Advent-ure Day 6: Faith Expressions, Vol. 2

Our deeply held faith perspective shows how we are to engage with our culture.  And, we have the opportunity as Americans to participate in the selection of leaders and giving input into laws and
policies. 1st Peter 2 states:
13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

Government is not our enemy; in fact, so many of our listeners are employed in carrying out this very vital role of governing; I think of those who work for Federal and state agencies, as well as local entities, including those who are sent to protect us in the military and law enforcement communities. These are people who are instruments of God, and we can be challenged to give thanks for and pray for them.  But, the law keeps us in check, but if we disobey the law, we can expect to be at odds with the authorities.  We should be characterized by our devotion to God and our obedience to Him: as it's been said, what makes a person a good Christian will also make him or her a good citizen.

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Welcome to Day 6 of our 25-day Christmas Advent-ure.  This year with the theme, Sing Unto the Lord!, we have assigned a Christmas song to each day through December 25 in our annual Advent Guide.  You can obtain it free of charge through FaithRadio.org.

Today's song is Away in a Manger, which celebrates the humanity of our Savior.  And, while we have a number of Christmas songs that portray the baby Jesus asleep among the animals on a bed of hay, we know that this seemingly helpless baby grew and is now our very active Lord who very much awake and at work.

Our theme Scripture for today is Luke 2:16:
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

From the time of His birth, we see several snapshots of Jesus during His early years: the visit of the Magi was a couple of years later, and the family of Jesus fled to another country because of Herod's insecurity, to the extent that he wanted to exterminate all young boys under the age of 2.  We see His interaction with Anna and Simeon.  And, we are told later in chapter 2 that Jesus grew: "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

Even at the age of 12, He went to the Temple and had discussion with the religious leaders of the day, who were, according to verse 47, "were astonished at His understanding and answers."

You know, we should all be growing in wisdom and in the knowledge of the Lord.  It would be very easy to discount what we call the Millennial generation, which definitely gets a bad rap. It is very easy to think that this demographic is politically involved because of all the "free stuff" that they want: a free college education, guaranteed health care, and even an income that is provided by taxpayers.  These are people who you see marching and protesting for various causes; with a lot of time on their hands to participate while many Americans are at work.  And, on college campuses, you hear the stories of students who want to shut down the speech of the people with whom they disagree.

But, as I shared last week, Pew has a new study out that shows a different story about Millennials who are identified as evangelical.  The Family Research Council website had a summary, based on a Christian Post article, featuring comments from Alan Cooperman at a recent Faith Angle Forum.  Now, some of the survey results show continued support by evangelicals as a group for the President.  The four myths that were pointed out were:

1. Evangelicals are turning liberal or turning against Trump
2. Younger evangelicals are more liberal and are turning Democratic
3. "Real evangelicals" are not supportive of Trump
4. White evangelicals are abandoning the 'evangelical' label

Let's zero in on number 2.  The Post article quotes Cooperman:

“They are [saying] the youth and young evangelical Protestants are much more liberal than their elders,” he continued. “That is true on some issues. It is especially true for homosexuality and same-sex marriage. [But] it’s not true on abortion, and it is not true in terms of party identification.”

The article continues:

Citing Pew data that breaks down each religious group in the U.S. by generation, Cooperman said that he doesn’t see a “clear line in which the younger generations are more Democratic-leaning than the older generations.”

“It is not true among white evangelicals. … It is not true among white mainline. It’s not true among black Protestants. It’s not true among white Catholics. It’s not especially true among Hispanic Catholics,” he stated.

The one major group in which millennials are clearly more Democratic-leaning than older generations is the religiously unaffiliated – a rapidly growing category.

And, while there are those who would want to sound a death knell for evangelical Christianity as we know it, there is ample evidence that such a decline may be overstated.  More from Cooperman, with regard to myth number 4.

He noted that while it is “absolutely true” that the share of U.S. adults who identify as white evangelicals has been declining, this is because the share of all U.S. adults who are white, as well as the share of whites who are Christian, has been going down.

Among Christians who are white, the percentage who self-identify as evangelical is stable, he said.

“In other words, among white Christians, evangelical identity does not appear to be dwindling,” he explained.

While this material is centered on white evangelicals, there is a strong percentage of people of color in evangelical Christianity.  A story on the Religion and Politics website stated that "According to Pew Research, almost 25 percent of American evangelicals are not white..." It also says that, "Another from PRRI puts the percentages of people of color far higher, saying that 46 percent of U.S. evangelicals are black, Asian, Latino, or otherwise non-white. The poll’s method was to count as evangelical any person who identifies as Protestant and who answers “yes” when asked if they are evangelical or born again."

So, what can we make of this? Surveys and analysis can indicate various trends, but we know that the practice of our politics should never override the practice of our faith.  While our practice may cause us to be classified in a certain way, we are, first and foremost, believers in Christ.

There is compelling data that would show that the Church's numbers and influence may be declining in our current society.  And, evangelicals have certainly endured criticism because of attempts to elevate their voting patterns above their behavior in general.  But, if we are devoted to Scripture and continuing to rely on the firm foundation, our Lord, the Head of the Church, we can be assured that
God will preserve the Church and He has called us to be partners in that preservation.

We also recognize that we are to identify more with Christ than our cultural identity.  If we allow ourselves to become divided based on our racial and cultural background, we cannot be as effective as the body of Christ.  That is why you have church leaders decry the so-called "social justice" movement, not because we shouldn't be speaking out and confronting injustice where we see it, but because the rhetoric is so divisive, placing people in groups and pitting them against each other.

In our current political climate, we can also promote dependence on God rather than government.  The 2018 election revealed that many in America believe that our government should have an enhanced role in peoples' lives.  When you hear people talk about economic redistribution, including universal health care, guaranteed wages, and free college education, you have to wonder how that is going to be paid for - it's a furtherance of an entitlement mentality that has taken root in our nation.  The Bible teaches personal responsibility and a robust work ethic; certainly, there are people in need, but the end of any social programs should be to ultimately restore the ability to earn wages, to develop life skills, and to reinforce the dignity of the individual; thankfully, there are churches and ministries that are devoted to doing that.