Remembering Who We Are
Who we are as Christ's church, and why this is something we must never forget
The United States is now past the 2024 election, an election that will greatly affect the U.S. and, to some degree, many other nations as well. I’m not assuming everyone reading this will share the same feelings regarding the outcome of this election. Some of you may be feeling relieved and hopeful. If this describes you, you need to understand a great many of your fellow citizens—and even brothers and sisters in Christ—do not share your optimism. They’re wrestling now with feelings of dismay and even hopelessness concerning the future of our nation and, to some extent, the rest of the world. For many, this will be a time of grief that brings a sense of loss and confusion.
But for all of us, this time—however difficult—can also provide a very real opportunity. No one enjoys experiencing a medical scare—a sudden erratic heartbeat; difficulty breathing; a frightening diagnosis. But these moments can give us renewed focus, reminding us with amazing clarity that our lives here in this existence are always much more frail, vulnerable and fleeting than we often realize. The moments when our own weakness and mortality become painfully real can actually help us have a more biblical perspective on our lives here and now.
We need to realize the history of the U.S.—and of the broader, loose coalition of Western democracies—is actually an anomaly in world history. Many of us have come to assume the naturalness of our society affirming “truth, justice and the American way,” without realizing what an outlier this is in the larger context of history. There’s a reason why we refer to our form of government as the “American experiment.” We should acknowledge that—though there’s been much that’s good and beneficial in our history—there’s also frequently been great harm and injustice. This shouldn’t surprise us. Why? Because our nation, as much as we love it, is not the kingdom of God. It’s part of a fallen world, a government of fallen, sinful people, for fallen, sinful people, by fallen, sinful people. It should grieve us when our country fails to live up to its ideals, but it shouldn’t surprise us. And we shouldn’t be shocked to learn this great experiment can easily fail.
Our own past successes can actually be a problem. Just as good health and youthful energy can cause us to feel as if we’re virtually immortal, so we can slip into having too much faith in our nation, our form of government, and the Western geopolitical culture of which we’re part. But no human culture or form of government can lead us to nirvana. There is no utopia in this age. And—as severe and heartbreaking as conditions may become—it can be a mercy to disabuse us of the idea we can achieve a lasting, truly healthy, peaceful, nurturing, self-sustaining society in this age. This isn’t to say we can’t do a whole lot of good, and we must be a real influence for justice and righteousness in our societies. But we shouldn’t put our hope and trust in those societies to always provide, without fail, what is good and just. The stark reality is this world is often unjust. Sometimes the innocent suffer, and the guilty go unpunished. Sometimes the wise are ignored, and the foolish are celebrated. The author of Ecclesiastes knew this long ago. And, as that book tells us, there is nothing new under the sun. As brutal as it may be, it’s good for us to realize our nation isn’t impervious to corruption, and that we have no promise it will never fall. This just helps us not put our faith in what is fleeting and fallible, but ultimately only in Christ and the promise of his perfect kingdom to come.
The question of whether or not our criminal justice system failed to hold Donald Trump accountable could be a good one to discuss (lovingly and respectfully). But instead of slipping into partisan arguments, as followers of Christ we can point those who are hurting—whether we agree with them or not—to those in Scripture who also cried out for justice, and we can describe how Jesus will return and establish perfect justice, how he will address every wrong, make everything right, and set everything in perfect, healthy, beautiful order once again. Whether you’re on the right or the left, we can speak into the current chaos and hopelessness of so many, and point to the only real hope any of us can ultimately have—the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is why it’s imperative at this time that we’re crystal clear about who we are as Christ’s church, and what this means for us now and going forward.
To do this we turn to the Scriptures, of course. But we can also look to lessons we learn from our brothers and sisters in other times and places, and how they held firm to their identity in Christ. For instance, we can learn a great deal from the Christians in Germany in the 1930s (both what to do and what not to do). Now, by referring to these examples we’re not labeling any person or group today a “Hitler” or “Nazis.” That’s not the purpose of this post. We’ll leave it to the historians to work out similarities and differences between movements in different periods of history. But it would be foolish of us not to learn from Christians faced with such a serious, historic challenge to the church.
We may not realize today how much the church in Germany was co-opted by the Nazi movement, even causing huge numbers of churches and pastors to alter their theology to adapt to the new views of the Nazis. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were hailed as heroes and champions of traditional German values, and most churches enthusiastically supported the Nazi party. There was, however, a minority of German pastors and leaders who saw these developments as a betrayal of the gospel of Christ and of biblical Christianity. In 1934, a group of these pastors, representing what would come to be known as the “Confessing Church,” issued the Barmen Declaration, seeking to clearly distinguish the faithful Christian Church from the cultural and political phenomenon they were witnessing. Many of these pastors would lose their lives for their refusal to submit the church to the hugely popular Nazi movement.
A few months ago, in the spirit of the Barmen Declaration, a group of nationally influential evangelical pastors and leaders in the U.S. issued their own statement: Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction. I wasn’t one of the original signers. (I’m not exactly a nationally influential pastor or leader!) But I was honored to sign this statement shortly after it was posted online, along with hundreds of other pastors and leaders. Scripture calls us to not allow the world around us to form and shape us, not to copy the behavior and customs of this world (Romans 12:2), but to be transformed by the Spirit of God. We can be shaped and molded by the world on the left or by the world on the right; either one can become an idolatrous corruption and betrayal of the gospel of Christ. This is why Jesus, Paul and Peter all warned us to remain on guard (see for example Matthew 24:4-5; Luke 21:34-36; Acts 20:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:17). So this is a perfect time to post this statement as a reminder of who are in Christ, who we are to always remain in Christ. Here’s the statement:
Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction
In this moment of social conflict and political division, we confess the following Christian convictions:
ONE: We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.
