US Christians are faced with a number of challenges in the twenty-first century, particularly in the next decade. These challenges come not only from outside the Church but also from within it. By the Church I am referring to all the denominations, networks, and local churches that comprise the face of Christianity in the United States. These ecclesial entities may differ in their beliefs and values but they are collectively seen as representing Christianity by Americans who do not identify themselves as Christians and may also be so regarded by some Americans who do identify themselves as Christians. Other Americans who identify as Christians may see only their denomination, their particular wing of their denomination, or their local church as representing genuine Christianity.
One challenge will be the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of variants of the virus have been identified in the United States and around the world. Some variants are more infectious than others and do not respond to what have become standard treatment protocols for the virus. What was once believed about young people experiencing only mild cases of the virus when they are infected is no longer true. However, many young people are not up-to-date on the latest information about the virus. They still believe that the virus does not present a health threat to them.
The divide over how the seriousness of the pandemic and the need for transmission reduction measures such as face masks, social distancing, handwashing, gathering size limits, and the like has been politicized and is showing no signs of going away. According to CDC models Americans who are infected with the virus but who are asymptomatic, showing no symptoms of infection, account for more than half of the infections. Based upon these models the CDC recommends that Americans observe recommended transmission reduction measures.
Researchers have found that the virus is present in the wastewater of communities several days before reports of positive cases of the virus in the community. People infected with the virus shed virus particles in their urine and feces as well as exhale them in droplets and as aerosol particles.
The vaccine rollout in the United States is proving slower and not as well organized as might be. Almost one third of Americans who were polled said that they would not be vaccinated. A lot of false and inaccurate information regarding the vaccines is circulating on the internet.
The infection rate in a number of states continues to rise. Kentucky has reached a 12% infection rate. My own county, while it is a rural county, was one of the first counties in the region to be classified a "red-zone" county with a high infection rate. On Thursday the county health department reported 66 new cases, which set a new single day record. When the students at the local university return from winter break the daily new case count is likely to go up. The virus is not going to disappear in the foreseeable future.
Some denominations, networks, and local churches are more willing to take risks than others. A number of local churches have been caught up in the divide over the seriousness of the pandemic. I have observed that these churches tend to fall in one or more of three categories: churches that lack sound denominational guidance; churches that are charismatic or Pentecostal in their theology, that practice faith-healing, and may preach the prosperity gospel; and churches that have been strongly influenced by the pandemic denialism promoted and encouraged by President Trump.
The second factor is the political climate. As the recent presidential election has shown, Americans are deeply divided in their political opinions. This divide not only affects congregations but also denominational leaders and clergy. I have visited the Facebook walls of a number of denominational leaders and clergy and was greatly disappointed by the hatred and other un-Christian attitudes these individuals displayed and the language that they used in vilifying those with whom they disagreed. The sentiments expressed fell far short of the teachings of our Lord and were unbecoming of a man of God. In the Anglican Ordinal those who would become pastors of our Lord’s flock are charged to fashion their lives “after the Rule and Doctrine of Christ” that they” may be wholesome and godly examples and patterns for the people to follow.” These individuals appear to have forgotten that charge, presuming that they at one time took it to heart.
In the light of the events of this past Wednesday in which President Trump incited a large gathering of his supporters to storm the US Capitol and disrupt the certification of the election of the candidate to whom he lost, having told that gathering that he would walk with them to the US Capitol but subsequently drove off in an armored SUV and showed his true character, it is tempting to lay the blame for the condition of their hearts at his feet.
Some denominations, networks, and local churches are more willing to take risks than others. A number of local churches have been caught up in the divide over the seriousness of the pandemic. I have observed that these churches tend to fall in one or more of three categories: churches that lack sound denominational guidance; churches that are charismatic or Pentecostal in their theology, that practice faith-healing, and may preach the prosperity gospel; and churches that have been strongly influenced by the pandemic denialism promoted and encouraged by President Trump.
The second factor is the political climate. As the recent presidential election has shown, Americans are deeply divided in their political opinions. This divide not only affects congregations but also denominational leaders and clergy. I have visited the Facebook walls of a number of denominational leaders and clergy and was greatly disappointed by the hatred and other un-Christian attitudes these individuals displayed and the language that they used in vilifying those with whom they disagreed. The sentiments expressed fell far short of the teachings of our Lord and were unbecoming of a man of God. In the Anglican Ordinal those who would become pastors of our Lord’s flock are charged to fashion their lives “after the Rule and Doctrine of Christ” that they” may be wholesome and godly examples and patterns for the people to follow.” These individuals appear to have forgotten that charge, presuming that they at one time took it to heart.
In the light of the events of this past Wednesday in which President Trump incited a large gathering of his supporters to storm the US Capitol and disrupt the certification of the election of the candidate to whom he lost, having told that gathering that he would walk with them to the US Capitol but subsequently drove off in an armored SUV and showed his true character, it is tempting to lay the blame for the condition of their hearts at his feet.
Trump’s actions reminded me of the office troublemaker who stirs up ill-feeling and conflict between his coworkers and then sits back and watches them quarrel with each other. The late psychiatrist Eric Berne identified such transactions as a psychological game which he labeled “Let You and Him Fight.” The purpose of this psychological game was to prove to the instigator of the ill-feeling and conflict that other people are stupid and easy to embroil in needless squabbles. This enables the instigator to feel superior to them.
In operating his businesses, President Trump has a history of setting his employees against each other and stirring up rivalries between them and competition for his attention. He claims that this chaotic management style gets the results which he desires. One is prompted to wonder what kind of results is he seeking
President Trump has been reported to take a dim view of his followers, regarding them as extremely gullible and easily fooled and manipulated.
