President Bush delivered his State Of The Union address to predictable applause. Bush has become one of the most popular Presidents in American history. His handling of the 'War on Terrorism' has endeared him to the patriotic hearts of Americans. And, of course, State Of The Union addresses are always peppered with loud approval. Their basic theme - America is great and we're going to make it greater - and their tradition combine to make applause all but mandatory. Pity the poor person who has to deliver the opposition party's response in a quiet room, somewhat alone, and with most people switching their TVs to other channels.
One of the most revealing - and encouraging for Christians - aspects of President Bush's tenure so far has been his outspoken faith. Even in the midst of this political speech par excellence Bush managed to make mention of 'God', and the presence of God which he felt many had found to comfort them in their hour of distress and need.
So, ducking behind barricades, hiding my name and address, and speaking ever so softly, with fear and trepidation, I wonder. I wonder what Bush means by 'God'. Or, more to the point, I wonder what all the 'prayer rallies' calls to remember 'In God We Trust', what all this means to the American people at large. For some no doubt it has meant a reminder of the historic Christian gospel and its proud place in the hearts of many Americans. For many, I suspect, it has meant little different than 'America is great and we're gonna make it greater'. Beware anyone who stands in our way. 'In God We Trust'; or, could it be said, 'God's on our side.'
Does God take sides?
Clearly God is for good and against evil. But the great error of the Old Testament people of God when challenged by an encounter with Christ in the New Testament was to assume that because they were of a certain nation God must be on their side. Any attempt to take the gospel to 'all nations' was deeply threatening to their national/religious psyche. As was any criticism of their religious heritage and 'the temple'.
I wonder all this, though, for the simple reason that the response to September 11 in America has been by and large one of indignation. How dare they! We're going to get them! And, despite all the prayers and calls to prayer, despite all this, church attendance figures have not yet been shown to have changed much, and those who have thought in terms of connecting these messages about 'God' to Christ and holiness have by and large, it seems, been church attending God-fearing folk already.
As my non-church-attending mailman said to me one morning: 'People are much more spiritual because of this'. What he meant by that, he proceeded to clarify, was that people are more gentle and more likely to let you go first in line (queue). This is good - and appreciated no doubt - but is it 'spiritual'? Not necessarily at all. Civic duty, one of the key notes of President Bush's call to arms in his State Of The Union address, is not the same as spiritual renewal (though spiritual renewal may lead to civic duty as one expression of the fear of the Lord).
This is part and parcel of what seems to be the biggest challenge facing the American church today: the domestication of God. God, in many churches, becomes a quantity that can be measured to our preferences. We pick the church that suits our cloth with the god that speaks our message. The fear of God, the sense of God's awesome otherness (as well as his presence, mysteriously being both a transcendent and personal God), this God of the Bible who is free from commodification is worryingly silent in messages about 'God' (or should we say 'god'?).
