On Living in Babylon

Yesterday, I took a detour from preaching through the book of Revelation to help us orient ourselves to the reality that we find ourselves in.  I talked about what it means to live in Babylon.  There are two cities in the world.  St. Augustine called them the City of man and the City of God.  The Bible often refers to them as Zion and Babylon.

Babylon is a place of exile.  A place where the people of God live as strangers and aliens.  In Zion, we are the majority.  In Babylon we are not.

I want to talk just a little bit more about what that means for the church.

First, in Babylon political parties are not Christian parties.

Since at least the Reagan administration many Evangelicals have been able to believe that the republican party was the party that represented Jesus.  They were the party that sought to end abortion after all.  For many of us that was enough.  If you have a certain economic outlook on how rising tides lift all boats, or wealth trickles down, then that was a plus because, the republican economic ideas seem to also help the impoverished. The democratic platform seemed to slant away from the traditional Christian sexual ethic, so that just helped.

But neither of the parties has the blessing of Christ as instruments being used for the good of the world.  You know who has that honor?  We do!  The church!

So how do we relate as strangers in exile not really belonging to either party?  

We are honest about biblical principles.  When the Republican party is greedy, or power hungry, or just plain mean to people who disagree with them we speak the truth.  When Republican President of the United States calls people “Losers” we remind him that all people are made in the image of God and worthy of respect and dignity.

When the Republican party seeks to restrict abortion or encourage investments that will help employ the impoverished, we applaud and we congratulate them on their wisdom and efforts.

When the democratic party seeks to loosen restrictions on abortion or take away religious freedoms, we confront them and challenge them.  When they seek to invest energy into efforts at improving the climate or making earth more habitable and enjoyable for generations of humanity, we applaud them.

In Babylon, the faithful Christian who voted republican will often be accused of voting democrat.  The faithful Christian who voted democrat will be accused of voting republican.  Because both parties claim to have universal and exclusive claim to the true and right path.  And both parties are wrong about that.

I will remind you again, who has exclusive access to the true and right path?  Only the Church.

Second, in Babylon our neighbors are not enemies but friends.

The divisive climate we live in has caused friendships to crumble. People who don’t see eye to eye have  retreated from each other or fought until there is only hatred left.

People who disagree with us believe strongly that their ideas for the future of our culture in Babylon are better than ours.  Contrary to popular belief, very few people in the opposing party want to destroy America, actually they want to help her.

We should become better experts at questioning than challenging.  We are so quick to tell people they are wrong.  What if we simply asked them what they think?

How do you feel open access to abortion will help the lives of people?  Are there other options?

In what ways do you believe Donald Trump has served America well?

How do you think we can preserve jobs if we convert to green energy?

What do you think is the best way to help those in poverty?

And then actually listen.  Listening is so important.

People are growing lonelier every day because of the trifecta of cultural division, covid19, and social media.  One thing that would be a blessing for many people is a listening ear.  It might also be good for many of us to listen to others.

We are not called to win political debates.  We are called to win people.  We cannot do that without being people who listen.

Finally, in Babylon we must not be discipled by news media.

To be discipled is more than knowledge.  It involves affections. The things that we love the most will drive our behaviors.

Every network has opinion commentators from varying perspectives.  These shows, like Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson claim the majority of viewers on these networks.  On these shows emotions are heightened.  People watching will also have their emotions heightened.  We become angry, frightened, or deeply hopeful.

Drugs and porn have gateways.  We start small, “just a little joint,” or just the “Victoria’s Secret catalogue,” and before you know it we have tumbled down the rabbit hole.  Many Christians I know have become deeply addicted to media and are trying to find stranger and stranger things to fuel their need.  Vloggers, Qanon, and fringe news sites are claiming more and more of our lives and shaping more and more of our emotions.

These emotions go on to control us.  Most people don’t want to admit it, but it’s true.  One of the best pieces of advice my dad ever gave me was not to become emotional when buying a car.  I didn’t always take it, but I have learned the wisdom in that.

When we get emotional over the politics of Babylon the cost is much higher.  We ignore certain things and focus on other things and we lose our ability to speak truth to the culture. But even more important than that, we move from mature Christians to nominal Christians.  Nominal means “to exist in name only.”

A Christian is discipled by a community of people who love Jesus more than politics, by God’s word more than cultural commentary, and by time in prayer, not time consuming news media.  When we are discipled by something other than these things we become Christians in name only.

Jesus called us the salt of the earth, but added that when salt loses its saltiness it is good for nothing and needs to be thrown out.  A nominal Christian has lost their saltiness.

Brothers and sisters, we live in Babylon, but we have the tools and the ability to shape the culture of Babylon.  We have the people of God, the Word of God, and the power of God.  Let’s not lose our saltiness as we seek to love our culture and neighbors while we become greater disciples of Jesus Christ.  I think Madeleine L’Engle says it best, so I will let her say it: