As I concluded in my article, “Is God a Democrat or a Republican?” God is not on either’s “side.” He’s not rooting in heaven for the Democrats to win an election or for the Republican Party to retain control of the House. The question is always to what extent the various political positions are on God’s side. And we should support the parties to the extent that they are on God’s side. It is my personal belief that the conservative agenda more closely aligns with God’s side on most issues, but that doesn’t mean I believe the Republican Party is without fault, or that Christians who are also Republicans are without fault. In the end, we Christians are all human beings, warts and all. Our goal is to obey our Lord’s commands personally and to promote righteousness and justice in the collective consciousness of our nation. In that sense, our Christianity cannot remain neutral or non-political. We “just so happen” to live in a country where its citizens have a say in policies and elected leaders, and we have the opportunity to influence the direction of our country. And that’s where I think we also have a responsibility. If we are able to influence society for the good and we fail to do it, is that not sin (James 4:17)?
Recently, I became aware of a site dedicated to the “Christian Left,” and I recognized a few blog posts highlighted there were also shared by Wesleyan/holiness pastors on Facebook. I heard from a very reliable source that one of our Wesleyan leaders has been promoting the site to our Wesleyan pastors via a third-party Facebook page. I realize how conspiratorial this sounds, but when I read through the site, I realized why a leader would want to distance himself or herself from direct association with it. In all fairness, the secrecy could be because he or she doesn’t fully agree with the divisive rhetoric spewed by the site’s founders or the anything-but-holy behavior the site commends. So, my intention here is to address what the site says, not what any particular Wesleyan leader might believe. But I also want to alert Christians in our Wesleyan/holiness churches that this is a group some of our denominational leaders are aligning themselves with, which should sound an alarm – if not on the denominational level, at least within the church body.
How the “Christian Left” defines the “Christian Right”
First, stroll on over to The Christian Left homepage and take a look at how the Christian Left characterizes their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ on the Christian Right. The Christian Right, they claim has turned its back on one of the central tenets of the Bible: loving God and loving your neighbor. They have their priorities wrong. While the Christian Left has “left hate behind; left prejudice; left callous attitudes,” the Christian Right, apparently, has not.
“Whatever Jesus would do, given what he did do, and has promised he will do, I don’t think it looks much like what the insulated, self-congratulatory Fox News fans on the ‘Christian Right’ are doing.” [Marilyn Chandler McEntyre]
The homepage goes on to say that those of you on the Christian Right practice “exclusionary tactics and demonization” and you bear the fruit of “anger, hate and judgment.” I’ve posted a screenshot below so you can see for yourself how vicious the characterization is. The Chrisitan Right is accused of displaying the same fruit as white supremacists, Nazis, Rwandan rebels, genocidal terrorists and homophobic bullies. It’s important that you read these words written by these Christians who claim to be the true expression of God’s love in the world today. These are the Christians who are going to transform society’s perception of Christianity by their love!
Aside from the fact that the examples of brutality are nearly all attributable to those on the left side of the political spectrum, the argument is a red herring, since no true Christian would have supported any of these atrocities in the past, nor would a true Christian condone them today.
Points of agreement between the Christian Left and the Christian Right
On the surface, there is a lot for us to agree on. Most Christians I know within the Wesleyan/holiness theological tradition believe we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Contrary to the characterizations on the Christian Left homepage, those on the Christian Right tend to believe that pharisaical legalism is wrong and that God desires mercy above rule-keeping purely for the sake of keeping rules. We agree with the Christian Left that true Christians look after orphans and widows and care for the poor and needy. We agree that “hypocrisy, organized oppression, exorbitant greed, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, selfishness, abuse of power, violence” and other vices are indeed unacceptable within the life of a Christian (though we may define these differently). We agree that love and forgiveness and mercy and care for the marginalized are a “reasonable response to God’s overwhelming grace.” The Christian Left attributes a lack of fundamental Christian virtues simply because we on the Christian Right define the issues from a different perspective and come to different conclusions on how to live out these virtues and how to solve the issues facing society.
