Americans are at war. I don’t mean the global war against terrorism, but something much closer to home. We may be at war against abortion or global warming; gay marriage, liberals, atheists, or fanatical fundamentalist theocrats. We have a sports fan mentality. We cheer our side, want to bury the other side, and treat national and international issues like a political football. I don’t have a crystal ball, and I can’t predict the outcome of any of these battles, but I can tell you that there has already been one serious fatality — the gospel.

In the name of Christ, believers, whether liberal or conservative, are battling the enemy. The Christian faith has become so captive to partisan politics that, unfortunately, it is somewhat of an embarrassment to identify oneself as a Christian. The culture wars have made the task of communicating spiritual truth to educated, secularized people more difficult. This has never been an easy group to reach. Yet increasingly, citizens of this postmodern era associate the Christian message with hypocrisy. Christians are viewed as wanting to control the moral conduct of others, while excusing their own moral lapses by invoking God’s grace to cover their sin. The Christian is increasingly associated not only with right wing politics, but with a harsh, judgmental self-righteousness that condemns most of the world to eternal damnation.

Christians are surprised by public hostility, and react by digging in their heels and seeking to obtain even more political power. According to Revelation 13, eventually they will succeed. The church will obtain sufficient political power to shape public religion and morality, and to punish dissenters. Political power substitutes for the power of God.

The passionate pursuit of politics indicates that the church has long ago betrayed the gospel. Protestant America betrayed the gospel in the 19th century when she divorced the Law of God from the gospel of Christ. Without Law, there is no grace. If there is no sin, there is no salvation.

The betrayal of the Law of God and the gospel of Christ is predictably followed by seeking to uphold or enforce religious truth through civil law. The early church blazed this trail in the 4th century, and began to punish “heretics.” Protestant America followed suit in the 19th century, rejecting God’s Law, but seeking to enforce Sunday observance through civil law. It is happening again, today. This is what Daniel referred to as “the abomination that makes desolate.” Yet, the state cannot change the heart, only God can.

The church’s obsession with politics and power has seriously eroded the gospel’s appeal to the unchurched. For those who still seek a true gospel, and whose passion is to spread the gospel to those who have never had a chance to hear it, we must present an alternative to the political agenda of the church.

Bill Maher, acerbic atheist and critic of Christianity, was seen attacking Bill O’Reilly, conservative television host and self-professed Catholic, accusing Christians of not practicing what the Bible says. Maher professed respect for the teachings of Jesus, but not for contemporary Christian practice which he views as hypocrisy. Rather than dismiss Maher as an enemy of the gospel, as so many do, perhaps we should accept the challenge of our critics, and practice an authentic and consistent faith. Only then will we have any hope of appealing to those who only see the Christian faith as hypocrisy. Isn’t that what Christ really wanted?