This was a question asked of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican and one of the
frontrunners for the Presidential nomination in 2016. Oddly enough, Walker’s
answer was to say, “I don’t know.” I say his answer was odd because it has been
used to create some political theater by his opponents. Media outlets like the LA Times have expressed righteous indignation at the
governor’s unwillingness to call the President a Christian without
qualification. Given the propensity of many in media to be dismissive of
religious faith, this is rather ironic. As David Burge put it on Twitter, “Media:
How dare Scott Walker doubt Barack Obama's faith in Scott Walker's ridiculous
invisible sky beard man.” This reaction was fairly predictable, so it is
surprising that Walker answered as he did. One would expect a politician to
take the safer road and say something like, “I do not question the President’s
faith. The problem is his ideas on governing.”
I have to give Walker
credit, though, for answering honestly and shedding light on the misconceptions
of Christianity current in secular culture. There is a world of difference
between identifying as a Christian and being one. My hope today is to point out
some of those differences in an effort to clear up the confusion and help
people understand what it really means to belong to the church.
What is the Church?
I suppose that brings us
to the first area of confusion, then. What is the “church?” In English, that
word derives from old German sources, which in turn translated the Greek word ecclesia. An ecclesia was, very simply, an “assembly.” Early Christians first
described themselves this way because they were those gathered around Jesus
Christ. A church, then, is not really a building or a location. It is the
people. Furthermore, Christians have always marked a difference between the
local and universal church. The former is, obviously, the local assembly. The
latter is all those who belong to Christ. And this is the more important
element. Attending services or placing membership in a local congregation does
not automatically mean that a person belongs to the universal church. It is a
cliché, but nonetheless true that sitting in your garage does not make you a
car. Or look at it another way. A person born in another country can come and
live here, benefiting greatly from all the advantages of living in this nation.
But no number of years or experiences can make him an American until he goes
through the process of gaining citizenship. Christianity has a naturalization
process. It is not a matter of mere residency.
Carry this idea a bit
farther. In most countries, citizenship is a birthright. You are born into it.
Christianity, however, is comprised completely of immigrants. No one comes into
this world a Christian. It is not something you get as a result of your parents
being a member of a local church. Everyone who wants to join, has to go through
the naturalization process.
The Importance of Faith
That word “want” is the
key to this. What makes a Christian a Christian is the assent of the soul. You
cannot gain grace any other way than by choosing it. Every individual soul must
decide, for him or herself, whether the Gospel has merit. Do you believe you
are a sinner, that you have acted selfishly rather than loving God and those
around you? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but that He was born
as a human being to live a perfect life and then die unjustly as the sacrifice
for those sins? Do you believe that He rose from the grave three days later,
and ascended into heaven? If you believe these things, have you asked
forgiveness of your sins through Christ and received the presence of the Holy
Spirit, who is the guarantee of your eternal life? To answer “yes” to these questions
is to be a Christian. To answer “no” to any of them, in my opinion, is not to be
a Christian. Tradition, upbringing, actions, and words do not determine it.
Faith alone does that. You have to want Christ because you know you need Him.
The word “Christian” has
become so overused that it might be necessary to consider using another term
for those who have chosen to belong to Jesus. It is a word that is as old as
the universal church, and it has also been misused, but it at least has more
sanctity granted to it by secular culture. That, in fact, is the word: “saint.”
This word is used over and over again in the New Testament, in the salutation
and the closing of just about every letter, and in the body of a few of them
for good measure. In Catholicism, it became a very specialized term applied to
those who had done some special good for the church. Their good works, along
with requirements for a few miracles and incorruptibility, were seen as proof
that they had been acceptable to God. However, in the Scriptures themselves,
the saints were all those who belonged to the church, not just the chosen few.
When something is sanctified, that does not mean it is especially good.
Actually, when you look at the Greek used to write the New Testament, you find
out that the word derives from a concept of filthiness. Something mean, normal,
dirty, profane, worthless is taken and set apart for service to God. And that
is precisely what it means to be a true Christian. Christians are people who
know how bad they are, but that God wants to turn them into something new. That
is true sainthood, and we ought to reclaim the idea in order to show that
Christianity is more than just a social club.
This is also, finally,
why Walker could say he does not know if Obama is a Christian. It is the same
reason why I do not know if Walker is a Christian. Sainthood is an immensely
personal matter. There are times when true believers are unsure about their own
salvation. Certainly, we can never be sure about someone else’s. The choice to
follow Jesus goes right to the root of the soul. Since we cannot see into
anyone’s heart, we cannot know whether they truly hold the faith they proclaim.