What defines the Christian Left
If you’ve read the Christian Left homepage, then you understand how difficult it is to coherently summarize their beliefs. But let me try.
- Love and universal acceptance are the core of Christianity. They talk about loving God and loving your neighbor (which they redefine as the “stranger”), about accepting people just as they are, with no exceptions. They claim Jesus’ primary message was love (neglecting the fact that His primary message was the Kingdom of God, not love – see Matthew 6:33, Luke 4:43, Luke 8:1, Luke 9:2, Luke 9:11, Luke 9:60, Luke 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 1:3, etc. ). They teach that God’s love extends to all, so that everyone is set free from captivity and welcome at God’s table, focusing on the “whosoever” of the New Testament and ignoring the conditions that exclude those who fail to do God’s will in Matthew 7:21 or the fact that “many are invited, but few are chosen” in Matthew 22:1-14. Their view of love is very simplistic as well. Love means meeting every need and accepting everyone without judgment. It’s noteworthy that they completely ignore any Scripture other than the Gospels. The Old Testament and the Epistles and Revelation are all avoided because they address moral issues the Christian Left doesn’t want to deal with. They see “Christian Morality” as a bad thing, another indication of oppression through legalism and literalism. So, all moral expectations, in their opinion, are superseded by love. Instead of Christ’s love radically changing people, it leaves them in their sins but takes away any shame or constraint to change. So, while they proclaim that Christ didn’t condemn the woman caught in adultery, they fail to mention that He did tell her to “go and sin no more.” The devil is in what they leave out. The “Good News” for the Christian Left (according to their website) is “advocating Justice as restoration, universal inclusion, preaching a God of love and grace, feeding, quenching, clothing, healing, welcoming, visiting.” Notice there is no mention of sin and atonement and holiness as expressed throughout the Old and New Testaments. It’s just love and acceptance.
- “Social justice” is the primary expression of love. They initially define social justice as “care for the poor and the oppressed,” but clarify that Christian Leftists may express that social justice through “universal health care, welfare provision, subsidized education, foreign aid, and Affirmative Action,” “egalitarian values,” “renunciation of power,” or “criticism of concentrations of wealth.” By the site’s own admission, social justice is a political term. It’s not just about loving people and making sure there is justice (fair treatment). The Christian Left believes it is “part of their religious duty to take actions on behalf of the oppressed.” “Justice tries to fix up the system so that people will work better”; “justice readdresses [sic] that system that causes the cycle” of poverty or victimization or marginalization. It requires Christians to “advocate for The System to be just for all.” As much as Wesleyan/holiness pastors have insisted that social justice is not political (it’s just “right”), the truth is that even the “Christian Left” recognize that it is entirely a political solution, even if they claim the foundation is love as expressed in the Scriptures.
- The human condition is flawed, but we are liberated through the grace of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, they use Romans 7:14-25 to buttress their argument, where Paul describes the futility of living under the law and knowing what he should do but having no power to actually do it. He describes himself as a prisoner of the law of sin and death and asks, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” If they were to read all of Romans 6-8, they would see clearly that Paul’s argument is that now, through Jesus Christ, we are set free from sin and have the power to live in righteousness – to actually do what is right. He’s not saying that in Christ we throw out any requirement for righteousness so now we no longer have to feel guilty for living in sin. Quite the opposite. While the Christian Left credits grace for freeing people from any moral requirements, the writers of this homepage warn us that “grace isn’t cheap.” “After what Jesus has done for us, we offer our best to live up to what he asks from us (to follow his comandments).” By “his commandments” they mean only the commandments to love one another. But because they’ve specifically defined what that means (feeding the hungry, social activism, etc.), it sounds very close to the “works/righteousness treadmill” they attribute to the Christian Right. The Christian activism they promote and the works of love they demand of those who would call themselves Christians sound quite exhausting. But the sad part is that they are advocating allowing people to remain enslaved by their sins, with only “love” as the hallmark of what it means to be saved. Christ came to redeem us from the human condition, to restore our marred image so we can live a righteous life, free from sin. The Christian Left sees the only freedom as freedom from a requirement to live righteously, thereby sentencing people to a lifetime of slavery to their desires and sinful proclivities.
