I’ve written in this column before about Christians being active in public life and July seems like a good month to engage this topic once again. Today, I’m sharing a few sections from the ELCA draft social statement “Civic Life and Faith.” Note, “ELCA” stands for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian denomination my churches belong to. Like other large Christian denominations, the ELCA has a method for prayerful conversation across our church body to create documents (these “social statements”) that outline our beliefs as Lutheran Christians living in the U.S. You may find the complete draft social statement on elca.org/civicsandfaith; or, contact me for a copy, pastor@oneinchristlutherans.com. The comment period on this document is open until September 30, 2024.

Article 2) In the biblical word shalom (Hebrew word) the Scriptures depict God's goal for creation and point to the nature of God’s ongoing active engagement with it. God’s power and love seeks shalom, the fullness of peace, well-being, goodness, truth, beauty, justice, freedom, wholesomeness, and love woven together for all. This statement is undergirded by that biblical term but in the context of civic life employs other terms such as “the well-being of all” or “the common good” because they are earthly measures toward God’s intention. God’s sovereignty brings forth and sustains the universe and grants creatures their power, even though it often is hidden to human view. God intends that humans use and share the gift of power so that human structures and systems serve the intended well-being of all with good order and justice. (lines 412-420)

Article 17) Was Jesus “political”? The Scriptures are clear that he was not political in the sense of affiliation with a political party, a partisan movement, or a designer of civic legislation. However, the biblical claim that “Jesus is Lord” (Acts 10:36) is simultaneously a political and religious statement. In addition, Jesus called government leadership to accountability to such an extent that he was executed as a political criminal. Today, concern for the neighbor and the common good means the church is called to follow Jesus’ example by engaging appropriate issues with care that are in the political arena. Political partisanship is not proper for the church, even while we engage in issues that have political elements. (lines 950-957)

Article 26) The United States is not a “Christian nation.” It was not founded on specifically Christian principles, though Christians and Christianity did influence its ethos. The premise of the Constitution and its ratification is that the sovereign is “we the people,” not “we the Christians.”

The religious diversity and neutrality of both the original Constitution and its First Amendment (see Section IV of social statement) clearly reject past or present claims that the U.S. was founded as a “Christian nation.” During George Washington’s first term this claim was explicitly addressed in a treaty, an act of state. It reads, “The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.” (Article 11 of the Barbary Treaties, signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796. Accessed September 1, 2023, avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.asp. Though not a constitution or amendment, such treaties are official declarations that help articulate a country’s self-understanding.)

Many people involved in the movement for U.S. independence and the ratification of the Constitution had devout Christian faith, though others did not. The dominant religious practices of the times were certainly Protestant, and this helped weave the founding social fabric with a Christian ethos. However, it must be recognized that many who lived in and contributed to the establishment of the United States were not Christian. They included people of various religions and worldviews.

The ELCA gives thanks for many of the ways in which God worked through Christian individuals and in that ethos. In this sense it is possible to speak of Christianity as contributing to the founding of this country and to claim that the original U.S. ethos was influenced by Christianity. However, this church rejects the baseless claims that the U.S. was founded on specifically Christian beliefs or that the U.S. Constitution is a result of special revelation, thus establishing a Christian nation. The Constitution established that the nation’s sovereign is “we the people,” not just “we the faithful” or “we the Christians.” (lines 1314-1336)