I remember during the heated cultural debate over gay marriage, one of the most common insults directed at Christians who opposed judicial tampering with the institution of family went something like this: "Why are gay marriage and abortion all you ever talk about?"
Coming from the very people who spent years building, growing, and unleashing a cultural revolution to remake society's beliefs on those two topics, such an accusation was pretty rich. It was also a staggeringly silly proposition.
Whenever I would confront someone recklessly repeating it, I would challenge that person to select a church at random the following Sunday, walk in for their morning worship service, and then report back whether they heard a single word spoken about either abortion or homosexuality.
Given that the only place these secular activists encountered Christians was the arena of public policy, they had created a false characterization of believers singularly consumed with those issues. On any given Sunday, Christ-followers were far more likely to be discussing the fruit of the Spirit, or celebrating the resurrection of the Savior, than they were to be hammering on the gays.
But while this particular distortion of Christian identity has waned in recent years, there is currently an equally concerning tendency within both mainstream and social media to highlight extreme examples of false teaching, conspiracy mongering, or political posturing from certain pulpits and declare it a representation of the state of the Church in America.
For instance, outrage ensued this last week when a video clip surfaced of a crowd breaking out in a chant of "Let's Go, Brandon" inside John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in Texas
A second video then emerged, indicating it was no spontaneous chant, but rather one directed from the stage.
Cornerstone Church has since defended itself, saying that the video was not from a worship service, but from an outside organization that used their facility, and therefore they can't be held responsible for what other people do and say.
Personally, I find that defense a bit weak and lacking, but am content to leave it here: Given that the phrase is a sanitized cover for the vulgar chant of "F*** Joe Biden," it's regrettable that anyone who follows Jesus would say it freely and publicly, whether in a worship service or otherwise.
But it's equally regrettable that anyone with a functioning brain and elementary understanding of Christian orthodoxy would regard John Hagee's Cornerstone Church as a reasonable representation of what Christians actually believe.
Among other things, Hagee has claimed in written and spoken word that, "Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah," and that, "Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah." The televangelist has profited immensely by making false prophecies about the antichrist being the head of the European Union, as well as the coming apocalypse and end of the world. None of those things have occurred, obviously, rendering Hagee the very definition of a "false prophet."
So, by all means, criticize and condemn Cornerstone Church for allowing a childish, mean-spirited, anti-Christian chant to break out within a room they have supposedly consecrated for the purpose of praising God. But don't misrepresent the whole of American Christendom by asserting that this is indicative of what is happening everywhere.
Ditto that for the antics of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who made waves recently by exhorting Christians to demand a national church – an idea our Founding Fathers thoroughly and unambiguously rejected.
As with Hagee, this high-profile figure may be invoking Christian language, but this is not the orthodox, biblical expression of the faith exercised by thousands of Americans. Any serious analysis of Flynn's own words reveals what he's peddling is cultish, not Christian:
Is it offensive to hear "Let's Go Brandon" chanted within the walls of a church building? Yep. Just like it was equally offensive to hear "God d*** America" shouted from the pulpit of Jeremiah Wright at Barack Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ. Both are political slurs meant to placate and please those who worship the power of the state, not the King of Kings.
But a word of caution to those watching all this unfold: be very wary about those who hysterically suggest that these feverish voices define the present or future of the Church in America. They define themselves and those who foolishly choose to follow them. No more, no less.
