Going Down to Egypt

I wrote recently about the problem of a political "alliance with Egypt". It was based on Isaiah 30-31. I would be remiss if I left it there. The topic of that passage is not who to vote for in 2008. The topic of that passage is God's people deciding to make alliances with the world when faced with a serious problem.

The key phrase is found in Isa. 31:1 -- "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help." In Scripture, Egypt is often used as a parallel for the world. When Egypt held Israel as slaves, it was an image of the world holding God's people as slaves. When Moses led Israel out of Egypt via the Red Sea, it was an image of baptism, escaping the world and being free. When Israel complained in the desert and longed for the delicacies of Egypt, it was an image of people who could be free, but longed for the slavery of the world in return for the temporal benefits the world provides. Over and over "Egypt" was a reference to the world.

In Isa. 30-31, Israel faced a real problem. Assyria was coming. It wasn't a false fear. It wasn't a fabrication. It was a real problem. Assyria was a superpower of her day. No one stood in her way -- certainly not little Jerusalem. Opposition to Assyria simply meant certain death. So seeking the support of another superpower seemed like the only logical approach. It made sense. It was reasonable. Certainly "do nothing and count on God" didn't seem to make much sense at all. Ironically, that was closer to the right response than alliance with Egypt.

The Church today faces real problems. More and more people are questioning the need for religion in general and Christianity in particular. More and more voices are calling for the abolition of Christianity in America and the civilized world. Even without these extremists, your everyday folks are wondering, "Do I really need religion?" The sense of it is that the Church is not really relevant for today. In the late 20th century, George Barna stated that if the Church did not reinvent herself in the 21st century, she would cease to exist. Now, that is a serious problem.

The response has been ... largely a trip to Egypt. Some churches have succumb to the "seeker-sensitive" approach. Rick Warren's idea was to use the world's marketing approach. Find out what they want and don't want in a church and give it to them. "Oh, you don't like to hear about sin? Okay, we won't talk about it. Oh, you do like entertainment? Okay, we'll give it to you." (Yes, I'm oversimplifying ... but not much.) Brian McLaren's idea was adopt the world's skeptical approach and reinvent the Church from the bottom up. Stop claiming to have the truth. Stop trying to convert folks. Let's have a "generous orthodoxy" where the only thing of which we are certain is that people who are certain are certainly wrong. Our "gospel" will be about feeding the poor and helping the homeless and that sort of thing. The Emergent Church (Yeah, I write that as if it's an organization -- not quite.) is a response to this serious problem of the potential demise of the Church in the 21st century. Rob Bell has taken his message on the road to assure folks that God isn't really mad about sin and let's just set that whole "wrath of God" thing aside, okay?

Now, most churches haven't gone as far as this. Most have, however, felt the necessity to call on the world for help. We need to adopt their music. We need to incorporate their appearance. We need to meet their felt needs before trying to speak to their real need -- Christ. We need to adopt the world's entertainment and look and feel so that people of the world will come into our churches and feel comfortable. Then we can go to work. Frankly, we've gone down to Egypt -- the world -- for all sorts of alliances. We scramble for political power. We want to adopt their culture. We hope to use their methods of entertainment. We've even adopted democracy as theology. God, we believe, has done all that He can do; now we have to cast our vote for or against Him. Egypt, it seems, is where we go most often.

God says, "In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isa. 30:15) Faith and repentance -- that's what God says is needed. "No," we say, "the threat it too great. We need help from the world."

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help. If it is true that the Church will cease to exist if she does not reinvent herself, then she needs to cease to exist. If God is counting on us to maintain that which is His, then He is not God. Here's God's opinion: "Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?" (James 4:4). Sure, it seems to make sense to adopt worldly ways to accomplish this daunting task. Unfortunately, too few seem to be asking the opinion of the Owner and Founder and Power of the Church how He wants it done. Perhaps that's a better place to start?