Ye Cannot Serve Two Masters

The Conflict Between the Religious Right and the Teachings of Jesus

Many on the religious right believe the Republican Party is God’s party, and the Democratic Party represents the agenda of Beelzebub and his earthly minions. How is it that the followers of Jesus, can in His name, stand in opposition of so many of the tenets He commanded His disciples to obey?

Republican politics has usurped much of the Christian church. The question today is this. Who will win the war for the heart and soul of the church, the conservative republican rightwing sect, or those who want to follow the teachings of Jesus?

A recent article by Adelle Banks, found on the web at beliefnet.com, reports that two dozen conservative Christian organizations are uniting to bring pressure to bear on politics through a new group called Freedom Federation. They oppose abortion, gay rights, and pornography while supporting religious freedom, smaller government, and the right to own firearms (Banks 2009).

Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy and research for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, wrote in the Baptist Press on July 10, of his group’s opposition to the Affordable Health Choices Act, simply because it contains a public option, in other words government health care. Duke’s fear is that the public option is an “immediate and long-term threat to pro-life values”. Whether or not we approve of abortion, it is the law of the land, and not likely to change anytime soon. Furthermore, a study published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior documented that young women who have attended religious schools have abortions at a higher rate than their public school counter parts (Adamczyk, 2009). Duke and his cohorts at the Southern Baptist Convention might do better to address their concerns to their followers before trying to impose their belief system on the rest of America.

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that many evangelicals do not know or simply do not understand the ethics of Jesus. Erin Roach, writing for the Baptist Press on June 1, reported that many professing Christians suffer from spiritual immaturity. Roach cites a Barna Group survey that detailed some interesting facts about many evangelicals. Barna reported that most Christians believe following the doctrines of the Bible indicates spiritual maturity, but when asked to identify specifically what that meant they were unable to articulate their position. Additionally, when Barna asked 600 pastors participating in the study to list biblical references to spiritual maturity, only two percent, that is 12 out of 600, cited Galatians 5:22, which cites love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, as fruits of the spirit.

The Associated Press reported last month that the Hartford Institute for Religion Research surveyed approximately 25,000 people who attend “megachurches”, those Protestant churches whose weekly attendance is 2,000 or more. The report found that ninety-eight percent of those polled considered themselves committed followers of Jesus. Sixty-two percent purported to experiencing significant spiritual growth within the past year. Yet, nearly forty-five percent never volunteer to help their fellow humans, and as many as thirty-two percent give no money towards the needs of the ministry.

A rereading of the Gospels might be in order for the evangelical right, an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus warns, “No servant can serve two masters; for he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon” (Luke 16:13 NKJV). The religious right should stop serving the mammon of political power, and get back to the Gospel commands of feeding the poor, clothing the naked, comforting the sick, taking in the stranger, and visiting the prisoner, else on the great day of judgment they may hear the haunting words of Jesus, “I tell you I do not know you, …. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27 NKJV).

For those who say America cannot afford to practice a social gospel, and take care of “the least of these” with dignity and respect, I remind them again of the words of Jesus, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12: 48 NKJV). For those who say we are a Christian nation, it is time to put that belief into action.