POWER STRUGGLE

29 May 2020, Friday.

Please read the following as one person's wild rambling.

The term, evangelical, when applied to churches had it's origin in Germany when there were two kinds of Christian congregations, evangelisch and katholisch. In other words it meant protestant as contrasted to Roman Catholic. Because this was Germany these evangelisch churches were what we now call Lutheran, and still today many Lutheran churches in the United States include the word Evangelical in their legal name; for example, The First Evangelical Lutheran Church.

But in the past few decades the term, evangelical, has taken on a different meaning and often implies a congregation not affiliated with a traditional church body and led by a self-appoined preacher who may or may not have had training from a reputable seminary. The style of worship tends to be dramatic and the interpretation of Bible literal. The leaders are charismatic preachers who wield a lot of influence over their members. In fact, I think that having control over a large group of people is the kind of power trip a few people --- almost always men --- must have.

Some of these congregations and their leaders have aligned themselves with the Trump administration. Power is attractive to power. In response to their loyalty to him, the President has accedded to their demands that churches be open for congreagtional worship in spite of the Covid-19 epidemic. The leaders have taught that God will protect the people from the virus because they are "washed in the blood of Jesus" or with a similar catchy phrase. They have been led to think of themselves as privileged, special, protected because of their faith.

The bishops and pastors of more conservative, established religious bodies have quickly countered the idea that it's now safe to "go to church". They make the distinction between "going to church" and "being church". There are several passages from the Christian scriptures that point out that a church is not building but is rather a body of believers who try to live according to teachings of their faith. That brings up the questiion: What can we do to "be church" when we are required to stay home and seemingly do nothing. Surely protecting other people from serious illness and death is not an insignificant contribution.

The consequence of the premature opening among evangelical churches is still unfolding, but it's already clear that many Covid-19 infections and some deaths are the result. What happens to the beliefs of people who can't or won't think for themselves and fall under the spell of a smooth talker who promises that everything will be great? Is this willingness to test God a sign of hubris and arrogance? Is this becomig the new definition of evangelical?