Where do you stand? What is your faith built upon? I’m asking about your foundation like the biblical parable of the wise and foolish builders. I’m talking about the old Sunday school choruses you taught me when I was little: “the rains came dawn and the floods came up.” Will the house of your faith stand firm or go smash?
Because I wonder sometimes. When you call yourself an American Christian instead of a Christian American, it seems like your foundation is in your nationality and not your savior. It seems your flag is bigger than your cross. It seems like your patriotism is louder than your evangelism. It seems you’re more concerned with being a US citizen than a heavenly citizen. When you claim that any political candidate is going to save your religion while the other candidate will destroy your religion, you’re placing your hope in someone other than Jesus. You’re worshiping an idol in a fancy suit reading platitudes from a teleprompter over the Son of God who delivered the beatitudes in a garden. Your trust is in a fragile foundation. When I hear you talk about Antifa, the Black Live Matter movement, immigrant caravans, vaccinations, mask mandates, or the Hollywood elite, you sound scared. You sound like you don’t know God. You sound like you don’t understand how perfect love casts out fear. You sound like you forgot where your foundations should be built.
Earlier today, I was reminded of another old song we used to sing in church. This was a hymn the whole congregation sang, not the simple melodies reserved for children. Perhaps, if the church meditated on these lyrics a little more, we could restore some sanity and civility to public discourse. Perhaps then we could present ourselves as a people of God and not a people of Trump.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” Nothing less than Jesus. My hope is not in Joe Biden. It is not in Donald Trump. My hope is in the Messiah, in Christ alone and nothing less.
“I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name” we cannot trust the sweetest frame, the sweetest campaign promise, or the slickest lies. Politics is the art of deceit and we would be fools to trust anyone with their name on a ballot.
“When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace.” Administrations change, laws and policies change, people change their minds, people fail, and people are filled with selfish ambition. But grace never changes.
“In every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.” Or, as one poet put it, “While my warship is sinking I still believe in anchors, pulling fistfuls of rotten wood from my heart and I still believe in saviors.” In the chaos of America, I remain anchored to God.
“When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.” I’m weary y’all. These times are hard. I’m so tired I feel it in my soul. The current state of Christianity saddens me. If I don’t have the church to encourage me, if I don’t have a government to motivate me, if I don’t have a community to heal me, then all I have is my God to guide me.
So if I answer my own questions about the foundations of my faith, I can answer with the words from the hymnals of my childhood church, “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.” American ground is sinking sand. Pacific Northwestern ground is sinking sand. Republican ground is sinking sand. Democratic ground is sinking sand. Legalistic ground is sinking sand. Prosperous ground is sinking sand. I stand on holy ground. I stand on ground which does not oppress the orphan, the poor, and the immigrant. I stand on the ground of justice, mercy, and humility.
Jesus told this parable to his followers. If you hear the word of God and apply it to your life, you’re like a wise contractor who anchored a foundation in stone. Through storms and disaster, the house on a rock remained strong. If you hear the word of God and chose to ignore it, you’re like the foolish contractor who built a house on stilts along the beach. During hurricane season, a tidal surge swept away the foundations built on sand and the house collapsed.
Dear church, I see you going all in pursuing American idols. I see you lust after wealth and power. I see your closeted racism, your anger, and your fear. And I wonder. How shaky are your foundations? Have you built your house on presidential promises of conservative judges, civic pride, and xenophobia? I urge you, no … I beg you to rebuild your faith and return to surer footing. Stand again on Christ the solid rock.
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