Striving for Un-American Christianity?

I believe firmly that God’s kingdom knows no division. For the kingdom of God to be in our midst, then, we have to see our allegiance as being to God, not country. This is why I love experiencing the church outside of the US. It is amazing to feel part of the body of Christ in a place you’ve never been before and to realize that connection comes because Christ has made us one. And I think the unity Christ has made for us goes even beyond the church, to all humankind, regardless of their beliefs, and to all of creation. Through Christ, all things are reconciled to God. (Side note: I just finished reading Jesus Before Christianity by South African theologian Albert Nolan, which touches on some of this. Now I am starting his newer book Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom. I am incredibly humbled to think that Nolan will be speaking on 31 July at Koinonia’s Courageous Conversations, which I spoke at last month, and I hope I get to go!)

I’ve been thinking a lot about unity the last couple weeks. First, because everyone is talking about how the World Cup has brought everyone together. And it is true, there has been a beautiful sense of community surrounding the beautiful game and I am sad that the tournament will be over tonight. But, in light of this, I’ve been wrestling lately with what it means to be American. As a Christian, can I be proud to be an American? Certainly, I am thankful for the many gifts and freedoms our country offers. But when I travel abroad, I always get a little sensitive about American-ness, perhaps because “our culture” gets forced on the rest of the world. Hollywood, materialism, pop music, McDonalds—this is not the America I love, but this is the American culture that people see and know. And, unfortunately, so much of the message that people hear coming from the US is saying that everyone should be like us. I certainly do not think that is true—we may have some good things to offer, but other people and cultures and places have so much to offer us. It was for these reasons that I struggled to preach this past Sunday. My assignment for the 4^th of July was to preach about soccer and religion in America for our World Cup soccer sermon series. I started with a disclaimer about why I think it problematic to have a “4^th of July service” at churches in the US and how church and state at times mix badly in our country. I then used the testimony of US goalkeeper Tim Howard to fit the theme and share a message I felt was faithful to the Gospel.

I am still figuring out where to draw the line with national pride. When I went to see the US play, I struggled to walk through the streets cheering loudly and waving the flag like the rest of the fans. My friend laughed that I was being so sensitive. And, yes, I was taking pictures with "the enemy" just before the game. I certainly felt proud when the US won, but was not too sad when they later lost to Ghana. I guess right now, I just feel like, as a minister of the Gospel, I should emphasize our higher allegiance to God and downplay my own country, whose influence so often is inappropriately large and whose societal values often seem to contradict the way of Christ.