Why Do American Christians Have A Hard Time Understanding The Kingdom of Heaven?

Crosses have become quite popular in fashion these days.  Not exclusive to people of the Christian faith anymore, pop stars, rap singers, and Manhattan socialites alike proudly display diverse representations of the ancient symbol. (Because nothing screams modern fashion symbol more than a 1st Century Roman torture and execution tool.  French Guillotine anyone?)

Yes, people wear a cross not as a sign of their chosen faith but as an ornament.  A trinket…a bauble!

That really doesn’t bother me that much though beyond being an indicator of a much more serious problem…

…wearing Jesus as an ornament!

Jesus as an “add-on”

I am constantly baffled by how Christians can transform the culture of the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed into a clone of their own culture.  As an American I am probably most familiar with how we do it.  Americans tend to be:

* individualistic

* advocates of capitalism

* advocates of democracy

* advocates of gun ownership

* advocates of a strong military

So not surprisingly our Jesus and our faith tends to be individualistic (personal Lord & Savior), favorable disposed towards capitalism, democracy, guns, and military actions.   Now we even have Christian leaders defending America’s use of torture.  In fact, Christians in America support the use of torture by a higher percentage than people who are “non-religious”.  Which begs the question of just which group “believes” in Jesus and his Kingdom?

The result being that the Kingdom of God is no longer representing a culture at odds with the systems of this world but one instead that fully embraces it.  That’s why Americans have a hard time really understanding the Kingdom of Heaven.  They tend to see it largely as America on steroids,  or to put it even better…a more perfect Union!

The Gospel Immunization Shot

In a recent post Pastor Greg Boyd explains beautifully why Christianity in America (and I would argue in most places) has become anemic:

Why does being “Christian” in America make so little difference in so many people’s lives, when the kingdom movement revealed in the New Testament revolutionized people’s lives? This drastic difference is hardly surprising when you consider that the gospel that people are often given today is little more than a contract of acquittal that is signed by praying the sinner’s prayer or some such thing. Nor is it surprising that this powerless version of the gospel absorbs rather than confronts the culture of the people who sign this contract. Within this gospel, people give their mental assent to certain beliefs and are thereby ushered into a “kingdom” that looks almost identical to the earthly kingdom they were supposed to be called out of. They can keep all their cultural assumptions, and, apart from avoiding certain behaviors that are singled out as the deal-breaker sins, their lives can continue on just as before.

Greg Boyd- Adapted from Benefit of the Doubt, pages 141-142.

American Christians have so compartmentalized their faith that they may talk about a “personal” desire to seek the Kingdom of God but that is very separate from what the nation as a corporate entity is subject to…and not coincidentally, the one they swear allegiance to.  In the end, rather than being a prophetic voice leading people away from a culture of power, violence, and intimidation Christians tragically become it’s most enthusiastic defenders and cheerleaders.

I’ve said before the disciples of Christ were not executed by Rome for sharing a modern evangelical message of accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, but rather for proclaiming  Jesus as King now, that his Kingdom was advancing peacefully, and that the nations of this world would ultimately be subject to it.

Rome understood the implications…I’m not always sure we Americans do.