The foundation of arguments on the Christian Left
What I find amazing about The Christian Left homepage (not to mention the blog posts) is the lack of logic or biblical basis for their arguments.
- The founders of the site claim not to be Communists or Marxists – “We reject all such labels.” However, farther down the page, they assert, “The Christian Left does not find that socialism ALONE is an adequate end or means” [emphasis added]. So, they don’t actually deny they are socialists, which depends on the philosophical framework of Marxism and is merely a step away from communism. No other explanation is given except that they reject the labels.
- They claim that they “welcome ALL to their place at God’s table, just as they are.” – “We reject all attempts to define our Faith by the two wedge issues of Gay Marriage and Abortion.” They find the “Gospel of Morality” to be “insanity” and prefer a Gospel of Love that doesn’t get “uptight” about these two issues.
- They also claim that they are often accused of “cherry-picking” verses from the Bible to prove a point. – “We reject this silly sentiment.” They might reject it, but it’s entirely true. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the Bible can see immediately that they pick and choose verses that support their beliefs and ignore the glaring verses that disagree. And, other than Romans 7, they appear to ignore any part of Scripture other than the Gospels, which were meant to be understood within the context of the whole of Scripture.
- The Christian Left also “rejects exclusivity.” Why? Because “The exclusionary gospel of the Christian Right is foreign to us. We do not recognize it.” They are very adamant about what they reject, as if their rejection of traditional Christianity is proof enough that they are right.
Their purpose is to “challenge deep-seated, right-wing, fundamentalist theology” and to “decry publicly the lies the right are telling about the Bible, and the fact that their interpretation of Scripture is slanted toward their fears and alleged concerns.” Make no mistake: the Christian Left is as much about destroying traditional Christianity as it is about promoting social justice, at least as described on this website.
Appealing to deeper foundational principles on the Christian Right
It’s not the purpose of this brief article to define or defend the Christian Right. However, I do think the reason the Christian Left and the Christian Right have such difficulty discussing issues is that the Christian Left starts from the standpoint of looking at society’s ills, whereas the Christian Right starts from the position of Scripture. Here’s just one example. The Christian Left looks at the poor and marginalized and tells us how we need to specifically address those needs by changing laws and societal structures. The Christian Right starts from the dignity of humanity created in the image of God. Our solutions to the problems identified by the Christian Left are to bring out the best in people by restoring dignity – helping them overcome addictions instead of giving them clean needles, equipping them with skills to get a job instead of condemning them to a life of poverty by doling out money and social services (which in essence deprives them of human dignity), helping migrants to legally enter our country instead of relegating them to perpetual poverty and inequality because they’ve been enticed to break our laws and to live in fear of being found out. This is the worst kind of human trafficking, because it is done under the guise of love, all the while destroying the human conscience in order to make “cheap labor” available for jobs they claim no self-respecting American would want to do themselves. The Christian Right believes that God can completely transform people (from the inside out) and has made it possible for their dignity to be restored by following the principles laid out in God’s Word.
I’m not saying that America is fine just the way it is or that we don’t need to improve our systems and structures. I’m saying that it’s not as simple as saying that anyone who doesn’t agree with you is non-Christian, which is exactly what The Christian Left website is intimating.
The end-game of the Christian Left
It’s important to note that the Christian Left is rooted in a political ideology that seeks to rid America of its Christian influences, especially as they pertain to morality, and to upend our institutions and political structures (preferring socialism over capitalism). That is the agenda of the Left in general. The Christian Left has carefully chosen issues that appear compassionate and Christian but that ultimately move the Left’s political agenda forward. Here is the end-game of a Christianity that has aligned itself with the Left.
