Tag Archives: tribalism

Since we are right, and they are wrong

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We are right, and they are wrong. This is an important concept to grasp, because it affects so many things.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, what we do is inherently right and what they do is inherently wrong. Rather than looking at the actions in and of themselves, we must examine these actions in the light of “us” and “them.”

Since we are right, and they are wrong, we are justified in using mis-truths and half-truths, in abusing the rules of logic and fair play. After all, truth is on our side, even when we are using falsehood.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, we are allowed to take what is theirs for our use. We will use it in a better way, for better purposes.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, they have no business in limiting our freedom to travel and utilize their resources. In the same way, they have no business sharing in what is ours.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, any use of force on our part is warranted. Any use of force on their part is a demonstration of just how evil they are.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, our deaths are heroic sacrifices. Their deaths are just retribution.

Since we are right, and they are wrong, we fight and kill in the name of truth and justice. Their wars are an attack on decency and a crime against humanity.

There are many other points, but the main question that arises out of all of this is: Are you “us” or are you “them”?

Remembering Rwanda

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Yesterday, in the Christianity in Culture class that I teach at ACU, we read the first part of Lee Camp’s Mere Discipleship. At the beginning of his book, Camp discusses the horrendous civil war that took place in Rwanda in 1994 (the triggering event occurred 16 years ago yesterday, April 6). In a period of 100 days, over 800,000 people were slaughtered during tribal warfare between the Hutus and the Tutsis. What made this butchery all the more disturbing is the fact that over 90% of the population of Rwanda claimed some form of Christianity.

I wrote a few posts about tribalism in the past. While this tribalism is more apparent, with Hutu Christians and Tutsi Christians murdering one another, it exists in many forms around the world. Until our first loyalty is to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, we will allow ourselves to mistreat brothers in Christ in the name of politics and nationalism.

None of that is possible when we recognize that we are one body. We are members of the same holy nation. Our allegiance is to her and her alone. (Remember that allegiance comes from the Old French liege, the term a vassal used to address his lord. When we pledge allegiance to someone or something, we are recognizing their lordship over us.)

May there never be another Rwanda, not only from the point of view of humanity in general, but from the perspective of God’s Kingdom. May His subjects come to see that we belong to Him, with all human loyalties falling far behind. May we truly be the body of Christ, the holy nation, the people of God.

Christian tribalism

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I’ve been waiting for someone to call my hand on something. Laymond kind of touched on it the other day. What about the Christian nation as our “tribe”; can we treat non-Christians differently than we do Christians?

I’d say no, not in the sense of being willing to harm non-Christians or cheat them in any way? But I do think it means something to be part of the same family, to be brothers and sisters. Paul wrote, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10) We do good to all, but especially to other Christians.

It calls for a balancing act, being fair to others while showing preference to our brothers. Our tribe transcends borders and barriers, but it is our tribe, our people, our nation. We are first and foremost citizens of heaven.

The church: God’s answer to tribalism

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I don’t think it’s easy for us to understand the barrier that existed between Jew and Gentile in the first century. Not so much in terms of social interaction (although that definitely existed), but especially in terms of religion. It would have been extremely difficult for a Jew to look on a Gentile as an equal, spiritually speaking. This was still true even in the early church.

Because of this, it was a stunning message that Paul and others preached, a message of equality in the gospel: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:14-18) Christ had torn down the wall of division. He had brought Jew and Gentile into one body.

To Paul, this was one of the great truths of Christianity, a mystery that God had kept hidden in the past: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:6)

At the heart of all of this was the church, God’s masterpiece which he had to show off to all creation: “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:8-11)

The rulers and authorities which would divide people, placing them in rival clans, tribes and nations, these powers would be shown God’s power to reconcile, to bring people together. Where is that power seen? In that church. Because of this, the Lord’s church must be an agent of reconciliation, a force for bringing all people together, regardless of nationality, language, race or other human division.

Tribalism is an enemy of the church, a tool of the powers and authorities that set themselves up against God’s authority. God’s truth is that all men are made in his image and all men can be brought into the body of Christ, the holy Christian nation. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)

Because of this, Christians must work at bringing people together. We must learn to ignore nationalities and other aspects of tribalism that would separate us from others. We have to come to an awareness of the length, depth, width and height of our kingdom, spanning borders, time zones and continents. The church is God’s answer to man’s tribalism.

Tribalism or Christianity

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Tribalism was a problem in New Testament times. Although the universality of the gospel seems obvious to us, it took the early Christians years to realize that the message of salvation wasn’t just for Jews. Then they shared it with Samaritans, since they already believed in the same God, practiced circumcision, and held to a very similar religion. It took divine intervention to get the early disciples to share the gospel with non-believers, and even then, some weren’t too happy about it.

In Acts 11, we see that the believers were scattered from Jerusalem and went out spreading the good news… to Jews. Over time, some came to share the message with Greeks, and many non-Jews were converted. The church in Antioch was one of the first integrated churches. The people around this church came to realize that this was not just another Jewish sect, yet it wasn’t one of the Greek mystery religions either. Astonished at the disappearance of tribalism, the citizens of Antioch had to invent a new term for these disciples: Christians.

When Christians overcome the barriers created by man, the world takes notice.