Losing Our Souls

“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:36 – New Living Translation)

I grew up in the Evangelical World of Billy Graham crusades, Biblical inerrancy and Bill Bright’s “Four Spiritual Laws.” There was a strong emphasis on rejecting the morals and values of “the world” and adherence to the morals and behaviors of holiness. Frequently, that was defined for us as not smoking, not drinking, not using foul language and not having premarital sex. We were reminded of the warning in James 4:4 that “friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” and the command of 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.“

Theologically, I’ve shifted to a broader understanding of “the world” and “holiness” that focuses less on individual behavior choices and more on the ethics of love, service, mercy, justice, shalom–ethics of the kingdom of heaven that are not frequently found in the “world” that values wealth accumulation, ambition, retribution, and domination..

Sadly, I’ve watched the American church (of many stripes) shift as well. Oh, it still wants us to maintain the individual behaviors of holiness, but it has redefined “the world” to accept (and even advocate for) values and morals that are antithetical to the way of Christ–values like political power, coercion, retribution, cruelty, abuse, and even lawlessness. Kingdom of heaven values like compassion, empathy, peace-making, humility and welcome are seen as weak, ineffectual, and “woke.”

There are people within the American Church that believe that the United States should not be a democracy, but a theocracy. And they have advocated for the playbook of domination and autocracy to ensure that the US becomes and remains a “Christian Nation.” Yet, the very pursuit of “gaining the whole world” has come at a great cost. In my opinion, the Church has lost its soul–its connection to life in Christ and the mission of Christ, exemplified in his act of servanthood and articulated in his commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:33-34)

No longer do we lift up the Jesus who took the role of a servant and washed the feet of his disciples; no longer do we admire the Jesus came to seek and save the lost; no longer do we want a Savior who “gives up” ambition to lift up the humble. Now, we see depictions of “Warrior Jesus” and “Body-builder Jesus” and even “Patriot Jesus.” Jesus warned that “those who want to save their life will lose it.” Jesus also promised that “those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” See Luke 9:24.

So, on this Maundy Thursday, let’s reclaim our souls and reject the ways of the world in favor of the Way of Christ. Pick up a towel and serve, feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, visit the lonely, defend the weak, welcome the outcast, love one another.