Leaving 'Babylon'...Again

Recently, there was a major gathering of evangelical church leaders in Wheaton, IL.  

The reason:  to address the apparent entanglement of the evangelical church with the priorities of Donald Trump, and the Republican party. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/04/12/when-you-google-evangelicals-you-get-trump-high-profile-evangelicals-will-meet-privately-to-discuss-their-future/?utm_term=.31326a46cb94

But the so-called progressive or liberal church has also become entangled -- on numerous occasions -- with the priorities of the Democratic party.

In either case, the issue the same: the church has become seduced, embraced, entangled in ideologies other than the ideology of God.  Thus, as Tim Keller reflects:  

“We need to be wiser and better in the way we do ministry...Faith and God and sin and grace and idolatry are about fundamental human reality, and everything else is a way of dealing with those issues. It is a complete terrible reversal when [people believe] religion is about politics...”

A Biblical Context

Historically, Babylon is a metaphor for the church’s foray into priorities foreign to God’s Reign -- be it politics or other ideologies.     

Babylon?  

For starters, think ancient city Babylon, located in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq. In doing so, visualize a physical locale about 900 miles from ‘The Promised Land’ (e.g. the Holy Land).

Across 16 years (598-582 BC) contingents of the Hebrew people were transported, exiled, against their will to Babylon.  

Not surprisingly, the Hebrews were not happy.  For like Iraq, Babylon, was not an ideal destination.  Not only was Babylon distant geographically for them, Babylon was distant theologically, foreign to Godly convictions; for the Babylonians worshipped entities other than Yahweh, the one true God.  

Most prominent was the cult deity, Marduk, the supreme Babylonian god, credited with an extended season of “…of justice, compassion, healing, regeneration…and fairness…” https://www.ancient.eu/Marduk/ .  Not surprisingly, then…

“…Babylonian citizens saw their city as a paradise—the center of the world and symbol of cosmic harmony that had come into existence when its supreme divinity…Marduk, defeated the forces of chaos…No ancient city was so desired and feared, so admired and denigrated…” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/01-02/babylon-mesopotamia-ancient-city-iraq/

But as exiles, the majority of the Hebrews did not share this perspective; they never knew paradise.  

Rather, most Hebrews were filled with remorse and homesickness for Zion, their homeland. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” the psalmist laments.

“…There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs,       our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?   (Psalm 137:1-4).

But not all Hebrews felt this way.

Egyptian papyri and Babylonian contract tablets confirm that some Hebrews were content in Babylon, becoming acculturated to the popular priorities of a foreign land, opting for expediency, defecting “…from their own faith and ancient customs to take up worship of the Babylonian deities (Isa. 46:1, 12; 50:11; cf. Jer.44)…”   (J.A. Sanders.  Exile.  The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible.  Nashville:  Abingdon Press, 1962, p. 187).

Forays Into Babylon, Today

God’s people have always had a faithful remnant that never ventures into ‘Babylon.’  Or if forced to go there, resists, and flees at the first opportunity.   

Beyond the Hebrews, a vivid example are the reformers of Protestant Reformation, whose 500th anniversary we recently observed.   Prominent among the reformers was Martin Luther and his treatise:  “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.”  

Published in 1520, Luther accused the Catholic Church of holding Christians captive, in bondage, through its sacramental system.  The ‘rest is history,’ as Christians fled the ‘Babylonian captivity’ of the Catholic Church ‘riding the tide’ of the Protestant Reformation. 

We need a new Reformation today.  For in many respects, the church has not only ventured into Babylon, we’ve become content in Babylon.  

The result:  we’ve become acculturated to the culture around us, no longer resisting and fleeing priorities foreign to the one true God.

In essence, whether conservative or liberal -- often -- we’re more mesmerized by charisma, than character – believing that ‘all that glitters is Gospel.’

In essence, we confuse access to power, money and celebrity as access to ‘paradise,’ and an improved way of life.

Billy Graham was one of the most revered Christian leaders in Christian history.   But even Billy Graham had regrets, including forays into ‘Babylon.' In particular, over-alignment with political leaders.  Reflecting in a 2011 interview with Christianity Today, on what he would have done differently in life, Graham mused:

“…I ... would have steered clear of politics. I'm grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places; people in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to. But looking back…I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn't do that now…"We need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success."  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/januaryweb-only/qabillygraham.html 

But in fairness to Billy Graham, Christians ‘on the left’ have also been gripped by ‘Babylon,’ over-identifying with politicians and secular institutions.  A prominent example is Reinhold Niebuhr’s (a famed liberal theologian) alignment with the Americans for Democratic Action beginning in the 1940’s.  

But no matter the politician or social movement, they’re all shallow replacements for the Promises and Reign of God.  As James Davidson Hunter prophetically writes in To Change The World:

“Christians [must] recognize that all social organizations exist as parodies of eschatological hope. And so it is that the city is a poor imitation of heavenly community; the modern state, a deformed version of the ecclesia; the market, a distortion of consummation; modern entertainment, a caricature of joy; schooling, a misrepresentation of true formation; liberalism, a crass simulacrum of freedom; and the sovereignty we accord to the self, a parody of God himself. As these institutions and ideals become ends in themselves, they become the objects of idolatry…”  - James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World.  New York:  Oxford Press, 2010, p. 234-235

As Hunter speaks of idolatry, Hunter speaks of ‘Babylon.’  For at the center of any ‘Babylonian’ captivity is bondage to glittering power-centers of dominant culture, that appear more resourceful than the promises, of Yahweh, the one-true God.

A Way Forward

The alternative to cultural, ‘Babylonian,’ captivity is a new confidence in the promises of God.  