We affirm that Jesus Christ is God's Son and the only head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). No political ideology or earthly authority can claim the authority that belongs to Christ (Philippians 2:9-11). We reaffirm our dedication to his Gospel which stands apart from any partisan agenda. God is clear that he will not share his glory with any other (Isaiah 42:8). Our worship belongs to him alone (Exodus 20:3-4), because our true hope is not in any party, leader, movement, or nation, but in the promise of Christ's return when he will renew the world and reign over all things (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
We reject the false teaching that anyone other than Jesus Christ has been anointed by God as our Savior, or that a Christian's loyalty should belong to any political party. We reject any message that promotes devotion to a human leader or that wraps divine worship around partisanship.
TWO: We will lead with love not fear.
We affirm that God's saving power revealed in Jesus is motived by his love for the world and not anger (John 3:16). Because God has lavished his love upon us, we can love others (1 John 4:19). We acknowledge that this world is full of injustice and pain, but we are not afraid because Jesus Christ has promised to never abandon us (John 16:33). Unlike the false security promised by political idolatry and its messengers, the perfect love of God drives away all fear (1 John 4:18). Therefore, we do not employ fear, anger, or terror as we engage in our mission, but instead we follow the more excellent way of Jesus which is love (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13).
We reject the stoking of fears and the use of threats as an illegitimate form of godly motivation, and we repudiate the use of violence to achieve political goals as incongruent with the way of Christ.
THREE: We submit to the truth of Scripture.
We affirm that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, authoritative for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We commit to interpreting and applying Scripture faithfully, guided by the Holy Spirit, for the building up of Christ's people and the blessing of his world (John 16:13). We believe any true word of prophecy must align with the teachings of Scripture and the character of Jesus (1 John 4:1-3). Likewise, to lie about others, including political opponents, is a sin (Exodus 20:16). Therefore, we commit to speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), knowing deception dishonors God and harms the reputation of his Church.
We reject the misuse of holy Scripture to sanction a single political agenda, provoke hatred, or sow social divisions, and we believe that using God's name to promote misinformation or lies for personal or political gain is bearing his name in vain (Exodus 20:7).
FOUR: We believe the Gospel heals every worldly division.
We affirm the unity of all believers in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:28), and that through his sacrificial death on the cross, he has removed the barriers that divide us (Ephesians 2:14-18), making people from every nation, tribe, people, and language into one new family (Revelation 7:9). We are called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and the counter-cultural unity of the Church is to be a sign to the world of God's love and power (John 13:35; 17:20-21).
We reject any attempt to divide the Church, which is the Body of Christ, along partisan, ethnic, or national boundaries, and any message that says it is God's desire for the human family to be perpetually segregated by race, culture, or ethnicity is a rejection of the Gospel.
FIVE: We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
We affirm that Christ's kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), therefore the Church necessarily stands apart from earthly political powers so that it may speak prophetically to all people, the society, and governing authorities. The Church has been given a divine mission of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). First, we call everyone to be reconciled to God through the proclamation of the Gospel as we teach people everywhere to copy the way of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Second, we seek to reconcile people to one another by addressing issues of justice, righteousness, and peace (Amos 5:24). We accomplish this by loving our neighbors (Mark 12:31), and by engaging our public life with humility, integrity, and a commitment to the common good as defined by our faith in Christ (Romans 12:18).
We reject both the call for the Church to withdraw from societal issues out of fear of political contamination, as well as any attempt to distort the Church into a mere vehicle of political or social power.
SIX: We value every person as created in God's image.
We affirm that all people bear God's image and possess inherent and infinite worth (Genesis 1:27). Jesus bestowed dignity upon those his culture devalued, and he taught us that our love, like God's, must extend even to our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). Our faith in Christ, therefore, compels us to act with love and mercy toward all from the very beginning of life to the very end, and honor everyone as an image-bearer of God regardless of age, ability, identity, political beliefs, or affiliations (John 13:34-35). We commit ourselves to advocate for the value of everyone our society harms or ignores.
We reject any messages that employ dehumanizing rhetoric, that attempt to restrict who is worthy of God's love, or that impose limitations on the command to "love your neighbor" that Christ himself removed.
SEVEN: We recognize godly leaders by their character.
We affirm that the character of both our political and spiritual leaders matter. Within the Church, we seek to follow spiritual leaders those who display evidence of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus warned us to be on guard against false teachers who come as wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). These voices will tempt us with flattery, bad doctrine, and messages we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). They serve the false idols of power, wealth, and strength rather than the true God. Outside the Church, we will evaluate leaders based on their actions and the fruit of their character and not merely their promises or political success (Matthew 7:15-20). When any leader claims to have God's approval, whether in the Church or in politics, we will not confuse effectiveness for faithfulness, but carefully discern who is truly from God (1 John 4:1).
We reject the lie that a leader's power, popularity, or political effectiveness is confirmation of God's favor, or that Christians are permitted to ignore the teachings of Christ to protect themselves with worldly power.
Conclusion
We stand united in our confession of faith in Jesus Christ, resolved to uphold the truth of the Gospel in the face of political pressure and cultural shifts. We commit to being a light in the world (Matthew 5:14-16), and faithful witnesses to the transforming power of Christ's love. We pray that God’s Spirit will revive our Church and strengthen Christ's people to be agents of his presence and blessing in this turbulent age.
To him who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
The original statement can be found here.
Thanks, Elizabeth! God bless you, too!
Loved this! This is the most accurate, declaration of our identity as God's people. Thank you and may the Lord continue blessing you. Amen 🙏