Part 2 – Christian 'Heritage' and American Exceptionalism

It is not unusual to find that those who have incorrectly begun treating Christianity as a heritage also cling tightly to a modern, warped conceptualization of American exceptionalism.  In the US, many people have conflated their religion and their patriotism in a way that makes it is hard to tell where one begins and where the other ends.  For the Church, the body of Christ, this has created a very volatile and decidedly un-Christian environment. 

Let's begin, though, with a look at American exceptionalism.  What it has come to mean and what it is supposed to mean have drifted too far apart.    American exceptionalism is supposed to point to the unique qualities of the formation of the United States.  (Conservatives who use the term might also be surprised to find out that it was coined by the American Communist Party).  It points to the way we were formed, the ideologies that influenced our formation and the uniqueness of the structure of government which developed out of those things.

What it has come to mean is something quite different.  Exceptional has been made equivalent to superior.  Many times those making a call to  American exceptionalism are now really making an unfounded call to the superiority of America and its ways in comparison to all other ways.

As if that weren't problematic enough all on it's own, the converse of what I opened this article with is equally true: It is not unusual to find that those who cling tightly to this modern, warped conceptualization of American exceptionalism frequently are also those who have incorrectly begun treating Christianity as a heritage.   They wrap crosses in American flags as if the two have always been together and through that imagery claim what amounts to an unholy union.

When the two are practiced this way, the blind faith that is necessary to practice Christianity as 'heritage' and the blind following of an unquestioning patriotism combine to make a group of people who are necessarily closed to outsiders and particularly opposed to anything that favors anyone other than themselves.  The blindness of it all, the unquestioning devotion to what they perceive as the traditions of their Protestant Christian heritage and the unflappable support of all policies that come from 'their' representatives in name of patriotism, calls for them to practice either cognitive dissonance or willful ignorance any time the facts point to something other than what they want to believe.  

This is a problem for the Church, the body of Christ, because that is not who Jesus taught us God calls us to be.  We are told to care for the outsiders, particularly those who are marginalized and undeserved.  The conflation of Christianity as a 'heritage' and  American exceptionalism create communities where the exact opposite of that is practiced in order to maintain the purity of the group.   The Bible tells us that God “moves about in a tent,” is “about to do a new thing,” and we see that Jesus constantly asked the people he met to change.   The conflation of Christianity as a 'heritage' and  American exceptionalism demands a steadfastness and rigid resistance to change of any type as well as an unquestioning devotion to the past.  We also know that biblically, wisdom is that thing in which God delights daily, but the conflation of Christianity as a 'heritage' and  American exceptionalism, as I have already noted, requires a constant denial of facts that negate what you want to be true.

The conflation of Christianity as a 'heritage' and  American exceptionalism is killing the Church and trying to do the same for our nation.  Those who are willing to confront these realities must begin working together to breakthrough the blind haze that has entrapped our communities.  We do so by naming it out loud, by no longer sitting silently aside and shaking our heads in not only sad amusement but in our own self-serving form of superiority.  We must trust that the truth will indeed set us free and stop being afraid to name the problems because of the negative backlash we might suffer in our places of worship and ministry, because those places are the the very places that need the truth to be prophetically proclaimed. 

Part 1 of this series: The Pitfalls of Practicing Christianity as Heritage

With each generation in the United States, it becomes more and more difficult for some people to identify with their heritage.  Some of this is because the cultural pieces of their heritage have not been practiced and passed along from generation to generation, and some because as families marry they bring in other heritages and the resulting generation sometimes have a more difficult time understanding exactly what their heritage is.

It occurs to me that a very interesting phenomenon has risen out of this.  It is not new or unique (something like it has happened before in Great Britain), but it is a fairly new and unique way of understanding the divide within so many Christian churches in the US.

Most of my thoughts on this are based on observances.  So I have to recognize that I am speaking primarily about the experience of white Americans.  That is not to say this isn't also true of other races, it is just saying it is the one with which I am most familiar and therefore the primary source of my observation. 

The observation is this: many white Americans, seem to be filling in the gap of our lack of a sense of heritage with Christianity and it is not only dangerous but it stands over and against what Jesus and then Paul told us that this movement, the following of The Way, was about.   

Much like our religious relatives who actually have a Jewish heritage, there has been a silent claiming of the "heritage" of Christianity.  The way this Christian heritage is practiced is, obviously, heavily weighted toward practices of heritage rather than practices of faith.  That is to say, like some “non-practicing” Jews who still observe certain rituals for the sake of remembering their heritage and passing it on to the next generation, Christianity has an abundance of “non-practicing” Christians who still observe certain rituals for the sake of remembering their “heritage” and passing it on.  The difference is non-practicing Christians do not recognize that they are passing on the heritage and not-so-much the faith.

One of the most regular rituals is the preparation for (including dressing up) and attendance of church on Sunday morning.  The unbending steadfastness of many Christian to allow for more casual dress, a change in worship style, or time of worship, while passed off as a concern for respectfulness, appropriateness and respectability from a religiously pious point of view has much more to do with upholding their perceived heritage than it does with any biblically based concern.  The same seems to be true for many of the other places of resistance to change in the church.  

That is where those who are advocates for the change and those who are advocates for maintaining their perceived heritage meet an impasse.  We each assume the other is there for the same reason we are (to maintain Christian heritage / to peruse biblical mandates).  Because of this miscue, we find ourselves frequently at impasses that, without recognition of the difference, will not reach a lasting resolution if they achieve a resolution at all.  Additionally, the relationship is complicated by the issues of American exceptionalism which is so frequently bound tightly to Christian heritage, the biblical issues of Christianity being a “heritage,” and the belief of both sides that they are the ones who are honoring the religion.  (All three are likely to be future articles).

Now for the part that many people are not going to like.  I am not putting forth the idea that recognition of this reality (at least as I see it), will solve the impasse or provide for a path forward together - quite the opposite really.  I believe that recognition of this divide will be exactly that- a recognition of a divide.  Theses two understandings of what it means to be Christian are not compatible and, as sad as it is, make it not only constantly contentious to move forward together, but also illogical.

My sermon for this Sunday is helpful in understanding this (as a matter of fact, this article may become part of the message).  I'm looking at Micah, where the prophet says, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and walk humbly with your God?”  Those who practice Christianity mostly as a heritage will see those things as requests (if not “nice things to say, but a naive way of living”) and those who practice it as a religion will see it as exactly what the prophet calls it - a requirement. 

Followers of The Way, of the teachings of Jesus, will never settle on ritual repetition for the sake of heritage... because Jesus didn't either.  The Church, as the body of Christ, must never allow itself to become a cultural heritage club, for when we do, we displace the centrality of the brother and sisterhood of all humanity with the exceptionalism and assumed privilege of a select group of people... and that's just not the way of Christ.

Part 2: Christian 'Heritage' and American Exceptionalism