This one comes to us from Oscar Price:
The Alabama State House of Representatives recently passed a bill which, if approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, would create a ballot measure to permit the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. That the sponsor of the bill did not actually know the Ten Commandments did little to deter his colleagues, who passed the bill by an overwhelming majority.
This is precisely the cultural climate of which Ross Douthat writes in Sunday’s New York Times – a culture in which Christianity, or some form of it, is so mainstream, and “traditional” values so revered that, whether for personal convictions or to appeal to the views of the electorate, politicians try to put the law on display in public schools.
It would be easy for Christians to dismiss Douthat’s column in its entirety – he contrasts so-called “conservative” religious views with “a more expansive state” that might “offer many of the benefits associated with a religious community, but in a more enlightened, tolerant, individual-respecting form” – but behind his sometimes strained conclusions there are data which Christians ought to take seriously.
As Douthat observes, despite the ubiquity of Christianity in the south, the Bible Belt continues “to struggle mightily with poverty, poor health, political corruption and social disarray.” And the problems are even deeper than this. Consider, as Douthat does, the data on divorce rates:
Earlier this year, a pair of demographers released a study showing that regions with heavy populations of conservative Protestants had higher-than-average divorce rates, even when controlling for poverty and race.
Their finding was correct, but incomplete. As the sociologist Charles Stokes pointed out, practicing conservative Protestants have much lower divorce rates, and practicing believers generally divorce less frequently than the secular and unaffiliated.
But the lukewarmly religious are a different matter. What Stokes calls “nominal” conservative Protestants, who attend church less than twice a month, have higher divorce rates even than the nonreligious. And you can find similar patterns with other indicators — out-of-wedlock births, for instance, are rarer among religious-engaged evangelical Christians, but nominal evangelicals are a very different story.
Douthat opines that this results from a culture in which “religious expectations endure…without support networks for people struggling to live up to them.” The examples of this are varied and multi-racial, but the most notable is “working-class whites whose Christianity is mostly a form of identity politics.” For Douthat, this is an indictment of the Church: “a truly healthy religious community should be capable of influencing even the loosely attached somewhat for the better.”
Up to this point, any honest believer living in the south would be hard-pressed to disagree. Christianity is a form of identity politics in this part of the country, and sadly, the form of Christianity to which many are exposed (say, for instance, the law plastered on a classroom wall) is nothing more than a set of expectations of behavior.
So what gives? Let’s start by acknowledging the fallacy of Stokes’s insinuation that apparent adherence to parts of the law is somehow an indication of faithfulness. In Luke 15, the older brother is no less lost than the younger. If the prevailing message of the Church is nothing more than standards of behavior, adherents are just as lost as those “nominal” conservative Protestants driving up divorce rates.
Indeed, Douthat’s column reveals a deeply broken southern religious culture; one in which too many churches spend more time bemoaning an alleged deterioration of society’s moral fabric than they do focusing on the One who redeems us from our personal deterioration.
In the Ten Commandments, while Christians are right to stand up for the truth of the scriptures, perhaps we should take a closer look at Jesus’ message about sin. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that all of our interpersonal relationships are touched by the fall. The relationships (and sexuality) of everyone are marred by sin and in need of redemption. (Matthew 5:27-30). Jesus’ message is just as startling today as it was then: single or coupled, married or divorced, man or woman, the sin of Adam infects every cell of every person and seeps into every corner of every life (Matthew 5:17-48).
Ultimately, the situation that Douthat describes is not surprising at all. Indeed, it is exactly what we would expect in a society where, sadly, many people never hear anything more than the law; the standard of which we all fall short. (Matthew 5:17-20). Douthat calls the whole situation a “penumbra” – an astronomical term referring to a region in which the source of light is obscured. Whether intentional or not, his word choice is perfect and precise. When, like the Pharisees, our message becomes the law, and the law alone, the lost are left enslaved.
The Light, unobscured, offers freedom.
In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galations 4: 3-7.
COMMENTS
11 responses to “The Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and Cultural Christianity in the Deep South”
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It’s always fun to slap around white conservative southerners, isn’t it!
^Mad?
There is a lot of good in the law: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hiphil.org%2Findex.php%2Fhiphil%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F27%2F27&ei=1cc-U_v_DcresAS5oYDACQ&usg=AFQjCNEGdTnuYYIQq3LDHxqIZHee0a-W-Q&sig2=s5B-1CbTPnQtrw3-hMfI2g&bvm=bv.64125504,d.cWc This is a long, heavy article but necessary if we are to understand the relevance of Old Testament Law in our lives as Christians today. Granted, if all mbird means by “law” is works-based righteousness, then yes, we need to speak out against law every time we see it. If “law” is referring to Old Testament law, then perhaps we need to rethink our anti-nomian position.
