Monday, March 27, 2017

Lies We Believe About God (11)

Summary of Chapter 11
The 11th 'lie' addressed by Young is that 'God blesses my politics'. Young believes it is very dangerous to apply our faith to nationalism and/or politics. He is skeptical about nations (believing them to be inherently beastly). In his view, God didn't institute the concept of government. God's idea is the Kingdom of God, which is an ALTERNATIVE to these social constructs. God's people are peacemakers... even when the price for being a peacemaker is high.

Reaction
As an Anabaptist and as one suspicious of Empire, I resonated with most all Young was saying here. Clearly too many Christians  (Americans especially) have blended their faith in Jesus with their nationalism (or political party). Young is right to point out how dangerous this is. And I agree with Young that nation-states tend to be beastly at their core. All that being said, I'm curious what Young thinks of Romans 13 in light of his statement that "Government is not instituted by or originated by God" (the text and the quote seem to be in contradiction with one another). More nuance would have been helpful here, but I agree with his overall point and his emphasis on peacemaking. No real objections here, but I do wish there was a bit more of an explanation for the aforementioned quote.

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