As inferred earlier, that requires a new reformation – but -- a reformation crafted not only from the classic reformers of the Protestant Reformation (circa 1517), but also the radical reformers of the Radical Reformation (circa 1521).  (this is a recap of a popular blog I wrote last fall, on the occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation http://wwwpaulmundey.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-other-reformation.html

First, a new reformation must be informed by the classic reformers; persons like John Calvin, Martin Luther and Huldreich Zwingli.  To be precise, we need to recommit to the five foundational themes of their movement:  

1) Sola Scriptura -- scripture alone;

2) Sola Fide -- faith alone;

3) Sola Gratia -- grace alone;

4) Sola Christus -- Christ alone;  

5) Soli Deo Gloria -- to glory to God and God alone.  

(please note:  though these five summary statements emerged out of the thought of  the Reformation, they were not organized into a succinct statement until the early 20th century.  Nevertheless, they are widely regarded as an accurate summary of the driving themes of the Protestant Reformation).

But, second, we must be informed by the radical reformers; persons like Alexander Mack, Thomas Muntzer, and Menno Simmons.  

To be precise, we need to add a sixth sola: Sola Deo Modus Vivendi (a phrase of my own invention): God's way of living, alone. For though the Protestant reformers reformed Christian theology, they didn’t reform Christian praxis, in equally, radical fashion.  It was the radical reformers who reformed Christian praxis in radical fashion, wrapping their movement around four themes:  

1) Believers Baptism – Bonding with Jesus is a personal, adult decision.  We must intentionally choose Christ and His newness of life;

2) Discipleship -- Christianity is not just a matter of life after death, but life after birth.  We are saved by Jesus to walk with Jesus in newness of life, now and forever;

3) Called-Out Community -- The church is not wed to any person or nation-state.  The church is an ekklesia, a called out and separate people;

4) Love and Nonresistance -- Those who embrace Jesus do not embrace violence.  Rather, Christ-followers choose the path of non-violence, modeling another way of resolving conflict.  (adapted:  Harold Bender:  The Anabaptist Vision -- https://www.goshen.edu/mhl/Refocusing/d-av.htm) 

5/4 Congregations! 

I believe we will experience a new reformation -- leaving Babylon -- as we recommit to the themes of both the classic and radical reformers, becoming what I like to call:  5/4 Congregations. 

As you might guess, 5/4 Congregations affirm both the 5 Solas of the Reformation and the 4 Praxes of the Radical Reformation.  

As they do, they chart what Myron Augsburger calls 'a third way' between left-wing liberalism and right-wing conservatism, proclaiming a holistic Gospel, based on Jesus' own example, as Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom or Reign of God, over all.  For as Augsburger observes:

“…Jesus Christ is building a kingdom.  That kingdom is not to be identified with any cultural or national position.  Some people have…equated the kingdom of God with Americanism.  However, the kingdom of God stands confronting America with a call to spiritual awakening and renewal.  Other people…think…the Kingdom of God means to be anti-American, [but they must be]…reminded that such a position also violates the nature of the Incarnation.  Jesus could walk among Jewish persons and yet minister to the hated Roman centurion…[And so people] of the Third Way build a fellowship that can reach across the boundaries humans create….[for we are called to] model before the powers of the world…reconciliation…”  (Henry Schmidt, ed.  Witnesses of a Third Way.  Elgin:  Brethren Press, 1986, p. 4).

We need reconciliation.  We live in one of the most bifurcated, divided eras of human history.   And so central to our reforming efforts are reconciling efforts as we stay true not only to 5/4 commitments but also to finding common ground. 

We do so by accenting grace, advancing God’s Reign in a way that is respectful and civil.  

It’s interesting, even the most doctrinaire of reformers, John Calvin accents grace: "...In the maxims of the law, God is seen as the rewarder of perfect righteousness and the avenger of sin…”  Calvin writes.  “…But in Christ, His face shines out, full of grace..."

Grace, With Conviction

We show grace, then, along with conviction. 

A shining example, biblically, is Daniel, whose story spans the entire Babylonian exile of the Hebrew people.  

As Daniel’s famed encounter with lions in the lion’s den attests, Daniel had conviction. In spite of King Darius’ decree not to pray to any god or human being but him (Daniel 6:12), Daniel prays to Yahweh; in fact “…three times a day [Daniel] got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God…”  (Daniel 6:10).  And so Daniel is hurled into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16). 

Yet, there is reluctance on the part of the King Darius to send Daniel to such an outcome.  In fact, at the very moment the King commits Daniel to the lion’s den, the King said to Daniel:  

“…May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you…”  (Daniel 6:16).  

Bible scholars muse that the reason for the King’s grace, is the grace Daniel, himself, exuded. In fact, 

“…Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom…”  (Daniel 6:3, emphasis added).  

While Daniel’s ‘excellent spirit’ is not detailed, it is not a stretch to conclude that part of Daniel’s appeal was an approach that was ‘for’ and not ‘against’ the best interests of the King. 

Such a gracious stance was brilliant, for it allowed Daniel to both confront the King, but also support the King with the same, laudable goal: the King’s overall welfare.

Aiming for the welfare of others, through a balance of grace and conviction, is a strong witness for the one true God.  In fact, it reveals the one true God -- even in the midst of Babylon -- as King Darius prays after Daniel’s release:

“…[I now conclude, the God of Daniel] is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.  He rescues and saves; he performs signs and wonders, in the heavens and on the earth…”  (Daniel 6:26-27).

Not a bad prayer for us to pray in ‘Babylon’ – both individually and collectively as the church – as we seek to leave ‘Babylon’s’ seductive, but life squelching embrace.  

Leaving what appears to be 'paradise' is never easy.  But more needed than ever -- as we re-exalt the only one who is King of all Kings -- and Lord of all Lords -- the supreme 'train of thought' --  surpassing any ideology!