“Americanized Christianity”
The idea of Americanized Christianity is something that is denied by many people. If you find yourself thinking the phrase “Americanized Christianity” is ridiculous then it might be a good time to step back and evaluate the driving force behind your faith. The whole idea can be summarized as building up your countrymen and country as an idol. Before anyone says “I would never create an idol out of these things”, let’s take a look into the two different sides of this Americanized Christianity.
Love = Tolerance
There are those who will say, “If you love me, you will tolerate my shortcomings.” While this can be true on the surface, it sadly morphs into more dangerous territory. To love someone despite any flaws or differences is biblical and exactly what we’ve been called to do! After all, Christ died for us while we were still sinners! However, we need to remember in our dealings with all people to… hate the sin and love the sinner. The folks that preach love = tolerance are asking to love the person and forget anything about sin or sinner. You see, sin is completely tossed out the window because we are all sinners after all, right? Right but wrong… this is why Americanized Christianity has crept in almost unnoticed, because there are parts that are true but are presented in the wrong way. While we have all sinned, those who have been made clean by Christ need to stop tolerating sinful lifestyles. We need to put love into action and show people that the love Christ has for the world is greater than the tolerance any person can provide. This is why love does not equal tolerance, because love is greater than tolerance. They aren’t even on the same level. Tolerance is something you have for people that you don’t really care about because you don’t care how they live their lives. Love is something Christ has for the entire world, and hopefully those who are faithful to Him have as well. If we choose to forget about sin and just tolerate everyone’s faults, we become no better than the world. If we forget that God has called us NOT ONLY to treat each other right but also to live a certain way ourselves then how are we different? It is very simple, if we stay faithful to Christ above all then we would have no other option but to tell people how they can be made right. This is why it’s called Americanized Christianity, because there are parts of Christian values mixed in with American culture. It’s a false religion that puts the nation and its values on the throne.
Good ‘ole Southern Values
While we should be showing people a better way and lovingly correct them instead of tolerating every sin, we should make sure we don’t take the correction to an extreme. The other big flaw in Americanized Christianity is the unspoken idea that Good ‘ole Southern Values are just as important as Christian values. The message that is shouted by some people claiming Christ as Lord of their lives is to “Make America Great Again”, yet there is silence when it comes to true Christianity.
“…my greatest fear is for those who sit in pews every Sunday and know nothing about true faith.” — B. Edwards
Too many people ‘punch their ticket’ at church and don’t make a change to value Christ more than their traditions. Like I said, this is an unspoken idea. Nobody will say this or even admit it, but the truth is shown through actions and actions show that traditional American Values are held at the same level as (or higher than) Christian Values. This side of Americanized Christianity is also seen as the ‘Bible Beaters’ by others. They will take traditional American Values, find bits and pieces of scripture to back it up, and ‘beat’ people with those verses. While this seems like an extreme example, it is actually true for both sides of this false religion of Americanized Christianity. Everyone tries to morph scripture into their agenda instead of making their beliefs based on scripture.
Making A Man Their King
The incredible thing about Americanized Christianity is that two very opposite beliefs are really under the same false religion. They both turn to a man as their leader and king! The thought process is, when people are intolerant of all lifestyles then maybe we should just elect someone that will force everyone to be tolerant! Or, when people don’t hold my values then we will just elect someone that forces our values into law! This builds and builds and eventually both sides who claim to be Christians are now holding a single person up as their “savior” of what they want accomplished. Neither side would admit this (as it is clearly contrary to scripture) but the actions, time spent talking and posts made to social media show the truth. This is why we have to be so conscious of what we put our faith in. We must be diligent to not let our minds become clouded with anything we are drawn to that is physical. We must make sure our only King is the one who sits on the eternal throne!
