Carlos on Talk To Action draws our attention to the surprising fact that Zondervan, a publishing company that churns out huge numbers of books by conservative evangelicals, is publishing Gregory Boyd's new book, The Myth of a Christian Nation.
Zondervan's role in this is welcome news, but so are aspects of the book itself. Its message is welcomed by American historians and patriots everywhere, but not by many American evangelicals. Boyd writes,
In April of 2004...I felt it necessary to preach a series of sermons that would provide a biblical explanation for why our church should not join the rising chorus of right-wing political activity. I also decided this would be a good opportunity to expose the danger of associating the Christian faith too closely with any political point of view, whether conservative or liberal.
I felt as though I'd stuck a stick in a hornet's nest! About 20 percent of my congregation (roughly a thousand people) left the church.
I find this to be an admission both shocking and admirable, since it's clear evidence that Boyd was embarrassingly clueless about just how deeply-held was the myth of Christian America among his own congregants.
Or maybe it isn't embarrassing. Perhaps he was clueless because, wisely, it wasn't politics but pastorally-relevant issues (e.g., life, death, worship, preaching, teaching, marriage, counseling, etc.) that took up his time with worshippers in his own flock. (I mean, which sort of comment reflects well on a pastor: "Your daughter does a great job making new-comers feel welcome in Sunday School. I'd like to use her as an example in my next sermon;" or, "It sure is exciting around Republican Headquarters these days. Can your daughter help handout fliers?")
It's interesting to see a minister in 2006, in such an apparently evangelical church get stung by the reality many of us have already been aware of and warning about for years.
Read here and here; a great resource and easy read is this book.
- Scott
