I’m still reading in The Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd. One of his basic premises is that for something to be Christian, it has to be Christlike. That is inherent in the meaning of the word Christian. And he argues that a government of this world cannot act in a Christlike fashion and still promote its interests.
Some people might be put off by the title of the book, so it’s important to see that Boyd’s argument isn’t that the United States isn’t Christian; his point is that no nation can act in a truly Christlike fashion and continue to exist. And history shows us that when the church tries to run a worldly kingdom, it soon begins to use worldly methods.
In the end, it comes back to a personal level, and that’s where it’s hardest for me. It’s about living like Christ. Living out the teachings of Christ, like I talked about in the last post. Here’s a great quote from Boyd about how the church should live: “What if the energy and resources used to preserve and tweak the civil religion was (sic) rather spent feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, befriending the drug addict, and visiting the prisoner? … In other words, what if we individually and collectively committed ourselves to the one thing that is needful—to replicating the loving sacrifice of Calvary to all people, at all times, in all places, regardless of their circumstance or merit? what if we just did the kingdom?” (Boyd, pp. 115-16, emphasis his)
I need to be Christlike. Our churches need to be Christlike. More than knowing the right doctrine, we need to live the right life.