President Trump has been poisoning the minds of Americans with his lies and stoking division in the United States long before he was elected its president. The dignity and character of the office to which he was elected did nothing to temper his lying and divisiveness.
President Trump has been poisoning the minds of Americans with his lies and stoking division in the United States long before he was elected its president. The dignity and character of the office to which he was elected did nothing to temper his lying and divisiveness.
Lies and division like noxious weeds, however, need fertile soil in which they can take root and grow. God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah tell us that the human heart is deceitful beyond measure. Our Lord tells us that evil thoughts, words, and deeds come from an evil heart. The apostle Paul tells us that only Lord alone is without sin. The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion remind us that even the regenerate, those who the Holy Spirit has quickened to life, are inclined to sin. If the Holy Spirit indwells the individuals whose Facebook walls that I visited, the condition of their hearts must sorely grieve the Holy Spirit. In what they are saying, what they are doing, and what they are encouraging others to do may be quenching the Holy Spirit in them.
The political climate in the United States is harming the Church. It is diverting Christians’ attention away from what is their central task—making disciples of all people groups. Instead of proclaiming the gospel, Christians are substituting political messages. These political messages may be cloaked in religious language but they are nonetheless political messages. Politics is masquerading as faith. Those who identify themselves as Christians are identified in the public mind with a political ideology, political party and/or political figure. They themselves may make that identification. Christianity and Christians are decreasingly identified with our Lord, the gospel, and our Lord’s teachings and example.
This leads us to the third challenge that faces the Church in the twenty-first century—Christians themselves. The Church has a serious public image problem and this problem can be traced to those who identify themselves a Christians. For many Americans and for many Americans who identify themselves as Christians, being a Christian amounts to going to church and holding a particular set of political opinions. It may included unreserved loyalty to a specific political figure and blind faith in him. Jesus, his suffering and death for the sins of the world, his teachings, and his example have been squeezed out of the picture.
Our Lord, however, calls us to a life of discipleship. Americans who do not identify themselves as Christians and who have a passing acquaintance with Jesus’ teaching view us as hypocrites and rightly so. We are not framing our lives around what Jesus taught and the example he set. We are bowing down and worshiping idols of our own making or choosing like the rest of the world. We are not treating Jesus’ words as God’s words. We are burning incense at the altar of Caesar while deceiving ourselves into believing that we are following Jesus. To the Romans Caesar, the Roman Emperor was a god. Caesar and the Roman state were synonymous. Burning incense at his altar was not only an act of worship but also an expression of loyalty to Caesar and the Roman Empire. In the Roman mind Caesar and the Empire were equated. It is not unlike the view that President Trump has of himself and the view that encourages his supporters to adopt.
The political climate in the United States is harming the Church. It is diverting Christians’ attention away from what is their central task—making disciples of all people groups. Instead of proclaiming the gospel, Christians are substituting political messages. These political messages may be cloaked in religious language but they are nonetheless political messages. Politics is masquerading as faith. Those who identify themselves as Christians are identified in the public mind with a political ideology, political party and/or political figure. They themselves may make that identification. Christianity and Christians are decreasingly identified with our Lord, the gospel, and our Lord’s teachings and example.
This leads us to the third challenge that faces the Church in the twenty-first century—Christians themselves. The Church has a serious public image problem and this problem can be traced to those who identify themselves a Christians. For many Americans and for many Americans who identify themselves as Christians, being a Christian amounts to going to church and holding a particular set of political opinions. It may included unreserved loyalty to a specific political figure and blind faith in him. Jesus, his suffering and death for the sins of the world, his teachings, and his example have been squeezed out of the picture.
Our Lord, however, calls us to a life of discipleship. Americans who do not identify themselves as Christians and who have a passing acquaintance with Jesus’ teaching view us as hypocrites and rightly so. We are not framing our lives around what Jesus taught and the example he set. We are bowing down and worshiping idols of our own making or choosing like the rest of the world. We are not treating Jesus’ words as God’s words. We are burning incense at the altar of Caesar while deceiving ourselves into believing that we are following Jesus. To the Romans Caesar, the Roman Emperor was a god. Caesar and the Roman state were synonymous. Burning incense at his altar was not only an act of worship but also an expression of loyalty to Caesar and the Roman Empire. In the Roman mind Caesar and the Empire were equated. It is not unlike the view that President Trump has of himself and the view that encourages his supporters to adopt.
The Emperor Caligula, like President Trump, was consumed with his own self-importance. He, like the President, was impulsive and unpredictable. At the least provocation, real or imagined, he would turn on his most loyal retainers. He forbad the populace of Rome to look upon his splendor and to avert their eyes or hide their faces when he passed in the streets of Rome. Those who disobeyed his edict suffered a gruesome death.
A true disciple of Jesus has only one loyalty and that loyalty is to Jesus himself as Savior and Lord. If we are loyal to our family, it is out of loyalty to our Lord. If we are loyal to our fellow Christians, it is also out of loyalty to him.
These are the three challenges that face US Christians in 2021. They are challenges that we are likely to face for the remainder of the decade and beyond. They are a test of our faithfulness to our Lord, to his gospel, to his teachings, and to his example. They are challenges that we can meet with the help of God’s grace. Let us pray that God will gift us with such an abundance of his grace that there will be no doubt where our true loyalty lies.
These are the three challenges that face US Christians in 2021. They are challenges that we are likely to face for the remainder of the decade and beyond. They are a test of our faithfulness to our Lord, to his gospel, to his teachings, and to his example. They are challenges that we can meet with the help of God’s grace. Let us pray that God will gift us with such an abundance of his grace that there will be no doubt where our true loyalty lies.
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