- To perpetuate a culture of dependence and victimization by creating social programs that disincentivize people to follow the law, learn our language, work hard, or take responsibility for their own actions
- To promote perversion and unrighteousness by failing to call deviant sexual perversion “sin” and allowing laws that prohibit others from doing so; by subverting parental rights to teach their children traditional Christian morals
- To cripple businesses so they can’t provide employment by increased taxation, regulation, and demonization of free enterprise
- To overthrow our institutions and governmental structures by intentionally seeking ways to undermine capitalism in favor of socialism and by subverting (or enticing others to subvert) our laws
- To de-Christianize America by demonizing traditional morality and Christian values, limiting religious freedom, and sanitizing the Christian message to one of only love and acceptance (having a form of godliness, but denying its power)
I fail to see how any of these ends are in Christians’ best interests. The Left attempts to limit religious freedoms and religious expression. They seek to promote sexual perversion even among young children and to usurp parental authority. Their goal is income redistribution, which only serves to make everyone equally poor. They support increased taxation on anyone who works hard and earns money. Where does it say in Scripture that it’s permissible to steal from one group of people to give their money to the poor? Where does it say that love and righteousness are mutually exclusive? Where does Christ say that morality is no longer an expectation? Where does He condone the overthrow of the government or our institutions that seek to protect our country from foreign invasion?
The end-game for the Left is the obliteration of any Christian influence on society. How can the Christian Left join hands with them and hope to increase the influence of Christianity on culture? How will Christianity be more pervasive? How will missionary zeal increase? How will the Gospel (the true Gospel) be preached to the whole world? How will revival come? If we reduce Christianity to a sentimental love that is afraid of speaking truth to those who desperately need to hear it; if we reduce faith to acts of kindness and neglect the righteousness without which no one will see the Lord; if we ignore the clear teachings of the Bible so we don’t offend others… what are we saving people from? What are we saving them to? Why would any Christian join hands with those who are intent on destroying them and their religion?
This is baffling. It’s self-destructive. Maybe the Christian Right hasn’t done a good job articulating faith. Maybe generations past have focused too much on the “rules” and have failed to share the rationale behind them. But the desire to rebel against their parents or grandparents or fundamentalists or those who are just plain uncouth (or even sinful) is no reason to betray Christ by paving the way for the complete rejection of Him. If the whole law and prophets are summed up in the word “love,” then love can’t be properly understood apart from the law and prophets. THEY are what define love, not our dysfunctional society that doesn’t understand what love is. The Bible itself needs to be our starting point, and we cannot allow the Christian Left to redefine terms in order to make the Gospel (which is the whole narrative, from Genesis through Revelation) more palatable to a sin-sick world.
So, what do we do with this information?
Pay attention. Listen for Leftist buzzwords. Trust your gut when it sounds like your church leaders are advocating for socialism or breaking the law in the name of “love.” Pay attention to the redefinition of words and concepts and the reinterpretation of biblical passages you’ve known for years.
Pray for God’s protection of your church family. There comes a time when it’s not enough to just stand still. We need to pray and ask God to break down the strongholds that have arisen within Christianity, starting with your church or denomination.
Read, learn, and speak up. The hardest thing in the world is to say, “I don’t agree with you,” but that’s what you need to say. It’s hard. You’ll be “shouted down” with a dozen Bible verses. You’ll be made to feel unspiritual and unloving. But so what? Standing on the truth of God’s Word is never easy. The prophets were stoned and killed by the religious leaders. Jesus was crucified. Pastors will often criticize Christians with convictions as being the “Pharisees” of the day. But they forget that THEY are the religious leaders. They may very well be Pharisees of a different sort – dogmatic purveyors of a new kind of legalism that ostracizes anyone who disagrees and pulls people into a “religion” of works of service devoid of a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. If we do nothing – if we say nothing – then they will continue to believe they are “right” and that everyone agrees with them. They are not the majority! But they will make you think they are. They will silence you by making you feel that no one agrees with you. But you are not alone! You have a “great cloud of witnesses” from the past couple thousand years (at least) who are cheering you on from heaven. Don’t be silenced. Don’t give up. There’s too much at stake to allow Christianity to fall into the hands of the Left.
Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
