(Be forewarned. The subject of this blog required that it be longer than usual. My goal in writing it is to initiate discussion and debate about the issues I raise. To that end I hope you will be willing to share it with others.)
These are no ordinary times, and Donald Trump is no ordinary president.
That is one of the reasons a recent NPR interview with the Rev. Adam Hamilton caused me significant angst.
Hamilton is the senior minister of the largest United Methodist Church in the world, with some 20,000 members, a church he founded 27 years ago.
The interview focused on his being pastor to a politically divided congregation: “We have some folks who are Trump supporters,” he said. “We have folks who were not Trump supporters.”
In that context, he said he believes his great challenge is, “How do I continue to be pastor for all of these people? And how do I help them hear each other?”
That desire to be a pastor to everyone is rooted in his belief that “the defining mark of the Christian life is not being right politically. It is expressing love.”
That is a point of view few Christians would disagree with, but its application to the political divide in our country and in Hamilton’s congregation is far from simple.
More than that, expressing love can lead ministers like Hamilton to believe, as he says he tells other ministers, that influencing people takes priority over irritating them. As I will show, I think that is a false dichotomy.
Khizr Khan, father of Muslim-American war hero Army Capt. Humayun S.M. Khan, who was killed in action in Iraq, made the statement during the presidential campaign: “There comes a time in the history of a nation where an ethical, moral stand has to be taken regardless of the political costs.”
This is such a time in America, and no group faces the moral demand to speak truth to power, to borrow an old Quaker phrase, more than clergy.
That is because this moment in our history is about the struggle over the values we are embracing or rejecting as a people and the vision we hold for the future of our country.
Of all people, Christians must understand the stakes involved in that struggle and the demand on us to stand for what is right against any and all odds because we are Christian.
But let’s put this in the proper theological context that is defining this moment for Christians.
In a recent article published in the Washington Post, eminent theologian Stanley Hauerwas says that while Donald Trump “thinks of himself as a Christian…America is his church.”
For this reason, Hauerwas argues, the worship Trump advocates is idolatrous: “Trump’s inauguration address counts as a stunning example of idolatry. His statement — ‘At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America and through our loyalty to our country we will recover loyalty to each other’ — is clearly a theological claim that offers a kind of salvation.”
That, Hauerwas argues, is a serious problem for Christians who believe that only God demands “total allegiance.” As he puts it: “Christians do not believe in ourselves or our country. We believe in God, but we do more than believe in God. We worship God. Nothing else is to be worshiped.”
The article concludes with both a challenge and an indictment: “Christians must call [Trump’s] profound and mistaken faith what it is: idolatry. Christianity in America is declining, if not dying, which makes it difficult to call Trump to task. Trump has taken advantage of Christian Americans who have long lived as if God and country are joined at the hip.”
What Hauerwas is saying actually explains why Hamilton and ministers like him face a divided church at this moment in our history. People join churches without understanding the demands being Christian places on them. Once they do, there is no evidence to support the belief that many of them transition into genuine Christian commitment thereafter.
This is how half of a Christian congregation can support Donald Trump and his policies without realizing that what they are doing is undercutting any desire their have to follow the way of Jesus.
But it is not as if the Christian community has not faced similar challenges.
In 1933 a small group of German Christian leaders came together to affirm what became known as the Barmen Declaration. It was a theological statement intended to challenge the errors of “the German Christian movement” among evangelicals that supported the “Nazification” of the gospel, a support that tragically led many German Christians to become collaborators in the Holocaust.
The Declaration begins with these words: “In view of the errors of the ‘German Christians’ and of the present Reich Church Administration, which are ravaging the Church and at the same time also shattering the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths.”
It ends by calling “all who can stand in solidarity with [this] Declaration to be mindful of these theological findings in all their decisions concerning Church and State.”
Most German Christians did not stand in solidarity with the likes of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bohoeffer, a moment in history whose lesson cannot be lost on us today.
