In the New Year, everyone is evaluating their position in an attempt to refocus and reengage their place in society and personal wellness. I, like so many others, read through all the self-help articles, spiritual advice and “Bible In One Year” challenges trying to find inspiration for myself and to help lead others at our church. This year, like many in the past, there are plenty of advice columns, Bible verses to connect and morning devotions. It’s never good, however, when the best advice I find comes from an atheist. Maybe embarrassing is a better term. Christian news reporter, Michael Foust, shares his review and opinion on Jonathan Rauch’s new book: Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy. Rauch is a self-identified atheist and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. There is no question about his personal lack of spiritual faith, but he is a keen observer of culture and a knowledgeable historian of sorts. In the Michael Foust review, he points to a Rauch interview with the podcast Matter of Opinion to discuss the book. In the podcast Rauch summarized his opinion of the Church and Christianity in our present culture. Rauch says, "What really needs to happen to get our country on a better track is for Christianity not to become more secular or more liberal, but to become more like itself, to become more truly Christian.” He defines Christianity by "three fundamentals”: 1) imitating Jesus, 2) not being afraid, and 3) forgiving one another. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ndwpdnYGZKE98UabIEOqb
Rauch goes on in the podcast to say, "Christianity is a load-bearing wall in democracy, and the Founders told us that," he said. "They didn't specify that you have to be a Christian, per se, but they said that our liberal, secular constitution … relies on virtues like truthfulness and lawfulness and the equal dignity of every individual. And they understood that those have to come from an outside source. The Constitution won't furnish them. And the source that they relied on principally was religion to teach those things and to build and transmit those values. And it turns out that for most of our history, Christianity has been pretty good at that." Rauch goes on, “But when the church becomes less Christian people begin looking to other places for their sources of values. They go to wokeness or QAnon or MAGA, and those turn out to be not the kinds of values that you can use to underpin a democracy. And that's the situation that we seem increasingly stuck in."
Although I do not agree with his “fundamentals of Christianity,” I do agree with the heart of what he is saying. The morals, ethics and love for neighbor is what makes a society great. World leaders throughout time have made similar comments when evaluating what makes the American experiment work. They all point back to the Christian Church, family and traditional Biblical teachings. The modern Church has gotten away from teaching these things and has positioned itself as a competitor with culture. Borrowing from culture, the Church works to insert what “attracts,” but in reality, it “distracts.” It is embarrassing to have an atheist write a book to point out what should be so obvious to Christians. When the local church looks no different than the clubs around them, how can you blame the world for choosing the world. When those that choose the path of the world or the woke church culture, they are left personally empty and spiritually void. Jesus never used bells and whistles because He was not training pets to do His bidding, He was building relationships. He preached to the masses, but He spoke and related to individuals. Most modern church services are a Pavlovian example of classic conditioning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning “When you hear the music play do this. When the leader says this, do that, and then you will be rewarded.” These services can be “fun” at first because of the group excitement, but after a while the spiritual sugar cubes no longer satisfy as life happens and there is no foundation to land on.
Jonathan Rauch’s last statement in Foust’s review https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/michael-foust/atheist-writer-asserts-that-true-christianity-is-the-key-to-saving-america.html is most telling: Rauch says, "I think it can only do good and not harm to the country and to Christian witness if Christians can do the work of rediscovering and elevating those elements of the Christian faith which uphold our democracy and which uphold the teachings of Christ. I can't see that any possible harm would ever result from that. And so, what I come down to is addressing my Christian fellow citizens and saying: Why not give Jesus a try?" To that I say, “Wow!”
Sometimes, modern worship services remind of Daniel 3. The king created a large statue of himself and had the people bow down. “When you hear the music play you are to worship the image of gold.” When the Hebrew children would not bow, the king threatened to kill them. There answer to the king in verses 16-18 is inspiring. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
A Biblical worldview and putting into practice are what is missing from the Church today. It saved the lives and witness of the Three Hebrew Children. I pray that in 2025 we wake up to this truth and make it our mission to set ourselves apart from the world, and like the atheist Jonathan Rauch, inspire people to ask “why not give Jesus a try?”
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
Rauch goes on in the podcast to say, "Christianity is a load-bearing wall in democracy, and the Founders told us that," he said. "They didn't specify that you have to be a Christian, per se, but they said that our liberal, secular constitution … relies on virtues like truthfulness and lawfulness and the equal dignity of every individual. And they understood that those have to come from an outside source. The Constitution won't furnish them. And the source that they relied on principally was religion to teach those things and to build and transmit those values. And it turns out that for most of our history, Christianity has been pretty good at that." Rauch goes on, “But when the church becomes less Christian people begin looking to other places for their sources of values. They go to wokeness or QAnon or MAGA, and those turn out to be not the kinds of values that you can use to underpin a democracy. And that's the situation that we seem increasingly stuck in."
Although I do not agree with his “fundamentals of Christianity,” I do agree with the heart of what he is saying. The morals, ethics and love for neighbor is what makes a society great. World leaders throughout time have made similar comments when evaluating what makes the American experiment work. They all point back to the Christian Church, family and traditional Biblical teachings. The modern Church has gotten away from teaching these things and has positioned itself as a competitor with culture. Borrowing from culture, the Church works to insert what “attracts,” but in reality, it “distracts.” It is embarrassing to have an atheist write a book to point out what should be so obvious to Christians. When the local church looks no different than the clubs around them, how can you blame the world for choosing the world. When those that choose the path of the world or the woke church culture, they are left personally empty and spiritually void. Jesus never used bells and whistles because He was not training pets to do His bidding, He was building relationships. He preached to the masses, but He spoke and related to individuals. Most modern church services are a Pavlovian example of classic conditioning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning “When you hear the music play do this. When the leader says this, do that, and then you will be rewarded.” These services can be “fun” at first because of the group excitement, but after a while the spiritual sugar cubes no longer satisfy as life happens and there is no foundation to land on.
Jonathan Rauch’s last statement in Foust’s review https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/michael-foust/atheist-writer-asserts-that-true-christianity-is-the-key-to-saving-america.html is most telling: Rauch says, "I think it can only do good and not harm to the country and to Christian witness if Christians can do the work of rediscovering and elevating those elements of the Christian faith which uphold our democracy and which uphold the teachings of Christ. I can't see that any possible harm would ever result from that. And so, what I come down to is addressing my Christian fellow citizens and saying: Why not give Jesus a try?" To that I say, “Wow!”
Sometimes, modern worship services remind of Daniel 3. The king created a large statue of himself and had the people bow down. “When you hear the music play you are to worship the image of gold.” When the Hebrew children would not bow, the king threatened to kill them. There answer to the king in verses 16-18 is inspiring. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
A Biblical worldview and putting into practice are what is missing from the Church today. It saved the lives and witness of the Three Hebrew Children. I pray that in 2025 we wake up to this truth and make it our mission to set ourselves apart from the world, and like the atheist Jonathan Rauch, inspire people to ask “why not give Jesus a try?”
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
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