We Made the News!

I watched the news this morning with a mix of emotions. The Democrats and the Republicans are angling for the Christian vote. Senator Obama is going to be wooing evangelicals and Senator McCain was portrayed as the candidate without the religious ‘credentials’ in this campaign. This is one reason the theoretical pursuit of a ‘public theology’ has not progressed very far in the last month. The public debate is being run from the political leadership of the nation, not from the church leadership of the nation. And that is how it should be. If a pastor or the leader of a church wants to get into the political arena, more power to them. But I have found myself rethinking the ‘rank and file’ Christian response to public leadership.

There needs to a ‘public theology’ for certain. But that theology should be the church working out its salvation message in fear and trembling against the backdrop of the public arena.

I found it fascinating because this was the lead story on “Good Morning America” today. We are framed in the news reporting as a constituency. I suppose we are, but a constituency full of dynamic Spirit, and a constituency as divided as the number of churches you will find in any neighborhood.

I come out of the mainline, the evangelical wing to be sure, but the mainline. This news reporting was about the evangelical community, not us. They have voices raised in the public debate. I know, “us and them”, a polarizing definition, but it carries perceptive weight in our country.

My ‘public theology’ brings Biblical truth, brings Spirit-filled interpretation, brings the salvific work of Jesus Christ to the public sphere. It cautions against the excesses of power, it stands as a voice to speak grace in a sin filled world where men and women of good character make the best sin-filled choice to tackle a more sin-filled world. The idea of the chaplain, the bringer of religious truth and comfort to a difficult world, speaks strongly to me.