Interview Recorded May 4, 2012

We have often run the risk of allowing Christian faith to be co-opted into a civil religion of one brand or another, a mere prop for a larger nationalistic project of building a certain vision of “America.” Within civil religion, theology doesn’t matter a great deal because it is only a means to an end. When there is another end other than the kingdom, doctrine serves the purpose of serving “the greater good” of a particular nation-state rather than being an end to itself. The most notorious contemporary examples of this in American culture, at least at one time, were mainline Protestants. There have many times where mainline Protestant bodies have lost their prophetic edge and become a polite, comfortable place for bourgeois religion that fails to either threaten or inspire anyone in particular.

But in recent years, evangelicals have moved towards civil religion at a breathtaking pace. We have accepted the categories given us by the world, that we are broken down into two categories: conservatives and liberals. We are given a narrative in which these labels supersede any particulars of Christian faith as to how we understand who the people of God are in the world.

In recent days, I have watched with interest the fallout of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney speaking at Liberty University’s commencement, which comes on the heels of mini-coronation ceremonies from other evangelical leaders. To be clear, I don’t condemn Liberty for having Romney speak at their commencement. They have had big name “liberals” speak in the past as well. I am responding to the larger sentiment/reaction coming from the ground of “he is really just like us.” One of our most famous megachurch pastors explained in an interview why he thought Mitt Romney, a mormon, really is a Christian. One of the leading Christian evangelists in the world came just short of doing the same, while calling President Obama’s faith into question. It’s an interesting development, since evangelicals and Mormons have had historic enmity with each other, with evangelicals adamantly insisting that Mormonism is a cult, a perversion of orthodox Christian theology.

I have no problem with the fact that many Christians find Mitt Romney a more suitable candidate than President Obama, or feel like he better represents their values. I also understand why many Christians would find President Obama to be more suitable than Mitt Romney, depending on what issues they are most passionate about. To say Jesus is Lord is a political claim that has real life implications for all of our decisions, including the ones we make in the voting booth. So whether Christians choose to vote or not vote and who they choose to vote for, their faith should inform that as it does all of their decisions. But I am not passionate enough about anything in our fractured, reductionistic two-party system to get riled up one way or the other about which party or candidate to get behind. At this point in my life, the project of bringing the kingdom of God into the world in our local cities and communities is too urgent and too different than the concerns of our political process for me to be too entrenched in any of this.

But we’ve been moving in a direction for some time now, where the political platforms given to us are more determinative than theology for people of faith. I saw it four years ago, when a prominent “Christian voting guide” included not only the traditional evangelical concerns of abortion rights and gay marriage as a litmus test in telling us which candidates took the appropriate stands on the issues–but also made it clear that real “Christian” candidates were in favor of tougher immigration laws (?). Or the many times in recent years where I’ve heard evangelical leaders make it very clear that the “conservative” approach to business and economy was the good one, where as “liberal” approaches to economic policies were evil.

It’s no surprise then that evangelical leaders are now going a step further than simply saying a candidate is the lesser of two evils, or this candidate better represents these particular concerns–to now signaling that regardless of theology, this candidate is “one of us.” Because we know “us” (the Church”) from the world by where they fall on our conservative-liberal continuum. We don’t care what anybody believes about the trinity, because we don’t believe what a person believes about the trinity makes a difference in real life. More potently, we don’t believe the trinity can change the world. Who cares whether or not a person partakes of the eucharist, because the body and blood of Jesus is of course trite in comparison to our political platforms–that is where the power is.

We don’t care about theology anymore because we are no longer concerned about being Christians in any particular sort of way. Jesus is unable to save the world, thus the best hope we have now is to embrace across theological lines in service of the true god of conservative civil religion. The stakes are too high to be concerned about doctrine when there are far more pressing matters at hand.

If I sound wound up about this, I’m actually not. And I certainly don’t want people who have signed up for conservative civil religion to sign up for a more liberal civil religion, because neither will bring you to the kingdom of God and thus neither will change the world. I am quite thankful for this new development, because the more we degenerate into civil religion, the more authentic Christianity can stand apart from all of the parodies. I actually think it’s a gift.

This is not an angry editorial written with clenched teeth. No, this is much friendlier. I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to roll down the window and tenderly say, “You do realize you people are making up a new religion, right?”

NOTE: VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS BLOG BELONG SOLELY TO THE AUTHOR(S). THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS OF THE CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO AND SHOULD NOT ASSUME A POSITIONAL STATEMENT OR THEOLOGICAL COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THIS WEBSITE, ITS WRITERS, ITS ADMINISTRATORS, ITS PARTNERS, OR ITS ADVERTISERS.

Welcome to The TCM Red Room.

Listen in as TCM Fiction Editor Melissa Willis sits down with author Mike Dellosso as they discuss his “7 Hours” novella, “Rearview.”

Interview Recorded April 26, 2012

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The topic of gay marriage has traditionally been utilized as a political wedge issue creating polarization in America.  There is even a growing attitude that support of gay marriage is on par with that of Lyndon Johnson’s support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination against African Americans and women.  Despite the fact that gay marriage is becoming more acceptable in society with fifty percent supporting it, biblically speaking marriage is defined as the lifetime union of a man and a woman for the purpose of procreating and providing a stable environment for the family (Ephesians 5: 23-33)

One of the things that is problematic though is the vocal opposition with some in the white and black Christian community as if homosexuality is the single sin that God hates the most.   Meanwhile topics such as racism, discrimination, domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy, gang violence, and our responsibility to the poor don’t merit the same amount of attention and are often taboo subjects.

