members, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nowchristiansonly/ .
You can read the entire exchange at that address in the December 2009 posts.
I completely agree with your post that the church in many parts of the country must become bilingual. This is true not only in Texas, but also in Alabama where I live and many other states.
Peace always,
Wes
That comment is crazy. That’s like saying deaf people can’t sign in church services. Sheesh. I kind of wish that instead of doing what the commentor suggested, we start having more combined Spanish/English worship services instead of keeping the separation. I remember UCC doing a service like that last year. It was amazing, if not a little crowded. ;) With the culture make-up as is it is, it makes sense to come together an praise God and brethren like that.
Thanks for all the comments. Wes, I’m embarrassed to say I’d forgotten about that group. I joined a while back, but haven’t been reading.
Kaytlin,
I think we’re going to do another combined service soon. Brent is interested, we just need to sit down and schedule it.
Grace and peace,
Tim
I almost copied and pasted a comment that someone left on my blog yesterday, but I didn’t want to expose you to an insanely racist and anti-Semitic rant. You’re welcome. :)
Interesting pic. It seems that this is a group of Hispanics with arms forward as if to say heil Hitler……I remember placing my hand on my heart when saying the pledge of allegiance. Don’t happen to see any WASPS in that pic, do you?
I will bet there is a list of the 10 commandments somewhere in the room, too.
H.B.,
I think it’s just because of the old B&W picture that you are reading race/ethnicity into that. Those girls look pretty WASP-ish… but why are we even bringing THAT up?
As for the salute, that’s how the pledge was said prior to WWII. Don’t think you’re that old.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
T.A. just an observation, no fair skinned light haired kids in the audiance. Kind of looks like my classroom in Dayton Ohio in 1956, desks, blinds, flannel shirts, blue jeans, girls hair style, and the fact they are in dresses, dress code ……no blacks either….segregation? No underlying thoughts about my statement. Interesting that you would find something that dated……
I like the picture, partly because I think more Christians would think about what the Pledge means if they still used that posture when taking it.
Whether it’s in the atmosphere of a church setting or just in general I find that people tend to forget that, unlike the assertion that our country was founded on Christian principles, it certainly is a country made up of immigrants. With that being said, and in the interest of keeping true to our roots, shouldn’t we embrace our immigrant neighbors?
Brother Timothy,
I am that person who wrote to you…sorry but I found out about your comment through the shared group that we are both part of (nowChristiansonly). First of all I don’t have a home pc and have to use the library, and today I got here late and have only a few minutes to talk. But I will be back Monday to finish this. First of all, I do consider myself Christian first (New Testament Christian, in fact) and I am also a pacifist. I believe no Christian should be in the armed forces or have a job requiring the possiblity of having to kill someone (cop, security, etc.) . To Be con;t
Brother Timothy,
I apologize that I wasn’t able to come back to finish as I said I would do-emergency at home for almost two weeks and I’ve only come here to just get the “junk” emails out of my email mailbox. Hopefully I’ll be back in shape next week. I do want to leave you with the thought that I am a Christian pacifist and believe shows of patriotism to any earthly country in Church services has about the same place as a sermon on learning to sew or play baseball-none-because it is irrelevant to the Kingdom of Christ. But actually that subject and what I was talking about, though somewhat related to a degree-is actually comparing apples and oranges, and not apples to apples. One has to do with human rights (a justice issue) and the other (patriotism to an earthly nation in Church services) has nothing to do with us-I don’t even believe the Church should have the earthly flags of nations in her services-unless it’s a decoration along with every nation’s flag-to remind us to pray for those nations.
Lord willing talk to you next week! Peace and agape in Jesus.
Danielle,
Actually, the two points are strongly connected… no apples and oranges here! You want to limit the outreach of God’s Kingdom in order to promote the welfare of a kingdom of this world. And you don’t see that as being connected with citizenship? When we see that we are citizens of God’s Kingdom, we will put the welfare of His kingdom ahead of that of any nation here on earth.
But let’s suppose that your average Hispanic is part of this plot you see to take over the United States. Converting them to Christ and teaching them about true citizenship would eliminate that threat completely. You should be strongly in favor of Spanish-language outreach, even if your priority is the good of the U.S. rather than the good of God’s Kingdom.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer