Turning the Other Cheek Ain’t Working So Well Right Now

With the Occupier of the White House objecting to a religious liberty amendment that would guarantee members of the armed forces the freedom to openly express religion, and San Francisco and the University of Chicago making accommodations for Muslims to pray in public and Christian spaces, we American Christians are feeling a bit put upon.

It’s not like there are any Bible reading or perpetual adoration chapels in the nation’s airports or post offices.  Smokers get their own space, but we Christians – the majority of population – have to fulfill our prayer obligations in the quiet that we can find in a culture constantly in motion.

Not that it’s ultimately that difficult to pray and read Scripture at home or in privacy, but doing so in public has become verbotten over the years as various Christian groups have pretty much “agreed to disagree” as public prayer from one branch is frequently ridiculed by another, given in to atheists…and there tends to be confounding arguments on semantics that never seem to end.

The victims in the way American religious culture has devolved are those looking for spiritual direction with some sort of living structure.  While there are a fair number of people out there – many of them on the political right – who are comfortable with just the instructions in Scripture and “doing good,” and some people do quite well with just the unstructured fellowship that more independent churches provide, there are a multitude who prefer the formality and cult (not occult) of organized high churches. .

Great. Fine.  But because we have shed the organization of what makes us unique in the world – unlike our Orthodox Jewish friends and the more hard core Muslims – we tend to blend in to popular culture, somewhat disappearing into it rather than setting ourselves apart in all ways – like Muslims do and are forcefully demanding respect for – thus the appearance that Christianity is weakened and vulnerable is a reality even if it is not true.

Think about it – the Christian Sabbath, Sunday, has become a day like any other.  Stores are open for regular commerce, not just emergencies; it is expected that restaurants be open; sports leagues hold competitions all day; and the visiting that used to happen after church has diminished as we’ve gotten busier.  We dress provocatively, if we have the bodies for it or not, with skinny jeans, tank shirts, short shorts, etc.  We ladies leave our hair uncovered in church (which violates a directive from St. Paul, for all Bible readers).  We swallowed hook, line and sinker the modernist way of living for self – all of it together weakens Christianity as a whole and don’t think the Muslims can’t see that.

Well maybe it’s time to face forward, quit complaining and demonstrate, rather than just loudly proclaim, who we are and that we belong to Christ.  The practices that make up this “external expression” date back hundreds of years and aren’t “in your face”, but part of the everyday witness of religion.

It’s not hard.  It just takes a little practice and discipline.

First off, we Christians are supposed to be modest in how we present ourselves (this should include humility, but we’ll just start with wardrobe for now).  Modesty in dress, not simply covering skin which is enticing, but not wearing shirts and pants so that they leave nothing to the imagination, is very Christian.  There are specific guidelines for those of us willing to take a tape measure to our hemlines and necklines, but covering to the elbows, knees and over cleavage – at least in church – is a good start.

Believe it or not, several branches of mainline Christianity have a form of continual prayer.  Some are as formal as proscribed liturgies at certain hours of the day, and some are as informal as saying prayers found in scripture upon rising, at noon and before retiring.  (Prayers such as the Our Father/Lord’s Prayer, the Magnificat, the Nunc Dimitis, any psalm, proverbs.)   It does not have to be complicated or “in your face”.  But it does have to be unapologetic.  Saying grace while out to eat is also recommended.  Very few people object if there is no disturbance.  (In fact, I’ve had waiters join in at the local Mexican joint.)

The calls to prayer from the minarets….  We Christians have our own version.  Bells calling the the faithful to Mass and the Angelus three times a day.  (Well, that’s us Catholics.)  All other branches of Christianity are invited to add their bells and any chimes they might ring, not just on the hours, but whenever there is a great celebration or warranted occasion.  And,of course, on Sundays.  (Carillons…yeah, no.)

This tit for tat in the cultural religion wars is not becoming, at least from the Christian side of the argument, but the more militant of the Islamists, the converts to Islam, and the people currently searching for overt religious structure see the Christian shyness to publicly proclaim who we are and take the time in public to worship and pray as a sign of weakness, regardless that Christ told us not to be boastful about it.  He also said that we had to be on fire for Him, though.  So, maybe it is better to at least have longer sleeves in honor of Christ, and not be afraid to answer that He is the reason for modest fashion choices.

The more we fade into the overall modernist culture that celebrates vice, banked fervor for Christ and immodesty, the more Christians become irrelevant in the fight to maintain our freedoms and religious liberty. If we have any hope of not being crowded out by those who wish to destroy our way of life, we must somehow reflect the fire Christ asks of us, and not just in the privacy of our own homes.