Idolatry and the Religious Right

Let me offer up a different narrative from what you might be hearing from the Religious Right.

Allow me to reference Jeremiah 37:1-2 “ Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.”

The Old Testament is full of passages about the idolatry, the lack of justice, and the absence of compassion of Israel, and finally Judah. References are made to treaties with Egypt instead of trusting in God.

What makes this passage significant for consideration is that beginning in the late 1970s a movement began by the religious Right to turn the morals of the United States back to a “God fearing” nation which they taught we were before that time. Their primary focus was on the social evils of homosexuality, abortion, and pornography. This war raged with little success until 2015 when evangelical religious leaders made a deal with the Trump candidacy for favorable appointment of conservative Justices to the Supreme Court, and more conservative judges on the federal benches, and support for social reforms in exchange for their support which they freely gave and continue to give.

The problem is multifaceted: The special relationship America is supposed to enjoy with God is a myth not supported by Scripture. It is a rewriting of American history. In the Scripture, God has made a covenant with two peoples: Israel or the family of Abraham, and the new Israel, the church of the Living Christ. There is no Biblical evidence for a special relationship between God and America. Second, the focus on the culture(the cultural wars) shifts attention away from the struggling Bride of Christ specifically, the Church in America. In counseling we call this “the identified patient” which means the family has pushed forward someone as having problems to mask the real problems often in the marriage relationship. That is what the religious right has done. They have set a standard which the Church in America has chosen not to observe. Divorce, abortions, sexual brokenness are right in the midst of the church in today's America. Yet, we shift the focus to a culture which is largely lost expecting the lost to be more righteous than our own people.

For me, some of the most enduring words of Scripture in the Old Testament follow Solomon's dedication of the Temple. You might recognize a part of the passage, but I will reproduce the context as well: 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace,

 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This is an enduring Word from God that really never goes out of date. However, it has often misapplied. This is both an indictment of the people of God and the way back from disobedience and judgment.

So here is another narrative. Suppose God is judging the church in America for their idolatry and immorality. Suppose He is judging the false prophets who have embraced another instead of the Living God. Suppose instead of praying and calling out to God, religious leaders have motivated their church members to turn out the vote in order to save “Christian America.” Suppose we have come to a critical point in our national life and now we are reaping the whirlwind. An incompetent president, wild fires in the West, hurricanes on the coast, COVID-19 moving through the nation, joblessness impacting a significant part of the nation, race riots around the country, an economy in free fall. And what are our religious leaders doing? Preaching about how America needs to come to God. The reality is much simpler—even Biblical.

The answer is hiding in plain sight. “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The forgotten truth is not that America is a Christian nation, but that God has given America a vibrant church which when it grows cold and indifferent, God's people have called out to Him, and He has answered with revival and spiritual awakening which always, without exception permeates the culture. If the American culture is in crisis, it is because the American church is in crisis. That is Biblical.

Everything else is opinion and speculation.

Wash your hands, wear your mask for others, mind the gap, and be kind.