Letter from America

From the beginning, American Christianity appeared legalistic to many British sensibilities.

With Puritanical emphases on purity of church practice, or the fundamentalist controversy in the 1920s, American faith often tended to be viewed as fixated on the law. Of course, the role of the law in Christianity is a theological matter of great significance. But irrespective of exegetical considerations, the ‘feel’ of American Christianity — with its support for Prohibition at one extreme to some Christians’ tacit (even vocal) support for racial segregation at the other — seemed to many in Britain to be motivated by law as much as grace.

Legalism is dead

Then things changed. Modern American evangelicalism dealt a death blow to the appearance of legalism. Few could accuse D.L. Moody or Billy Graham of being legalistic. In fact, if anything, the modern American evangelical movement has liberalised to the point of becoming a broad church, a group where many classic evangelicals question the validity of its continued designation as ‘evangelical’.

Long live legalism

Now some recent religious developments in America have lead some to be concerned as to whether the spectre of legalism in American church history is once again casting a ghoulish glow over current thinking and practice.

Or, ‘Legalism is dead, long live legalism’.

Here’s one (in)famous example. Not that long ago, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution urging its members to boycott Disney. They felt that because Disney was offering employment to practising homosexuals a stand needed to be taken. Few reading this paper would disagree with their moral clarity, but would it not be less, well, legalistic, to issue a call to go to Disney and witness to Jesus Christ instead?

Or, I have come across pastoral situations where churches asked individuals to confess to sins that — in good conscience — they’re not sure they really committed, but ended up confessing in an attempt to keep the wolves at bay. It’s almost as if the Salem witch trials, the lynch mob, and the snake handlers, while removed from public recognition and support are never far beneath the surface in American religious life.

Religious is the word. America is a profoundly religious society. In no other culture in the world can I imagine a religion as frankly bizarre as Mormonism taking root and (indeed) flourishing. Their core doctrines are simply odd, but their lifestyle message is the point, which is mildly puritanical, and embraces the vision of the law.

So it is with no little concern that I for one watch the increasing movement to the ‘right’ of American evangelicalism. I tremble at the near total association of capitalist economics, Republican politics, and conservative Christianity. I bite my lip in fear at the message emphasis on ‘doing the right thing’ or ‘submitting to those in authority’ or ‘confessing sins’, all of which are true and good and proper, but which seem nowadays to take centre stage in place of grace and the cross.

Who’s going to put the evangel (= gospel) back in evangelical?

Josh Moody,
Connecticut

© Evangelicals Now - July 2005
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