Drawing the Christian Picket Line

I was pleasantly surprised with the article, “The Optimistic Ecclesiology of Walter Rauschenbusch” by Scott E. Bryant in the journal American Baptist Quarterly (vol. 27, Summer 2008, no. 2 pages 117-135). Bryant does a very good job explaining the context of Rauschenbusch as well as Rauschenbusch’s thoughts. There are a lot of things that one could pull out of that article, and I strongly recommend reading it. I especially recommend it to the yellow-bellied, tree hugging liberal Christian activists who seem to have neglected the role of the church community in favor of one more protest for the sake the crab grass. I also recommend it for those who are squeamish about Christians and other political groups working together for the same cause. There was a good reason Rauschenbusch did not join the Socialist Party even if he agreed with most of the views of said party. I won’t spoil it for you – look it up (or ask me in a comment so I know others are actually reading this). It is a good explanatory article.

I want to briefly mention Rauschenbusch’s view of unions. Remember, Rauschenbusch lived 1861-1918; a time when unions were just making ground for workers rights. It was a time when someone was taking a strong and risky stand to join a union and strike for the rights of all. Bryant quotes Rauschenbusch’s favorable view of unions, “Thousands of men and women giving up their job, their slender hold on subsistence, imperiling the bread and butter of their families for the sake of men in another trade with whom they have only a distant economic connection.” Such solidarity is praiseworthy. Churches, on the other hand, are often seen as self-serving, selfish and focused on self-preservation. What would happen if churches were to join in unions (not denominations but unions) to stand up for the rights of the least? What would happen if churches refused to go to state sanctioned prayer breakfasts, political meetings, blessings and anything else that is expected on the civic level until the oppressed with given rights? What would happen if churches refused to officiate funerals and weddings, baptisms and dedications until people began to look at the marginalized with the eye of Christ?

Churches would close. Pastors would lose there jobs. Institutions would lose credibility on the civic stage. To change the world, can we take that risk?