America on the Brink

I am also disappointed and weep over the shameful condition of many of our churches. Sadly, too many churches are silent in the face of widespread oppression and suffering. Too many sanction it, and we are almost hopelessly divided in this moment when moral clarity is desperately needed. Yes, we have been here before, and we are certainly here again. For example, some churches and leaders are so tangled and mangled up into partisan politics that they have lost a broader perspective of the nation as a whole and the role they must play in guiding it. Not only did King express disappointment in the church, he also warned churches today about its relationship to the state in a sermon called, A Knock at Midnight, written and delivered in 1963. “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. If the church does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause men everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will.” There are too many churches and leaders who are nothing more than tools and blind worshippers of the state. Today there are too many churches that are nothing more than Democratic and or Republican social clubs. This is where we are today – churches with little moral and spiritual authority to guide a state that has lost its way. In its wake, there is profound moral confusion that is allowing our political and community leaders to continue to act in such a reckless and irresponsible manner. This crisis of religion is twofold - churches have increasingly become the puppet of the state and not its conscience, and we have lost sight of our own imperfections and blindness as we work in the public square. There are two gifts in the Christian tradition: the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist that should ground us in the realization that we are ALWAYS imperfect. We strive to speak and give witness to truth but never do so perfectly. In fact, our best thoughts and actions are always tinged with self interest and motives that are less than good. This means that our groups, organizations, philosophies, churches, even our criticisms of other groups are ALL imperfect. This realization should inspire humility and grace in the work we do in the world including taking a stand against injustice and speaking truth to power. Tasks like speaking truth to power must be grounded in the realization of our tendency to see things our way and sometimes to claim arrogantly that our way and God’s way are the exactly the same. The convicting and constraining work of the Spirit and the Eucharistic call to self examination in relation to others should ward off the pride and arrogance we see commonplace today. Instead, too many Christian leaders are convinced that they are right about everything and that the greatest threat to the nation is always somebody else - “it’s them” always them. This is why we are choking on our own and each other’s arrogance. This obsession with being right and proving to others how wrong they are is blinding us to the ways – large and

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