Jonathan Krogh Jonathan Krogh

FPCLG Election Strategy

Dear Election Deniers:

Well, another election is in the books, and I am beyond disappointed. I cannot discern the motivation of individual voters, but the collective count seems to be a win for anger and misogyny. Unfortunately I fear had it gone the other way we would have chalked up a win for complacency. You know my preference, but we all must live with the results and determine how to move forward.

Like many post-election executives, my job now is to discern the outcome’s impact on my business. I know the metaphor may feel unseemly, but as a minister I need to evaluate my industry which is religion, my brand which is Christianity and my model which is Presbyterian. Given the election results, I feel like a horse collar manufacturer in 1920s Detroit. 

I don’t think the problem is the quality of the product—it’s whether or not anyone is buying.

Dear Election Deniers:

Well, another election is in the books, and I am beyond disappointed. I cannot discern the motivation of individual voters, but the collective count seems to be a win for anger and misogyny. Unfortunately I fear had it gone the other way we would have chalked up a win for complacency. You know my preference, but we all must live with the results and determine how to move forward.

Like many post-election executives, my job now is to discern the outcome’s impact on my business. I know the metaphor may feel unseemly, but as a minister I need to evaluate my industry which is religion, my brand which is Christianity and my model which is Presbyterian. Given the election results, I feel like a horse collar manufacturer in 1920s Detroit. 

I don’t think the problem is the quality of the product—it’s whether or not anyone is buying. Religion’s primary purpose seems to have become an identity marker, as pundits break down the Muslim, Jewish, Evangelical, Protestant and Catholic constituencies, leaving out the fastest growing market sector: the not interested. From a business standpoint, we have a serious market problem. Our Christian brand is being defined as judgmental, xenophobic, anti-women’s healthcare, racially biased, homophobic and nationalist. If those labels stick, we are in big trouble. 

You know, and I know, their definition of us could not be farther from our truth, but we’re not in charge of public perception; we’re only able to influence the narrative. And I believe this moment grants tremendous opportunity.

The past few weeks I’ve been looking at the Netherlands, a place where religious affiliation and self-identified atheism may be the highest in the Western world. In the middle of the 20th century, it was a nation of committed church-goers who worked actively to influence public policy. Socially engaged Christians transformed healthcare, housing, employment, prisons, education and job training, causing it to become one of the world’s most progressive nations regarding the care of its citizen and non-citizen residents. Curiously, as publicly funded human services increased, religious affiliation decreased—social services became unmoored from a faith-based anchor. Now, decades into their secular experiment, racism and isolationism are on the rise.

I offer this example to illustrate two paths resulting in Christian demise. One touts the faith as a list of moral imperatives with no regard for human suffering; the other seeks human services with no deep theological motivation. Both deteriorate the Church into quaint irrelevance. Neither is a faithful expression of who I believe we are, or should be, as Christians.

The Netherlands chose to offer ‘cups of cold water’ for all, without regard to motivation; the United States is choosing endless means-testing to merit ‘cups of cold water’. Neither expresses the words of Jesus, who said, “[When the son of man comes to judge the nations…], truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me (Matthew 28.31-45). There’s the mission! Christianity without compassion is authoritarianism; compassion without a divine imperative is fragile. To the church’s embarrassment, this past election provided us with a choice between these two, and only these two options. And from the election’s outcome we have great opportunity.

What if Christians were identified as the most deeply uncompromising people of compassion? What if Christians embraced the moral imperative to relieve human suffering rather than dictate human subjugation? What if those moral imperatives were deeply rooted in whom we believe God has created us to be? What if the church was a place where people learned both how and why to love, a place where meaning was rooted in our being created in God’s image, and purpose was the ongoing project of treating others with loving kindness because they too are created in the likeness and image of God? What if our mission statement was, “Inviting people into a life of meaning and purpose in Christ”? 

Oh… wait…well, there we are.

Reminding myself that no election outcome changes Christ’s call, I remain,

With love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor

Read More

Archive