Hey, Canadian Christian! Be wary of the Trump-infused American Christian Mind.
The Canadian Church is not subservient to the American Church
As a Canadian, I am used to reporting up to America. Ever since I started my career at General Electric in 2000, I have always worked for an American company. So my bosses have always been American, they have consistently traveled to visit our Canadian offices between May and October. They have occasionally made me travel to their American offices on Fridays before (Canadian) Thanksgiving or even on Canada Day without giving it a second thought. I am used to deferring to Americans, their corporate hierarchy and their business leadership.
Like most Canadians, I read American news, watch American shows, and listen to American music. I cheer for hockey, basketball and baseball teams who all compete in American leagues. I don’t plan on changing any of this, it is a fact of life for Canadians.
But as a Christian, here is something I am rethinking: my relationship with the American church.
Watching the unfolding saga of Trump’s second Presidential term from our northern vantage has been shocking for an unexpected and very disappointing reason. To be clear, I was not surprised by Trump’s own disdain for Canada, nor even by his threats to our sovereignty. But, while I had heard all the rationalising and justifying of Trump by American Christians, still… I had not anticipated the whole-hearted and full-throated support for Trump’s disdain of Canada from my brothers and sisters in Christ south of the border.
Why was I surprised? It’s true, there have been so many think-pieces and articles and podcasts about the Trumpification of the American church… but to read and hear American pastors digitally cheer on the latest anti-Canadian sentiment revealed something about the American (regenerate) heart, that is all too familiar. The exact same assertion of American dominance felt in boardrooms, sports arenas and cultural award ceremonies is running rampant in American churches and pulpits.
I know, I know… I’ve heard the rationalisation that this is politics, not religion. America is merely trying to leverage its political and economic dominance to negotiate a better deal from other countries that seek to take advantage of America’s wealth.
If the symptom of leveraging your power over the less powerful to secure more wealth for yourself from others is an indication of the diagnosis of the American church, then here is the big question for Canadian Christians: Should the Canadian church be wary of subservience to the American church?
When young Christian men pack up for American seminaries, what are they signing up to learn?
When churches eagerly hire American pastors, what are they importing into their pulpits?
When Christians participate in the American-crafted cult of Christian celebrity, what are they buying into? Think about what you are getting with your early-bird special convention ticket (with the soon expiring promo for a free tote bag) to see your favourite pastors and Christian authors from your Instagram feed. Sure, the enticing marketing slogans promise a time of soul refreshing fellowship, and spiritual insights from the most influential preachers that will deepen your faith walk… But before you convert the USD and plan the road trip and book the hotel room with points, please consider how refreshing and inspiring your fellowship with 10,000 brothers and sisters all vying for the best seats from one auditorium of the corporate convention centre to the next is going to leave you when you get that credit card bill. What is your motivation to attend? Are you yearning for deep biblical understanding or are you driven by the FOMO that American marketing know-how is creating in you?
Christianity in the United States has always had a tendency to morph from faith into culture and from culture into an industry. American Christianity is not contained by the church, but has grown into a large industry with corporate divisions in publishing, movie studios, music labels, apparel, public speakers, seminars and conferences.
If it feels like the American church is claiming the mantle of the new Vatican, perhaps the Canadian church is well positioned to lead the new reformation. It sure is starting to feel like American Christian culture is pushing Mega Conventions as the new means of grace. That they are promoting Celebrity Christian authors as the new saints. That they are selling you Jesus & Therapy engraved Stanley water bottles as the new relics. And that they are pushing early-bird special promocode convention fees as the new indulgences.
I am being overly dramatic to be sure. But there is little doubt that the American Christian at least struggles to divorce his worldview as an American from his worldview as a Christian. And it is now obvious that the Trump-infused Christian mind seeks to serve two masters… and that cannot be done. It is important for us to stay true to our Lord, we need no hierarchy, no intermediaries, no priests… Christ is our only priest, our only intermediary, and he never owned an American passport. His citizenship, the one he has bestowed onto us is that of heaven, that is where we belong, we were chosen to be a part of that holy land long before the birth of the United States of America, and we will dwell with our Lord there long after the fall of the American empire. No one will be checking passports to grant you access into heaven… Jesus will be standing at the right hand of the throne of grace and he will either welcome you in based on your profession of your own unrighteousness and your imputation of his righteousness, or he will tell you ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’