Bowing Toward Babylon

The Nationalistic Subversion of Christian Worship in America

Watts

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532611735
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

What is being done in worship when national holidays are celebrated, the American flag is displayed and honored, and songs are sung that extol the nation? Are these benign gestures? Or could they actually be idolatrous? In this insightful and persuasively argued study Craig M. Watts contends the inclusion of elements of American nationalism in worship is detrimental to the integrity of Christian worship. He maintains that in faithful worship the story of Jesus must be re-presented and performed in such a way that the only affections and loyalty that are fostered are those Christians everywhere rightfully share. To do otherwise opens the door to idolatry and leaves the church doing what Watts calls "bowing toward Babylon." He reviews the development of the symbols, songs, and gestures that celebrate America and how they were introduced into worship. Watts concludes that the spirituality of American Christian nationalism does not complement the faith of the church but distorts it, hindering global Christian unity and the peaceable witness of the church in a divided world.

Chapter 1

Nationalistic Idolatry in the Church of Babylon

Only those deeply shaped by the practice of bowing toward Babylon could have designed or displayed the image I faced as I walked into the sanctuary of a church. On the wall was a large banner. At first glance it appeared to be a depiction of the Angus Dei, the Lamb of God. But this was a revised version. It had been strikingly altered and Americanized. Instead of the Lamb having a foreleg hooked around a cross or around a staff with a banner of a cross, as would be seen in the traditional iconography, this Lamb bore a flag pole from which hung an American flag.

I was appalled.

Can anyone honestly imagine that removing the cross and giving the Lamb of God a national flag does not deeply distort the meaning of the familiar and beloved symbol? Can anyone seriously claim that the message conveyed by the nationalized Lamb of God is the same message communicated for centuries by the traditional symbol? The banner glorified the American flag and idolized the nation at the expense of the centuries-old meaning of the Christian symbol.

The traditional Angus Dei symbol conveys a conviction universally confessed by the church. The Lamb of God is the Christ who was sacrificed. The cross or banner of the cross borne by the Lamb is a symbol of resurrection triumph, the victory of the crucified one over sin and death. This is not the message conveyed by the co-opted, nationalized Lamb. At the very least, an American flag-toting Lamb of God demonstrates a special attachment toward the US. The purpose of the Lamb is intertwined with the purpose of America.

The apparent message of the banner was that honor due to the Lamb is likewise due to America. In fact the universal relevance and cosmic significance of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is lost in the Americanized version. The Savior and the savior-nation become one. If the Lord who is the Lamb flies the flag, how can followers of Jesus do otherwise than worship what our Lord himself elevates?

Christian worship has but one overriding purpose: to praise the God revealed in Jesus Christ. How can worship foster the praise of the God revealed in Christ when it promotes nationalism?

In responding to the nationalistic idolatry that was infecting the Church in Germany in the 1930s, the Barmen Declaration stated, “We reject the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God’s revelation.”13 Babylon in its various forms and through its many friends— often religious leaders—continues to tempt the church to bend its knee and lift up praise in the name of God to that which is not God.

Living in Babylon

The Babylonian Empire is long gone, falling to the Persians over 500 years before the birth of Jesus. The city of Babylon, once a great center of power and culture, was largely abandoned by the time the church was born. But the memory of Babylon and its impact on the chosen people of Israel had not faded in either the synagogue or the church at the time the New Testament was being written. The spiritual significance of Babylon remained relevant in the first century and I believe it continues to be so today. Whenever the name of God or trapping of religion are used by the state or church to imprint national identity, reinforce national unity, foster national loyalty, or mask national failings the interests of Babylon are being served.

The Babylonians had conquered Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, in 587 BC. Their forces entered the walls of Jerusalem and completely destroyed the city. The most skilled and educated of the population were taken as captives to Babylon. In Babylon the people of God faced the tremendous challenge of clinging to their own identity and loyalty to God in the midst of a culture that was superior their own by all obvious external measures. To live in Babylon faithfully the people were required to resist assimilation. They were not to lose their identity by being absorbed into Babylonian society. They were not to share in Babylonian pride. Above all, they needed to distance themselves from the Babylonian idolatry that played a prominent role in the culture. This was not an easy thing to do because the idolatrous religion of Babylon united the population and it was believed to confer divine blessings, confirming the greatness of the empire over against other nations.