Because these are no ordinary times, and Donald Trump is no ordinary president, the question before Adam Hamilton and his church, and all of us who are Christian, is whether or not we recognize that the threat we are facing is a direct challenge to choosing God over all other allegiances, to choosing politics over the way of Jesus.
That challenge is exacerbated by the fact that we face the dilemma of how to live with those who have chosen to compromise their faith. Our impulse may be to try to get along with them, be tolerant of them, and try to understand where they are coming from. And ministers may want to do everything they can to be a pastor to these people.
But those desires must be set in the theological context that our moment in history has arrived when we must make hard ethical, moral choices that will express either faithfulness to the gospel or lead to compromise.
What is dulling people’s understanding of that reality, even among clergy, is the flawed perception that the political division in congregations like Hamilton’s is nothing more than a disagreement between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats.
If you take seriously the argument Stanley Hauerwas makes that Trump is promoting an idolatrous Christianity, you cannot dismiss political divisions in our country and in churches as business as usual, as something we have seen before about which we should not become overly distraught.
Much more is going on than that, and much more is at stake than helping church members treat each other with love and respect.
The very soul of Christianity and the church is hanging in the balance at this moment, but I wonder if Adam Hamilton and ministers like him understand or believe that this is the nature of the crisis we are facing.
Pastoral care is a sacred responsibility all pastors have. But so is speaking truth to power.
I have never known any minister who wanted to irritate his or her church members, nor have I ever known one who dared to speak prophetically who didn’t.
The responsibility, then, that falls to all ministers, as I see it, is less about trying to keep people from leaving the church, and more about helping them to understand what it means to be Christian, if they choose to stay.
And then letting them make the choice for themselves.
Dude. This post has a lot to chew on. I listened to that NPR interview and I was right there with Hamilton. Then you remind me of Haurwas in the Washington Post and I’m again in agreement. Then I’m reminded of a conversation one summer evening at CHQ. My church was considering taking a firm stand on inclusion, esp. of the LGBTQI+ community and I was cautioned against it. “You have to minister to the bigots too. If you lose them, you can’t lead them to a better way. You need to speak to them.” I guess I hear that in Hamilton’s words too. I don’t know if calling ppl idolaters will help. I’m stuck as how to speak out about this. How can I bring ppl who follow the civic religion into following the Christian way? Same question I was left with after reading Mark Toulouse’s “God in Public.” Guess I’ll have to go read “Resident Aliens” and see if that offers any help.
Luke, I understand your dilemma, but at this point, after so many years in church leadership, I am convinced the answer to your question about how to help civil religion people find the gospel is, you can’t. I began ministry in a segregated South with segregated churches in every town, city, and countryside. The same issues we faced then we are still facing. That has led me to the conclusion that churches and ministers MUST stand for justice and moral truths and then people have to decide if that is something they want to be a part of. Our calling is not to get people into the church or to keep them there. It is to preach and teach the gospel as best we can understand it, with a loving attitude for sure, and leave how people respond in their hands and God’s. The problem Hamilton has with a divided church is, quite frankly, rooted in his desire for and success in growing a big church. You cannot have 20,000 church members and think all of them are there because they want to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before God. In short, his problem is of his own creation.
Don’t know if this helps, but I am grateful that you responded.
I agree with associatedluke, there’s a lot to chew on here. Those folks who call themselves Christian and support Trump are idolaters?!? Yeah, I think they are too, but they don’t see it, they are sure they have the right view of Christianity.
Those of us who embrace the way of Jesus ( A 1st Century Jew speaking to his Jewish peers about what it means to get serious about YHWH – God) are all about loving one another and the grace of God. Those who think of God as authoritarian figure respond to Trump’s dog whistles about fear.
I look forward to the discussion.
Thought provoking post, Jan.
Rollie, my issue is with ministers who do see the idolatry, but who accept the false dichotomy that in order to influence people you cannot irritate them. Irritation is not the point, speaking the best truth we know is, but that will always be irritating to most people. I cannot imagine Bonhoeffer advising his colleagues to try to “hear” what the “German Christians” when they tried to justify their support of Hitler. How would I ever say that to a Jew today whose family died in the Holocaust?