But “God, who knows the heart” (Acts 15:8) does see into the soul, and does
know who has truly accepted His Son, and who has not. Ultimately, we must rely
on the Lord to disclose the truth about every other person, and we are
justified in claiming ignorance about the state of anyone else’s eternity.
Checking the Fruit
Ultimately. Yes,
ultimately. But the uncertainty of living in that ignorance would make it
impossible to worship or commune with anyone. We must frequently make our best
guess, and the Bible teaches us how. There are certain signs in the life of the
believer, and while it is conceivable that they could be insincere, the likelihood
is so small that we can use them make emphatic statements about who is a true
member of the assembly of the saints. In Matthew 7:16-20, Jesus said, “You will
know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from
thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad
fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Knowing how to recognize good
fruit is knowing how to recognize a Christian.
The first and greatest of
these signs is love. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus explains that the purpose of
life is to “‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the
second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” But it is difficult to love
God and others as the Bible explains we ought. Love is not a feeling. It is a
decision to sacrifice. It means putting others ahead of ourselves. That is what
Jesus did (see Philippians 2:3-5). This type of love runs very counter to our
normal desires. The first thought is almost always for the self. What sets a
Christian apart is resisting this selfish urge and giving something up for the
sake of another, even a stranger. If someone claims to be a Christian but never
displays an attitude of love, then the truth of his claim is certainly open to
question (see 1 John 4:20). This is, after all, the criterion Jesus gives for
knowing who belongs to Him. As He said in John 13:35, “By this all will know
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What follows next from
love is obedience. What God requires from us, He does so for our good. We are
to pursue a life of righteousness. Living this way is not supposed to be an
obligation, though. Obeying God is not about avoiding punishment for
Christians. Punishment has already been avoided. Christ made that possible on
the cross. Obedience for us, therefore, is about gratitude rather than fear.
Obedience is love. 1 John 4:19 says “We love Him because He first loved us.” We
do what God wants because we love Him for saving us rather than leaving us to
the destruction our willfulness earned.
Love and obedience are
clear signs that back up a claim to be a Christian, and only Christians can do
them in the completely biblical way. But charity and morality are also
universal goods which can be practiced, at least generally, by anyone. One
final sign of true faith is proclamation. A saint fulfills the Great Commission
of Matthew 28:19, 20 by going out and proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, and
that salvation is only available through Him. This means not just doing it when
it is comfortable, but also when it results in persecution. Jesus explains in
Matthew 10:27-33, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and
what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper
coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you
are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before
men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever
denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
A saint has the willingness to make Christ known even when it results in
persecution, because faithfulness to the Lord is more valuable even than
temporal safety. They have a faith substantive enough to result in their
speaking out. As an example, you can look to this
article from Ana Marie Cox. She and I would disagree on many issues, and
again, I cannot know her heart. But this is the sort of brave statement that
would lead me to believe her rather than doubt her.
Not Leaping to Conclusions
So then, is Barack Obama
a Christian according to these criteria? Since I have explained them, it should
be clear that I can answer no differently than Scott Walker did. I do not know
the President personally. All I know of him is what I hear in the news, and it
all has to do with his position as a government official. That is not enough to
make a judgment. Better to refrain than to leap to a conclusion. The little
information I have does not even leave me with a clear picture. I will say, I
do not like what I see. But how can I know with absolute certainty? How can I
know of anyone? What I do know is, it is never enough for anyone to just say
they are a Christian. People can say whatever they want. It is what they do
that proves their nature.
That is my point in
writing today. Barack Obama’s faith is not the question. The question is why
people in the secular world are so quick to criticize Christians for being slow
to judge. They seem to think it means we deny someone’s goodness. In doing so,
they prove their ignorance. It is possible to do good, whether you are a
Christian or not. True righteousness, however, is something different. The good
we do never outweighs the bad. Only the blood of Christ tips the scales.
Christians do not want to keep their enemies out of heaven, and doubting those
whose faith is questionable is not a way of excluding them. We want to make
sure they know what it really takes to get in.
What we believe matters
to us. Jesus tells us to be on the lookout for those who claim to belong, but
do not (Matthew 7:15). He even tells us to beware of ourselves, to make sure we
are following Him in truth, not just in word (Matthew 7:21-23). We have a responsibility
to do more than merely accept claims at face value. And most importantly, if we
notice someone whose life is not in keeping with their what they say they are,
we are supposed to help them find the right road. If Barack Obama is a
Christian, good. If not, I hope someone will point out to him how claiming to
be does not make it so. And I hope the same thing for everyone else who relies
on self-identification rather than faith in Jesus Christ.
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