It's a rare thing to hear a preacher in a conservative church base a sermon on a text from the book of Jude. this short epistle, the only known work of the Apostle Jude, one of the twelve original disciples of Jesus, distinguished from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, self-identified in his epistle as the brother of James, another apostle. Catholics believe he was also the half-brother of Jesus, while Protestants aren't certain and don't make that claim.
In this epistle, Jude calls out and condemns intruders in the Christian church who were false teachers, twisting the grace of Christ to use for their own purposes, which was, according to the text, a pretext for worldly pleasure. Mentioned in the text, translated in the New Revised Standard Version are licentiousness, defiling the flesh, rejecting of authority, slandering angels or "glorious ones," being grumblers and malcontents, indulging their own lusts, bombastic in speech, flattering people to their own advantage.
Those would be close to the terms I would use to describe the intrusion of far right-wing, secular politics into many of the conservative Evangelical churches and denominations in the United States. I'm not saying that Jude is a prophesy of what's going on now, but I'm saying that his words are a prophetic description of this current intrusion into the church, and they are also a prophetic warning concerning what happens as a result of such an intrusion.
An Aberration Beyond Belief
Unlike either mainline Protestantism in America, which has more or less united itself by accepting ordination credentials from each other's clergy and developed agreements under which denominations can merge, work together or which allow congregations to be dually affiliated, and the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity, which are hierarchies under clergy rule, American Evangelicals are a collection of denominations and "fellowships," along with a significant number of independent, non-denominationally affiliated churches. Though several large denominations fall under the umbrella of "Conservative Evangelical," there is no connection between clergy, churches tend to be independent and autonomous even if they do affiliate with a denomination. There is a tendency for groups within this branch of the church to become detached from sound doctrine and sound Bible interpretation.
While many white Evangelicals are unified by far right political positions, mainly on restricting access to abortion and opposition to same-gender marriage, and a sizeable minority still do not believe in racial equality, they are remarkably fragmented when it comes to things which should outweigh politics in importance, and that is the theology and doctrine they preach, teach and practice. Where mainline Protestants have joined together in shared-clergy and dual church affiliation, and unite to support ministry and missions work, Evangelicals can't stand other Evangelicals who don't arrive at the same interpretations of the Bible as they do.
Some churches refuse to serve communion to visitors they do not know, because they can't determine their spiritual condition. Some, among the Calvinist and Reformed branches of the church, won't serve it to individuals who don't belong to reformed churches. A group calling themselves the Churches of Christ, who don't permit musical instruments in their worship services, also hold the belief that if one is not a member of their church, then they can't be a Christian. And these aren't some kind of fringe practices. The criticism of other Christians who differ on Bible interpretation within Evangelical Christianity in America is one of its more common cultural identifications.
So how is it that a group with those beliefs and those characteristics are willing to accept, and adore, a political leader whose lifestyle contradicts every principle and virtue they teach, who is not, by any stretching of any definition they have of the term "Christian," and who has made open attempts to get Christians to change core doctrines established by Jesus because they don't support his way of doing things? As the prophet Hosea wrote in his book, "For they sew the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind." Hosea 8:7
It's a Question of Credibility
Some of Trump's most ardent supporters and admirers among Evangelicals have taken some hard falls themselves. It's become pretty clear that they placed no value in the Christian gospel beyond what their association with the church could get them in terms of money. It was very discouraging and disappointing to thousands of Liberty University alumni and students when years of corruption, adultery and sexual immorality by Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife were revealed. Falwell invited Glenn Beck, a Republican apologist and a member of the Mormon Church which has zero doctrine and theology in common with Liberty University Baptists, to speak in front of the convocation, which is required attendance for all students, in 2014. That was a clue that the faith preached by his father meant nothing to him, and politics meant everything.
There's no argument for abandoning the practices and values that are identified with the gospel message of Jesus Christ for the sake of gaining political influence and power. The Christian gospel turns into something completely different when it is imposed by power and influence. Most often, as the examples of the history of Western Civilization have shown us, people use Christianity to gain power and then, when they get there, they abandon it altogether because they have no convictions. And that's exactly what we are seeing in many conservative Christian churches in America right now. Their influence is being used to gain power for people who are very worldly and corrupt. And once they achieve their goal, they will throw everything they don't think they need anymore, including those Christians and churches they have used, under the bus.
Too much damage has already been done to the credibility of Christianity, and specifically to conservative Evangelical Christianity, to be able to "return to normal," if there were an inclination to do that. I think what we're seeing here is the exact result that Jude, and others who warned the early Christians about these kinds of intrusions. They wind up having to start all over again.
And that's really a tragedy that didn't have to happen.
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