Holding clergy accountable must be a very frustrating task. While some (many?) see the deep calling of speaking truth to all, not just those in power, acting on that deep calling is difficult and frightening… but one must be able to muster courage in times of trial. Hamilton has a authenticity problem in my view.
At the very least I think he is struggling to know where the lines are that identify who he truly is.
And the rub with representing Jesus faithfully is our clergy salaries aren’t paid by Jesus, at least not directly, and so we couch what we say and still wind up irritatating people in the pews. Being prophetic doesn’t usually pay well and there are mortgages to consider and retirement is still a ways off and we assuage our consciences by saying something inane like, “I need to influence not irritate.”
I lived for a time in Le Chambon Sur LIgnon in France, in the 80’s and worshiped with the people of Le Temple. That congregation hid thousands of Jewish children during Vichy, France. I was forever changed by sharing the table with those faithful Christian people. My heart breaks that my congregation here does not understand the price required of those of us who claim allegiance to Jesus.
I heard Hamilton’s interview on NPR and was weeping and cursing by the end of it. Hamilton made my work even more difficult.Thank you, Jim for writing the truth. Thank you for holding us to our calling. It feels pretty lonely out here most of the time.
One of my reasons for writing the blog is to communicate with people like you to say you are not alone. None of us has clean hands when it comes to compromising to survive. I know I don’t, but when the stakes are of this nature, and the integrity of everything you believe in is in question, you have to take a stand. That place will always be lonely, but you are definitely not alone. What saved me from total compromise was finding that out through the Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C.. Thanks for writing.
Becky and Jan, I am blessed at the moment to be in a place where I am able to speak from the pulpit honestly, provoking a response, without the pressures that so often silence clergy. But simply having that pulpit freedom is not enough. I think the second step is vital — to not just speak the truth from the pulpit but to welcome, initiate, and engage the follow-up discussion about why that truth needed to be told in light of the Gospel that Sunday. There can be a smugness that follows preaching a sermon that “hits ’em between the eyes.” Most of us have at one time or another reveled in our own righteous right-ness. How do we hold fast to both callings – prophet and pastor? Pastoral care and prophetic preaching need to be hand in glove as I see it. When a church member is lost in addictions like chemical dependency or gambling or whatever, we can see and name what bold truth-telling and follow up care require. We wouldn’t just blast them, we’d intimately come along side, even when we might be reviled and rejected in response. We might not succeed, often we don’t in those cases, but we love enough to both tell the truth and to express care and respect, trying to stay in relationship. This is the challenge of the moment I see. National idolatry, like a gripping addiction, is a beast to battle. How do we not lose sight of the beloved child of God we would rescue from it?
I don’t think anyone who dares to be prophetic wants to slam anyone. We simply want to tell the best truth we know from the gospel and from history. That can be done in effective ways, but the critical factor is daring to do it. Even when it is done in the best possible way, some people will be upset by it. We are not responsible for people. We are responsible to them. The difference is significant.
Thank you, Jan. I have been thinking about the Confessing Church a lot these last few months. Blessings ~ Susan
Hi Susan. I think many of us have had the Confessing Church in our mind given the state of our nation. The key for me is what you said – to think about that. We may see the lessons of history differently, but the fact that we are trying to learn from the past is the unity and bond we share. Thanks.
Thank you, Jan. I am somewhat overwhelmed as this message of truth and challenge seems to be coming from all directions. As I prepared a message on Matt. 8:18-22 for a weekly community service today I was drawn back to Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship. As I reminded the small assembly that true Discipleship allows nothing to stand between us and Christ I was heartened to see the affirming nods. I was just planting seeds today. But I foresee some hard and painful times ahead. Pretty sure I never wanted to be chosen for such a time as this, but don’t recall being asked. I welcome the prophetic words of colleagues like you and Derek Penwell, and others as we strive to be the confessing church in this place and time.
