Evangelicals love the United States of America. To them, it is the greatest nation in the world (or equal with Israel). After all, it is “one nation under God.” Money is printed with the lettering “In God we trust.” All the great presidents were Christians. America is the home of Martin Luther King, Jr., Billy Graham, Dwight L. Moody, etc. Although the American church is in extreme decline, once upon a time America was the promised land for evangelicals. Many of them refuse to accept that this is no longer the case, and cling to the idea that America is set apart from the rest of the world.
While there is no problem with patriotism, American evangelicals take it to a much different extreme. Look at their fearless leader, lord, and savior, Donald Trump, for example. Evangelicals want to ‘make America great again.’ But was it ever “great,” to begin with? The rest of the world is familiar with American history, while America tries block out its most embarrassing acts. Evangelicals are at the forefront of this drive to rewrite history. But as Amos makes clear, there is nothing that can make his God look away from such destruction.
Amos’ Oracles Against the Nations make it clear that the enemies of God’s “chosen” will not go unpunished for their atrocious crimes. Imagine this setting in the modern world. Imagine a prophet, called by God, appearing to MAGAland to tell them of the forthcoming destruction of its enemies. Russia? China? Iran? God is going to set fire to them. Surely, these evangelicals would follow along with dreamy eyes.
But what about when the prophet suddenly changes course, and begins to lash out against America? What if the prophet speaks of American slave history, or the inhumane experiments conducted by the U.S. government in the twentieth century (ex. Project CHATTER, MKUltra)? The current social injustice, prevalent racism, sexism, and oppression? What, when the prophet declares that America faces a more sure destruction than its enemies? I don’t know about you, but I hear chants of denial in the distance.
Amos, from the southern kingdom of Judah, focuses his prophetic activity in the northern kingdom of Israel. The book starts out with the oracles against foreign nations. Then, suddenly in 2:6-16, the prophet condemns the nation of Israel itself in an oracle lengthier and more descriptive that the previous ones. And that will become the bulk of his message to this kingdom.
“Your hands are covered in blood, maybe even more so because I have set you apart, and you have rejected me and your own people,” is essentially Amos’ message from God. Or, as James Luther Mays explains in his commentary on the book, “The certainty that Yahweh has already initiated the punishment of his foes and cannot be restrained is the foundation of Amos’ entire message.”1
The first six nations have committed war crimes well deserving of divine intervention. Judah, the questionable oracle, is guilty of not keeping God’s instructions. But what is Israel to be charged with? Social injustice and the rejection of God’s commands. Their crimes are socio-economic and religious.2
And because they have the special chosen status that American evangelicals now proclaim, they are even more deserving of punishment than any of the aforementioned nations. They see this special status as something to be taken advantage of, something to boast about; not something to make them hold themselves more accountable. It was so for the Israelites in Amos’ days, and it is still true and relevant for the world we live in today.
Amos begins with Yahweh’s condemnation:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.” (Amos 2:6, NIV)
Once again, slavery is presented as an abomination to God. But, differing from the crimes of Philistia and Phoenicia, Israel is not selling prisoners of war into slavery, as was custom in the war culture of the ancient Near East. The key word here is “the innocent,” translated from the term saddiq. According to Mays, this term “designates the innocent party in a legal process, the man in the right whom the court should vindicate.”3 The “needy” in the last line of the verse represents those who have no money, power, or even aid from the courts.4
Now, think of the political landscape in the United States. Think of George Floyd. Think of the victims of school shootings. Simply open the news and look at the injustice dealt to the innocent, the victims of wrongdoings, those affected by natural disasters. Instead of the nation pulling together to address the problems, every act is politicized. A school shooting happens and one party advocates for gun reform, the other insists that guns are not the problem. The media is full of commentary, but no actions. Very infrequently even a call to action. And where is the church?
As former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear, misunderstands:
“We love our country, but God has not called us to save America — he’s called us to build the church and spread the gospel and that is our primary mission.”5
From “Woke War: How Social Justice and CRT Became Heresy for Evangelicals”- see footnote for further reading on the topic!
We focus so heavily on the acts that occur, but give very little consideration to those dealt the injustice. Why do we listen to politicians and news outlets, and not the ones who have experienced the trauma firsthand? Why do we advocate for change, and then sit by and expect change to magically occur, as Greear does? We do not listen to the innocent. Instead, we publicize them and use them as political weapons. Where is the true change?
The point is that social injustice is a very real, very frightening thing. And it is prevalent. I cannot say that I know how it is dealt with around the globe, but I see how it is handled in the United States. Every day, it seems. Evangelicals, more often than not, are the ones advocating for the right to own guns. They downplay the social injustice in the country. As such, the blood is on their hands, too.
Christians should be at the forefront of the fight against social injustice. After all, they have the better moral compass! But no. You do not see evangelicals advocating for gun reform. You do not see evangelicals fighting racism and oppression. You see them urging us to “return to God.” That will surely stop the violence, right? All the oppression we see is just the result of a moral failure! The church will surely make it right. If everyone sits in the sanctuary listening to a pastor spew lies and presuppositions concerning the Bible, that will fix everything!
Meanwhile, the church sits by as all the madness ensues. Instead of striving to make a difference, they want to grow congregations. They want church attendance to go up. Pastors preach on how we can live with the madness, instead of how we can advocate for change. What do we learn from Amos’ Israel? That they, too, sat by idly while oppression raged. They fed into the mayhem, as modern evangelicals do. And they faced God’s judgment. So, too, will the evangelical church of America.
A Note on the Political Nature of this Post
I hate politics. I absolutely despise American politics. My thinking does not align with either of the major political parties in the United States (since, you know, they are the only options). I trash Trump because he is a trashy human. I attack the Christian right because it does nothing when it should. As I mentioned in the post, everything in the States is politicized. I am not attempting to politicize the Bible. Social injustice should not be a political dilemma, but it is here and that is a problem. That is why this post is heavily critical of American politics and the church’s role in such a matter.
1. James Luther Mays, Amos: A Commentary, in The Old Testament Library. Edited by G. Ernest Wright, John Bright, James Barr, and Peter Ackroyd. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminister Press, 1969, 24
2. Ferry Y. Mamahit and Pieter M. Venter. “Oracle Against Israel’s Social Injustices: A Rhetorical Analysis of Amos 2:6−8.” Hervormde Teologiese Studies 66, no. 1 (2010): 3, DOI: 10.4102/hts/v66i1.729.
3. James Luther Mays, 46
4. Ferry Y. Mamahit and Pieter M. Venter, 6
5. Bob Smietana, “Woke War: How Social Justice and CRT Became Heresy for Evangelicals,” Religion News, February 7, 2022, https://religionnews.com/2022/02/07/woke-war-why-social-justice-became-heresy-for-evangelicals-owen-strachan-crt-southern-baptists-trump/