Erik Lang

In our culture, the mindset prized above all is else to be logical and efficient.  America was born through hard work and innovation.  As Christians in America, it is easy to twist, ever so slightly, the Biblical teachings of Scripture to fit the new modern version of American Christianity.  We need to recognize the dangers this new way of thinking presents and re-educate ourselves to think and act in a true Christian manner.

Since America was founded, Christian values have been chipped away to leave just a basic form of Christianity that questionably meets the requirements for the faith.  The non-believers of our society have constantly repeated the same messages of hedonism and acceptance of new beliefs so much even Christians are affected by them.  What we are left with is a re-defined religion that is a far cry from Christianity.  Part of that way of thinking has been heavily influenced by the American media.

The morality of movies and television shows has declined dramatically.  America started off with films like Casablanca and Singing in the Rain and is now producing movies like Saw and Sex in the City.  Saw features gratuitous, unlawful violence and hatred, while Sex in the City is a flick about middle-aged women who seduce anyone they can.  Television shows are just as bad, if not worse.  Every episode of every show is at least half an hour long, so the writers need to pack as much as they can into the program.  Each hour of a show is packed with about as much information as a whole movie.  Programs are filled with mindless violence, unashamed sex, and blasphemy.  Such themes in early America would be unthinkable.  The sad part is many Christians view this as the norm.  Most do not speak out against such obvious infractions of the Bible.  Just as American secular values have dropped in the film industry, so have Christian values.  We’ve accepted this change because it came slowly over time.

These decisions not only affect our social life but issues in our government as well.  Operating strictly pragmatically doesn’t always pertain to the governmental budget.  Being pragmatic could entail performing abortions.  Why shouldn’t a woman be allowed to murder her child because she can’t afford to keep it?  She claims it would be an inconvenience, and therefore it would be pragmatic to abort her child.  This is not an extreme example at all.  It happens every day.  This is one of the worst permissible activities in America today.  Surprisingly (yet now unsurprisingly), a fair amount of professing Christians believe abortion is an acceptable, pragmatic alternative to not being a parent.  Right here Christianity has been “sanitized” to the American mindset.

A milder, yet still wrong belief of the Christian-American public is the hoarding of income.  When I say hoarding, I mean the denial of and lack of participation in tithes, donations, charities, etc., all of which are activities Christians are called to participate in by God.  Now, the American culture preaches to save, invest, and spend your income at your leisure.  Many Christians now totally ignore this seemingly insignificant command.  It is not pragmatic to give money to the church; it isn’t pragmatic to give money to charities or organizations.  They want it for themselves.  They want to spend it as they see fit.  It doesn’t matter as long as they are saved, right?  Other Christians realize God has commanded their tithes at least, but rationalize the “problem” of giving away.  These are the ones who always have bills to pay, children to send to college, or whatever.  All are important, but what is possibly more important than following a command from God Himself?  The answer should be absolutely, unequivocally “nothing.”  Those who don’t give to God: why should God give to you?  God says He will provide for you no matter what life may throw at you.  Holding on to income with a loose hand is a Christian virtue, yet sadly ignored, forgotten, or rationalized away by the general Christian-American public.

An example of my personal experience with pragmatism and my Christian walk can be seen in my class’s discussion of the morality of the death penalty relating to Christianity.  For the longest time I fully supported the death penalty.  “Why should recidivist murderers be given yet another chance at life in the public?  It is far more costly to house inmates for sustained periods of time in federal prison than it is for them to be executed.  If they reject Christianity now then they’ll always reject it, and we’ve done all we can as Christians.”  These are the issues circulating in my head.  I’m still undecided what I believe on this point, but let’s take a step back and look at this issue through the eyes of Christianity and Christ Himself.  God commands us to love all, so that applies to recidivist murderers, too.  Have we truly done all we can to persuade these people Christ is the key to salvation?  Does their refusal to accept Christ merit an execution, or should we incarcerate them for life?  These are all questions and observations for abolishing the death penalty.  All are scripturally inspired.  Now, there are similar questions and observations in favor of a death penalty that are scripturally based, and so the debate for this issue continues, but notice how the way of thinking changed from a strictly pragmatic way of thinking to one using only scripture to support ideas and arguments.  This is exactly how we as Christians should think and ultimately act, especially regarding policies dealing with levels of morality.  The death penalty is not an issue to take lightly.  Maybe God frowns upon America’s use of the death penalty, and all we have to do is think not about what would be logical, but what is Christian.

Shifting our mindset from a pragmatic to a truly Christian mindset will be difficult.  It’s not supposed to be easy.  For any issue regarding morality and belief, consult the Bible to see what it says.  It is usually black and white.  Do not steal, do not rape, do not have sex before marriage, let your mind dwell on all that is wholesome and uplifting, etc.  If you ever are participating in something or thinking something you feel any reservation about, you need to examine thoroughly what it is you are doing.  Would God approve?  It sounds trite and overused, but that’s because we don’t follow the advice, no, commands of God and the Bible.  Think about it.