I am so very grateful for the words you have written. What you said at the weekly communion service and how you describe the imperative of call on your life, I saw a bit of light in the darkness that seems to encompassing us. Thank you for your conviction, courage, and insight.
Speaking as a seminary professor of practical theology who teaches courses in our curricular tracks in Theology and Social Justice, and in Christian education – I must say that this piece is in the top tier of only several pieces (out of many I’ve read) that hasn’t disappointed me theologically. Too many pastors teeter on the brink of—or have already fallen into—being mere peace-mongers in the name of Christian love. As Paul Tillich insisted in his powerful classic book, “Love, Power, and Justice,” it’s not true that “love is all we need.” The baptismal liturgy of the United Methodist Church and other denominations directly calls Christians not only to exercise love, but also to use God-given power and freedom to resist evil and injustice in its manifold expressions. Tillich points out that we Christians are often too sentimental in the way we speak of, and exercise love for the other. In his teachings, the “strange work” of Christian love–whose essence and aim is to reconcile the estranged–requires that we identify, stand over against, and remove (through nonviolent means) those things which thwart human flourishing, and which run counter to God’s own inclusive, reconciling love. This means that, in no uncertain terms, we must collectively stand against many of the policies Mr. Trump has thus far proposed, or enacted. As you so well point out, this isn’t simply a matter of extreme partisan divides between Republicans and Christians who sit on the same church pew; this is on a different level altogether. The very character of Christianity, and the integrity of public Christian witness, and what it means authentically to follow Jesus Christ, is at stake.
This piece is superlative in so very many ways — as are the follow-up comments in the discussion thread. Thank you.
No, it is I who must thank you for pointing out Tillich’s wisdom regarding the work of love and how its power is undercut by the kind of sentimentalism we are hearing today in discussions about how Christians should respond to Trump and his supporters. Your students are fortunate to have you. I only hope you are also having many opportunities to teach and preach in congregations all around the country. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
William Willimon said, “I pray that as a pastor I make people mad about the right things.”
Amen to that!
[…] Why I Believe Ministers Like Adam Hamilton Are Wrong Rev. Jan Linn, Feb 8, 2017 […]
We just recently moved and found a church family, however we were dismayed to see what has been going on within the UMC. Upon exploration, we learned that one of UMC’s bishops, Karen Oliveto, is a married lesbian. I personally could care less as to what goes on between consenting adults, however having a sinner in the clergy is discerning. It’s against God’s law (Romans). Further this woman is a heretic, saying that Jesus had bigotries & prejudices. Now we’re in Lenten studies using Adam Hamilton’s book, The Walk. Upon researching him, I’m very unsettled that he believes he can change Scripture. Even during our study our pastor said we could basically ignore Romans. When Pastors think that they can change the Bible, then we are no longer following God, we are in fact destroying the church.
Finally, many of you dislike President Trump, saying he is promoting idolatry. I disagree as he has been one of the recent Presidents who is trying to bring us back to God.
Chris, you speak as if you can read the Bible and not interpret it. You cannot, I cannot, and no one can because we interpret everything we see, hear, read, and experience. I don’t advocate ignoring any part of it, but I do believe in interpreting everything in it in both its historical context and in ours. That is how it keeps being life-giving. I hope you can understand that. That said, I am saddened and dismayed that you would think a man who puts children in cages, separates babies and mothers, tells one lie after another, calls people names, uses profanity like most of us use ordinary words, has cheated everyone with whom he has done business all his life, slept with a porn star while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to his son is a man who is trying to bring us back to God. That may be the most profane statement I have read in years,. I consider such a statement to take God’s name in vain, and one I cannot believe you actually said.
I think you are very misinformed about President Trump esp as it relates to the children in cages. Are you aware of the number of children put in cages by Obama? Much, much more than Pres Trump. He also deported many more. Were you this vehement in 2013 when this was occurring under Obama?
What would you say to the countless children who have been raped and killed on their journey to our country? What would you say to the families, loved ones of the the thousands of Americans who have been murdered and raped by these illegals who trespass into our country?
