The American Church Divided

It is an interesting phenomena how American Christianity seems to have divided itself along political and ethnic lines rather than theological lines.

At Christianity's inception we find our Christian fathers and mothers fighting over orthodoxy, struggling to discover what would become the standard beliefs and lifestyles of a follower of Jesus. This included a wide list of Jesus centered values and actions -- determining what were right beliefs and which were heresy -- and then struggling to figure out how to treat those who were and weren't following in the ways and means of Christ. However, the discussion always revolved around following Christ: "How can we keep the flock behind the shepherd?"

Presently I have found American Christianity dividing itself around issues of politics and ethnicity. Communities are primarily Republican or Democrat, white or latino, suburban or urban. I see less discussion about how to keep the flock behind the shepherd, and far too much discussion about how to push our party legislation through or how to reinforce ethnicity.

These labels seem to me to be secondary definitions to who we are. Our political affiliation or ethnicity should not divide us. It seems the early Church question of how to keep the flock behind the shepherd is a superior issue to wrestle with. Creating a strong sense of Jesus centered beliefs and behaviors seems like it would bring the American Christian Church into multi-ethnic communities that wrestled with and critiqued the polarization of politics rather than getting sucked into it.