Because The Battle Hymn of the Republic was such a bad idea
Writing on townhall.com, Chuck Colson tries to give an encouraging perspective on the recent FMA defeat by highlighting the surge in evangelical activity. Regarding a recent simulcast, Colson writes:
I have not seen believers as excited as they were Sunday night at Bellevue Baptist in years. It reminds me of the early days of the eighties when Christians were just engaging again in politics after decades of fundamentalist isolation. There was freshness and enthusiasm then, and it?s back. Those folks at Bellevuewere [sic] ready to go to war. Jim Dobson and I speculated afterwards that this may be the beginning of a real revival in the Church.
Remember two centuries ago when William Wilberforce started his campaign to abolish the slave trade in Britain. He didn?t have the votes, but he persisted. And after twenty years, he prevailed. But the battle so energized the Church that it led to the Second Great [Wesley] Awakening that swept across England and the English-speaking world.
First, the historical analogies are troublesome. Wilberforce's fantastic work aside, the Second Great Awakening probably brought more troubles than benefits, including (but not limited to!) excessive emotionalism, lack of focus upon the person of Christ in favor of an over-emphasis upon personal decision, mechanistic theories of salvation, and Charles Finney. A return to SGA theology and ethics would be counterproductive.
But what is even more disconcerting about this is the emphasis upon revival coming from political action (see Jollyblogger for more on this). True revival never comes from political victory. It has to come from repentance (Js. 4.7ff), of which the modern American Church (which includes me) has plenty to do. Modern evangelicals seem to have forgotten that Edward's famously severe Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was preached to his own congregation.
July 16, 2004 10:22 AM