The one big lie that I remember is Obama saying, ‘If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.’ Oh let’s not forget the 4 men murdered in Benghazi, not due to the lie about some silly video they told us, but instead a cover up of their gun running operation.
I would address all the other vague misinformation that you present, but it would be best for you to learn the truth for yourself. To do that, the next time the talking heads give you their interpretation of one of Pres Trump’s speeches, take notes then listen to his speech. Do this several times, then hopefully you’ll realize that you’ve been duped. I’ve been there, done that. It’s up to you to open your eyes. Further David was not a saint when God called him, neither is President Trump.
So by interpreting what one reads in the Bible, one is permitted to change it’s meaning? That is exactly what Adam Hamilton & Karen Ovelito are doing. You obviously think that’s ok. I don’t . If one truly is called by God to lead His people, they will adhere to His ways & not their interpretation. Roman’ s is very, very clear about the sin of gays and lesbians.
Hamilton is a borderline heretic & Ovelito is an absolute heretic. Finally, Jesus was perfect and God was pleased with Him; Jesus had no prejudices or bigotry.
I will respond to you only once more. You have bought the Trump/Fix News propaganda re the Obama policy toward immigrant children, and thus, totally misinformed. The Obama containment was for children whose parents were arrested waiting a court hearing, or children suspected of being brought in by drug dealers. The children could be kept on for 72 hours. There was no separation of mothers and babies or children. The fact that you do not know this renders everything else you say irrelevant because you have not bothered to do any research on the facts. Obama is not the issue, but Trump keeps making it him and you have bought into it. Too bad you cannot think for yourself. Your lack of biblical knowledge reflects the same kind of naive assumptions. You keep insisting your understand is the only understanding. Common sense alone should tell you that is not only wrong, but woefully uninformed by the scholarship of wonderful Christians who read Greek and Hebrew the way you read English. I used to teach my students that you cannot take out of a person’s mind with reason what reason didn’t put into it in the first place. You draw conclusions that fit that category and you apparently don’t even realize it. Donald Trump is the head of a small crime family and you cannot make him anything else by disparaging Brack Obama who was and is a truly good man. Enough said.
I assume when you say Fix news, you mean Fox News? I haven’t had cable for 8 years so your assumption is incorrect. As far as ‘propaganda’, again incorrect. In 2013 there were 72,410 parents separated from US born kids. Of those 10,700 had no criminal conviction. In addition, from left leaning Colorlines, there were 200,00 parents removed from 7/1/2012-9/31/2012. (https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5531552 Deportation Separated Thousands of US born children from Parents in 2013 Huffpost) This info is from left leaning organizations.
I never stated my Biblical understanding was the only understanding, but now that you’ve made that accusation, let me state that there are many who agree with me. In fact, my perception has eons of thought behind it from wonderful Christians as well. Concerning my reason or as you state my lack of reason so as to justify your perception, let me state that personal attacks only show ones pettiness, they never justify an argument.
Concerning Obama being a good man, we hardly know much about him personally as he sealed all of his records. Further I find it odd that no one knew him from his college years, even those who attended Colombia when he presumably attended. However, I can say I did see his policies, & I found them deplorable.
I do hope you find time for some stillness in your soul so you can listen to the Holy Spirit
Correction* 7/1/2010, not 7/1/2012
Your reference to the HuffPost article in comparing Obama’s policy with Trump’s parental/child separation policy is comparing apples and oranges. Obama was dealing with people in the country illegally as that article makes absolutely clear. We can debate the efficacy of what he was doing, but family separation was not a focus of it. Trump’s policy of intentional separation was, something you ignore. But Trump verses Obama was not the point in the first place. Your claim that Trump is trying to lead this country back to God while having such an inhumane policy was. I never said Obama was trying to do that so leave him out of it. That said, your last paragraph is an example of dog-whistle racism. It even hints of the racist belief that he is not an American citizen. Say anything else similar to that and I will not publish anything else you say.