Christian Hip Hop Artist Propaganda has a track labeled “Misconception “where he mentions that pointing out the flaws in others often takes the focus off us.  One verse in the song states “You really been a good person and follow the Good Book as much as you should and probably didn’t go to church as much as you should but that’s all good.  I mean you never really killed anybody never really stole from anybody. You thing think you can receive God’s favor by your good deeds and right behavior but you will still die in your transgressions you need a Savior”

This track brilliantly illustrates that society grades sin on a curve.  It’s okay if my sin is a D because my neighbor’s is a F.   Picture the gap between God and man as the distance across Niagara Falls.  I may be a better long jumper than you but in the end we both will end up drowning if we tried jumping across.  Human ability is unable to bridge the gap between humanity and God because God is just that Holy.  The good news is that Jesus can and only through him do we attain positional righteous with God. There is something humbling about this which should ultimately reflect in our attitudes towards others.

There is a difference between defending the true definition of marriage and making homophobic and disparaging remarks about others.   Are our motives to build others up but speak truth or to tear others down for the sake of political votes or to get a good laugh from our audience?  It is time to put to bed stringent rhetoric and realize that Christians are called to contend for truth with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)

NOTE: VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS BLOG BELONG SOLELY TO THE AUTHOR(S). THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS OF THE CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO AND SHOULD NOT ASSUME A POSITIONAL STATEMENT OR THEOLOGICAL COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THIS WEBSITE, ITS WRITERS, ITS ADMINISTRATORS, ITS PARTNERS, OR ITS ADVERTISERS.

Those few hesitations I had? Shattered.

I admit that I was given a bit of pause after the title track for Church Clothes came out. The track was a critique of the Church, and while Lecrae was clearly writing from a certain perspective, it sounded harsher than I’d heard him before. The track would either be brutal and unashamedly against the Church, or it would be a push for believers to become better representatives of Jesus Christ; it all boiled down to the context of the mixtape. After listening, I’m confident that God was working on Lecrae’s life as he wrote this album.

Let’s talk about the criticisms, for a moment.

1. Lecrae is working with sinners, instead of Christian producers/djs/etc.

This strikes me as an odd accusation, but it is a rather common one. Here’s my position, which I think is relatively tenable: Christ spent a lot of time with unbelievers and sinners, and so did his Apostles. Paul preaches in the midst of sinners, and even ends up using their cultural language to do so (remember Mars Hill?). This, in and of itself, is not problematic for the believer. It only becomes a problem if there is no bold presentation of the Gospel, which leads to the second major objection.

2. Lecrae is watering down his message, and is not preaching the Gospel.

If you felt like Rehab or its follow-up release Rehab: The Overdose did not contain enough ‘Gospel’ (in spite of songs like “Just Like You,” “God is Enough,” “Background,” and “More”), you’ll likely be disappointed with much of this mixtape. Then again, check out the track “Misconception,” which contains a very clear presentation of the Gospel (the track features three of the guys from Humble Beast, and is the best track, in my opinion). Here’s the deal: Church Clothes is saturated in Christian thoughts, Christian ideals, and Christian morals. There are no pulled punches, so far as explicit mentions of Christ or God. In fact, the mentions of Christ seem far more natural than they have on previous releases within CHH; these feel like the mentions that a devoted Christian would have in their everyday lives: frequent, but not so much that we forget that God created us to live.

3. Lecrae is getting caught up in the fame, and won’t live out his message.

There isn’t much I can say here, really, since I haven’t spoken with Lecrae. I don’t know him, and don’t know where his heart is, ultimately. But there are two things I can say here: first, we will know him by his fruits, and the content of this mixtape, alongside his work with various ministries even very recently, suggest that he is still legitimately concerned about Christ’s glory; second, if Lecrae is faltering, let those close to him call him out. Let his church step into his life and tell him they believe he is in sin. Let his label-mates, Trip Lee or PRo, come to him in humility and love and correct him. I may be broadly a part of Lecrae’s fellowship, but it is not in the capacity that allows me the right to correct him, at least not directly. All I can do is pray, discern which music is worth holding on to, and continue to work on spreading God’s goodness wherever I can.

Let’s stop stoning Lecrae and focus on saving those who are listening to his music. Watch your hearts, don’t idolize any man or woman, and let’s pray for his future.

This mixtape is, after all, a big step for Christian hip-hop artists. Lecrae is in a unique position to penetrate the secular market in a way that hasn’t really happened in CHH history. I’m actually convinced that this is going to go down as a pivotal point for religious hip-hop. The mixtape has been received well so far, but we’re only twenty-four hours in. I’m more interested, ultimately, in how Lecrae’s next album, Gravity, will be received. If that shows a major uptick in purchases, or a broader audience, then the change will be solidified. Here’s hoping this isn’t a one-mixtape-wonder.

May God be glorified in all that we do, including our critique or praise of any particular artist.

NOTE: VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS BLOG BELONG SOLELY TO THE AUTHOR(S). THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS OF THE CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO AND SHOULD NOT ASSUME A POSITIONAL STATEMENT OR THEOLOGICAL COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THIS WEBSITE, ITS WRITERS, ITS ADMINISTRATORS, ITS PARTNERS, OR ITS ADVERTISERS.