This idolatrous worship lent support to the king and cemented loyalty to him and to the empire that was an extension of him. In the ancient Near East the king was regarded as the earthly representative of the gods. As such the image of the god was a symbol of the legitimacy of the earthly king.14 Idolatrous worship served both religious and political ends. Indeed, those ends were nearly impossible to separate because where the one ended and other started was not easy to discern. For this reason the people of Israel needed to vigilantly remember their status as outsiders who must remain loyal to their God. Though they found the affluence, knowledge, and power of Babylon impressive, they were not to give their hearts to Babylon. Even in captivity they were to remember the God who led them from slavery in Egypt. They were to continue being a distinctive people who were defined by their experiences with God.

The imperative to resist the nation-building and unifying role of religion in Babylon can be seen in the stories found in the book of Daniel. In order to serve the nation official religion had to exclude competing loyalties and objects of adoration. At the same time, the authority of the king was undergirded and enhanced through worship. Transcendent power and earthly power were aligned. To oppose one was to oppose the other. To support the one was to support the other. The captive people of Israel were in the difficult situation of seeking to live at peace in a foreign land while withholding themselves from the spirituality that permeated that place.

But, on the other hand, they were not to simply distance themselves from the society in which they found themselves. They were called upon to care about the well-being of Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah told them to trust and obey God while continuing to be a distinctive, set-apart people. He instructed the displaced, captive people of Israel to live among the Babylonians peacefully, productively, prayerfully. They were to accept responsibility for its society, albeit in a limited way.

Like the other inhabitants of the ancient superpower nation they were to have families, raise their children and work fruitfully for good. God’s word to them through the prophet Jeremiah was this: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:27). The captive people were to live in Babylon but they were to refuse to allow the spirit of Babylon to live in them.

Babylons Beyond Babylon

Long after the remnant returned to their homeland, Babylon continued to be an archetype and metaphor for the great geopolitical powers that trampled over the land of the Jews. The Babylonian threat was successively embodied in the power of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. In each case the people of Israel had a God-given responsibility to cling to their faith and the peculiar identity bestowed on them by their relationship with the God who led them from slavery, gave them the law, and made promises to them.

Early Christians, too, saw Babylon as a metaphor important for understanding their own experience. The ancient leaders viewed the church as a community of exiles. Out of their experience living in the mightiest empire of their time, they could speak of themselves as the “church in Babylon” (1 Pet 1:1, 5:13). The glorious and sprawling power of Rome whose tentacles touched all the world they knew was Babylon for them. As the power, wealth, and culture of Babylon lured and enticed the captive Israelites, so, too did Rome seductively draw the church away from its true love (Rev 2:4). Only if faithful people continually resisted the glories of Babylon /Rome could the church glorify the Lord with integrity.

No one was exempt from being marked in some fashion by Babylon/Rome. The empire defined the world, subduing resistance, demanding submission, always claiming that in so doing it was creating peace, even when it left behind devastation. Yet this great power was tolerant, after a fashion. But there were definite limits. Babylon/Rome was filled with gods. So long as a religion did not subvert loyalty to the empire, it was allowed to practice without harassment. Only if adherents disdained the imperial theology and viewed the authority and power it undergirded as secondary to their cult would the tolerance of Babylon/Rome to be stretched to the breaking point. This presented a problem for the church as it proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord!” clearly repudiating Caesar as Lord.

Babylon, in whatever form she takes, is sustained by blood. In the book of Revelation the personification of Babylon/Rome—“the Great Whore”—is depicted as holding a golden cup in a posture of blessing but the cup is filled with “abominations and unclean things” (Rev 17:4). We are told she was drunk with “the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” (17:6) but also more generally “of all who have been slaughtered on earth” (Reve 18:24). New Testament scholars Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther have observed, “This image of Babylon holding the cup of blood is a powerful indictment of empire. It indicates, in a graphic and lurid way, that empire blesses its people with the blood of its victims and those loyal to empire share in this cup as a sign of their acceptance of empire’s control over their lives . . . . Empire routinely engages in killing, yet claims to be a benign actor in the world.”15

Those aligned with Babylon/Rome justified the violence the empire inflicted upon the world, claiming it was necessary in order to accomplish the mo...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Nationalistic Idolatry in the Church of Babylon
• Chapter 2: Who God Is, Who We Are
• Chapter 3: Where Are We Worshiping?
• Chapter 4: What Time Is It? Holidays or Holy Days?
• Chapter 5: Displaying the Banner of Babylon
• Chapter 6: Pledging to Babylon’s Banner
• Chapter 7: Singing the Songs of Babylon
• Chapter 8: Born into a Larger Family and Eating at a Bigger Table Than Babylon
• Bibliography