Pastor Timothy Keller is a leading example of how faithful Christians should stand apart from the world even as we seek to transform it for God’s kingdom. What follows are two short excerpts from his Facebook page that seem appropriate for believers, and bear repeating:
A Warning Against Online Mockery
God sometimes mocks (Ps 2:4) and so some things deserve it. Yet those who habitually and constantly mock, who “sit in the seat of mockers” (Ps 1:1), are in great spiritual danger. Mockers nurture high pride in themselves (Prov 21:24) which appears knowing and sophisticated but ruins relationships (Prov 22:10; 29:8) and cuts them off from truth that only the humble discover (Prov 9:7-8,12; 15:12; cf. 1 Peter 5:5). To “see through” everything is the same as not to see. (C.S. Lewis).
Preachers and teachers who engage in a great deal of mockery toward their opponents, instead of speaking the truth in love (Eph 4:15; Gal 6:1; 2 Tim 2:24-26), often nurture an abusive spirit that brings down their own ministries in disgrace.
There are many on social media whose main goal, stance, and practice is to mock and deride the people whose positions they oppose. But this is spiritually dangerous for them, and it accomplishes nothing for their side.
God mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and the oppressed. (Prov 3:34)
Christianity in Politics: Beyond Centrism
Let’s talk about “centrism” again. George Packer’s book and article divides the U.S. into “Free America” (Reaganism), “Smart America” (Clintonism), “Real America” (Trumpism), and “Just America” (Sanders/AOC). Many charge that all four frameworks fail to produce a true democratic pluralism—they each exclude and marginalize different classes of people either economically or politically. There’s a lot of truth in that.
However, my concern is that none of these frameworks fit in with the full range of Biblical personal and social ethics. The Bible takes certain elements from all these frameworks and combines them—at least that’s what it looks like at first glance. Deeper study reveals, I think, that the biblical understanding of each element transforms it. Detached from one another and in a secular worldview “justice/equity”, “freedom”, “pride in one’s nation”, and “personal responsibility/choice” all look somewhat different than they do integrated in a Triune God-centered worldview.
Because the Bible not only combines but transforms, you can’t say the biblical position is some kind of single point on any political spectrum. In general, the Catholic Social Teaching and the consensus teaching of the American Black Church do good jobs of this combination of transformed concepts. CST [not CRT] and the Black church do not fit well into any of the “Four Americas” frameworks. Majority-culture Protestants have much to learn from these bodies of teaching, but I believe we have things to contribute as well.
This is why I disown the term ‘centrist’ for myself – and yet, I can fully understand why I might appear that way to lots of people. True Christianity is off the spectrum, though it combines elements across it.
At the same time, no matter how strict and conservative (or progressive) you think you are, there is always someone stricter than you who thinks you have sold-out your principles. Everybody in the world except the single most extreme person on the Right and Left-(there has to be 1 of each!) —is a centrist compromiser. So can we stop weaponizing this term now? If the biblical answer is going to look like some kind of “Third Way” centrism (though it’s not—it’s off the spectrum of human thought categories), then let’s not charge people with this term.
Closing Thoughts
Why is this important for Christians today? Because most of us listen to far more “sermons” of Fox News, CNN, NPR, etc. than we do from our preacher. We are all susceptible to the error that Bryan Cross warns of: building our mental and moral paradigms from the political tribe we belong to, rather than the Bible and the teachings of the Church. We can do so without even knowing it, and it prevents us from becoming spiritually mature.