My guess is, you are a Russian bot. If not, you prove the wisdom of Mark Twain when he said it is better to appear ignorant than to speak up and remove all doubt. I have given you a forum for enough of your nonsense. Don’t bother to write again because it will be trashed.
“Over 4K Americans have been murdered and/or raped by illegals…” Citation needed. “he is trying to bring us back to God… Examples needed. I think you are trapped in a right wing, fear-based, info bubble, Chris Dumal.
Thanks for the added effort, Rollie, but I think this is a ruse. It is hard for me to believe someone could be as intentionally ignorant as this guy is. When someone says Trump is leading the nation back to God, or puts the word “prayer” and “Trump” in the same sentence, it is difficult to believe the writer is a real person. If he is, it is a waste of time to respond, a mistake I won’t make again.
I get it and agree with ignoring the oaf. Sometimes I can’t help myself and find myself responding.
I’m glad you did. The support felt good.
Jay, Not sure why my March 7,2020 9:40PM response to your March 7, 2020, 7.06 PM post is not posted here, but obviously RolieB did have a question about one of my comments. Thus for the sake of clarity, I am reposting it in its entirety:
As your concern was the separation of children from their parents, it is indeed appropriate. Separation regardless of reason is separation nonetheless.
Further we didn’t vote for President Trump to protect those who invade our country, we voted for him to protect Americans via the Constitution. I suggest that you re-read it. Over 4K Americans have been murdered and/or raped by illegals, again one of his priorities is to protect Americans. Again via the Constitution. You call him inhumane, yet I find dragging children across a harsh, rugged desert using criminals who rape and murder outrageous and more inhumane. Yes he is trying to bring us back to God by bringing prayer back into theWhite House & our schools.
Finally, there is nothing racist about stating facts about Obama. You stated that he was a good man to which I responded there’s little personally known about him even by those who attended Columbia while he was in attendance. I suggest that you research Wayne Allen Root’s comments concerning Obama’s time at Columbia. Facts are pesky little things and have nothing to do with the color of one’s skin, it’s the content of one’s character which is held in high esteem. Screaming racist when there is none shows how foolish you are.
Be still and listen to the Holy Spirit.
Now to address RollieB’s March 7, 2020, 10 PM post & Jay’s 10:05 post:
Americans murdered by illegals:
https://www.ojjpac.org/memorial.asp
https://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration/examples-serious-crimes-illegal-aliens
Also search on Twitter using #illegals #murdered #raped for pictures of the victims
Do a search on this info
As for President Trump leading us back to God:
On Twitter:
@pastormarkburns
@alvediaCKing MLK’s niece
@EWJacksonSr
@Franklin_Graham BTW his father, Rev Billie Graham voted for President Trump
On Twitter use #Trump #Pastor
Also Jay, no ruse
To RollieB’s 10:13 PM post:
Be still and listen to the Holy Spirit
I approved your restatement in order to explain why I deleted the first one, First of all, this is my blog, not your forum for Trumpian lies that you want to pretend are true. Second, I do not tolerate any racism. You reference Wayne Allen Root is who is a hack right-wing radio host, Trump ally, and racist just as Trump is. If you want to argue about what I write, stick to the subject and provide reliable evidence for your argument. The trouble with Trump, Fix News (because they “fix” the new, not report it), and Trumpers is that facts don’t ever seem to matter (latest example – Kellyanne Conway stating on television that the coronavirus was “contained” when the Surgeon General was at the same time saying that containment was no longer possible. I don’t allow anyone to use my blog for making points that are essentially propaganda. Follow these guidelines and what you write will be published. And, yes, I am the one who gets to decide if you have or not because it’s my blog.
Jay,
No problem. I have to admit tho that you have to be one of the most mean-spirited, name-calling, ‘Christian’ I have ever run across. Tomorrow I will have my Bible Study group pray for you. May God hear our prayers.
BTW, I’m a female with a professional degree, I support facts not propaganda and despise racism. I believe in truth & law and order.
Chris, your group’s prayers on my behalf might work better if you give them my right name. It’s “Jan,” not “Jay.” Thanks.