Here’s a link to the last segment of the article, for those who don’t care for the long heavy stuff: https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2006/05/preaching-old-testament-law-to-new-testament-christians.html
Grant,
Thank you for your comments. I did not intend to suggest that the law has no purpose, although I can certainly see how my comments could be read that way. Rather, my goal here was to provoke thought about how we use the law, specifically in cultures and communities where the Church has a large presence and significant influence.
In theological terms, my specific concern is with the pedagogical use of the law (“the use of the law for the confrontation and refutation of sin and for the purpose of pointing the way to Christ”) in the Bible Belt (where I live). If we use the law to confront sin, but do so in a way that does not point people to Christ, what have we accomplished?
I’m always interested in study of the uses of the law, so thank you for the very helpful links.
The problem isn’t the use of the Law as a hall-mark of Christianity that has created the myopic, though “Christ-haunted”, Cultural-Christian South. It’s the false vision of a world-conquering Constatinian Christianity that has been apart of much of American theology.
The demand for the 10 commandments is not the outworking of a serious commitment to them as such, but rather to a Southern legacy that is built upon these things. Thus one can see loud-mouth and arrogant “Christians” acting belligerent about the right to use crosses without once considering their actions. That is: bullying like the Pagans to put up something signifying humility and redemption?
What people love is their vision of themselves as an American, or Southern, or Texan, people and not one from a Kingdom on High. That is why the Bible-Belt is so quick to abandon peace for the sword, trade out marital fidelity for self-seeking relations, and to reject sincerity for flattery and back-biting. It flows with the culture of the cities of men. And Babylon is Babylon, no matter how many steeples carve the sky.
Cal
Well, it will probably blow up for the promoters of this bill the way a similar bill blew up in Florida. The Florida Legislature passed a bill allowing for the display of a nativity scene on the front lawn of the State Capitol. Of course, the twisting of language required to insure the constitutionality of such a bill meant that the nativity scene ended up being flanked by a statue of the spaghetti monster and a festivus pole!
Oscar,
I would agree that many people, especially in the Bible Belt, misuse the pedagogical function of the law. In reality, those who voted to put the Ten Commandments outside public schools probably do not understand how we as Christians today are to live in response to them. Most of us, myself included, still struggle to understand when Paul is talking about the law, whether he is addressing the Law or the law.
Since many of us don’t have the best understanding of the law, I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few who respond by living an almost Marcionite Christian life. Neither religious moralism nor Marcionism are good. When I have the opportunity to address the issue in a civilized fashion, I attempt to help. Daniel Block’s article is the best I’ve found addressing the situation in a positive light.
I was glad to see your clarification. I love mbird and will continue to read the wonderful articles you all publish.
Wow, this analysis certainly reinforces antiquated stereotypes from decades ago. I’ve also lived in the heart of the so-called “Bible-Belt” (Alabama, to be specific) for twenty-one years now. I have never even seen a tent meeting as the one pictured in the article. If they still do, they are quite marginalized from mainstream culture. Perhaps we live at different places on the “belt.”
I’ve lived in the midwest, mid-atlantic, and coastal south as well, and I do not find the religious culture in the “deep south” to be any more broken than these regions. And these areas certainly also struggle mightily with “poverty, poor health, political corruption and social disarray,” and in my personal experience, more so.
I do think erecting statues of the Ten Commandments can portray more symbolism over substance, and I certainly agree with you that as Christians, we want the full gospel message to rightly convey that we all fall short of theses commandments, alerting us to our fallenness and need for Christ as Savior. But trust me, I lived in the midwest for over two decades, and I can certainly point to many churches there using the law “unlawfully.” This is not merely a “deep south” phenomenon.
In the end, however, I’m disturbed at editorial pieces like this where Christians ultimately cannibalize each other. Should we not “groan” as we see other regions of the U.S. singling out Christians for expressing their faith at school and the workplace as criminal, while other religious expressions are hailed in the name of “diversity”? Is erecting a statue of the Ten Commandments more detrimental to “making disciples of all nations” than our silence toward the erosion of free religious expression (which is actually only enforced against Christians)?
Frank Reality, as someone ignorant enough to have lived all of my 60 years in Alabama, I just want to thank you for your comment.
Mr. Price and Mbird staff;
Woe is me, I live in the heart of darkness and ignorance. While I agree that too many times Christians push the law as a means of behavior control and should present the fullness of the gospel of our Savior who was crushed to save us from our sins. Though our sanctification is far from complete we pray that we will demonstrate the love of Christ. Brother be careful of casting stones into what you may not know. I have lived in Jackson MS for over 20 years – we have a black pastor and a multiracial PCA church that is alive in Christ by the grace of God – not because of the law. Please consider before espousing outdated stereotypes.